The Jasmine Pearl Tea Merchants

Tea of the afternoon here; very vegetal with corn notes. The package says it’s green tea but this is most definitely an oolong. The leaves have unfurled quite nicely. See previous notes for more info. :)

Tea of the morning here. Sometimes I forget that I have this but it’s such a satisfying brew. I tend to like roses in tea but the cardamom is also a lovely touch here. Goes really well with this lovely music by Jai Uttal I was listening to last night:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsEhuWENkN0

Slight cocoa fragrance, faintly chocolatey flavor. It’s a great ingredient list but the flavor doesn’t live up to expectations. I would not describe this as having surprising depth and body, even after I added almond milk. I think this tea might be nice as a low-key flavoring element for a fuller bodied puerh.

Finishing off the rest of my sample today, this is quite good; malty, rich and with a rich flavor of sweet potato pie. Similar to a golden monkey but a bit deeper in flavor. Would definitely get this one again.

Herbal tea of the evening and not sure exactly what this is supposed to cleanse or be good for, but I thought I’d give it a whirl tonight.

Steeped for 10 minutes because I lost track of time, but I don’t think that’s too much to worry ’bout with a tisane. When you open up the bag there is something “fluffy” and green looking about this tea and it smells very “herby”, I wonder if this is due to the nettles?

This is a very pleasant herbal blend, I think the rose and the sarsparilla adds a bit of sweetness. It is fairly mild and soothing, which is nice. Some herbal teas that promise cleansing benefits are a bit on the bitter side for yours truly but this is pretty nice, IMO. Not sure I would go out of my way to get this again but it’s quite pleasant.

Yum!
I got this as a sample with my recent Jasmine Pearl order. I confess I let it steep for too long while I was goofing off reading some poetry by Ranier Maria Rilke: http://sanfrantea.teatra.de/2013/01/26/going-blind/

So my tea got really dark, I think I will wait to rate it until I’m paying more attention to what I am doing. I am definitely getting a sweet potato or squash type of flavor, along with the slight bitterness that Geoffrey mentioned in his tasting note. This is really good but I think I made it a touch too strong.

Tea of the morning here, another one I got in the bulk section at Whole Foods yesterday.

I got a Teavana tea mug for Christmas from my brother and this is what it looks like, very pretty!
http://www.teavana.com/tea-products/tea-cups-mugs/infuser-mugs/p/okura-ume-blossom-infuser-tea-mug

As far as the tea is concerned, it’s a pretty nice Assam, hefty and enjoyable with a bit of soymilk. It definitely has a nice malty flavor, maybe with some caramel notes. I would consider getting more of this when the current supply is running low. For me Assams are a great breakfast tea! I think I’ll drink some more tea while I’m doing my chores today. :)

Meditation of the day from Dale Carnegie: “Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain but it takes character and self control to be understanding and forgiving.”

This tea is a bit strange…
I love darjeelings but I’m not really sure this combo does a lot for me.

The blackberry reminds me of elderberry and seems slightly medicinal. I’m usually a fan of anise but in this combination it just seems weird. At least it’s supposed to be good for your stomach. Probably my least favorite of the teas I got from the Jasmine Pearl so far but I will drink it eventually. I felt it was much improved by the addition of some soymilk.

I think this would be really nice as an iced tea — I will have to try it that way someday. :D

Tea of the morning here.

My general feeling on chocolate teas is that they leave a lot to be desired, especially if you are expecting them to taste like hot chocolate.

This is a nice blend of black tea, pu’erh, carob and chocolate. I believe there is some vanilla flavoring in here too. It’s mildly chocolate-y and has a bit of heft. I like the fact that they decided to put pu’erh in here which gives the tea a nice added dimension. I am not blown away by it, but I do like it. It’s nice with some vanilla soymilk added in. Probably would be more appropriate as an afternoon/dessert tea. I’ll certainly finish off the bag happily.

