Oh LORD this tea is old! I think I got it sometime during the summer last year? So it’s right about a year old. Haha whoops. I only drink white teas once in a blue moon, and I was on a jasmine hiatus for a long time because I just got so sick of it. So not a quick demise for this poor tea.
This one went in the gaiwan tonight. Originally, the tea of the night was going to be my Laoshan Green, but I burned it. (Laoshan Green and I… I just don’t think it was meant to be.) I remember very little from the last time I tried this, just that it tasted like a white tea with jasmine.
Dry leaves look like they do in the picture; very long and soft.
Water is in the 170-180 degree range? The teapot had just started hissing.
Steep 1: 10 s. We – e – ell! This is unexpected! Floating atop the jasmine flavor of this gently pale liquor is a ringing overtone of… citrus? What in the world. I am seriously getting, like, quasi-lemon something. No, not lemon, lemon’s too “dark” a flavor, but it’s legit kind of citrusy. I am so surprised that I am paying more attention to that than the jasmine flavor. Not a complaint, though. And I just spilled a bit on my pants.
The jasmine is more pronounced, almost to the point of being husky, in the aroma of the wet leaves.
Steep 2: 15 s. They dry leaves smell almost woody now. (This tasting is certainly full of curveballs.) Honestly, I don’t get a ton of difference between this steep and the last, just maybe that the “husky” jasmine is a little stronger. Now, it’s not husky as in overpowering or anything even close; that word is just what came to mind when I tried to think of how to describe the texture.
… Are my tastebuds being influenced by my burnt Laoshan Green debacle?
Steep 3: …whoops. I had just enough for one mouthful, so I did about 15-20 s. Again, flavor is still about the same.
So overall, this is a really nice little white tea that’s got some surprises in it. It’s a good sleepytime beverage, too.
Jasmine works wonders for me when I can’t sleep too.