Yunnan White Jasmine

This arrived in the mail yesterday. I had had an unimpressive day of tea up until that point—I steeped some peach white too long, making the taste of peach gummi rings stick in my mouth; I then tried a 2010 shu pu’erh that I haven’t figured out exactly what works best for it yet. It wasn’t bad, just unremarkable, which I’m sure is because I’m still figuring it out. So I had some of my new Yunnan White Jasmine.

It smelled heavenly right away—sweet, floral, not overly so. The first steeping was fresh and pleasantly jasminey. I may not have been in a mood for jasmine white tea yesterday—I’m not sure, but I think I was looking for something roastier and darker. I enjoyed that steeping, though, and I decided to come back to the same leaves the next day with a fresh mind.

“Fresh mind” is putting it generously. I just finished a dialogue final paper for one of my classes, and I got to bed late (for me) last night and finished it this morning before handing it in. I’m kind of dragging this morning, a little spaced out, and generally tired-feeling, so a nice hot cup of tea (without caffeine!) is very welcome at this point.

So it’s the first steeping of the day, but it’s the second steep. Sweet goodness, the second steep. I feel like I’m strolling—maybe hovering a little bit—through a garden in early June, a garden full of cascading white blooms, with my mouth hanging open. This is sweet, smooth, creamy bliss. I’m sitting here half-awake with my hands wrapped around my mug and my chin stuck down into it, absorbing as much of this delicious warmth as I can.

If you’re just not in a jasmine mood the day you try this…do what I did and save the leaves for the next day. It’s more than worth it.

What is this that’s suddenly on my tongue? I’m not making it up—it’s sweet and slightly caramely. This might be the powdered sugar sensation that Geoffrey mentioned, although I’m sure no two people will get the exact same experience out of this…(for the paper I just finished I’ve been talking about Kant, so this connects in a surprisingly analogous way.) This tea is full of surprises.

If that was just the second steep…gosh, what will the next ones be like?

Jasmine tea has grown on me, but I’m still wary of trying new ones for fear of that strong perfumey taste. If I hadn’t got this one as a sample with my order, I probably would never have tried it.

But I’m so glad I did, because it is the most perfectly balanced jasmine tea I’ve ever had. The jasmine doesn’t overpower; it shares the spotlight so you can actually taste the silver needles, and the sip is so silky and ends with a bit of sweetness. There’s also a crisp, fresh linen quality to it, which makes me feel like I’ve been transported into a plush robe sitting atop a luxurious bed in a fancy hotel (and in that case, it’s well worth the price, right?) I’ll definitely order this one (and I’ll have to hoard the rest of this sample for special occasions until then!)

I just received this tea and I when I opened the bag I felt nothing but excitement and anticipation. I was about to have a sip of water while I held the bag looking at the leaves, when the wonderful scent hit me. Just amazing, I’ve had around 4 other white Jasmine teas and non have hypnotized me like this.

The buds are just beautiful and when I picked them they were soft, felt like picking up a bunch of cotton in my hand. While steeping the scent because more apparent and more pleasurable. The liquid was almost clear with just a bit of yellow and the scent was as if it had cloned into the liquid itself, yet the leaves felt just awakened not depleted of its smell.

I was able to do multiple steeps of the leaves with out it becoming bitter or astringent and the scent wasn’t faded at all. It has a bit of delicate spiciness to it. If seems savory but it has an apparent sweetness to it. I’d recommend it to any Jasmine lovers and if you had bad experiences with Jasmine before, this should be the one that makes up for it.

A sample kindly given to me by Angrboda, thank you so much! This was sort of a random pick, whatever was closest – I needed to cleanse my palate after a really bad tea (“japanese” green with quince, from the cutesy gift shop. I am a sucker for quince and was looking for a quince flavoured tea but I should have known better! At least it was cheap but OMG it tasted so so so cheap) .

I had never had white tea with jasmine before (though I had had it with a touch of osmanthus) and this is lovely. Very good quality tea, and there is an underlying woodsy-ness beneath the flowers which gives it depth, which I quite like. But there is a but, while I like jasmine teas very much I think I prefer my white teas plain or more lightly flavoured. I like jasmine with green tea – not sure if there is a real judgment there or it´s just due to familiarity.

