I'm confused! Is there such a thing as oolong jasmine tea?

[jlheng]

Does anyone sell oolong jasmine tea?

I've been told that I should stick to oolong teas if I want to prepare teas gongfu style (using a yixing tea set...). I enjoy oolong teas, but I find that most guests (or people new to tea) enjoy teas that are infused with jasmine (such as green teas).

I'm hoping i can get the best of both worlds when preparing tea. So is there such a thing as a oolong jasmine tea? Or is jasmine tea available with green teas only.

Thanks!

[kymidwife]

Our host, Adagio, has 3 jasmine choices in the oolong section:

http://www.adagio.com/oolong/index.html ... 63c6ac0ed8

I prefer #12, it's absolutely sublime, but #9 is really good too. I prefer jasmine oolong to jasmine green... I think the flavors are more complementary.

Be careful brewing jasmine in yixing... I understand that the scent/flavor can linger in the clay... so it would only be a good idea if you were planning to exclusively dedicate a yixing to nothing but jasmine oolongs.

Hope this helps,

Sarah

[Chip]

There are differing schools of thought on authentic scented jasmine tea. Some say it is still a green tea, but many USA vendors are now referring to it as an oolong or at least a pouchong (green oolong) since it is partially oxidized during the scenting process.

So, jasmine greens and jasmine oolongs are pretty much the same, however there are a multitude of different jasmine teas nevertheless.

[wyardley]

One style uses a tea which Mary Lou Heiss claims in her article is a semi-oxidized tea that's not an oolong (http://www.teatrekker.com/articles/Art-of-Tea.pdf)

She differentiates between Baozhong and "Pouchong" (the latter apparently is used as a base), however, since she doesn't include the characters or even hanyu pinyin (with tone diacritics), it's hard to guess what the actual word is and whether these are really different things -- anyone know? She says that it's not technically an oolong since it's lightly oxidized, but without being bruised.
(copied and pasted from my post in:
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?t=7396 ) -- honestly, I think she just misunderstands and that the two are the same thing. Have a read of that entire thread if you haven't already.

Basically, though, Jasmine tea can be any type of tea base, which is then scented somehow or another. I'm not an expert, but I think that jasmine tea you get in the US could be any of green, some sort of oolong / semi-oxidized tea, or black tea, and I would even venture that some might be labeled "green" when they're actually not.

I don't think Jasmine or scented (naturally or artificially) teas are suitable for gong fu brewing in general (and especially, as others mentioned above, not in Yixing pots), though you could use similar techniques to brew tea in a gaiwan or small porcelain pot with osmanthus blossoms or other flowers mixed in. I also don't think most scented teas will either change in flavor much, or last that long.

While I'm sure there are exceptions out there, most scented teas are scented to mask the taste of the crappy tea they're scenting. What I would suggest is that if you want to entertain, brew an oolong that has floral characteristics (I would say a medium or heavy oxidation one like dan cong / a medium roast yancha or even oriental beauty, rather than a "floral" green oolong, which to me is a different kind of floral than the one you're maybe looking for). And you may find that brewing western style (less leaf, bigger pot, longer steeping time) will actually produce results closer to what your guests might expect if they're not seriously into tea.

One other thing... it's always worth a try exposing people to good tea. I've always been surprised at the teas that people end up liking, even without much prior exposure to tea.

[tsverrir]

When I was in China I bought a small bag of jasmine oolong tea. It was pearls made out of young buds (like traditional pearl jasmine), but noticeably oxidized. It had a very distinctive flavor I liked very much. Sadly that was before I really learned how to brew properly. I haven't seen any similar tea online.

[teaskeptic]

I enjoy oolong teas, but I find that most guests (or people new to tea) enjoy teas that are infused with jasmine (such as green teas).

That's interesting. Most people I know (not serious tea drinkers) mainly drink black teas and find jasmine to be disgusting.

[tsverrir]

I enjoy oolong teas, but I find that most guests (or people new to tea) enjoy teas that are infused with jasmine (such as green teas).

That's interesting. Most people I know (not serious tea drinkers) mainly drink black teas and find jasmine to be disgusting.

Although I had mostly black(red) teas and some green before, it was jasmine tea that got my foot in the door of serious interest in tea.

[Intuit]

For those that have never had a scented green tea, jasmine (or osmanthus or blood orange) can pique their interest, just as many introduced to black teas report that scented versions (Earl Grey) was their favorite.

Perhaps its because they identify with a floral or citrus scent, while not being familiar with the underlying tea flavor.

It may also explain why some of us lose our initial enthusiasm for heavily scented teas, because they overwhelm the (now familiar) flavor we seek in our tea.

[jlheng]

Thanks everyone for your replies!

So aren't the jasmine oolong's provided by adagio (http://www.adagio.com/oolong/i...63c6ac0ed8 ) really green teas? The site says that jasmine teas are really oolong, and not green - but that's different from what I have seen in many places.

