Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White & Green Teas
Where to Buy: Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Description:
A unique blend of Chinese white and green teas scented with Jasmine and lightly flavored with plum create a delicately fruity and floral delight. Great for anyone who loves jasmine green tea but is ready to step outside of the box, this tea is delicious either hot or over ice.
Shou Mei White Tea, Jasmine Special Grade Green Tea, Safflowers, Sunflowers, Plum flavor, Jasmine Flowers
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf’s Selection Club subscription program here.
Taster’s Review:
The aroma wafting out of my teacup right now is quite lovely. I smell the jasmine and the plum and these are two scents that I don’t think I’ve ever imagined together before today, but, they smell rather beautiful together! It smells fresh and flowery, with mouth-watering fruit notes dancing in the background.
And it tastes – wow! Just as I would not have imagined the two scents together, these are two flavors I wouldn’t have imagined together either. But it works!
The first note I taste is that of the Shou Mei. It’s light and airy, with a subtle earthiness and a hint of hay-like flavor. The green tea notes seem to marry seamlessly with the white tea notes, becoming more of a unified flavor than two individual flavors. Like green tea, only lighter and crisper … or perhaps, like white tea only with more of a grassy intonation.
Then I can taste the notes of jasmine. Delicate and floral. The floral notes are sharpened slightly with the presence of the sunflower petals. The soft jasmine flavor stays with me throughout the sip and lingers into the aftertaste.
Just before mid-sip, I start to pick up on the plum note. It starts out subtle and as I continue to drink the tea – about four or five sips into the cup – I notice the plum notes starting to become more defined. Sweet with just a hint of tartness. I am really enjoying the contrast between the sharpness of the sunflower and the sweeter elements of this cup, like the plum and the sweet notes of green and white tea.
I’ve tasted so many wonderful teas since I’ve joined Simple Loose Leaf’s Selection Club subscription service! This one may just be my newest favorite (although I don’t think it will “replace” any others that have been favorites … this is just a new one to add to my list of favorites!) It’s such a lovely tea. It’s nice served hot, and I like it iced too.
Now, I know I’ve told you about the savings that Simple Loose Leaf offers our readers, but I’ll tell you again: use this code: SISTERSELECTION25 and you’ll save 25% off when you sign up for the Selection Club.
This discount is not applicable on the retail selection of teas, and is only good for the selection club subscription.
Passion Fruit Jasmine Blend from Art of Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black & Green Tea Blend
Where to Buy: Art of Tea
Tea Description:
This award winning blend of select black tea and green teas, jasmine blossoms, and passionfruit essence has a long lasting, sweet flavor and astounding aroma that carries well hot and as a refreshing iced tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I am sometimes a bit stand-offish when it comes to blends like this, where two different tea types (like black and green teas, as was used in this blend) are combined into one tea blend. I worry that the black tea will overpower the lighter flavors of the green tea, and I’m concerned about the proper temperature and steep time.
Generally speaking, when I encounter a blend like this, I tend to yield to the tea type that requires the lower temperature: in this case, it’s the green tea. So I heated the water to 180°F and steeped it for three minutes. This seemed to do the trick, because this is quite tasty!
And, I’m happy to say that while the black tea notes seem to be a bit stronger than the green, I can still taste the lightness of the green tea as well as the rich, earthy notes of the black tea. The black tea is softer than a black tea that was brewed at a higher temperature – obviously! – but, I’m still getting a lot of black tea flavor in this cup.
The green tea adds a soft, buttery note and a hint of freshness to the cup, and I like the way that melds with both the notes of flower from the jasmine and the essence of passion fruit, which is sweet and flavorful. The black tea adds a nice depth to the cup and gives an interesting contrast to the sweeter notes of the green tea. There is some astringency to this, but not a lot, and it’s not bitter.
Overall, this is a pleasingly sweet tea that’s a little bit fruity and a little bit floral, and a whole lot enjoyable. This tastes good served hot, but I like it even better when it’s chilled! I was sure to save some of what I brewed and stashed it in the fridge, and iced … this tastes really great! As it cools, I find that the passion fruit notes really pop, and the floral notes aren’t quite as sharp, offering an interesting exotic quality to the tea that I didn’t experience when the tea was hot. It’s an interesting twist on the classic tropical flavored iced tea!
