90

This was a gift from derk, which she gave me in person at the 2018 San Francisco Tea Festival, after I had inquired curiosity about it (but because I’m a horrible person, I’m only just now getting around to drinking it, two years later…) I have never been a huge jasmine person, not because of the taste (which I actually quite like), but because the scenting is usually so strong and wafts off the cup like I’m being drowned in cheap grandma perfume, which is one of my migraine triggers. I have had “lighter” iterations of jasmine (such as in blends) that I enjoyed, but most jasmine-scented greens and whites have been “too strong” for me. I have never had a jasmine black, which is what I think sparked my curiosity in this.

4g sample in my 100ml shiboridashi, because I’ve had some days off so I actually have the time to gong fu for a change. The wet leaf smells so much like strong, muscatel grapes, which is quite pleasant; definitely different than the “perfumy” jasmine floral aroma I usually smell (I certainly do smell jasmine flowers, as well, just not to the extent of “overly strong grandma perfume”). Maybe a hint of autumn leaf in there as well?

100ml shiboridashi | 4g | 205F | 15s/20s/25s/30s/40s/50s/65s

I’m surprised how much that muscatel aroma is carrying over in the flavor, as well; I certainly taste the jasmine florality, but there is a noticable grapey fruity flavor as well, and a much more subtle hint of malt and honey. On the second steep some of the black tea flavor peeked through a bit more, and I started to taste more of the malt, honey, and now autumn leaf, but the tea was still very fruity with muscatel notes and sweet with floral jasmine. I felt like the black tea notes continued to open up in the mid-session, yet retained a lovely fruity/floral flavor. Later in the session, the jasmine became a little more forceful in flavor, but never obnoxious/perfumy. The tea was such a lovely red color and extremely smooth! I drank it really lazily, and enjoyed each sip.

I loved this! I think I just need my jasmine on a black base from now on! Thank you so much for this lovely gift, derk!

Flavors: Autumn Leaf Pile, Floral, Fruity, Grapes, Honey, Jam, Jasmine, Malt, Muscatel, Smooth, Sweet

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 g 3 OZ / 100 ML
Crowkettle

Mmm… this one has the yunnan golden snails! Such a good tea.

Mastress Alita

I know WPT is notoriously impossible to order from, so if anyone know of other black jasmine teas, I’m all ears.

Crowkettle

I don’t think I know anyone who uses the Snails, but Verdant has a Yunnan jasmine too (can’t vouch for this one, but their jasmine teas used to be nice last time I had them circa 2016): https://verdanttea.com/teas/yunnan-golden-jasmine-scented-black-tea/

Teavivre has Yunnan Dian Hong balls with Jasmine: https://www.teavivre.com/jasmine-dragon-ball-black-tea.html

David’s Tea has similar mystery black tea balls with jasmine. as do a couple others. I haven’t tried any of these though, and Alice is such a nice tea..

Mastress Alita

Thanks for the suggestions, I’ll have to look into those. I am very curious to see if I continue to not have the “jasmine migraine issue” when its on a black base.

Alice is a nice tea, but I just don’t have the personality to play Tea Hunger Games fighting against everyone else whenever a tiny amount becomes available to “get some” in that 10 minutes before it sells out. Even if it isn’t quite as good, if I can find an easily accessible option that at least scratches the itch, that would be fantastic.

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Crowkettle

Mmm… this one has the yunnan golden snails! Such a good tea.

Mastress Alita

I know WPT is notoriously impossible to order from, so if anyone know of other black jasmine teas, I’m all ears.

Crowkettle

I don’t think I know anyone who uses the Snails, but Verdant has a Yunnan jasmine too (can’t vouch for this one, but their jasmine teas used to be nice last time I had them circa 2016): https://verdanttea.com/teas/yunnan-golden-jasmine-scented-black-tea/

Teavivre has Yunnan Dian Hong balls with Jasmine: https://www.teavivre.com/jasmine-dragon-ball-black-tea.html

David’s Tea has similar mystery black tea balls with jasmine. as do a couple others. I haven’t tried any of these though, and Alice is such a nice tea..

