The Jasmine Pearl Tea Company

This is one of the few keemuns I am actually fond of. I got this in the bulk section at Whole Foods so I hope they have more when I go back. It’s very hefty and also takes soymilk well, but it isn’t too “winey” or bitter which is a problem I have with some other teas of this variety. It is fruity with a very slight smokiness.

They have this at the local Whole Foods in the bulk section so I picked some up to try. The price was about $2/oz., not too bad at all.

My experience in the past with keemuns has been somewhat mixed but I rather liked this one. It has a “biscuity” aroma that I often hear people use to describe teas. I steeped this in my 6 oz. Finum cup which is my new favorite toy. :)

The tea liquor is a sort of medium reddish brown. The tea is supposed to be mildly smoky but I am not really getting that at all. Perhaps I oversmoked my palate from drinking too much lapsang lately, lol. I am picking up the fruity taste which is very pleasant. I am getting light cocoa notes as well. It has a mild astringency but nothing too parching. This has a sweet and mellow quality about it. I am not getting pine either, but I can see why people would akin this tea to a fine red wine, it does have a sort of wine-y quality about it. Would definitely be good with food but also excels as my Friday afternoon tea. I like it and am glad I know where I can restock some! I might be brave enough now to try some other keemuns…

It’s another foggy morning here, surprise surprise…

I am trying to slug some of this down in order to wake myself up and motivate to get over to the gym. But it is Sunday, and somehow the thought of puttering around seems a bit more appealing, you know?

Anyway this is a decent ceylon, nothing to write home about so I doubt I will be getting anymore. I feel like I need a nice Ceylon to add to my tea collection since the one I was really fond of is now gone. Any suggestions?

I don’t know a lot about ceylons so I decided to pick a bit of this up at Whole Foods since they have it in the bulk bin section. I doubt this is a first class example of what a ceylon can be but I wanted to try some. :)

I steeped this for 3 minutes at around 205 F. It is very pleasant, somewhat brisk, a bit fruity with some astringency. I don’t think this is an orange pekoe but it does share some similarities with that style. I was able to drink it plain just fine but I liked it better with a touch of organic soymilk added to it. It seems good but I don’t have much to compare it to. In any case I am not totally loving it. I might try steeping again at 2 minutes next time.

Another sample I picked up at Whole Foods to try. When I first smelled it I was worried it would be too much like the dreaded darjeeling I don’t really care for. I was pleasantly surprised that it was a very mellow, slightly fruity and slighty chocolate-y tea. We drank this for breakfast and it was delicious. Very non-astringent without a hint of bitterness. I may have discovered a new favorite type of black tea!

Tea on nitro. Wow. I had already made my frivolous tea purchase for the month, but a discussion on Twitter between me and three others caused my curiosity to swell. I had heard of GABA teas before, never understood the fuss of it all, and chalked up the health benefits claims to “hooey”…like biodynamics.

For instant gratification, I went to The Jasmine Pearl HQ to test drive the stuff. The host and hostess politely humored my request, and steeped it gongfu-style three times. Each time, the flavor profile was pretty much the same; creamy, fruit-like, mildly leafy, and zero oolong “chalkboard-on-tongue” feeling. And it packed a wallop of strength each steep.

I’m not sure if it did anything to my…uh…“neurotransmitters”. I was still hurling expletives at rush hour traffic on the way home. But I felt good while do it, if that says something.

I received a bit of this to try from LiberTEAS and it was quite unusual.

The initial fragrance was strong of licorice and berry. Once brewed, it became slightly citrusy and sweet.

The taste isn’t what I expected. From the name, I thought this would be sweet and fruity. Instead, it had the citrusy, astringent “snap” of a good darjeeling (+ points) and a slightly bitter and herbal taste from the anise. I didn’t detect much in the way of blackberry but you could sense the fig as a mellow, lingering subtly sweet fruit aftertaste.

Overall, I really liked this as it has an excellent base. However, the product doesn’t seem to match its name well.

I drank this a week ago at my local Wholefoods. I keep wondering when I’ll be able to go back at try it again. I wasn’t paying much attention at first. I just wanted something wet. I dumped in half and half and started sipping – a very nice, mellow breakfast blend with a surprising and delicious caramel in the finish. I found myself slurping. Very nice.

I actually mooched this off my brother. Yes, I mooched a tea off someone who’s not a tea drinker. It’s an unusual blend that doesn’t appear to be on the merchant site yet, indicating its…uh…new-ness. Or something. The one ingredient I was worried about was the lavender, but thankfully its understated. Lemongrass and fennel seem to be the dominant flavors I can identify. Overall, the effect is a good one, and it – indeed – does make you tired.

