Jasmine Pearls
China is known for its jasmine tea. Women would go out an collect jasmine flowers at dusk, and sprinkle them around the tea leaves. They would be left together for the night, and then the jasmine was removed in the morning. This was done over several days to impart the perfume of the jasmine on the green tea.
Another method was to roll the green tea leaves with jasmine leaves into a pearl.
These days, you can also find tea that has been heavily perfumed with jasmine (and it is truly awful). This was my first experience with jasmine tea. It was like trying to drink perfume. I have been leery of jasmine tea ever since. That said, I have experimented with other jasmine teas, and found that more expensive teas (made with the proper method) have a much better flavor.
According to several resources, jasmine tea is especially popular in the Beijing region.
I have long admired jasmine pearls (also know as dragon pearls) for their beauty. I didn't really want to invest in a 2 oz (36 g) bag of them, and as luck had it, I found them in the bulk spice section of the local natural food co-op.
Aren't these pretty? I mean this is some elegant looking tea!
When I first got this, I was afraid that I was going to end up using it for potpourri. The jasmine scent was so strong that you could easily smell it through the bag. The strong scent did go away after a while, but I was a little skeptical.
But, I pushed my fears aside, and brewed a cup. I wasn't sure how much to use - most teas say 1 tsp for 6 ounces of water, but this particular cup holds 4 ounces - so I just put three pearls in. I decided not to use an infuser because I wanted to see how they unfurled as the steeped.
I have a book about Chinese cooking, and the author wrote about how mothers evaluated their future daughter-in-law for patience. They would ask for a cup of tea, and watch to see if the young woman would wait long enough for the tea leaves to uncurl. I'm not sure how long those women expected their tea to brew, but I decided 3 minutes should be adequate. The pearls were still somewhat cohesive, so I fished them out with a fork, and enjoyed my tea.
The verdict is that this is a good jasmine tea, even though it is pretty perfumy on first encounter. It has a very light color, and a very light flavor. It is quite refreshing, and is not at all like drinking a cup of perfume. This is one tea where quality definitely makes a difference.
Another method was to roll the green tea leaves with jasmine leaves into a pearl.
These days, you can also find tea that has been heavily perfumed with jasmine (and it is truly awful). This was my first experience with jasmine tea. It was like trying to drink perfume. I have been leery of jasmine tea ever since. That said, I have experimented with other jasmine teas, and found that more expensive teas (made with the proper method) have a much better flavor.
According to several resources, jasmine tea is especially popular in the Beijing region.
I have long admired jasmine pearls (also know as dragon pearls) for their beauty. I didn't really want to invest in a 2 oz (36 g) bag of them, and as luck had it, I found them in the bulk spice section of the local natural food co-op.
Aren't these pretty? I mean this is some elegant looking tea!
When I first got this, I was afraid that I was going to end up using it for potpourri. The jasmine scent was so strong that you could easily smell it through the bag. The strong scent did go away after a while, but I was a little skeptical.
But, I pushed my fears aside, and brewed a cup. I wasn't sure how much to use - most teas say 1 tsp for 6 ounces of water, but this particular cup holds 4 ounces - so I just put three pearls in. I decided not to use an infuser because I wanted to see how they unfurled as the steeped.
I have a book about Chinese cooking, and the author wrote about how mothers evaluated their future daughter-in-law for patience. They would ask for a cup of tea, and watch to see if the young woman would wait long enough for the tea leaves to uncurl. I'm not sure how long those women expected their tea to brew, but I decided 3 minutes should be adequate. The pearls were still somewhat cohesive, so I fished them out with a fork, and enjoyed my tea.
The verdict is that this is a good jasmine tea, even though it is pretty perfumy on first encounter. It has a very light color, and a very light flavor. It is quite refreshing, and is not at all like drinking a cup of perfume. This is one tea where quality definitely makes a difference.
Perfume does not sound particularly appetizing.
ReplyDeleteIt isn't. Of course, our food culture does not tend to use floral flavorings. It might be different if you grew up consuming perfumy foods/beverages.
ReplyDelete