Jasmine Pearls (Mo Li Zhen Zhu)

For whatever reason, I haven’t had jasmine pearls in a long time. They really are wonderful.

I love flowers. Everything about them. Especially the way they smell. I am the guy who literally stops to smell roses…so I am a sucker for good Jasmine. Silk Roads Jasmine pearls have a balanced dry leaf aroma. The Jasmine scent shares the spotlight with a notable “fruity” aroma, like berries or jam. The leaf looks consistent and is really more of a light brown with a striking white stripe that runs along the middle of the pearl. The brown may be due to the fact that Jasmine pearls, while technically green tea, often are slightly oxidized. This helps the tea to absorb the scent of the Jasmine.

The first steep, done with water about 176F, was very light. It tasted like sweet water. Very little aroma in the first cup. On the second steep, I upped the temperature to about 190F (sometimes I forget you can be a bit harder on Chinese greens) and low and behold, I got the depth I was looking for. The jasmine scent was balanced now by a nice “pull” of astringency. The hotter water really brought out the dry taste of the tea. I was trying to taste the actually flavor of the green tea, which is hard to do with so much of what you are getting being Jasmine. The tea itself, even before being scented, is high quality. It had a slight vegetal zing and a savory after taste. Nice.

Ok, so the tea really got interesting after the 2nd steep. The 3rd was the most balanced so far. The leaves, now very open, seemed to really give up the goods. A deep briny liquor and delicate jasmine aroma really worked together. The Jasmine in this tea is not cloying or over sweet as in some lesser quality teas. I liked that the tea and the scent were partners, and not fighting for the spot light. The 4th steep continued the trend and I even drank a 5th too. The color of the liquor was a golden chestnut and the pale green leaves continued to open.

I really enjoyed this…a sophisticated Jasmine pearl is hard to find in the sea of tea thats out there. Try this. You wont be disappointed!

The pearls have a lovely light jasmine scent in the tin.

After steeping, they make a very pale yellow liquor that is clear, and smells deliciously of juicy jasmine flowers.

The flavor is mild, but a lovely jasmine that has some juiciness to it and isn’t painted on or at all artificial tasting. The tea has no bitterness, and adds a nice greenness to the flavor without in any way dominating it.

And it goes really well with leftover turkey.