Silver Needle Jasmine

Too much jasmine for me. Gifted it to a friend who really loved it.

(backlog from 5/29/14)

This is my very first tea from Rishi, which seems to have a devoted clientele of fine tea connoisseurs. I’ve been wondering about these teas for a while, but at Whole Foods they seems never to go on sale and seem a bit pricey—for a grocery store tea! Or are they?

The first infusion of Silver Needle Jasmine was a light peach-tinged liquor. According to the box, this blend contains not only jasmine petals, but magnolia as well. However, to me this is nearly a jasmine soliflore experience—a bit like drinking perfume, and I mean that in a positive way! The texture is smooth and silken. Unsurprisingly the tea itself is not contributing much flavor. I rarely get much taste out of white teas, the tofu of the tea world, it seems to me.

second infusion: liquor more yellow than peach and quite pale, with the flavor correspondingly lighter. The spent leaves were a bit stinky, so this will be all for this tea today.

(Blazing New Rating #10)

Great Jasmine flavor blended perfectly with the silver needle. A delicate, feminine brew.

I don’t usually like Jasmine, but whenever I’ve smelled this one I noticed how sweet the jasmine seems, not cloying. And that impression was correct! I blend this with everything for a little sweet lift. It’s especially good with peppermint. Plain it’s nice and soothing, not too harsh floral and not too earty white. It’s an excellent balance. There’s no pungency or soapiness that I’ve experienced with other jasmines. I may have just been converted to jasmine, if they all taste like this from now on!

Once again, used my Sorapot to slowly steep a nice Organic Silver Needle Jasmine by Rishi that I had actually purchased in my local grocery store. I was impressed by the quality of the loose tea and the wonderful jasmine fragrance as I typically only buy my teas via the internet/mail order to make sure they are as fresh as possible. But, I must have gotten a nice batch from the grocery store because it was tasty.

I have always loved Jasmine (pearls, greens, and whites) so it’s hard for me to say that I didn’t like this one of course! As far as comparing it with other jasmine teas I’ve tried over the years, I’d say it definitely meets expectations. The silver needles were not the best quality as I’ve seen though (many broken tips) but that might just be because of the bulk packaging process. Given that I paid $12.99 for just 1.9 oz of the tea though, I think I’ll go back to buying my organic jasmine silver needle in larger quantities from some of my favorite online stores.

A great tea if you are looking for jasmine. If you’re in it for the white tea, I’d recommend checking out Rishi’s Silver Needle (non jasmine version) and White Peony if you haven’t already.
This is a nice tea; it’s just that the jasmine aroma and flavor can easily overpower the buds’ delicate taste.

Used my Zarafina tea maker. Thought it was pretty good.