Yunnan White Jasmine

No score or recommendation for this one because I got it as a free sample and I don’t like jasmine. Jasmine is up there with patchouli for “can’t be in the same room with it.” After a rather weak sheng session I found myself back in the kitchen looking for tea. Might as well get this over with. Rinsed the leaves in cold water hoping to get some of jasmine scent off.

Like many people, I had a Polish aunt with a large bouffant hairdo and reeking of perfume. She wore as much nylon and lace as humanly possible in a single outfit. Her bathroom was wallpapered with faux long hot pink fur and she had many vases of plastic purple flowers to go with it. She and her husband had a tavern, of course. When you saw the lipstick, you knew what will happen next and run for the hills. Grew up terrified I might turn out like that, got rid of my Polack accent and adopted minimalism in all my affairs. Then I auditioned for a Polish polka musical and at the audition she came right out of my mouth and got me cast in the show. Got offered the same part at Steppenwolf later that year, my “authenticity.” I bowed to the inevitable, so I thought, and now I try to embrace it when I see a cute nephew, but I have to draw a line in the heritage sand. I dread to add water to the jasmine tea, and my stomach heaves over with the steamy smell.

Oh god, it is probably good for my digestion but I drank it quick. One small cup, no more.

Somebody add Polish Aunt to Flavor choices please.

This. Tea.

I think I got a dopamine or endorphin spike from this!

Delicious, fresh, smooth, elegantly complex because the jasmine is perfectly toned. As Dinosara said, “juicy.” If you are looking for a lift, drink this. If you want to be self-indulgent, drink this. If you want to make someone you care about feel well-cared for, make them a cup.

Giving this my highest rating of about 100 teas rated so far.

This is an excellent tea that demands multiple steeping, with each one it subtly changes in the most delightful way! The first steep, after rinsing, was the worst out of the 5 I’ve done today. The jasmine was so strong that it was distracting, but thankfully it settled down after the second steep and by the third the flavor stabilized for the most part. What I love is how the floral taste evolves, from something like apricot to straight up honey to a strawberry sort of thing, always with a vanilla zing at the end of each note.

The instructions on the bag didn’t exactly match what was on Verdant’s website. I brewed the western way, with one 30 second rinse, a 45 second steep at 185, and added 15 seconds to each steep. I did sweeten it a bit to bring out some of the fruit flavor over the grassy notes. But to each his own as far as that goes!

TTBCr2
I kept this sample from the box, and I’m just now getting around to it, because I wanted it on a day when I needed it.

Today was a day when I needed it.

And this was very, very good. I still have several resteeps to go. I think I will be enjoying this one for the rest of the day. I wish I’d started with this one sooner, actually.

I love the balance of the white tea with the jasmine. Neither overpowers, but they’re both very there. Delicious. I love how a good white is delicate and complex, and this one is. The jasmine just balances it very completely. I love jasmine, and this is a very, very nice jasmine.

Horrible Monday. This tea kept me alive and not full of (figurative) murder. Delicious, calming, and yet energizing. The perfect trifecta!

The jasmine in this tea is quite strong, but also fresh. The white tea has a very mellow, sweet flavor, but not much of the usual Yunnan flavors like spice or maple. There is an interesting melon flavor to it. I don’t particularly like flavored teas or white teas, but I like this one more than most. I only got a sample size so I did two Western-style infusions. It could be different gongfu style.

Note: I have tasted this tea before and it is fantastic. I am now tasting a 2016 version but it is currently 2022. I’ve already opened the package and found lots of trichomes still clinging to the packaging. The floral attributes of the jasmine are still quite sharp. Kind of creamy and also reminds me of taffy. The leaves are incredibly soft. Looks like all downy, silver buds. The initial scent reveal a bit of black pepper at first and then heavy jasmine notes as my nose came closer. The flavor seems to be more subdued than I remember but for six years of waiting this is pretty impressive. White teas tend to be like dark teas in that they can age nicely. Look up white tea cakes if you haven’t yet. The liquor is soft; even after leaving your mouth, the softness remains. The wet aroma reminds me of the air in Kauai and a very slight hairdresser (when you go in to get your hair cut) aroma.

Water: 8oz

Leaves: medium length fuzzy leaves

Steep: 30s

Aroma: floral

Color: pale almost clear

Taste: I’ve had to experiment and test this tea out a couple of times first. The first time I use 2T as recommend for a 8oz cup and it came out way to strong & it didn’t taste good. The second time I got it right, it had a very nice floral aroma specifically that of a Honeysuckle. The color was pale almost clear. The taste was pleasant and light, a good finisher for a lemon cupcake i had just demolished instead of paring it with the usual glass of milk. Overall a very nice tea with a lingering aroma.

This is a sample I got some time ago. Never opened. Jasmine just not my thing. I wanted to try to prove myself I’m wrong. The leaves are gorgeous silvery green long and unruly. Brewed in gaiwan 1 tbsp 180 ml 175F. Maybe 5 sec steeps. It is sweet, jasmine is nice and not overdone. While i appreciate the quality of this tea, it is not for me

good