96

Back to floral teas, eh? I am very excited to try this one because I loooove jasmine pearls. My favorite so far has been Harney & Sons, but I honestly haven’t gotten to try too many different ones (which is partly because I am so pleased with Harney’s I don’t seek them elsewhere). Thanks to Teavivre, I get to try these pearls!

And it seems like I’m in for a treat; when I opened the package I was greeted by the most amazing jasmine aroma. Seriously honeysuckle aroma there, and rich, heady florals like sticking your head into a jasmine bush in full bloom. Yum. The liquor steeped to a pale golden yellow color, and it retains that honeysuckle-jasmine aroma, though in a more subdued way. There’s also something different about this jasmine aroma that I can’t quite articulate. Let me try: most jasmine seems “high” and “bright” in the aroma, like the equivalent of a soprano voice, but this jasmine has some serious “low” and “dark” notes in the aroma, like the equivalent of an alto or tenor, in addition to the usual high and bright notes that really make it a lush experience.

I was writing all that about the aroma, but it holds true for the flavor as well. The soprano notes are present right at the front of the sip, while the tenor notes grow at the tail end and in the aftertaste. The jasmine is lovely and fresh, and not overpowering or perfumy at all. I always look for a natural sweetness in the tea that reminds me of eating honeysuckle nectar, and it is lightly present here (especially as the tea cools), but not as much as I would have expected. Still, these are top notch jasmine pearls, and at just over $3/oz, they seem to be a bargain for the quality.

Added note: I had three extremely flavorful and tasty steeps (12oz each) of this tea before I got jasmined out. This tea definitely keeps going strong!

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec
gmathis

Speaking as a rusty alto, I like the description! (Now I’ll be humming all the good lines from “Hallelujah Chorus” all afternoon.)

Stephanie

I love the musical analogies—tea symphony! :)

Dinosara

Some people taste colors, apparently I taste sounds. :D

K S

Never considered myself a tenor fan until now. Love the description.

gmathis

Hmm … so … what tea would constitute (a) a rich, low Southern Gospel bass like whats-his-name from the Oak Ridge Boys (b) a really great scratchy pop voice like Rod Stewart or Joe Cocker. This will make me ponder all day!

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Comments

gmathis

Speaking as a rusty alto, I like the description! (Now I’ll be humming all the good lines from “Hallelujah Chorus” all afternoon.)

Stephanie

I love the musical analogies—tea symphony! :)

Dinosara

Some people taste colors, apparently I taste sounds. :D

K S

Never considered myself a tenor fan until now. Love the description.

gmathis

Hmm … so … what tea would constitute (a) a rich, low Southern Gospel bass like whats-his-name from the Oak Ridge Boys (b) a really great scratchy pop voice like Rod Stewart or Joe Cocker. This will make me ponder all day!

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Bio

I am tea obsessed, with the stash to match. I tend to really enjoy green oolongs, Chinese blacks, and flavored teas with high quality bases, especially florals, bergamot-based teas, and chocolate teas.

In my free time I am a birder, baker, and music/movie/tv addict.

Here are my rating categories, FYI:
100-90: Mind-blowingly good, just right for my palate, and teas that just take me to a happy place.
89-86: I really really like these teas and will keep most of them in the permanent collection, but they’re not quite as spectacular as the top category
85-80: Pretty tasty teas that I enjoy well enough, but definitely won’t rebuy when I run out.
79-70: Teas that I would probably drink again, but only if there were no preferrable options.
69-50: Teas that I don’t really enjoy all that much and wouldn’t drink another cup of.
49 and below: Mega yuck. This tea is just disgusting to me.
Unrated: Usually I feel unqualified to rate these teas because they are types of teas that I tend to not like in general. Sometimes user error or tea brewed under poor conditions.

Location

Ohio, US

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