No. 96 Jasmine Silver Tip

This tea became a good friend of mine over the past few days while I had the flu. It really was comforting, and because I could keep resteeping, I didn’t have to do a lot of work when it came to brewing another pot of it.

This is definitely one of the nicest jasmine teas out there.

Second tea of the morning…. (SRP #9)

(Loose leaf version) From my foodzie box from LiberTEAS. I still have a ton of samples in that box. At least another 12, and I am sure I have tried close to 10. It has been very fun!

This is definitely Springtime in a cup. It is light, floral, and slightly sweet all on its own. I have to admit that the few things I have tried from this company have been stellar. The jasmine does not overpower the green tea base, and it is just relaxing.

It has been great to get kind of a feel for the quality before diving into a purchase because there are no samples available except for a variety pack of bagged teas, and the shipping is a little steep. I do feel his prices on loose leaf are pretty good, especially for the quality. I know there will be an order to this company in my future. I do have access to a few bagged teas locally, but I am pretty fond of loose leaf, and it just seems like a better value.

Mug method at about 175 for 2 minutes. No additions.

I really like this tea a lot. It does not turn bitter no matter how long I keep the sachet in and the one’s who know my reviews by now, know that I keep the sachet in the whole time I am enjoying my cup of tea.

Taste: It is a very pleasing and satisfying cup of Jasmine green tea; the blending is spot-on, top-notch. You appreciate the essence of Jasmine without overpowering the green tea. The green tea itself is very fresh, not too vegetal, strong or astringent. I would most highly recommend this tea and the brand…this is truly a Premium tea purveyor!

I completely agree with the previous comment that it does not turn bitter. I also leave my sachet in a long time (both when I ice it and when I drink it hot) and it tastes great the entire time. Every other jasmine tea I’ve had turns bitter if I over steep it. With this one, I don’t have to worry.

As far as I’m concerned, as long as tea is fresh you can never go wrong with Jasmine Pearls. And Steven Smith was no exception. This tea was wonderful.

But the real reason I’m writing this review is because I loved the packaging. It is spot-on for the look and feel of tea as far as I’m concerned. And since they back up the packaging with a beautiful product, I’m a huge fan!

Another sipdown from today. I’ve been wanting to try this company for a long time, so I was very excited when a friend brought me back a sachet of this tea from a hotel stay! I am pleased to report that it did not disappoint. This is a tea for jasmine lovers, certainly. As soon as I opened the packet, a beautifully sweet jasmine perfume wafted up from the dry leaf. It wasn’t sickly sweet or artificial at all, but it was assertive. Brewed up, that sweet jasmine perfume softens a little bit, and there’s also an aroma of green beans and butter. The company’s website lists jasmine, steamed greens, and brown sugar as the tasting notes. I don’t know about the sugar, but the jasmine and steamed greens feels exactly on point. I got three extremely solid steeps out of this.

I’ve been drinking a lot of T2’s China Jasmine lately, and it just completely wilts next to this tea. This is one I’d be happy to revisit given the opportunity.

I love this tea, and drank it nearly everyday. Only nitpick is the price. It’s very hard to make this astringent, and can be rebrewed more than 3 times.

Unfortunately I didn’t really pay much attention while drinking this tea flavor note wise. One of my family members was admitted to the hospital today and I was getting filled in. Since I volunteered to dog sit. This tea came from my grandfather(the one in the hospital currently) it was very fitting to drink this now. He got bought one serving size of this unprepared for me while at a coffee shop. Even though he doesn’t pay attention to flavors I like(there are a lot of them) and picked this at random. It was a great choice and very thoughtful.

Inspecting the tea: I thought this would be loose leaf since the sachet looks just like the David’s Tea samples you get. So much to my surprise I opened it up to find a silken loose leaf tea filled sachet. I was struggling to find a clean tea strainer so this was quite convenient. I brewed it as directed for 3 minutes at 190 F. The dry tea sachet smells very floral and fresh.

Tasting: This is the best Jasmine tea I’ve ever had. It’s very sweet and floral but fresh as well. In my opinion It’s not exactly perfume-y like so many Jasmine teas are. There are sweet vegetal notes and sweet fresh floral notes. I really unfortunately didn’t pay much attention but it was an amazing cup. I need to add this to my buy more of list.

This is the other jasmine tea I have been drinking lately. It is yet another one that I like. I am beginning to find that floral teas don’t bother me as much as they once did.

I prepared this tea using the two step Western infusion I tend to use for many Chinese green teas. I first steeped 1 teaspoon of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 190 F water for 3 minutes, and then followed up this initial infusion with a second infusion of 4 minutes. I can also say from experience that you can use a slightly shorter second infusion and this will still come out good. I have yet to try this tea gongfu, but I am assuming that it would do well.

After infusion, the liquor showed a delicate, pale gold in the cup. On the nose, I picked up a strong scent of jasmine, as well as subtle scents of straw, grass, and squash blossom. In the mouth, the jasmine flavor was strong, but was capably balanced by notes of squash blossom, peach, nectar, honeysuckle, gardenia, bamboo, straw, grass, soybean, and green beans. The finish provided a delicate swirl of floral and vegetal flavors with a hint of pleasant minerality on the back of the throat. The second infusion dialed the floral and fruity tones down a few notches and really emphasized the underlying grassy, vegetal, and mineral aromas and flavors. I still noted, however, that there was just enough lingering jasmine to provide a semblance of balance and depth.

This is yet another impressive tea from Steven Smith Teamaker. It makes an extremely effective contrast with their No. 99 Jasmine Pearls. To me, this Jasmine Silver Tip has a stronger floral aroma, but a more defined and complex green tea taste, while the Jasmine Pearls had a more balanced nose, yet a more robustly floral flavor. To be frank, I really like both, though I think I still like the Jasmine Pearls slightly more. Again, I’m seriously impressed. I would have no problem recommending this tea to any fan of floral teas.

I enjoyed this a lot. I steeped it three times, and each time it did not become bitter. The jasmine is present but not overwhelming, and has a nice green crispness to it that most greens have to me. I will definitely have to check out more by this brand for my teabag needs!