Jasmine Black Pearls (Organic)

Trying these bad boys tonight. I bought a sample of them in October when I learned that the DT closest to me actually got a stock of them. I had resisted before based on not knowing how I feel about jasmine, but the smell is just hypnotic. I have had jasmine in other teas but always have this fear in the back of my mind that it will be too strong and perfumey – despite that never having happened!

The dry smell of these pearls (really, like the Teavivre pearls, they are about the size of marbles. SO beautiful!) is sweet jasmine with a hint of bitter black tea underneath. I’m thinking the sweetness of the jasmine is so striking that it makes the black tea seem bitter in contrast, hopefully I don’t get any of that once steeped.

The beau and I did 4 pearls to our medium pot, steeped at 95 degrees for about three minutes. The first cup was basic black tea, a bit mild with a hint of sweet. Thre was a hint of jasmine at the back of the sip, but it was so unassuming that I almost thought it was just part of the tea itself. The second cup has quite a bit of astringency, but no bitterness. I’m thinking some crumbs may have been in the pot and continued steeping. The jasmine is stronger here too, it rounds out the tea quite nicely, but the tea itself is a bit too one-dimensional. I would like to get some malt or chocolate here, something with a bit of depth to balance the jasmine.

All that said, this is a nice tea. This is a special tea. I get that. This is NOT an amazing tea. For the price ($14 for 50 grams) I was pretty disappointed. I would much rather have Teavivre’s black pearls or Davids Yunnan Black. While I will definitely re-steep this and enjoy the remains of my 20 gram sample (about 20 pearls) I won’t be buying more. Hopefully I remember to try to steep it a little differently next time and see if I can improve it. If it cost less, it would get higher rating but at that price point I expect my tea to be more interesting. I think a better base tea could have made a big difference here.

I am lucky friends!
Our DT in the mall received this by mistake! They have to send it back because they don’t have a tin for it – but in the meantime… we get to drink it! And buy it… so it’ll probably be gone in no time and they will have nothing to send back. Yay!

mmmmm
It is SO good! I was a little scared because I got it to go, but then headed downstairs and had to do a bunch of work errands, so it had steeped fr about an hour. O_O Took a sip to prepare for the bitterness – of which there was none.

There was a sweetness, like honey! There was a maltiness and a smooooothness from the yummy black base – and a brightening sharpness from the jasmine. I say sharpness, but actually the Jasmine is really the perfect amount. It doesn’t overwhelm, it just dances along with the rest of the notes and makes me happy.

I need these in my life! No money though (I got my mug for $1 with the promo!) – but I’ll have to make an online order in time and I might just pop some of this in it. mm!

My friend picked me up some of these and sent me them. And finally I am trying them.

I used 4 pearls for 12 oz of water, and steeped them for 4 minutes.

The other jasmine black tea I’ve had tasted like candy coated chocolate. I loved it so much. I get the feeling these might be a bit different. Also I’m wondering in the ingredients if that’s a typo and meant to be Yunnan or if it is Hunan.

Anyway yes this one does not have that Cadbury mini eggs taste. It’s much more floral and tastes very much like honey.

I much prefer non-jasmine black pearls, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to try these. I’ve never seen jasmine black pearls ever, so to me it was worth the price to at least try them. But I just feel like I’m losing out on the maltiness and cocoa notes that I like about black pearls because the honey notes are so strong, and combined with jasmine it tastes a lot like honeysuckle.

I will definitely steep them again because maybe there will be less jasmine now, and I’d be curious to try them out in the gaiwan.

But it is nice to drink them and sit here with Tucker. He is laying next to me and snoring.

I was going to steep it again after dinner and my mom wanted to have some! Gasp. So I steeped it a second time of 4 min, and a third of 5. After that the leaves smelled more chocolatey/malty so I was excited this would be better. And indeed it was! Malty, earthy notes finally came out, and the jasmine was far more subtle but still present.

(DavidsTea 2022: 87)

My parents love this tea, especially with asian food. I thoroughly enjoyed it with my delicious supper of dumplings and other Mandarin dishes, but especially when drank with food, it mostly just comes off as a fairly smooth jasmine tea. Preferable to a green jasmine, but nothing particularly special.

I got an oz of this and an oz of Mom’s Apple pie when I bought a Timolino recently. I like these pearls. 4 to my cup at work seems to be a good thing. 3 is too weak. I like how the black tea and jasmine in this seem to bring out some cocoa flavors- at least to me. I never really like jasmine in combo with green tea, but with black tea it’s heavenly.

I have seen these pearls on steepster, & Jeweled Thumb was kind enough to send me a sample. I finally got a chance to try them out today, & although they were ok, they weren’t really my thing. I do enjoy a good jasmine tea from time to time, but today it just didn’t do it for me.
It’s probably me, rather than the tea.
However, thanks to Jeweled Thumb for sharing it with me!
And that’s a sipdown!

Dry Leaf Nose: Strong notes of jasmine, underpinned with the rich aroma of a classic China black Hunnan type tea.

Liquor: Golden brown and clear – so clear and visually crisp that it almost glows!

Flavour: Jasmine and Hunnan type black tea notes are beautifully balanced in this blend. The jasmine hits the palate nose first, gentle with only the most appealing and sweet, floral jasmine character. Immediately following are rich caramel notes of fine black, very oxidized tea. A delicate wild honey note rises in the background with a hint of sweet garden soil in the finish.The overall has a delightfully refreshing and palate cleansing character that lingers well without overpowering the palate.

I snagged this tea with my last DT order. Actually it’s my roommate’s tea, but I’m tempted to steal one of two packages we got.

JBP actually surprised me – first sip, piping hot was bitter and bleh. I let it sit for 5 minutes and the tea powers took hold. A very smooth, lightish black tea with forestfloor woody qualities, with a light moderate jasmine floral. Lots of honey sweetness and brain twisting raisin notes.
Later steepings, JBP came out more floral and developed spice notes.

Full review on my blog, The Oolong Owl
http://oolongowl.wordpress.com/2013/07/31/jasmine-black-pearls-from-davidstea-tea-review/

This tea is on webspecial for 50% off with it only listed there and not the black tea section. I’d snag it quick before it’s gone!

I had these a while back and didn’t log. I’ve been neglectful. :(

In any case, I found these pearls to be disappointing. The jasmine was pretty mild and the base none too exciting. I think my expectations were a bit high. I love the look of the pearls, but the taste was not memorable. It was a tad malty with a honeyed flavor. Nice but I won’t be buying again.

Additional notes: I’m real real glad I didn’t use all four of these from the teabox…. with two pearls it was very astringent. There is a crazy amount of leaves that expands out of two pearls. The jasmine tea just isn’t quite what I want it to be though. I do love the idea of jasmine black dragon pearls though. It looks like from my past steep, I used FIVE pearls. I have no idea how that didn’t kill me. Yikes.

There is a Lupicia group order that is trying to be set up in the forums for people in the US. This is ideal if you don’t want to spend $60 to get to the free shipping limit, but you want to stock up on a little of your favorites OR try some of them because it looks like Lupicia is closing its US website and stores. More info over in the forums.

Also, if anyone has Lupicia’s Cinnamon Cookie Puerh they’d like to sell me, let me know. :D