Sep
Up there with iconic duos like Sonny and Cher or Bonnie and Clyde is jasmine and green tea! These guys are the best of (literal) buds, combining the heavenly scents of jasmine blossoms with downy tips from the very top of the tea plant.
A staple at every yum cha restaurant across Australia, jasmine tea is the type of brew that everyone has tried but few have gotten to truly know. For example, our tea-loving experts often witness customers express surprise when they ask for jasmine tea and receive jasmine green tea fusions in return.
Is your love for jasmine tea just beginning? If you’re looking to find out more about this mysterious tea, we can show you the world! We answer all your questions about this shining, shimmering, splendid brew below.
What is jasmine tea?
Jasmine tea traditionally combines jasmine blossoms with a green tea base. However, there are also several modern blends that combine jasmine with other tea types. You can find black, white, and oolong jasmine teas too. Our black tea fusions like Sir John and Miss Grey are tasty examples of this!
Jasmine green tea has brought joy to sippers for centuries and can be made in four different ways. While tea merchants harvest jasmine buds in mid-June, tea leaves are gathered earlier in April-May and put away until its time to blend.
Jasmine tea is healthy for you, right?
Not necessarily! Jasmine tea is often mistaken as synonymous with wellness because it maintains an enduring presence at apothecaries and Chinese medicine shops. At the end of the day, however, a jasmine brew is only as healthy as its base!
Jasmine flowers only impart their scent on tea leaves. Moreover, given sippers aren’t directly ingesting the flower (unless a few are accidentally left in the blend), one only reaps benefits from the tea leaves themselves.
However, there are aromatherapy benefits. Specifically, aromatherapists laud jasmine for its relaxation properties and mood-enhancing abilities. In fact, some circles even believe that jasmine tea makes for a great aphrodisiac!
Given jasmine makes for one of the most expensive essential oils in the world, jasmine tea is an excellent alternative to traditional aromatherapy.
Are all jasmine teas high in quality?
There are exquisite jasmine green teas in the world, some of which are in our premium collection. However, not all jasmine teas are created equal. There are three ways to scent tea with jasmine flowers and the methods largely impact the perceived quality of the tea.
The first two traditional methods involve real jasmine buds. Come June, tea farmers will pluck jasmine at midday before they bloom. The first method alternates layers of jasmine and loose leaf. The farmers then replace the flowers every couple of hours until the scenting process is complete. Continuously replacing the flowers is a costly process, which is why this method is reserved for the finest of jasmine teas.
The second method sees jasmine flowers rolled with tea leaves and left overnight. This gives the flowers time to blossom and release their scent. This process may be done multiple times to achieve the desired fragrance. For prime examples of this, look no further than our gorgeous Jasmine Chung Feng and Buddha’s Tears.
The third method does not require jasmine blossoms at all. Instead, tea sellers will impart a jasmine scent on leaves through using artificial flavour. If you’re looking for an affordable jasmine tea that doesn’t skimp on quality, we would suggest our Jasmine Monkey King tea! Made largely through the second rolling method, this brew boasts the finest green tea and a minuscule amount of nature-identical flavour. This helps intensify the jasmine aroma.
Why does jasmine tea come in so many shapes and sizes?
When a brew is around as long as jasmine tea, there’s bound to be innovations along the way! While bundling tea leaves together is a centuries-old practice, flowering jasmine tea balls or blooming tea balls are a fairly new invention.
Chinese artisan makers have been developing tea balls since the 1980s. In particular, our flowering teas are made by hand-sewing fresh loose leaf with blossoms using silk. Simply pop it into a glass teapot to watch your flowering tea come to life!
The 1980s also saw artisan makers roll their green tea shoots into balls. One of the most popular forms of this is our Buddha’s Tears. As well as looking beautiful, rolling tea also solves multiple problems for merchants.
Specifically, Buddha’s Tears are expensive because the tea is made from the bud and first leaf of the tea plant. Rolling them into balls not only protects the integrity of the bud but also increases the density of the tea itself. This makes the tea less bulky and messy to transport.
Ready to watch a flowering tea bloom and taste our delightful Jasmine Downy Pearls? Then be sure to explore our entire range of delicious jasmine green teas here.
Tea scented with the aroma of jasmine blossoms is called jasmine tea. It’s typically based on green tea, but sometimes black or white tea is used instead.
In this blog, we learn about this new type of tea that you must be unaware of, as well as its health benefits. I appreciate you sharing this blog with us.