When I was at the Harney Soho store one of the teas I chose to sample was the Dragon Pearl Jasmine. I asked about their Jasmine teas in general and the guy helping me brought down both this tea and the Yin Hao Jasmine; upon smelling them I knew this was the one I had to try. The jasmine smell of the Dragon Pearl was much more powerful and flowery. My sample basically blew me away. The first thing that struck me was how sweet the tea was, and how delicious the floral flavor was melding with that. Full, lovely jasmine flavor, like fresh picked jasmine flowers, with a beautiful rounded strongly honeysuckle sweetness that lingers on the tongue. I can’t remember ever having so delicious a jasmine tea, and I had to buy some of course.
So I brought my 2oz of pearls home and made myself wait until this afternoon when I had my temp-controlled tea kettle and some time to enjoy them. I really wish Harney would put the steeping instructions for individual teas on their website, since I didn’t really know anything but the temperature for this. I read that someone got 21 pearls out of a sachet meant for 12oz of water, and a level perfect teaspoon yielded 24 pearls for my 12oz Kati cup, so I figured I would go with that. A 3min 30sec steep time seemed to be what most people were doing in the reviews, so I went with that. Most of the pearls seem to have completely unfolded in the first steep (this didn’t actually happen at the tasting bar at the Soho store, but the cup they were steeping in was smaller), although a few were still loosely bound together. The flavor is the same amazing flavor I got from my sample at the store, so these parameters seem to be good. I get strong flavor all the way through the cup, from hot to cool. These seem to be my Jasmine Pearls to beat!
Second steep, 5 min. I didn’t get to try resteeping the leaves in the store, but I can now. This steep is a little less sweet, especially when very hot. The Jasmine aroma is still very strong, and the sweetness definitely comes out as it cools a bit. Definitely a delicious second steep as well.
