jiaogulan

Tea Information:

Leaf Type: Green

Product Description:

Regain inner strength and self-confidence with empowering jiaogulan blended with fragrant jasmine green tea and tropical passionfruit.

Ingredients: Jasmine Green Tea, Jiaogulan, Jasmine Flowers, Cornflowers, Natural Flavors.

Taster’s Review:

The dry leaf smells so strongly of passionfruit that it is hard to believe that there are any other ingredients in this tea. I can see the jasmine flowers and the green tea, but I worried that I wouldn’t be able to taste the jasmine. However, as the tea brews, the passionfruit fragrance softens somewhat and allows the other aromas to emerge. In my cup, I can now smell the passionfruit, the green tea and the jasmine … and it smells wonderful!

The flavor is fantastic. I was a little unsure, because I had never heard of jiaogulan before, and on this information page about jiaogulan, there were some comparisons made to ginseng, and I hoped it wouldn’t taste too much like ginseng as that is definitely not my favorite flavor. Fortunately, it does not.

I really like this combination of flavors. The sweetness of the passionfruit together with the somewhat sharp notes of the jasmine and the slightly grassy taste of the green tea really meld together beautifully.

Passionfruit is the strongest taste here. It tastes sweet and luscious. The jasmine notes weave their way onto the palate throughout the sip, while the vegetative taste of the green tea sits in the background, content to let the passionfruit and jasmine play.

There is a fair amount of astringency to this cup. The finish is smooth and the aftertaste is sweet yet clean and herbaceous. Maybe even a little bit soapy – but not unpleasantly so. As I near the end of the cup, I find that there is almost a numbing of the tongue, an effect that I suspect comes from the jiaogulan. It isn’t an unpleasant experience, though, it is just a little unusual. It doesn’t detract from the very pleasant flavor.

This tea is delicious hot or iced – it is extremely refreshing (and invigorating!) on a hot summer day!

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Green Tea, Jasmine Tea