This tea is beyond good. This is the best jasmine I have tasted. I actually GIGGLED while sipping it. I was expecting greatness, but I wasn’t expecting the wonderful white tea base to come through so much. It’s actually CREAMY. Creamy and jasmine together equals epic win. And there’s more!! This tea is sweet. Stealing from someone else, it reminds me of powdered sugar, plus vanilla. Creamy vanilla jasmine powdered sugar. Da bomb.
Because of my husband-induced limited tea budget( he just doesn’t get tea yet..he’s proving to be difficult to convert lol) I normally would have never ordered this tea. Now, I can’t resist. Thanks, David, for including this as a sample in my last order. Meant with sarcasm. :P No, really, if you like jasmine or even if you don’t like jasmine, try this tea.
As this is a yunnan, I am still getting that linen aftertaste I’ve described before as not enjoying. But I can’t get over this tea. It’s indulgent, luscious, and exquisite.

This came as part of my Budset Sampler and I’m so glad it did as I was planning on ordering some for a friend anyway. I must disclose that I believe I am mildly allergic to jasmine, it tickles my throat and I had to stop drinking it last summer as it interfered with my sales (it could have been nerves but somehow I pinpointed it to when I was drinking jasmine, which was quite often). I meant to experiment if it was more intense during allergy season, but never did. Anywho, I can enjoy it in very small quantities, but one of my co-workers loves jasmine and silver needle so I knew she would love this.

I had our barista brew this up on an awful day when I was dizzy and sitting on the floor of the back room waiting for my husband to come pick me up. But the dried leaf and brew smelled heavenly and it was truly delicious, there were other notes like lilac or something. I would have loved to experience multiple steeps, but I left the leaf and the packet to her and she was ever so in love and reported back that it was amazing, so I just wanted to make note of that. I know she joined steepster awhile ago but I can’t find her on here (I know I can just ask). So Diane if you’re reading this, I would love to hear any additional thoughts on this tea ;)

In full disclosure I am not a huge fan of jasmine tea but after reading everyone’s tasting notes I was hoping this would be the one to convert me and it would have me doing backflips and sighing with delight like everyone else.

I drank a bunch of this last night and I’m having some more this afternoon. I’ve finally pinpointed what my beef is with jasmine tea. Although I love the smell I find it very drying and it also seems to upset my stomach and that is just a bit unpleasant. I didn’t tank it in the ratings because it isn’t Verdant’s fault I don’t like jasmine, I probably should have stuck with something else.

But onto other subjects. This is very clean and nice, I think the jasmine goes really well with this particular white. I’ve tried steeping this a few different ways and my favorite is to steep it in the gaiwan at a lower water temp, I believe I’ve been using around 160 F – 170 F. That seems to bring out the natural sweetness of the white a little bit which is helping me deal with the jasmine.

I went and bought some bulk herbs and flowers and I threw a few rose petals in it which is also nice but I somehow want to go make a bath oil with it now… lol!

Another wonderful tea full of flavor and complexity. I can’t add anything to what so many have already said, except that this truly is an exceptional Jasmine White!

This was my sample from my 2nd order from verdant. I get a little surprised every time with a great sample…since I leave it up to them.The last sample was the Sun Dried Jing Shan Green tea, which I purchased more of with this order.
The scent of Jasmine was just right. When I opened the box it was the first thing that I smelled, which confused me because I did not think I ordered anything with Jasmine. It was at the bottom of the box…Yunnan White Jasmine. The smell was not artificial smelling at all. This is my second white jasmine tea. The first was the Steepster Select pearls…which I traded. I did not think it had a good balance of jasmine and white.
I decided to brew this in my new tasting set from Adagio. Since my gaiwan broke this was the next best thing for this tea. The jasmine was not over powering the white at all. A nice balance. The second steep came and went quickly. I was wondering where the apricot jam flavor was going to come through. It was not until my second to last sip that it hit. Very nice! The third steep the apricot jam flavor was even more prominent in the tea. I am now on my 4th steep and the apricot is still going strong with the jasmine.
While I am not typically a white tea girl….this was a nice indulgence.

Thanks for the sample. :)

A wonerful blend of white and jasmine. Very soothing. Not overly perfumed. I would not mind keeping this in stock.

I have to admit I knew I was in love from the first sip. There was this feeling of incredible calm. The jasmine is blended perfectly with the white Yunnan. My GF who is not a tea drinker lit up when she tried it. She has had all of my teas and her reaction to this one was the best so far. This includes some of the highest rated teas on steepster. I will go so far as to say this is one of the best new teas I have had lately. Absolutely superb when brewed in the Gaiwan with less than boiling water and steeped for just a few minutes. This is a must-have….

