For many of us, our first taste of Jasmine tea was in a Chinese restaurant, when someone at the table asked for hot tea to accompany the meal. The server brought out a teapot and a number of small, handle-less ceramic cups. The yellow-green liquid poured into these cups was fragrant and had a few loose tea leaves in it, because it was prepared without a filter.
Something interesting about Jasmine tea and Two Leaves and a Bud: Our CEO, Richard Rosenfeld, says he wasn't fond of Jasmine when he encountered it in the past. He says it's because the tea he kept coming across was heavily flavored with Jasmine, rather than scented with the fragrance of Jasmine.
Here's the difference, in a nutshell: some Jasmine tea is simply tea leaves that have been harvested, prepared as green tea, and then flavor is added. Higher quality Jasmine tea is harvested in April and May, and when June arrives, the Jasmine flowers that bloom that month are laid on top of the tea. Tea absorbs odors very easily, and so during the cool nights, the premium green tea is basking in the floral scent, building up a nuanced taste profile.
Specifically, that means a top note of flowers, a middle note of complex green tea, and a finish that's a little astringent, like a good green tea should have.
If you've never had that quality tea, it's a revelation when you taste something like Two Leaves and a Bud Jasmine Petal tea. Have you had it? As our top-selling tea, there's a good chance you have. This is the sort of tea you taste as much with your nose as with your tongue, as it's delicate, flowery Jasmine flower scent lingers over the cup.
Richard says he watched the Jasmine Petal become a best-selling tea month after month, perhaps because our whole leaf tea absorbs plenty of that delicious Jasmine fragrance, and the tea is a high quality that never gets bitter.
"You can re-wash each sachet, and each time you re-wash it, you get more green tea flavor out of the cup," Richard says. "I love to have a cup of Jasmine Petal in the afternoon — it's a great digestive tea."
Incidentally, Richard says finding the best Jasmine tea for Two Leaves and a Bud is a passion for the tea expert we work with in China, so he always looks forward to tasting the newest Jasmine Petal to arrive.
What do you like about Jasmine tea? Do you taste a difference between our Jasmine Petal and other Jasmine teas you've had?
