Jasmine Ancient Beauty

Full Review on March 17th but here are snippts:

As a lover of oolong teas I can see how some people could be disappointed in this tea if they go into with expectations of it tasting like any other oolong they have ever had before.

Or if you are one who loves jasmine teas, I could see some disappointment there as well as this is not your typical jasmine tea either.
Honestly, if no one told me, or I had not read the label before hand, I would have thought this to be a puerh. The leaves do come from a tree that is over a thousand years old according to The Persimmon Tree’s description and I believe it as this tea does have an aged flavor to it for sure.

Other notes I pick up on aside from honey, berry, jasmine, and oolong, are mushroom, earth, woods, brown sugar, toasted oat bread, to name a few. You really need to discover this tea for yourself.

Perfumey. Very floral, very jasmine. But dark. Not a black jasmine, but stronger than a green or white jasmine. So, yeah. Oolong jasmine – yup, that’s what this is, alright. :)

I like it. It is a bold jasmine.

Trying a slightly less caffeinated tea tonight. Also limiting this to 16 ounces tonight so no resteep. :)

Steep Information:
Amount: 4.3g
Water: 500ml 195°F
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL
Steep Time: 3 minutes
Served: Hot/Cold

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: jasmine, floral, sweet, a little vegetal
Steeped Tea Smell: vegetal, jasmine, sweet
Flavor: vegetal
Body: Light
Aftertaste: perfume
Liquor: translucent light brown

It’s a very light tea, i think additions would overpower it.

2 Resteep:500ml 195°F 4 minutes
I like this better, stronger, closer to an oxidized oolong. Less perfume aftertaste and more sweet.

3 Resteep:500ml 195°F 4 minutes
Weaker, should have gone 5 minutes.

4 Resteep:500ml 195°F 10 minutes
Weaker, last cup

Now, since I love bold flavor I shared this with my co-worker who enjoys mild teas, she LOVED it (4/4).

http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2011/02/persimmon-tree-tea-company-loose-leaf.html

Loose
Appearance: dark large curl oolong
Aroma when Dry: light earthy, floral jasmine
After water is first poured: strong floral jasmine
At end of first steep: honeyed apple jasmine
Tea liquor:
At end of steep: clear
Staple? No, might try type again
Preferred time of day: afternoon, evening
Taste:
At first?: light, thick perfumy velvety jasmine
As it cools?: notes sweeten, thicken in the palate
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)?No
Lingers? Yes, sticky sweet jasmine notes

Someone send me this in a swap and all of my swap samples got mixed up so I can’t remember :[ But thank you whoever you are!
The aroma of this tea is just delightful! The flavor is very light and floral.

What a beautifully fragrant tea! Right out of the gate you can smell the sweet floral scent on the leaves and upon starting the steep the scent only gets more intense and lovely. I was a bit surprised by how dark this tea brewed, since the flavors were so airy and light. If you have ever had the pleasure of tasting honey suckle on a fine summer’s day then you have an inkling to the relaxing and sweet floral flavors that this tea is all about. The second steep I found to be as strong as the first, though smoother in texture. With the third and fourth steeps the flavor is still there, though a bit weaker with each brewing. Really pleased with this tea.

I love oolong tea and I love jasmine, so I had high hopes for this tea. Perhaps I was expecting too much because it was simply ho-hum. I brewed my first cup at 195 and the second one at 185 for 3 minutes. Both times I got a full-bodied jasmine flavor followed by a bitter aftertaste. Weird. I’ll stick with jasmine green tea for now.