Mastress Alita

Thanks for the suggestions, I’ll have to look into those. I am very curious to see if I continue to not have the “jasmine migraine issue” when its on a black base.

Alice is a nice tea, but I just don’t have the personality to play Tea Hunger Games fighting against everyone else whenever a tiny amount becomes available to “get some” in that 10 minutes before it sells out. Even if it isn’t quite as good, if I can find an easily accessible option that at least scratches the itch, that would be fantastic.

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Bio

Hi! I’m Sara, a middle-aged librarian living in southern Idaho, USA. I’m a big ol’ sci-fi/fantasy/anime geek that loves fandom conventions, coloring books, simulation computer games, Japanese culture, and cats. Proud genderqueer asexual (she/they) and supporter of the LGBTQ+ community. I’m also a chronic migraineur. As a surprise to no one, I’m a helpless tea addict with a tea collecting and hoarding problem! (It still baffles me how much tea I can cram into my little condo!) I enjoy trying all sorts of teas… for me tea is a neverending journey!

Favorite Flavors:

I love sampling a wide variety of teas! For me the variety is what makes the hobby of tea sampling so fun! While I enjoy trying all different types of teas (pure teas, blends, tisanes), these are some flavors/ingredients I enjoy:
-Dessert/chocolate/vanilla/caramel/cream/toffee/maple
-Sweet/licorice root/stevia
-Vegetal/grassy
-Floral/lavender/rose
-Spices/chais
-Fruity
-Tropical/pineapple/coconut
-Bergamot (in moderation)
-Roasted/nutty
-Tart/tangy/hibiscus/rosehip

Disliked Flavors:

There are not many flavors or ingredients that I don’t like. These include:
-Bananas/banana flavoring
-Hemp/CBD teas
-Smoke-scented teas/heavy smoke flavors (migraine trigger)
-Perfumey teas/extremely heavy floral aromas (migraine trigger)
-Gingko biloba (migraine trigger)
-Chamomile (used in blends as a background note/paired with stronger flavors is okay)
-Extremely spicy/heated teas
-Medicinal flavors/Ginseng
-Metallic flavors
-Overly strong artificial flavorings

With the exception of bananas and migraine triggers, I’ll pretty much try any tea at least once!

Steeping Parameters:

I drink tea in a variety of ways! For hot brews, I mostly drink my teas brewed in the western style without additions, and for iced tea, I drink teas mostly brewed in the cold brew style without additions. Occassionally I’ll change that up. I use the https://octea.ndim.space/#/ app for water-to-tea ratios and use steep times to my preferences.

My Rating Scale:

90-100 – Top tier tea! These teas are among my personal favorites, and typically I like to keep them stocked in my cupboards at all times, if possible!

70-89 – These are teas that I personally found very enjoyable, but I may or may not feel inclined to keep them in stock.

50-69 – Teas that fall in this range I enjoyed, but found either average, lacking in some way, or I’ve had a similar tea that “did it better.”

21-49 – Teas in this range I didn’t enjoy, for one reason or another. I may or may not finish them off, depending on their ranking, and feel no inclination to restock them.

20-1 – Blech! My Tea Hall of Shame. These are the teas that most likely saw the bottom of my garbage can, because I’d feel guilty to pass them onto someone else.

Note that I only journal a tea once, not every time I drink a cup of it. If my opinion of a tea drastically changes since my original review, I will journal the tea again with an updated opinion and change my rating. Occassionally I revisit a tea I’ve reviewed before after a year or more has passed.

Inventory:

My Cupboard on Steepster reflects teas that I have sampled and logged for review, and is not used as an inventory for teas I currently own at the present moment. An accurate and up-to-date listing of my current tea inventory can be viewed here: https://tinyurl.com/xjt9ptx3 . I am open to tea trades (within the United States only!) at this time. Note that I will not trade teas that I currently have in a quantity less than 50g (samplers, 1oz packages, etc.) or any teas that are currently still sealed/unopened in my cupboard.

Contact Info:

Feel free to send me a Steepster PM, or alternatively, check the website URL section below; it goes to a contact form that will reach my personal e-mail.

Location

Idaho, United States

Website

https://teatimetuesdayreviews...

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