Jasmine Special Grade Green

Sipdown! I think this was better when it was fresh two years ago. It’s still quite decent though. The floral jasmine scent carries over into the flavor, present but not overwhelming, floral but not perfume-y. I have a vague memory of cold brewing this over the summer and finding it quite enjoyable.

Backlog:

August’s Selection Club box from Simple Loose Leaf was an amazing box! (Yeah, I’m still behind.) I really enjoyed this Jasmine, a sweet, delicate floral note, I like that this was not an aggressive jasmine. The green tea was lightly vegetal and sweet. The mouthfeel was soft and pleasant.

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/09/01/jasmine-special-grade-green-tea-from-simple-loose-leaf/

Brewed grandpa-style in a glass tumblr.

The dry leaf consists of short, twisty dark green leaves interspersed with a few jasmine flowers and little tan stalks (reminds me of kukicha), and smells lightly of jasmine. In the tea itself, the jasmine takes over the base tea and tastes much stronger. It feels a little heavy. Leaves a nice aftertaste, though my mouth feels a little dry. Still, this is a nice jasmine green tea.

Another backlog from when I drank during Steepster’s Day of Server Doom:

The jasmine in this is really strong, even at a 2.5 minute steep. There’s at least 3/4 of an ounce left. I put the leaf into an empty tin to save space, but it is a bad idea that I already know what tea I’ll store in this tin once I finish this particular tea? Gonna have to mainline this over the next few weeks to sip it down.

This is a pretty decent jasmine green. I love jasmine green tea, but I haven’t had it in a while.

It’s quite jasminey and a little bit astringent. I can’t taste enough of the green, though, but maybe another infusion will help with that. (I did say somewhere I’m guilty of resteeping my teas to death….)

A classic tea, jasmine green teas have been sipping in China for an exceptionally long time, far longer than I have been sipping tea (see, I am not a time traveler, I swear) and it just might be a lot of people in the West’s first encounter with green tea. The aroma if this particular jasmine green is quite heady and sweet, it does not have the perfume aroma that some jasmine teas have, instead it has the aroma of fresh jasmine flowers in bloom. Surprisingly there is no aroma of the base green tea at all, the same goes for the brewed leaves. The liquid sans leaves is honey sweet with jasmine headiness and a delicate hint of fresh vegetation.

The first steep is surprisingly sweet, like flower nectar and sugar, there is also a nice heady taste of jasmine that permeates throughout the entire sipping experience. At the end of the taste and into the aftertaste there is a fairly delicate fresh vegetation taste, there is no bitterness at all.

For the second steep the aroma is very jasmine heavy, the fresh vegetation aroma from previously is still present, but it is stronger. The taste starts out sweet and jasmine heavy, this transitions to slightly smoky green, like fresh vegetation and spinach. The smoke is barely present, like a tiny whiff of a distant fire. Again, the tea is mild and not at all bitter. I am always fan of jasmine teas that are not overwhelming.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/08/simple-loose-leaf-august-subscription_8.html