Jasmine Pearl

I don’t know what I’m doing having a jasmine tea when I’m about to go be totally soaked in jasmine tea in China, but I still hadn’t tried this one from when I ordered samples from thepuritea a while ago, and I decided to open one of the pouches. These seem like pretty standard jasmine pearls and I admit I was kind of fooled into buying this sample because they list this as an oolong. Apparently the rolling causes some oxidation so that it can be considered a pouchong, so that’s why, but I had it in my head that it was more like a jasmine tieguanyin. Oh well, I’m always up for new pearls.

Steeped, this tea smells like a nice jasmine tea… very floral, but in a fresh flowers way, not a perfumy way. I have to say, this is a pretty tasty jasmine pearl! The tea is slightly sweet, smooth, and jasminey without being too strong. In fact I think it’s on the lighter side of things, flavoring-wise. I mean, the jasmine is definitely the main show here, the tea is just so so smooth that it seems like it’s less strong of a flavoring or something. It’s not mind blowing or anything, but it is a very nice, easy to drink tea.

Steep Information:
Amount: 6.3 g (one of the two sample packs included in the pillow box)
Water: 500ml filtered water 180°F
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL (custom, mild)
Steep Time: 3 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: strong sweet jasmine flowers
Steeped Tea Smell: lightly sweet and jasmine flower
Flavor: floral, slightly vegetal, sweet, refreshing
Body: Light
Aftertaste: sweet
Liquor: translucent yellow-green

Resteep: 4min, a bolder flavor but slightly astringent.

Not as strong a flavor as I would have preferred, perhaps a longer steep, the smell was amazing though.

Images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/06/thepuritea-loose-leaf-oolong-tea.html

“The best laid schemes of Mice and Men…” I planned on a light relaxing week yesterday – that was before my commute, which seems to get longer every day, got in the way. Today I refused to let the day get the best of me and I planned ahead (see Coconut Cream Pie by 52Teas review). This was the first tea I enjoyed during my commute.

I added the full sample packet, about 2 scoops to my very large travel mug. Added ¼ teaspoon of German Rock Sugar, in case it took me too long to get to the tea, then filled it half way with hot water, let it infuse 4 minutes, then filled the rest with cold water (so as to shock the tea and not let it over-infuse and get bitter). I was lucky in that I got to drink it almost immediately. The liquor is a pale green color, the fragrance is a light Jasmine. The flavor follows the fragrance very closely, it is light, slightly toasty and definitely jasmine.

The tea itself was very good, nice and light.

A more astringent and jasmine-y tea than other jasmine pearl teas I’ve had. The word that keeps coming to mind is “harsher” but that conveys negativity. It’s not as smooth nor as delicate as others, but it’s not a bad thing.

Maybe I should say it’s a more masculine jasmine pearl. It’s good. Almost powerful. Yummy.

Thank you AmazonV for letting me try this one! So I had this one last night before bed and it brewed a bit darker than most jasmine pearls I had, but I also noticed the pearls were darker as well. The taste was “ok”, it had a more vegetal taste and was lighter on the jasmine than most and to me was a bit astringency. I have no idea what a tin of these cost, but if they are cheap then I would say they’re not bad, but if they’re the normal cost of what these usually run then I would say look elsewhere!

Settling in for a nice quiet evening sipping this beautiful and tasty oolong tea. It is fresh and fragrant in it’s aroma before and after steeping. The flavor is wonderful and provided you like Jasmine, you can’t go wrong with this one. The brew is a pale yellow with a hint of green. If you aren’t a big fan of Jasmine this one may be even considered slightly overpowering. However, I assume that is what you would purchase the tea for. A second steeping and maybe even a third may be in order for this cup.

So…. um, flowers.

They really aren’t my thing. But I got this sample free with my thepuriTea order so I figured I had nothing to lose by giving it a shot. Steeped the entire sample in 500 ml. water at the below parameters.

The smell and taste of the leaf was predictably jasmine, and really it wasn’t bad. I drank it unaltered and though it was a bit perfumy, I found it drinkable. It just isn’t to my tastes because I’m not a floral person. I do think it was equal parts jasmine and tea, so if you are someone who likes this type of tea, you would enjoy it.

Woohoo! New jasmine pearls to try! Thanks Dinosara :)

This one is not quite as naturally sweet and delicate as some of the others I have tried. It is still quite good though. I can’t get enough of jasmine pearls in general!

First Steep

Has a somewhat strong jasmine “leafy” smell. Very unoffensive taste. Little to no aftertaste.

A fairly bland and generic jasmine tea, gets the job done without being too fancy or obtrusive (which is certainly not a bad thing); soothing and relaxing. Maybe try with honey for a bit more flavor?

A pretty good jasmine tea