Chinese Treasures

“An Ode to Tea” Alphabet Challenge – C

I randomly added a sample of this to my March subscription, just because I’d never tried it and the combination of jasmine green tea with goji, ginger, and ginseng sounded interesting. Wow, that’s a lotta ’g’s…

I do like it. The jasmine definitely takes center stage, and it tastes sweet, lush, and natural. The ginger is probably the second-strongest, but mostly just adds a nice earthiness. Honestly I haven’t had a lot of ginseng, so I couldn’t say how it affects the flavor here. But there’s a soft mineral herbaceous note that perhaps it’s responsible for? I don’t really get much fruitiness from the goji, maybe if I squint there’s a hint of tartness.

Anyway, it’s good! Mostly just a pleasant jasmine green tea with a side of ginger. I like it, and will have no trouble finishing the packet. However, I’m not sure I’d need it in my cupboard, since it’s so similar to a plain jasmine green…

No notes for this one? It’s not exactly new, either – I ordered it in June last year, then I got scared, and it’s been sitting in my cupboard until now. I figured a medicinal style blend might be appropriate given that I’m feeling pretty icky just at the moment, so here goes.

This is Bluebird’s version of a Ba Bao Cha, and it contains jasmine green tea, ginger, goji berries, ginseng, extra jasmine, and gynostemma. I have no idea about that last. I do remember now why I’ve put this one off so long – jasmine, ginger, and goji berries are not among my favourite things. Quite the opposite, in fact. But tea is there to be tried, so I bought it anyway.

I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 3 minutes in water cooled to around 180 degrees. There’s not a lot to say about this one, I don’t think. It’s not a strong flavour, but what flavour there is is mostly jasmine with a hint of smooth, grassy green tea. It has a “herbal” aspect to it, and it verges on medicinal. You can tell it’s a blend that’s trying to do some good! It’s easy enough to drink, fresh and clean tasting. I’d not hurry out to buy it again, but it’s certainly not obnoxious!