Wow, just wow. Jasmine teas are one of my favorites, and this one is extra fine! I also really love a thick white silver needle like this. I’ll have to do a side by side tasting with my favorite jasmine pearl tea to see which one is my ULTIMATE favorite jasmine that I will keep in stock at all times!

I’m really glad I ordered this tea. White teas are hit and miss with me, but this surprised me. I love jasmine in almost all forms, but I was really worried the white tea would taste like hay. Thankfully this tastes more like a green tea to me. Kind of nutty but so amazingly smooth and sweet because of the jasmine. It’s a great blend. I tried it at 85 and 80 degrees, and i find it best at the lower temperature. A cold brew is next.

On a sad note, I’m drinking this while holding my breath for the Canucks. Down a goal already in game 4. I need a stiff drink to keep watching this. I was expecting to watch more than 4 games of playoff hockey this year!

EDIT: WE WON!

I thought I wasn’t a fan of white tea, but I suddenly felt like giving it a try and came across a sample of this in my tea drawer.

Wow.

I like to believe that I have an unbiased opinion when trying a new tea. When this tea arrived, I was still new to teas and had only tried about 5 different kinds of white teas. I have to say I was taken in by this on my first pot and it didn’t hit me until my second infusion that this tea might be the one. 3 months later, I know that it is.

This is my #1 white tea of all time and has accompanied me on my romantic dinners, sweet moments, and rough nights. This is literally my go to tea. In fact I’m currently drinking it as I write this.

I just wanted to test the waters and make sure that this was as good as I thought, so I went to about 10 different tea websites and purchased every white jasmine, jasmine pearl, and jasmine silver needle I could find. From jasmine pearl master teas, to superior grade silver needle, this tea has no equal.

I have almost tried to oversteep and bitter the tea, understeep and not obtain flavor, and over cook with 212 degree water but all to no avail. This tea is not only delicious, but will withstand any and all mistakes you might make in the brewing, still coming out like a champion. I recently bought my second batch and will absolutely get a third.

Be warned. If you try this tea you might not like the others jasmine teas as you once did. Happy drinking!

This is a lovely floral tea. I find a lot of jasmine teas have a very bitter aftertaste that leaves my mouth dry, but his one only has a touch of that. The mouthfeel iis rich and smooth, only leaving the slightest dryness. The white tea is of course subtle, but has a little bit of a kick to it that prevents it from being bland.

This tea is very nice and light. Flowery but jasmine is very prominent. Has a sweet after taste, and is very fresh. This was my closest to straight white tea.

It’s good, but I think I might be doing something wrong. :) In my past experience with white teas, the steep time is usually 1 min or so, and temperature about 175. The packaging suggests steeping for 4 minutes at 205 which seems a little high for white tea?

I have tried a couple of different temperatures and I think I need to experiment more to really get a good feeling for what works best with this one. Probably what I really need to do is steep it in a Gaiwan instead, given the specific instructions for this style.

Anyhow – it IS very good and tasty and certainly well-balanced. I don’t have much Jasmine experience but I’m comparing it in my mind to Jasmin Mandarin Special Grade from Lupicia and the Jasmine Silver Needle from Adagio.

Jasmine Silver Needle is similar in some ways, but it does have a much more punchy floral Jasmine smell and flavour. I know tons of people can’t stand that, but I find it really interesting and very enticing. I think I need to appreciate this tea for being a little more subtle than the Adagio cousin/relation of this. I’ll have to try a few different temperatures and steep times to get a better idea of what works best.

If anyone has any suggestions on steep time or temperature for this tea, I’d love to hear some comments!

Had this tea yesterday afternoon. It was delicious. It has a very nice calm white tea flavor with a great floral element that is not too overpowering as some have said. As I sipped this one more and it cooled down a bit it became creamier and had a nice warming feel to it.

I like jasmine teas and this one is one of my favorites, it’s almost as good as jasmine pearls.

I could see myself cuddling up with a cup of this at the end of a long day. Just not today because I’m having chai right now.

I received a sample of this with my Verdant tea order that arrived yesterday (Yay!). The tea pieces are large and substantial – largest white tea I’ve seen before (although, I’m pretty new to this). Previously, I had been on the fence about jasmine, if that’s possible – I see on these boards that most people either love or hate it. Once I added a touch of sugar which really enhanced the jasmine flavor, this was wonderful! Very smooth with the white tea flavors and jasmine blending well together. I steeped this 3 times, adding a minute to each steeping, and all were excellent. Yummy!