The Jasmine Pearl Tea Company

A wonderfully mellow Jasmine tea. The Jasmine is flavorful without being overwhelming and it feels like you can re-steep forever without losing taste. A favorite comfort tea.

Had this with pre-packing breakfast. There isn’t a lot to have when most of your food is packed, and nobody went to the store. So I had some oatmeal. I usually have it with cinnamon, so this paired nicely. There was a lovely scent of ginger at first, and the cardamom came out when I brewed it. The flavour was a nice blend of the two spices. And the rose petals were a pretty bit of added colour. Thanks to cookies.

Oh, I get to be first! My evening cup while I watch Sleepy Hollow (the series). The scent is nicely creamy and floral. There is a kinda strong rose flavour, and the vanilla gets a little lost. As it cools, there is more creamy vanilla taste.

It’s interesting, and I want rose ice cream now.

Backlog:

An excellent Earl Grey. A strong, amazingly beautiful bergamot scent (I never get tired of that scent.) The base is Ceylon and Keemun which offers a strong background of flavor without being too aggressive. It’s smooth and well-rounded. No bitterness and only slightly astringent toward the tail. What astringency there is seems to accentuate the bergamot notes in a positive way.

Bright, citrus-y bergamot. Notes of floral without tasting perfume-ish. The citrus notes linger in the aftertaste. Tangy and invigorating.

A seriously good Earl Grey. Definitely in my top five. I’m not sure which Earl Grey it would displace … nor am I sure I’d want that Earl Grey displaced so just consider the statement to say that this is really good. If you’re an Earl Grey fan, try it.

Oh, thank goodness! This is leaps and bounds better than the last one I tried (and subsequently dumped). It’s a really lively smelling tea, I can’t stop sticking my nose in the bag. Heavy on the lemon myrtle which makes it nice and bright. Often times I find citrus flavored teas to be bitter, like the pith has been added along with the zest. This one, thankfully, is not bitter in the slightest. The bergamot seems a bit lost, but overall it’s a solid citrus blend with a bit more oomph than Twinnings Lady Grey. I bet it would be delightful iced.

This tea smells like wet dog. And while I’ve never licked a wet dog, I’m going to go ahead and leap to the conclusion that this is also what wet dog tastes like. No thanks.

I fondly refer to this one as my “Christmas tea” because it just tastes like Christmas to me. Cloves + Orange always remind me of the holidays, but the additional touch of Lapsang Souchong reminds me of a lit fireplace as well. It’s every Christmas Eve I remember from my childhood. I take it with and without (vanilla soy) milk, and it’s beautiful each way.

Merry Christmas Eve, all. I hope everyone here has an absolutely beautiful holiday tomorrow. And to those who don’t celebrate, I hope you have a nice Thursday :)

I get a little worried when there’s Lapsang Souchong in blends because it can be completely overpowering. Thankfully it’s used sparingly in this blend with just a hint of smokiness in the back of the sip. The star flavors here are clove and orange. With the lemon myrtle and bergamot adding a bit of brightness. It tastes like Christmas to me, I can’t wait to serve this around the holidays. I usually don’t add sugar or milk to my teas, but I think I’m going to try with this one, I bet it would be delicious. I also have to add that I love when you can see the flavoring in teas. There are full cloves in here, big chunks of orange peel and pieces lemon myrtle. It’s lovely looking.

I brewed for 3 minutes at 200º but next time I’ll go for 4, it could stand to be a bit stronger.

It’s not tangy and doesn’t taste like grapefruit.

I am watching The West Wing on Netflix. Great show.

I am in love with our new cat. He loves me too. It’s torrid.

That’s about it!

Backlog:

I can get the teas from Jasmine Pearl Tea Merchants bulk at my local Chuck’s Produce, so, occasionally, I’ll wander over to the bulk section and see if anything catches my eye. This is the tea that caught my eye most recently. I love licorice.

This has a powerful licorice flavor not just from licorice root but also from fennel and anise. It is reminiscent of a strong, black licorice candy. It is snappy, warm and zesty, but with a nice sweetness too.

I love the licorice-i-ness of this tea but, I feel like the Gunpowder Green tea is a bit overwhelmed in this blend. There’s a bit too much licorice and not enough green tea flavor. It’s difficult for me to say that, because I do love licorice, but, when I drink tea, I do want some tea flavor too.

That said, I did enjoy this cuppa because as I say, I love licorice. It is yummy and it is something that I’m likely to buy again in the future.

Tea of the afternoon here. I decided to have kung pao tofu for lunch in the hopes that spicy food would help to knock out the cold that I have. Lunch was great and I decided to come back home and try this sample tea I got from the Jasmine Pearl.

I’m not rating this today since I’m so congested but it does have a wonderful roasted fruity aroma which was the first thing I noticed about it. The tea flavor itself seems to be chocolatey with some roasted barley notes and a slight bittersweetness in the finish. Of course I can’t really write a proper tasting note today.