Jasmine Phoenix Pearls from Adagio Teas
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!
Library Blend Tea from Murchie’s Tea & Coffee
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black & Green Blend
Where to Buy: Murchie’s Tea & Coffee
Product Description:
Murchie’s Library Blend Tea is a mild blend of green & black teas featuring Ceylon, Jasmine, Keemun and Gunpowder teas that is delightfully aromatic with a rich, smooth flavour. Anything but boring, and as great as the classics in literature!
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
Because this Library Blend Tea from Murchie’s Tea & Coffee is a blend of both black and green tea leaves, I brewed the tea at a lower temperature (185°F) and steeped it for just 2 minutes to avoid scorching the tender green tea leaves.
This is an interesting blend. I’m not quite ready to call it “tasty,” but it’s interesting. The black teas – Ceylon and Keemun – brewed at a lower temperature and for a shorter period of time offer a mild black tea flavor and they meld with the green tea flavors. There’s a gentle flinty flavor to this. It’s … smoky … but not quite … if that makes sense. It tastes like the soft wisps of smoke when attempting to light a fire: before the fire becomes a blaze.
The green tea lightens the body and the flavor. There are notes of earth, hints of a grassy taste, and the aforementioned wisps of smoke. There is a light astringency to the cup.
The one thing that is holding me back from really liking this is the jasmine. It just tastes a little off. You know me, jasmine is one of my favorite florals, but, it isn’t working for me in this blend. The floral notes here taste contrived.
Overall, I would say that this blend is just OK. Not spectacular in any way, and I found myself wishing that this would have been made a “simpler” blend by eliminating the jasmine. It’s alright, but not a tea at the top of my list to try again soon.
Whisper of the Woods Green Tea Blend from Whispering Pines Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: Whispering Pines Tea Company
Tea Description:
The most beautifully soothing mint green tea. Imagine a crisp beautiful sunrise in a densely wooded pine-oak forest with sheets of trilliums and wild currant berries. You wake up, step out of your tent and breathe the last sliver of fog before the shattered sunlight wisps it away. Whisper of the Woods is an ideal green tea reminiscent of that crisp and floral serenity with just the perfect amount of heart-warming energy to induce prana and exploration. Enjoy.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Nice! I don’t know why, but something about this Whisper of the Woods Green Tea Blend from Whispering Pines Tea Company made me think that there’d be smoke notes to it.
I don’t know if it’s just the name of it: Whisper of the Woods. It makes me think of a walk through the woods and the smell of the air that would surround me as I’m walking, and in that image that is playing in my head, the smell of the air would include a touch of smoke from a far off log cabin with a fire blazing in the fireplace. Or perhaps it’s just the name of the company: Whispering Pines Tea Company. Something about this company makes me think of that aforementioned blazing, crackling fire in the fireplace.
But this isn’t a smoky tea. And I don’t know that I’d want it to be smoky. I like the notes of mint – a combination of peppermint and spearmint – and I like the hint of jasmine. I like the way these flavors play together with the sweet, lightly grassy notes of the green tea.
And what I like best is that this isn’t overwhelmingly minty. Sure, the mint flavor is there and it’s strong and there’s no mistaking it. But, it isn’t a “toothpaste-y” mint. I don’t feel like I just took a sip of mouthwash. This was masterfully blended, and the result is a mint tea that isn’t too minty.
The jasmine essence builds as I sip. I barely noticed it in the first couple of sips, but, now that I’m nearly finished with the cup, the jasmine comes through really well. It’s not perfume-y, but it brings a beautiful floral note to the cup. I like the way the jasmine and mint notes come together.
It really is a bit like a whisper in the woods. Imagine a gentle breeze filtering through the woods, picking up notes of wildflowers and mint growing in the wild along with hints of grass. A beautiful scent. A delicious flavor. That’s what this tea delivers.