Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Product Description:
Jasmine Phoenix Pearls are perfumy, hand-rolled jewels of tea from Fuding, in Fujian province, China. Any fan of jasmine tea should try this specially crafted wonder. When added to hot water, Jasmine Phoenix Pearls majestically unfurl, releasing their delicate scent and flavor. Also known as ‘Jasmine Dragon Pearls’, their liquor is sweet and almost sugary. Very soft, airy mouthfeel. The delicate quality of the flavor is due in part to the leaves used to produce this tea: two tender, tiny new leaves and one plump unopened leaf bud. Younger leaves will yield softer flavor.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is a little bit like my revisiting a tea, because I did previously review Jasmine Pearls from Adagio. However, since these are loose pearls, and my review was of Adagio’s sacheted Jasmine Pearls – which were part of Adagio Teas’ lovely Artisan Comfort gift box – I feel like I can get away with revisiting this one.
And as you are probably aware by now (assuming that you’ve been reading my blog regularly!), I adore Jasmine Pearls!
I brewed these pearls in my gaiwan and I combined the first five infusions in my designated especially for Jasmine Tea Yixing Mug. And what a lovely experience these Jasmine Phoenix Pearls from Adagio offer! The jasmine notes are soft and sweet and exotic. The green tea has a fresh, subtle vegetal tone that marries beautifully with the flowery essence that has been imparted onto the tender tea leaves by the jasmine flower.
And the fragrance is heavenly! Every time I lift the lid of my Yixing mug and raise it to my lips, my nose is enchanted by the aroma of jasmine and green tea. It’s so wonderfully perfumed without coming across as something you’d find in a bottle of perfume. It doesn’t come across as something that belongs at a department store cologne counter. It is light, airy … almost like a sweet breeze that has been delicately scented with the flower as it passed through the vines of a jasmine plant. So beautiful!
The sip begins with the sweet notes of jasmine that wash over the palate, and as my taste buds experience the soft floral notes, they start to also pick up on the notes of lush green tea. Not really grassy, and there isn’t a heavy vegetative flavor. Instead it just has a soft “green” sort of flavor. It has a soft, silky texture and there’s a hint of buttery flavor to it. The flavor remains smooth through to the finish, and there’s very little notable astringency. The aftertaste is sweet with floral tones.
A really good Jasmine!
