Tea: Jasmine Tea
A Jasmine Tea from Fujian Tea Import & Export Co, Ltd.
| Brand: | Fujian Tea Import & Export Co, Ltd. |
| Style: | Jasmine Tea |
| Region: | Fujian, China |
| Caffeine: | Caffeinated |
| Loose? | Loose |
| # Ratings: | 2 View All |
Reviewer: Tchuggin' Okie
✓ 397 teas reviewed
✓ 8 of Jasmine Tea
✓ 139 of Flavored Tea
✓ 1 of Fujian Tea Import & Export Co, Ltd.
✓ 3 from Fujian, China
✓ 12 from China
Review of Jasmine Tea
January 4th, 2020
| Aroma | Flavor | Value | Total |
| 6 of 10 | 4 of 5 | 4 of 5 | 65 of 100 |
| Good | Good | Good Value |
One of my kids gave me this for Christmas, having bought it at an Asian food store for an unknown price, so I'm basing the value rating off the mostly reasonable online costs for a 120g tin. The packaging of this tea confused me a bit at first, as it was branded just like one of the same title on RateTea, but in a tin that looked a lot different. Fortunately the prior reviewer offers a great explanation of the discrepancy. For the record, I've added a photo of the opened, Sunflower 2060 "red tin" version of this tea I received, so folks can see either of them.
The dry leaves are very dark green to nearly black, but become much more classically green during steeping, as they unfurl. This tea also has a lot of stems in it, and an occasional white petal piece, which I only can assume is jasmine that didn't get sifted out. Both indicate lackadaisical processing. Aromatically and flavor-wise, this is a pleasant but not outstanding jasmine tea, nothing very out of the ordinary in my experience for either bagged or loose. I'll finish the tin, but won't seek out more.
The dry-leaf smell was a little grassy as well as "jasminey". The in-cup and wet-leaf smells offered slightly more of the base tea in a sweet, faintly musty form, reminiscent of moist old wood timbers in an abandoned house. [I've photographed a lot of abandoned houses, so it's a familiar aroma.]
In the cups I've had so far, I brewed this tea three different ways: 1) boiling hot for 4-5 minutes as with black tea, 2) a couple minutes of cooling of boiled water, then 3 minutes as with most greens, and 3) accidentally cooled water left in a thermos for a few hours to "somewhat hot" level, then soaking leaves for 8-9 minutes. I didn't notice a lot of difference between these disparate steeping tactics, but felt the jasmine was strongest with the long brew in slightly hot water, and could taste the base tea quite well with each method. All yielded about the same (high) level of astringency and moderate bitterness.
