I won’t give this tea a rating because not sure if my taste/smell came back fully from my bout with Covid. I bought this mainly out of curiousity, wondering what one of these “dragon pearl” teas would be like on its own without the addition of the jasmine scenting. Honestly, I was expecting not to be too thrilled by it, as I suspect that maybe an unspectacular tea selection is perhaps why these pearls are usually jasmine-scented in the first place.
I guess I am pleasantly surprised, then, to find this a somewhat interesting and enjoyable tea. There is some sweetness, but I seem to notice this tea taking a bend towards some savory qualities. I even get some hints of bacon. For the price, I think I will continue to choose other teas I enjoy more at a lower price point. But good to have the experience.
While the leaves are impressive in their neatness and clearly higher quality based on their beautiful fuzzy buds and intact leafsets, on the other hand I suspect this style of tea is overvalued because there is also a lot of stem included when compared to other premium green teas. The intact stems are needed to make sure the leaves are lengthy enough to be rolled into the tight pearls. You pay more for the rolling process and end up with a lesser amount of leaf.
