Jasmine Silver Needle

I see that my Sororitea Sister Liberteas hasn’t tried this one…I will send the rest her way :)

Oh.

The bag is really, genuinely, irrevocably empty now. I shook it and held it upside down and everything.

And I can’t get any more right now.

Flurr.

[Sample from the EU Travelling Box, autumn 2013.]
[Sample polished off in Rome, January 2014.]

It’s official: Lena rocks! Why? Because she sent me this tea.

BEST. JASMINE. EVER.

Seriously. This is what I should have had last night when I was let down by the clunky, graceless jasmine oolong I brewed. This is light and delicate but yet has a substantial enough flavor that it doesn’t seem like flavored water.

Ugh, I don’t have a good enough command of language to express how lovely this jasmine is. Gorgeous. I love breathing in over the cup – the jasmine scent hits my tongue and is so sweet and yummy that I’m tasting the tea before any gets in my mouth.

Looks like I’m going to have to place an Adagio order soon!

oh fuzzy little leaves. cute like kittens.
i just don’t think i’m refined enough for Silver Needles yet. they are just so light. i can DEFINITELY smell and taste the jasmine here, which is very peaceful and comforting. but i’m not much for picking out any nuances with these fairy wing light teas.
it won’t stop me from drinking and enjoying though!!
thanks TastyBrew!

After my large amount of cooked pu erh today I decided to treat myself to something vastly different. This is one of my favorite whites. It’s light, sweet, crisp, clean, flirty, and gives me warm fuzzies like the texture of the raw leaves. Served w/ a clementine. I love jasmine… Jasmine is interesting… to me it doesn’t read like a lot of florals. Neither of the jasmine teas I’ve had (this and an oolong) say “garden” or “perfumey” to me like rose can. It marries with the tea like the chocolate and vanilla in twist ice cream, but does not cover it either.

This tea smells genuine. It tastes genuine. Even the aftertaste is pure. Very light in color and ever so delicate. My cubicle smells like I have a little greenhouse of Jasmine growing and blooming. I think I must have accomplished the perfect steep because everything seems just so. I feel all girly drinking this cup…and I’m not a big girly girl. (except that I’m not really into bugs touching me…or being anywhere around me.)

This tea will have to be an “in a certain mood” tea. I couldn’t drink it everday.

Oh yeah, for all you visual folks out there, I added the pic of the tea leaves to the site. Thank you…thank you!

So… I finally gave up to the hype surrounding this tea and ordered myself a sample.
I read all the praising tasting notes before trying it and was prepared to face something extraordinary.

I like jasmine teas and am always on the lookout for the perfect jasmine. This isn’t gonna get to the top, that’s for sure. My main gripe is the smell. What I’m looking for is fresh-off-a-bush-jasmine and all I’m getting instead is old-lady-perfume-jasmine. It’s heady, powdery and strong. I can vividly picture an old English lady wearing jasmine perfume and serving this tea to her grandchildren. The lady is so stuck in my mind that I think of her each time I brew this.

I decided to use a gaiwan because I figured since it’s Silver Needle it should stand up to several infusions. And indeed it does. Actually I like the subsequent infusions much better than the first one. The perfume is pretty much gone and now I can enjoy Silver Needle taste with the traces of jasmine flowers.

I’ll continue my experiments with this tea and maybe I’ll find a way to beat the first wave of flavor…

I’ve had this sample for a few months as part of Adagio’s silver sampler (4 white teas). I don’t believe I ever logged the other ones and this is the last one I had finished so am determined to try it!

After yesterday’s experience I decided to go mild and gentle on the white. The instructions here say 195 for 3-5 minutes but I did mine for 2.5 minutes with 180 degree water approximately. This seems to have been a good decision.

I don’t really love jasmine tea too much but I can appreciate this. Very mild and sweet, the jasmine is relaxing and soothing. I’m trying to focus on letting the jasmine aroma waft up into my nose rather than focusing on what it tastes like. Good for a relaxing moment. I am not sure I will ever finish it so if anyone wants to swap please let me know!

Sweet lady Jasmine, with her pale smile, treated me well again tonight.
I’m thinking about moving into some Yellow tea in a moment, but this one was enjoyable in the mean time. Still can’t get over the scent – that alone might push me to buy a tin’s worth, and to keep an eye out for the same product from other brands.

A small note – the leaves are chewier and a bit less enjoyable than that of the Yellow tea. Comparing in my head those leaves to these, I can notice the quality differences. These leaves are just a bit more coarse, less refined. They’re not bad, necessarily – in my inexpert opinion, I’d put them at a 7 or, at a push, 8 out of 10.

I called my parents today. My mother wants me to post more things on facebook, because, strange as it is, that’s her way of making sure I’m alive and well. I told her, if she really wants to, she could check me out on here, because I post here more than on facebook. (I’m not much one for the trivialities of my generation…) When I told my parents what this site is, they laughed at me.
sigh Jasmine doesn’t laugh at me, no matter how lame I am. And onto Yellow tea!
…At 5:15 in the morning.

When I received my order from Adagio, I noticed that my sample tin of Jasmine Silver Needle seemed to be slightly deformed. This resulted in the lid being extremely difficult to remove. I was so excited to open the tin that I didn’t take the time to think things through, and realize that opening a tin of tea over a long shag carpet probably wasn’t the best idea. So finally the lid flew off, and the most expensive tea I have ordered to date went FLYING. It all landed in the shag carpet. What a nightmare. It took me forever to pick it all out, and my first sample cup most likely was an infusion of Jasmine Silver Needle and Carpet Fibers. Tasty.
Despite this nightmare, however, the tea really did taste wonderful. It was so light and flowery, and the smell was AMAZING as well. I have around $15 in frequent cup points built up, so guess what tea I’m going to spend them on?!