Tea of the afternoon here… an oolong from the Jasmine Pearl.

GABA is supposed to have a calming effect and who couldn’t use more of that?

I decided to use the gaiwan to steep this and put in about 1 tsp of tea, steeped for 30 seconds. The wet leaf smells very much like fresh corn to me.

1st steep is a light yellowish infusion. I am getting the sweet starchy quality that gets compared to bananas & yams. For me it is still reminiscent of corn since it has a slightly vegetal quality. The overall flavor is quite pleasant.

The 2nd steep I did for around 30 seconds and it is a bit darker. Now that the leaves are starting to open up, there is a definite buttery flavor coming up in this tea.

3rd steep is much like the first. I think I am detecting some subtle notes of vanilla. It’s difficult to say whether or not I feel any calmer from drinking this, although I am inspired to do some meditation right now.

You can never have too many straight black teas, which is really the reason I got this with my last order. :)

First tea of the morning here, the sun is out and I will need to go for a nice, long walk later.

I steeped this for 4 minutes and am enjoying it. I don’t think its anything in particular to write home about, just a nice yunnan black tea. It has some light notes of malt/sweetness along with a very mellow character. I would definitely recommend trying this plain before adding anything to it, it doesn’t really need a lot. I am not really getting the peppery note described, but perhaps it’s too early in the morning!

Here’s another tea I got from the Jasmine Pearl Tea Merchants.

This tea sounded very intriguing to me… a smoky dark blend with orange and spice. I would say the predominate black here is the keemun, along with a bit of lapsang. Then I am picking up the orange, clove and lemon… the rose is very faint. It is a bit like a chai but with more smoke and more citrus. I like this a lot better than I thought I would, it is very warming on a chilly night — especially since the heat is still not on here at full force.

This is yummy afternoon/evening tea that is really good! I like this blend.

One of the teas I got yesterday from the Jasmine Pearl Tea Merchant.

Last night I had Indian food for dinner which didn’t really sit well. I thought perhaps this tea might be nice for settling my stomach a bit.

In my opinion the spice in this tea is VERY strong, the ginger really stands and then the cardamom. The peach is a very faint note somewhere in the background. This blend is not for the faint of heart, it is definitely stronger than any other ginger peach tea I’ve had. I like it though, and ginger is really nice for a chilly San Francisco day.

Tea of the morning here… why yes, roses and cardamom do make for a delightful morning tea. Excellent with my morning toast.

I really like this stuff, it’s better than I remember it. I wonder if that’s because I steeped it longer this time. I bumped the rating up another point. :)

This also came in the bulk section at Whole foods. It smells sooo good in the bag I had to try it! Roses and cardamom, lovely! But how would the flavor hold up?

I ended up steeping this for 4 minutes. It is very heavy on the cardamom, which I don’t mind, but you would have to be a big fan of the stuff. There’s a definite rose element and the ginger is more subdued. I tried mine with soymilk this morning and it IS a very interesting blend. The spices are very strong in this. I think the rich, malty assam lends a nice backdrop to this tea. Might also be interesting to try as a latte!

For me it might be more of an afternoon tea than a breakfast tea, but I like it! Glad I tried it, it’s yummy. :)

I just tried this at Medley, a new tea shop in Multnomah Village. It’s quite good – the ginger is spicy without being overwhelming and it does have a hint of peach. I’d definitely drink this again.

It was The Jasmine Pearl’s eighth anniversary when I went to pick this up. When I first planned the outing with my brother, I didn’t know that. My only mission was to pick up some Earl Grey, which – even with all my teas – I had none of. EVERY one needs an Earl in their cupboard. (Unless you’re allergic to citrus.)

I’ve only ever encountered one or two near-perfect Earl Greys before. My criteria for perfection is: “The more bergamot, the better”. No, not those double-bergamot hackjobs. They’re too much of a good thing. What I mean is a bold citrusy presence without being too astringent. This met that requirement in spades. As I write this feverishly, I’m downing a pot of it. The Ceylon/Keemun base also shines through with floral aplomb.

