Yunnan White Jasmine

I noticed that sherapop started following me today, and in their profile they mention that they have an interest in perfume and the intersections between it and tea.

I suddenly thought of a fragrance that I always loved the concept of, but not the execution- Jo Malone’s White Jasmine and Mint. I was inspired to brew a jasmine tea (this) and add some fresh spearmint leaves to it. I have to say it was a success. I had to remove the spearmint rather quickly, though. I believe this might be better brewed cold. I am enjoying this very much tonight. This is a sipdown, but I am considering ordering more of it to combine with mint again!

This is so smooth and fragrant and relaxing. I didn’t think I’d care for it because of the jasmine, but when I’m in the mood for it, I’m in the mood for it. I’m happy I got this sample from Verdant, even if I forgot about it for 6 months…

I drank a whole teapot of this over the course of the evening.

Sipdown (205/208)!

Thank you akgrowngirl for the sample. This cup used it up – which is a sipdown that was easy to do but also one I kind of wanted to put off. I liked having the variety in my cupboard, but ultimately it’s not necessary since I have 100+g of Teavivre’s Jasmine silver Needle, which I also greatly enjoy.

This was a really nice tea with really beautiful and calming notes of jasmine, which was exactly what I needed after being assaulted by near boiling whipped marshmallow topping. Perhaps, sometime down the road, we’ll meet again.

EDIT: Also, ironically enough, this was tasting note 666.

I’ve had an ongoing love affair with Jasmine tea and have encountered some so overly scented they have a closer resemblance to potpourri rather than tea. That absolutely is not the case here, the first thing I noticed about this tea when I opened the package was that the scenting is absolutely perfect. It doesn’t hit you in the face when you open the package, it gently wafts upwards and makes you smile.

The jasmine is the most prevalent flavor, however, it is much more subtle than any other jasmine tea I have tried before. This is a very delicate, yet complex tea, and one I would recommend even if you have not previously enjoyed jasmine tea.

1.2 tbsp for 375 ml

Sweet flavour, strongly reminiscent of bubblegum. Mild floral twinge. Strong jasmine note in aroma. White tea flavour is subdued; mostly present in aftertaste.

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?

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.

1.5 tsp (roughly, a fluffy tea) to 300mL water @ 85C, steeped 3 minutes Western style, drunk bare. First infusion.

I like white tea. I love Yunnan tea. I love good hit of jasmine. I figured I’d be pretty happy with this one, and I am. I have a painful medical condition that disables me to varying degrees, which I mention here because I find the ritual of making tea, the whole process of checking water temp and time, of sniffing the dry leaves and then tasting the tea, of parsing out the flavour and scent notes, can be a potent and therapeutic distraction. The blend of jasmine and good silver needle here is subtle first, then almost ravishing. The tea seems to produce an energy all its own, one that makes me forget some of what bothers me and instead focus on what is good and beautiful.

Meditative tea.

This tea is beautiful. The first sip was mostly a clean, silver needles flavour, with something heavier at the end: a promise. Then came the jasmine, which is mixed with apricot in both scent and taste. All of this is light, but it opens up in the mouth. I probably steeped it too long, as the finish gives me the slightest threat of astringence — almost coniferous, like the scent of wet spruce.

Complex, nuanced, subtle, and quite lovely. I will never drink this for a mere caffeine hit. I will drink this to understand beauty.

WOW!

Decided to have make my sample packet of this as my Sunday white tea today, and it’s … wow. Ha.

The leaves are downy and beautiful, and the liquor is buttery in color and a bit in texture too.

The first few sips tastes like jasmine, which at first was “Yeah, this is good, but I’ve had this before with my Jasmine Pearls, how is this different?” but after a few sips, along with the perfumy jasmine, out comes this sugary sweetness almost like candy! It’s really sugar-tooth satisfying really. :)

The sweetness recedes a bit when it cools down though, so best to drink it hot. :)

Edit Second infusion at 3 minutes: The jasmine has receded a bit, and the tea has become even sweeter! :D It brings to mind those old fashion candy sticks, which I love so I’m loving this cup even more than the first!

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. :)