Jasmin

First, if you have not steeped your Nina’s Teas yet – don’t use your American oversized mug. The samples seem much more suited to dainty 6oz cups than our usual 12-16oz beasties. I wish I had realized why these were coming out so light before hand. Live and learn.

This one is a lovely relaxing cup that is a mild twist on standard jasmine tea. The leaf is very finely cut and very dark for green tea. There is some flower petals in the mix. The jasmine is the good stuff. What I mean is it is not the gross bitter stuff passed off as jasmine in cheap or bagged teas. The lotus is a very light floral note in the late sip and reminded me of the flavor of Tazo Lotus. That happens to be one of the few I like by Tazo. The base is a bit harder to separate out. Definitely not grassy or bitter.

Thank you Nina’s Tea for the sample.

I was thrilled to see this in my most recent package of samples from Nina’s since I’m such a big fan of jasmine teas! I don’t believe I’ve ever tasted lotus in a tea before. I’m not sure I can pick it out over the jasmine flavor/scent. This is a particularly flowery jasmine! The base tea is a little richer and heavier and less sweet than my beloved jasmine pearl teas. Nice if you are in the mood for something with a little more body to it! This is basically a fancier version of the basic jasmine tea they serve at my favorite Chinese restaurant. Classic and sophisticated :)

I think the only time I’ve ever had a jasmine tea was when I went out for dim sum. It definitely goes well with dim sum. This tea smells heavenly. I enjoyed two steeps of it, the second of which was more enjoyable, since I didn’t oversteep it. It seems to like about a one minute steep. I think this is a tea I would like to have now and then. Would probably be delicious paired with a rice dish. Thanks for the sample, Nina’s Paris!!

A lovely Jasmine tea from VariaTEA!
This lasted me through two steepings, and one for my roommate. This is a great jasmine, and not at all bitter :)

I finally got around to trying this, about 2 months after I received it.

I can taste the jasmine, but there’s also a sweeter, sort of creamy base underneath it which I assume is the lotus – it reminds me of some of the Butiki blends I’ve had where lotus stamens were an ingredient.

I’m not quite sure if I’d want to restock this after trying a sample, but it is distinctive.

Sipdown (165/171)!

I think I need to go back to looking up teas before I just decide to steep them because I definitely did some weird stuff with the sample of this I got from VariaTEA.

Drinking it at work today I kept thinking to myself over and over “This is the weirdest Jasmine Black I’ve ever had!”. Umm, I just looked over the information now as I’m logging it: it’s not black tea! Yup, this is a Jasmin Green. Totally explains why it tasted so off, though!

So yeah, when I prepared this I definitely steeped it like I would have a black tea. Funnily enough, it wasn’t even the slightest bit bitter or astringent. Really, it was sweet! Floral, of course, and kinda juicy and sweet?

Yeah there’s no need to seek it out or anything, but it was a nice, memorable experience! Thanks VariaTEA for yet another Nina’s Paris sample!

EDIT: Oh hey, this was tasting note 1400!

The first jasmine tea I ever had was a total bust, almost a disaster. It made me feel sick, as if I had been drinking perfume. I thought I was destined to hate jasmine teas but then I tried some really good….no…..really great ones.

This is a free sample provided by Nina’s and I saved it for a game night tonight because one of my guests has spent a bit of time in China and really loves jasmine tea. I promised to save the sample until we could drink it together.

The leaves are so dark that I wasn’t sure at first if this was green or black, but definitely it is green. The scent is heavenly. I steeped one tablespoon in 22 ounces of 174F water for three minutes. We tasted the first steep and added the second steep to it.

The verdict – this is a really good jasmine green. The jasmine is rich and natural, not fake or “perfume-y”. The liquor was a deep yellow color and the resteep maintained much of the strength of the first steep. The green tea base had a lot of presence but was smooth, much better to me than the Grace Rare Tea version, which I can drink with a meal but is a bit sour for me by itself. This one is a delight on its own and is also good with food,

After tasting the tea twice – first steep by itself, then first and second mixed – we passed around a box of truffles and I must say it was a fantastic pairing.

Thank you, Nina’s!

Thank you Laurent and Sophie at Nina’s Paris for a sample of this tea. It is not one I would have tried on my own because I am not a lover of floral teas. This one in particular is like sweet, candied flowers – along the lines of Violette by Dammann Freres. Not for me but definitely something I believe others should try if they are into floral teas.