Since I’m on such a Yunnan Gold kick lately, I felt it was time to revisit this. This time, though, I obeyed the brewing instructions on the Jasmine Pearl website. Instead of boiling water, I dialed it down to 190F (oolong-ish). The result was sheer perfection. That does it. This type is my favorite black tea ever. I have decided.

Full Review: Pending on www.teaviews.com

I’m starting to think that the existence of Yunnan Golden Buds (or Needles) is unfair to the rest of its black tea brethren. It is quite quickly becoming my favorite type of black tea. Nectar-like in its initial delivery with only a slight – but complimentary – bitterness, this amber cup has an effect on me. I started this morning in pretty foul spirits until I sipped this. This quickly relaxed me and revitalized me at the same time. Such a perk-up, no other black tea can come close to comparing.

I knew of this merchant for years – knew they were a local wholesaler – but aside from their Cranberry Sencha (which I had at a coffee shop) I hadn’t sampled many of their wares. Until tonight. They finally had an actual teashop open, and allowed for tastings at the counter. I had eyed this particular rooibos blend for years, mainly for the inclusion of honeycomb. I tried it, liked it and bought some. But I wondered how it would stand up to MY way of brewing.

I steeped it for six instead of the recommended five. That and I added a glob of Greek honey to the mix. It probably didn’t need it due to the honeycomb and honey flavoring, but I was going for broke. And I’ll tell ya what…it was a good garnish. The cup was sweet, creamy, and nutty. The rooibos base with the added elements actually takes on the attributes of its cousin – honeybush. Which also makes me wonder, why they didn’t use honeybush as a base instead…perhaps they didn’t want to go for a trifecta. I dunno.

All said, a damn good drink.

Backlogging and sipdown! See previous notes :)

Also almost out of this one too! Had a cup this morning…was pretty good but over infused and it caused it to be a little astringent but not anything I couldn’t handle.

Another tea from LiberTEAS!!!! I’m so grateful!

This smells awesome! Very sugary or candy like. The first thing that popped into my head – to compare it to – would be like old fashioned ribbon candy around the holidays…no one flavor but all the flavors combined!?

The anise ingredient somewhat made me nervous but there is just a hint…not much…

There is a bit more blackberry than anise…which is great but I can’t necessarily pick out the fig individually, persay. I’m thinking the fig is giving it the candy-like or sugary taste and smell and that works well in my book!

This is a nice treat!

Enjoying a cup of this tea before we leave to run errands. Today, I’m getting much more anise from the flavor, but that’s quite alright with me. I love how the fig and anise work together. So delicious and calming.

This tea is so yum. The Darjeeling is beautifully light. The fig and blackberry blend together into a delicious fruit taste that is complimented nicely with the muscatel of the Darjeeling. And the lovely little note from the anise is a perfect finishing touch.

Delicious!

The other day I went to the mall with my youngest daughter, and whenever we are in an Oregon Mall, one of the stores I always visit is the Made In Oregon store, I like to shop there because I like the idea of supporting local business. That is where I found this tea.

I have had a couple of teas from The Jasmine Pearl in the past that I’ve purchased from Whole Foods, but, I have never seen this particular flavor of tea. The FIG part intrigued me first, because I love figs. I was further intrigued when I saw that it was a Darjeeling tea … and when I read the ingredient list and saw anise… I was sold! I had to try it.

Lovely! The strongest note in this tea is the tea itself, this is a very nice Darjeeling with a pleasant muscatel flavor that really compliments the blackberry flavor very well. The fig is present at the end of the sip. The anise reveals itself throughout, although it is strong it is not overwhelming… just very pleasant. I really like it.

It has a very nice balance of flavors, with nothing overwhelming anything else… everything is light and crisp and flavorful. NICE!

I love Lapsang Souchongs and sometimes find it difficult to differentiate between them. They all start with a high score for me and then I try to grade them on smaller details such as sweetness and smokiness and whether or not the aroma and taste seem to be closer to tar, bacon, Bar-B-Que sauce, or whether there’s a je ne sais quoi about the tea. My personal morning favorite is Black Dragon by Upton Teas because it’s got a sweetness to it that does not compromise the punch.

LiberTEAS was kind enough to send me a lovely canister of The Jasmine Pearl’s Lapsang Souchong. I would call this a “medium” blend. In my mind, a “medium” blend is one that is not overwhelmingly smoky to the point that you think it’s close to being charred but one that is more like the leavings of a camp-fire and not a house-fire. This tea would make a great tea for those who are testing their LS wings or for those who want to explore the different gradations of the Lapsang Souchong experience.