Jasmine Green

Here is a lesson to you very generous wives: don’t put this tea in a pretty little teacup with the intention of drinking/savoring this delicious tea and then offer it to your Hubby so he can sniff and appreciate the delicate aroma of this tea (while he is watching the golf Masters on TV) and then be left holding air because said Hubby took the teacup (oh the delicate glass teacup in his hands!) and took many a sip before he gives it back to you, half gone – all after he had originally declined an offer of tea in the first place!

Humph.

This tea is delicious. Delicately jasmine-y green tea. My second time drinking it this afternoon. Using a fresh (precious) batch (1 rounded tsp) of tea leaves from the oh-so-small-tin-can that is the Andrews & Dunham tea tin. Made with 10 oz of boiling water, cooled to 180°F, steeped 2 minutes. So good – and did I mention pretty? A light bright golden yellow with a tinge of green (a smidgeon, a hint, no more than that). And that heavenly aroma as you sip – wow. Bumping up the ratings again!

I was at a loss. I wanted to try this tea really badly, but I also had to go to class. And then I remembered that I had that travel tumbler from Teas Etc. that Steepster Select ran a while ago.

Crisis aborted.

Class actually wasn’t bad, but I was going in sleepy and I credit this tea to keeping me fully awake for three hours of lecture. This is going to have to become a regular practice of mine.

So, the tea.

The tea kapowed me in the face with scent when I opened the tin. I almost half-expected to see a little cartoon splat with WAP! in it. It was almost stronger than Samovar or Harney & Son’s Jasmine Pearl teas smell, which is kind of impressive if slightly overwhelming. I was a little bit afraid that the tea would judo chop my taste buds, but I steeped it, dumped it into my travel tumbler, and headed out into the cold.

And so I sat in class, listening about the physics of acoustics, and I unscrewed the lid on my tumbler.

Smells good. Strong, but good. It didn’t have that artificial tinge that some jasmines can have, which was a very good sign. Good good good good good.

Took a sip, tentatively. It was in that lovely temperature between hot and lukewarm that tips just a little bit closer to hot. The taste of jasmine filled my senses and, after it had been downed, that lovely perfumed sweetness tickled my breath when I exhaled. I had to suppress a little giggle and concentrate on standing waves for a bit, before returning to the tea.

I managed to time finishing the tumbler with our break in lecture [for which my bladder thanked me] and found myself wishing I had more to sip on during the rest of the lecture. It probably ended up working out well, though, because the caffeine kept me awake and I would have been wired if I’d had enough to last me through the end of class.

Jasmine Green wasn’t pretty strictly jasmine tasting, and it was not a quiet, lullaby-like taste. It was more Whitney Houston power ballad – you know, old school Whitney. I Will Always Love You Whitney. This doesn’t have some of the other notes I’ve gotten out of jasmine tea – like the cocoa notes I sometimes get in Samovar’s; it’s really a solo act. But like Kevin Gillespie in Top Chef has proven – keeping things simple and doing them well can be pretty damn effective. And this tea plays that hand with skill.

Series three has hit the ground running.

OH MY CEILING CAT WHY MUST IT BE SO HOT???

I think I’ve worked out what controls my green tea moods and my black tea moods. It’s heat. When it’s hot, green tea seems more refreshing. When it isn’t hot, it often seems to be a little boring to drink for me. When it isn’t hot, I like the strength of a good black much better. Oolongs, they’re sort of an all-round type.

It’s hot today, so I turn towards green. This one, with it’s strong jasmine flavour, probably wasn’t the best choice but it was the first tin I saw.

goes back to melting

A Jasmine Green tea experience fail has occurred. Cause: Faulty user cannot compute JGreen correctly.

Yesterday afternoon, I heated up some chicken curry with onions and green peppers. A cup of JGreen sounded like it would go great with the meal. For the past week or two, my allergies have been acting up in varies degrees of horribleness, trending towards worse over time. While JGreen was indeed a great compliment to the meal, somehow the floraliness of the tea was being associated in my head with contributing to the awful feeling of the allergies. The tea tasted delicious but my mind was interpreting it as this is bad for your allergies.

I finished the first cup and thought I would get another steep or few in at some point during the rest of the day. I thought about it several times but never brought myself to do it. I hated throwing out the leaves after only one steep. It felt a bit wasteful, especially since I so enjoy this tea usually.

I did start taking Zyrtec yesterday and am now going through the 5-7 day adjustment period where I’m pretty groggy at times until my body gets used to the medicine. I was hoping to make it through the allergy season with just some bad days but no meds. Alas, that was not the case. I am confident that once the allergy symptoms have subsided fully I shall be able to enjoy JGreen without any hangups.

Since I just placed an order for this tea, I figured I’d finish up the sampling that Doulton sent to me. (Thanks again!)

This is truly a delightful jasmine. It is important to get the brewing parameters correct (or as correct as you might get if you’re an “eyeballer” like me) because too hot a temperature can be detrimental to this tea.

But when brewed at a lower temperature, the taste is divine! A very strong jasmine flavor which is remarkable in itself, since I typically find non-pearl jasmine teas to be a bit soft in the jasmine flavor… perhaps soft isn’t the right word. But, it’s just OFF compared to that of the pearl – as pearl is the standard toward which all jasmines should strive.

