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“Tea of the afternoon here… an oolong from the Jasmine Pearl. GABA is supposed to have a calming effect and who couldn’t use more of that? I decided to use the gaiwan to steep this and put in about...” Read full tasting note
“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,...” Read full tasting note
Produced from low-elevation Taiwanese oolong tea leaves, GABA tea contains a high percentage of Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid, known for having a calming effect on the nervous system. It has a wonderful, soothing flavor, said by some to be similar to that of ripe bananas; others liken it to baked yams.
GABA Oolong, a partially “oxidized”, nugget-style tea from Chiayi County, Taiwan, grows in the foothills of famed Mount Ali. It produces a caramel-colored, fragrant brew.
Tea plants are known to produce leaves especially high in glutamic acid. About two weeks prior to plucking, GABA oolong leaves are partially shaded, which causes increased production of this substance. During the oxidation-phase of production, all oxygen is replaced with nitrogen gas, whose presence causes the glutamic acid to be converted to Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (from where the acronym “GABA” is derived).
To meet Japanese standards and be labeled GABA Tea, the finished product must contain at least 150mg of GABA per 100g dry weight.
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Tea of the afternoon here… an oolong from the Jasmine Pearl.
GABA is supposed to have a calming effect and who couldn’t use more of that?
I decided to use the gaiwan to steep this and put in about 1 tsp of tea, steeped for 30 seconds. The wet leaf smells very much like fresh corn to me.
1st steep is a light yellowish infusion. I am getting the sweet starchy quality that gets compared to bananas & yams. For me it is still reminiscent of corn since it has a slightly vegetal quality. The overall flavor is quite pleasant.
The 2nd steep I did for around 30 seconds and it is a bit darker. Now that the leaves are starting to open up, there is a definite buttery flavor coming up in this tea.
3rd steep is much like the first. I think I am detecting some subtle notes of vanilla. It’s difficult to say whether or not I feel any calmer from drinking this, although I am inspired to do some meditation right now.
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.
A bunch of my coworkers work with an enzyme, GABA, for their research projects on Arabidopsis and apples. So every time I hear about GABA oolong, or something like that, I have to wonder if they’re at all the same thing or not. One day I’ll bother to look it up…
I really couldn’t say…
Haha, no worries, that was definitely one of those comments to self that I happened to write out :D
Sounds lovely.