I wanted to go back and have these Jasmine Pearls again after my rapturous Harney & Sons experience this weekend. These were the first Jasmine pearls I’d ever tried, and I liked them a lot, but how do they stand up now?
The first time I brewed these I followed the instructions on the package of only putting in 4-6 balls with a cup (so I put in 8 or so with my 12oz cup). With Harney I put in a whole perfect teaspoon, so this time I did that as well. These pearls are a little larger overall, so I didn’t quite get the 24 pearls per tsp that I got with Harney, but definitely more than the 8 I put in last time. Last time I brewed for 5 minutes and it was still very light in color and flavor (no wonder, with so few pearls). This time I went for 4 minutes; the liquor is still light, but the jasmine flavor is a bit more prominent I think, and this time I’m definitely getting a distinct hit of sweetness I don’t remember getting last time. Nevertheless, the taste isn’t as well rounded and it has less depth. The sweetness seems to hang out at the end of the sip and doesn’t quite meld properly with the jasmine aroma. It’s still a nice jasmine tea, and there’s nothing really that’s bad about it, but it just doesn’t blow me out of the water.
