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This was another one of the samples I received from The Teaguy back around March or thereabouts. At one point in time, jasmine green teas didn’t do much for me, but I have warmed up to them quite a bit over the course of the past 1-2 years, so I was happy to see this tea was one they opted to send me. This particular tea is a basic Chun Mee scented with jasmine. I am, in truth, not the hugest fan of Chun Mee, as I find it to be a very basic, boring kind of green tea, but this one surprised me by working very well with the jasmine. Since Chun Mee tends to be vegetal and somewhat acidic, the jasmine essence was not able to overpower it, instead producing a nicely balanced scented tea.

I opted for a two step Western infusion process when it came to brewing this tea. First, I steeped a full teaspoon of loose tea leaves in approximately 8 ounces of 176 F water for 2 minutes. I then conducted a second and final 3 minute infusion.

Prior to the first infusion, the dry tea leaves produced the expected scent of jasmine coupled with noticeable scents of grass and hay. After infusion, I picked up a stronger jasmine scent coupled with touches of grass, hay, and spinach. In the mouth, the liquor offered delicate notes of jasmine, grass, hay, spinach, lemon, seaweed, and touches of napa cabbage and/or bok choy. The second infusion revealed that the freshly used tea leaves still retained a good deal of jasmine scent as well as aromas of grass, hay, and spinach. The only differences I noted were that the jasmine scent was weaker and there was a touch of seaweed on the nose this time. I did not find any new flavors in the second infusion, but I did notice that the liquor became more vegetal and more citrusy overall.

While this was a very balanced blend, and I certainly commend The Teaguy for producing something of a different jasmine green tea, I still do not possess the warmest of feelings for Chun Mee. I find it to be basic and boring, and though it kind of worked in this blend, it did not add much in the way of complexity or intrigue. Overall, I am far more likely to reach for a jasmine green tea that offers more complexity most of the time, but this was not bad in the least. Even though it was not exactly my cup of tea, I would not caution others to avoid it.