I actually got this tea while I was in Ottawa last week writing…wait for it…that test. This little teahouse has been open for about a year now, and I’m sad that I only got into loose-leaf tea after leaving Ottawa, because I would have liked to spend more time there if I could. The menu is excellent over all, and there’s a large variety of tea. I wouldn’t necessarily suggest this as a good place for beginners, because I think it’s a lot less overwhelming when you have a fairly solid understanding of tea, or at least your preferences. The owner is a delightful man, and i’m happy to support him.
Anyway, I’ve always been after a jasmine black, because despite loving the flavour of it in green tea, I can’t say I’m much of a fan of most green tea: I find it to taste…well, green, for lack of a better term, more like grass, or vegetables, and I just don’t think I like that taste in my tea. It’s too bad, too, because green tea has been “all the rage” these past years, but whatever—can’t please ’em all, right? I like my teas strong and black.
This tea tastes lovely. So lovely, in fact, that I ended up with, um, 200 g of it. So yes, I am willing to share.
This is not an incredibly complex tea. It has a fairly solid black base, and a mild jasmine flavour as well—the jasmine certainly doesn’t boll you over with its intensity or perfume or anything, but it’s certainly present, and did an excellent job at calming my wrangled nerves this morning. Despite the fact that it’s flavoured, I think it’s an excellent breakfast tea, and am actually reasonably confident that I’ll at least make a healthy dent in this bag. And of course, it’s excellent with cream and sugar. Mmm, creamy jasmine!
