Jasmine Phoenix Pearls [DUPLICATE]

Sipdown, 187. I honestly cannot remember who I got this sample from. I think it was Rachel Sincere, but I’m not certain. Sorry about that, and thanks, swap buddy. I used to try all the samples I got in swaps right away, but now I sit on them for a while and forget who they came from.

There are surprisingly few reviews for this tea given how popular Adagio is in general. I think I know why. These have got to be the most overly perfumy jasmine pearls I’ve ever had. Not even just very strong jasmine (which I am of course a fan of) but jasmine to an extreme, to a point where it hardly tastes like jasmine anymore. I would have to say if you are looking for a good jasmine pearl, this is not one to investigate.

It’s very tasty. Today I feel the Jasmine is very over powering but this usually isn’t a problem so I think today is just an off day.

Like I’ve said before, I’m not a fan of green tea. The first time I tried this, I think I brewed it way too hot and steeped it for a bit too long. It was bitter after the first cup.
When re-steeping, I used a lower temperature water, less water, and steeped for shorter. I still had to douse it in sugar and honey to make it taste good.

Not the best I’ve had by any means.

So I had two cups of this tea today, the first prepared at 195ºF and steeped for 2 minutes, the second resteeped at the same temp for 3 minutes. The aroma of jasmine in the first cup was very strong and it had a nip of astringency to it, but still one of the best cups of tea I have ever had. The second cup however, is where this tea really shines. Resteeping the leaves toned down the jasmine and let some of the more delicate tea aroma come into play, also any trace of astringency was gone. The taste was a little muted (as is expected) but still amazing!

Sample of this from… someone. The writing is distinctive but it has been too long for me to remember. Oh well. Anyhow, in addition to having a couple new teas tonight I figured I should try and work on some older samples, so here we are. This one’s a light, pleasant jasmine – probably used to be stronger, but still has a good amount of flavour. It may actually be better a bit muted – a little less in your face. A good choice for relaxing this evening!

“By far- and coming from someone who once eagerly poked around Asian grocery stores- this is the best jasmine tea I’ve had yet! It’s very smooth and fragrant. As soon as I opened the package, I knew it was going to be good- if I could properly brew it. The previous teas I’ve tried that were jasmine in flavor, I just couldn’t do it- they’d be burned or not hot enough or too rough at the edges.

I’ve since gotten unused to jasmine tea, but I’m going to fall right back in love with it now. I also have a tin of the master’s jasmine tea, so I’m looking forward to this as well.”

I am always REALLY careful when steeping this tea, because when done correctly I absolutely love this one. I do add a tiny bit of truvia to it, though. It’s really smooth, not at all bitter, and lightly sweet. VERY fragrant and soothing. Just the thing for a stressful afternoon!

Revisiting this tea on a rainy morning that sees my son home from preschool with a bit of the sniffles and feeling under the weather. To help combat that, I made us a smoothie this morning consisting of plain greek yogurt, almond milk, a banana, Amish jarred peaches, frozen blueberries, turmeric, and ginger with a squirt of honey. It was really good.

And to combat the rainy day, I have made a cup of one of my favorite styles of tea, Jasmine Pearls. There is something about good jasmine tea that just… gets me.

Gongfu style, first brew of 20 seconds. Yup. I remember why I love this so much. Thick and creamy mouthfeel. Delicious jasmine tea and flavor that is not overpowering or too weak. No bitterness. Wow, I nailed this first steep, if I do say so myself.

Second steep, 15 seconds. Pulled it back by about 5 seconds due to the leaves opening up. Scent is still nicely balanced. No bitterness in the liquid. I do think, however, that I could have let this go to 20 seconds and have gotten a flavor similar to the first steep. The flavor is still nice here, just not quite as thick or sweet. Still above average in flavor in scent, though.

3rd steep, 30 seconds. Scent is as strong as ever. The strength has come back a bit for this steep. A few seconds longer and I could see this turning a little bitter. But as it is, still very smooth and drinkable.

4th steep, 40 seconds. The scent still has such a creamy, sweet, jasmine scent. I love it. The flavor is still very nice and similar to the scent. I was actually expecting this steep to start the decline for this tea but not so. I would still drink this steep every time.

5th steep, 1 min. This tea has great longevity and consistency for its style.

6th steep, 90 seconds. Went to take a shower. Came back to this tea and now I am seeing the flavor start to fade which is fine. I feel I got more than I bargained for anyway.

I’m glad I revisited this tea (and that I have plenty left). It is a great option for a Jasmine Pearl and probably one of Adiagio’s best offerings that I have had.

This tea is light and floral. The pearls were nicely wound and were generally free of flaws. The aroma of the leaves is strong with the scent of jasmine. The liquor is light and is, again, strongly scented with jasmine. The taste is a light green tea with a strong jasmine taste – actually too strong, which is why it gets lower marks for flavor. Even with minimal steeping, the tea gets overly bitter from the overuse of jasmine; however, the flavor gets better with subsequent steeps

I’ve been rolling in Jasmine pearls lately, trying to find the ideal one for me, so I have a pretty diverse and fairly recent frame of reference for this one.

I’ll save you the long spiel. If you’ve had jasmine pearls you know what to expect. What makes this one unique from others is that the flavor is mellow and registers on the cocoa/nutty side with light floral, as opposed to the more fragrant and heady or fruity and sweet jasmine teas. Definitely not soapy or anything like that. This one is smooth and a little creamy. It’s not my favorite, but pretty good. :3