I’m bumping this score a notch, just because I can and I feel like it.

This is a very good quality jasmine green.

I feel churlish giving it a score that doesn’t reflect the score I think someone who enjoys both jasmine and green teas might give it, but the fact remains that green teas are a sporadic indulgence for me at best, and floral teas are equally a matter of mood and whim, and the combination of the two together will never be a staple in my cupboard.

This is among the stronger jasmine teas I’ve tried. The tea that it produces is slightly cloudy (or at least not crystal clear); there’s a pleasant sweetness there, but also the sort of vegetal astringency that tends to be one of the reasons I lean toward green oolongs rather than purely green teas for a lighter cup. The jasmine flavor doesn’t seem to be in the least bit artificial, and the smell of the dry tea leaves is absolutely lovely.

To me, though, it’s like having a mouth full of perfume. This is absolutely in no way a drawback in terms of what the tea sets out to accomplish…but one really ought to enjoy jasmine to drink this tea. It is unrelentingly jasmine-y.

Every time I see the tin for this tea, it makes me want to sing Lady Marmalade (original Labelle one, s’il vous plaît!)

http://videosift.com/video/LaBelle-Lady-Marmalade-original

Mmmmmm these tea leaves smell good!!!!

1st steep: Hellooooooo Gorgeous! Floral, fruity and sweet. Maybe I’m crazy but I taste something like banana or some other sweet tropical fruit!!! It’s different from any of the green jasmines I’ve so far tasted, and I really like it. I lowered the temp and steeping time slightly based on what others have said and I think it was a good way to go.

2nd steep: (3min) A lighter sweet and floral cup. I really can’t get over the natural sweetness!

Also – magical mood lifting properties in full effect!

Gitchi Gitchi Ya Ya Da Da!!!!

I don’t always like jasmine green teas because of the tea base use – most Chinese greens are pretty briny to me. This one seems to have more of a sweet Chinese green taste than a salty one. The jasmine taste is softer than I expected. The jasmine surrounds the edges of the tea taste on all sides but the center flavor is still sweet Chinese green.

Typically, I prefer my jasmine teas to be softer, more delicate – jasmine with hints of soft, light, sweet tea. This is more evenly balanced and, while not stout like an Assam or anything, stronger than what could be considered delicate. But even though it’s not my preference, it’s still nice. Quite tasty.
^7.7g/14oz

Whoot! I just recently got the package Takgoti sent me and this was one of the teas she included. I’m really excited about trying the Samovar ones, but I’m almost scared that I’ll end up wrecking them!

I have to say that I’m a little disapointed at how small and broken up the leaves are – thought that could have happened easily enough in the mail, I suppose. The scent of the tea is a little ‘green’ but mostly it makes me think “Mmm, jasmine soap…wait-!” Sooooo maybe not the most auspicious beginning, but let’s move along.

I have to say that I think it’s too perfumed for my tastes. The taste-recognition part of my brain keeps sending me ‘jasmine soap’ which I like well enough – just not to drink. The green tea base strikes me as a tad bitter aswell, unfortunatly. I’ve got more leaf to experiment with so maybe I’ll reduce the length of the steep next time.

My husband called it “Jasmine Water”. Jasmine…Water. I also had to say to him, “No babe, it’s a green tea…you may not add milk and sugar to it!” sigh He’s still new. At least he tries all of the teas I bring home. He’s currently of the mindset that if it’s not Earl Grey or bold enough to smack your tongue like Thor’s hammer, it’s water. He’ll come around…eventually.

On to the tea. I really enjoyed my cup. Very floral without being perfume-y. I like that after swallowing the tea, my breath smelled like jasmine but with just a hint of the taste lingering. I’m not a fan of the jasmine teas where you can taste the jasmine “oil” all day and it becomes offputting. The green tea that A&D used to blend with was on the light side to me. The jasmine was the main event. Front and center. I do somewhat agree with my husband in that the green tea was so light in taste, that it could have been mistaken for white tea…almost. Still, very tasty cuppa.

Thanks again, Takgoti. You’re the best!

Some of this on a warm summer afternoon? Lovely.

I deliberately overbrewed this using boiling water and keeping the leaves steeped in my travel mug—and it still tastes wonderful! The flavor is deliciously toasty and potent but the overall effect still manages to be bright and creamy. There is briskness toward the end, but no bitterness!

This is a very easy-going tea. It seems I can’t go wrong with it.

Jasmine Green really is a star!

(instead of a demanding, high-maintenance diva :) )

Oh my goodness. When you first open the tin, the scent that hits you is incredible. It reminded me of the Jasmine Dragon Pearls that I’m rather fond of, strong and sweet without being cloying. The tea itself is much sweeter and smoother than the pearls, with a bold jasmine flavour that springs up in a unitard and says “JASMINE!” with jazz hands. Even the second steep managed to be a sheer delight by tasting exactly like a silver needle jasmine!
Standing ovation Jasmine Green, now let us throw roses at your feet and demand another encore.