I was really into puerh teas for the two winters prior but I haven’t been drinking much of it lately, maybe that will start to change soon. I wonder if any of my puerhs are aging well and how the climate in my apartment is helping out (or not). I have steam heat and it can get pretty humid in here. Anyway this seems like a really nice shu and the 5 oz. cake is only $17. Might have to pick some of this up in the future.

Backlog:

A really tasty grapefruit tea. Not the best grapefruit tea that I’ve tried, but it’s good and I’m really glad I decided to buy the tin from my local grocer.

What sets this tea apart, I think, is the addition of the lemon grass and lemon myrtle, so it gives the tea more of a lemony note than pure grapefruit flavors, and the lemon myrtle – since it is a rather strong lemony herb – seems to overpower the grapefruit notes just slightly, and I found myself wanting a little less lemon and a little more grapefruit.

The citrus notes do meld nicely, though, but, I just got something different from this tea than I was at first expecting. Enjoyable, just not my fave.

I really want to love this tea as much as I love the Dark Forest chai from Townshend’s, but it doesn’t quite get there for me. It gets a little bitter later in the pot, but overall is a pretty nice morning cup.

Phenomenal floral flavor and aroma. You’d think this was a scented tea at first because of the strong floral aroma (something like jasmine, gardenias, and camellias all mixed together), but you know it isn’t scented because that aroma lasts through multiple steepings. I took this tea through 5 infusions and was still getting the floral notes. Not an everyday tea by any means, but an incredibly fun addition to the tea cabinet. It’s one of those teas that I like to serve to people as a “taste experiment.” It’s a great demonstration of the range of natural aromas you can get out of just Camellia sinensis leaves without any added extracts or flavorings.

Herbal tea of the evening and not sure exactly what this is supposed to cleanse or be good for, but I thought I’d give it a whirl tonight.

Steeped for 10 minutes because I lost track of time, but I don’t think that’s too much to worry ’bout with a tisane. When you open up the bag there is something “fluffy” and green looking about this tea and it smells very “herby”, I wonder if this is due to the nettles?

This is a very pleasant herbal blend, I think the rose and the sarsparilla adds a bit of sweetness. It is fairly mild and soothing, which is nice. Some herbal teas that promise cleansing benefits are a bit on the bitter side for yours truly but this is pretty nice, IMO. Not sure I would go out of my way to get this again but it’s quite pleasant.

Backlog:

This chai makes a darned tasty latte! I like that it’s spicy even after I’ve added the milk, and the milk doesn’t drown out the spices.

A flavorful black tea base, and while the canister that I have of this tea doesn’t elaborate on the black tea base, I see that the description here states that it’s an Assam tea, and I suspected as much, given robust, malty character. A really good way to start off a chai, in my opinion! I find that I’m often disappointed with chai blends that use Ceylon rather than Assam … the bolder flavor of Assam really brings a chai to the next level for me.

It is a peppery blend with a hint of licorice, and a hint of nutty flavor from the nutmeg. The cardamom and cloves add a nice dimension to the cup.

A really enjoyable chai!

Slight cocoa fragrance, faintly chocolatey flavor. It’s a great ingredient list but the flavor doesn’t live up to expectations. I would not describe this as having surprising depth and body, even after I added almond milk. I think this tea might be nice as a low-key flavoring element for a fuller bodied puerh.

Finishing off the rest of my sample today, this is quite good; malty, rich and with a rich flavor of sweet potato pie. Similar to a golden monkey but a bit deeper in flavor. Would definitely get this one again.

Yum!
I got this as a sample with my recent Jasmine Pearl order. I confess I let it steep for too long while I was goofing off reading some poetry by Ranier Maria Rilke: http://sanfrantea.teatra.de/2013/01/26/going-blind/

So my tea got really dark, I think I will wait to rate it until I’m paying more attention to what I am doing. I am definitely getting a sweet potato or squash type of flavor, along with the slight bitterness that Geoffrey mentioned in his tasting note. This is really good but I think I made it a touch too strong.

Sipdown!
Finished this one off but am trying to resist buying any more. I need to put myself on a tea diet. :)

Tea of the morning here, I’ve been on somewhat of an assam kick lately I guess…

I was fortunate to find this is the bulk bin at the Local Whole Foods. I don’t know that I will get any more once it runs out because I have a few other assams to drink now! Still, this is very nice, mellow, almost creamy in flavor. Perfect with a touch of soymilk!

Tea of the morning here, another one I got in the bulk section at Whole Foods yesterday.

I got a Teavana tea mug for Christmas from my brother and this is what it looks like, very pretty!
http://www.teavana.com/tea-products/tea-cups-mugs/infuser-mugs/p/okura-ume-blossom-infuser-tea-mug

As far as the tea is concerned, it’s a pretty nice Assam, hefty and enjoyable with a bit of soymilk. It definitely has a nice malty flavor, maybe with some caramel notes. I would consider getting more of this when the current supply is running low. For me Assams are a great breakfast tea! I think I’ll drink some more tea while I’m doing my chores today. :)

Meditation of the day from Dale Carnegie: “Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain but it takes character and self control to be understanding and forgiving.”