[JRS22]

I think they're really oolong, not green. I suspect that for people who don't like oolong the difference between it and pouchong is immaterial. The adagio selections are probably very good, but I found they had a distinctive oolong flavor and I ended up giving them away.

My jasmine favorites are the jasmine silver needles and the jasmine pearls that are truly green teas. Imperial Tea Court has a wide variety of jasmines available in small quantities and I had a great time tasting and comparing.

[wyardley]

The site says that jasmine teas are really oolong, and not green - but that's different from what I have seen in many places.

That article is talking about a specific type of Jasmine tea production. Pretty much any type of tea base can be scented with jasmine flowers if you so desire. That said, the degree of oxidation in the tea used for some types of jasmine tea is so light that I'm guessing it's possible some people (incorrectly) refer to it as green tea when it's really not. That's just a guess on my part though.

[akysten]

I agree with the Intuit in that scented teas do get our interests, but soon discover that it's the tea flavor that lies beneath that we're really looking for. The flavors just helped to get us hooked.


Now I'm fascinated with the subtle differences and preparation, and it's almost like if I want flavors, I feel like I'm wasting the true flavors of a fine tea.

At the risk of sounding elitist, It's kind of like putting a-1 on a fine cut of medium rare fillet mingon, or putting putting ginger ale in a single malt scotch. I generic black or green may be better for adding flavors.

But I say this because I'm interested in those Jasmine Pearls offered from Adagio. I'm not familiar with the Jasmine flavor, the tea is highly touted, but I feel like i'm taking a risk knowing my tendancies, but the other side of me says to give everything a taste. Problem is, I've got so many tea samples that it's driving my wife crazy!

[wyardley]

FWIW, she finally replied to me, and here's what she had to say. I have not modified it other than for spacing, and removing a couple of lines that aren't relevant to what we're talking about here. It doesn't really clarify whether the actual words are the same or different, but it does at least clarify the production method of this specific type of scented tea a little bit.

[edit: updated the text from a new version she sent me, and also reminds everyone to check out wwwteatrekker.com and read their book "The Story of Tea - A Cultural History and Drinking Guide"]

The
term pouchong as I use it to refer to Chinese jasmine teas ( which is not
meaning Taiwan Baozhong/paochong or even the base tea made in Taiwan for
jasmine tea ) in the article is indeed an old term and something that
perhaps has no contemporary usage.

But it was the best word that I had to describe what the base tea actually
is or can be: ie. tea that is neither white tea nor green tea ( nor oolong
) but something akin to both of them, with more of a persuasion towards
white tea. In the tea factories that we visited, it is referred to as zao
bei or tea readied, and is primarily hongqing - oven dried.

The reason for this unique base tea is, as I understand it,several-fold.

1. the tea must be made ahead and must 'sit' until the flowers come along
in the summer. As this tea is withered, and not completely fired, it has a
higher level of residual moisture than it will ultimately have as
finished tea. Green tea would not store well like this.


2. the alternative to green tea made with a kill-green process (
de-enzyming ) is to use leaf that has undergone a variation of white tea
processing. This gives the fresh leaf a light withering ( no kill-green
step is used ) and results in the leaf having slight oxidation. This
apparently allows for a more stable half-made tea. Remember: white tea is
withered; green tea is de-enzymed - this is the basic difference between
these two classes of tea.

3. when the fresh jasmine flowers are added to the leaf heat is generated
from the moisture in the flowers. This heat causes additional (slight
)oxidation to occur within the tea leaves. Which apparently is another
reason why true green tea processing is not a good choice for making
scented teas. This would darken the tea into something unsightly and out
of character for green tea.

Here is another thing to keep in mind. In every place in China where
traditinal tea is made, the base tea will always be different in little
ways which are characteristic to 'local' tea processing norms.

One thing that I have learned from our trips to China is that in
some ways there is no such thing as 'exactly as it is done.' Every time I
think that we completely understand how a tea is made we discover that
there are local adjustments in the next place which change some of the
picture. So in essence, all information on how tea is made should be
looked at with an eye towards the general and not the absolute - because
the process will probably have been tweeked to accommodate some reason or
other in the next region ! Tea has ( Chinese tea in particular ) as I am
sure you already realize, a lifelong learning curve that one happily never
quite reaches the end of.

[bi lew chun]

I recently had an odd experience with J4T's Signature Roast TGY. At first sip I knew something was very wrong, but couldn't place the taste until I found a single unraveled strand of a jasmine pearl amidst the expanded leaves. It definitely detracted from the oolongy goodness.

[KillaWatt]

Teavana has a Jasmine Oolong that is quite good...http://www.teavana.com/Loose-Leaf-Teas/ ... ng-Tea.axd