My account of JP’s anniversary (and other announcements) can be found here: http://steepstories.com/2012/11/04/cheating-nanowrimo/

This is one of the few keemuns I am actually fond of. I got this in the bulk section at Whole Foods so I hope they have more when I go back. It’s very hefty and also takes soymilk well, but it isn’t too “winey” or bitter which is a problem I have with some other teas of this variety. It is fruity with a very slight smokiness.

This came in the bulk bin at Whole Foods, I am not sure what marketing gurus decided that you need a special tea for yoga, but since I just did some yoga I thought I would drink it. :)

I actually like this blend, a lot. It is very flavorful with a nicely balanced mix of herbs: cardamom, fennel and cinnamon seem to predominate. Yes, ginger too. I am not sure what nettles are supposed to taste like or what they contribute, but this is a very nice herbal blend and is delightfully warming.

Namaste!

It’s another foggy morning here, surprise surprise…

I am trying to slug some of this down in order to wake myself up and motivate to get over to the gym. But it is Sunday, and somehow the thought of puttering around seems a bit more appealing, you know?

Anyway this is a decent ceylon, nothing to write home about so I doubt I will be getting anymore. I feel like I need a nice Ceylon to add to my tea collection since the one I was really fond of is now gone. Any suggestions?

I was at Whole foods tonight and I noticed they seem to have changed their bulk tea selection so they have more stuff by the Jasmine Pearl and less by the Silk Road and others – I don’t know if this is an improvement or not but of course I had to pick a few things to try.

This stuff is interesting, it was meant to be a coffee substitute which makes it nice for the evening. I am definitely picking up on the cacao as well as a strong cinnamon element. When you add soymilk to it, it reminds me of a Mexican hot chocolate. There is also a LOT of cinnamon in here. The blend is a little strong for me so I am wondering how this would be mixed in with some regular black tea, although I do not have any plain decaffeinated tea at the moment. This was ok but I doubt I will need to get anymore.

This tea is amazing. I’m not much of a caffeinated tea drinker, but this was just too good to pass up. Perfect taste, and great as a chai or a tea latte. But best of all- this is GREAT for infusing vodka with. I made it for a birthday party with four other tea-infused vodkas, and it was the first gone. Everyone loved it!

They have this at the local Whole Foods in the bulk section so I picked some up to try. The price was about $2/oz., not too bad at all.

My experience in the past with keemuns has been somewhat mixed but I rather liked this one. It has a “biscuity” aroma that I often hear people use to describe teas. I steeped this in my 6 oz. Finum cup which is my new favorite toy. :)

The tea liquor is a sort of medium reddish brown. The tea is supposed to be mildly smoky but I am not really getting that at all. Perhaps I oversmoked my palate from drinking too much lapsang lately, lol. I am picking up the fruity taste which is very pleasant. I am getting light cocoa notes as well. It has a mild astringency but nothing too parching. This has a sweet and mellow quality about it. I am not getting pine either, but I can see why people would akin this tea to a fine red wine, it does have a sort of wine-y quality about it. Would definitely be good with food but also excels as my Friday afternoon tea. I like it and am glad I know where I can restock some! I might be brave enough now to try some other keemuns…

I don’t know a lot about ceylons so I decided to pick a bit of this up at Whole Foods since they have it in the bulk bin section. I doubt this is a first class example of what a ceylon can be but I wanted to try some. :)

I steeped this for 3 minutes at around 205 F. It is very pleasant, somewhat brisk, a bit fruity with some astringency. I don’t think this is an orange pekoe but it does share some similarities with that style. I was able to drink it plain just fine but I liked it better with a touch of organic soymilk added to it. It seems good but I don’t have much to compare it to. In any case I am not totally loving it. I might try steeping again at 2 minutes next time.