This is meant to be a 'high-end' jasmine pearl tea, which, to be honest, is not something that I had thought to look into until I got a free sample of it. To me, jasmine teas are lovely, but the jasmine always overpowers the tea, making them all taste roughly similar.

I found this tea to be genuinely a cut above other jasmine pearls, but only when I brewed it in a gaiwan. When I brewed it in a standard pot, it came out more or less like any other jasmine tea. Perhaps the only difference was the aroma of the brewed leaves, which had more of the damp, heady quality I associate with actual living jasmine plants.

In the gaiwan, however, the I was able to actually taste the base tea, especially after multiple steepings, and that made it very worthwhile. The result is a cup that is sweet and perfume-y as expected, with a pleasant bitter undertone. The base tea seems fruity-sweet to me rather than floral-sweet, and the contrast was lovely.

So, in conclusion, this is a fine tea, but probably only worth the price if you want to brew it gong fu style.

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