Oct 02
Lynn’s Teaview Snapshot
 | "While the flavor of this tea did not wow me, for someone who drinks pearl jasmine more for the olfactory experience, this tea really delivers."
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From the Grand Tea website: “Grandtea.com is a Hong Kong based company specializing in high quality teas from China. What started as a shop in Shatin in 2002 by two brothers passionate about tea, has grown into an expanding online business serving small to medium businesses such as coffee shops, restaurants, gourmet food shops and markets. Yat-Fan Yeung, the elder of the brothers, is responsible for selecting and buying the tea and has built up a solid network of suppliers over the years. Yat-Fung, the younger of the brothers is responsible for the website and sales.”Their Pearl Jasmine offering, made with AAA grade green tea leaves and bud, comes in 50g heat sealed packets, and when I opened mine the jasmine fragrance was very apparent. The pearls were tightly rolled and attractive. Once you’ve seen a green tea pearl fully unfolded, it’s amazing that anyone can get them into such a tiny little ball.
Following Grand’s suggestions (which did not include the amount/cup to use) I infused a scant teaspoon of tea in one cup of 175F water for 30 seconds. The pearls had hardly begun to swell, and while the resulting nearly clear liquor was very pleasantly fragrant, there was virtually no flavor.
For the second go, I infused it a full minute; the pearls were about half open now, and the result was a very pale jade colored liquor with a mild green tea flavor, clean and slightly sweet, but still more about the fragrance than the flavor.
I steeped it a third time for three minutes. The two-leaves-and-a-bud were full open now and quite attractive and the fragrance is still going strong. The liquor was slightly darker, and had a delicate but pronounced sweetness. Flavor and fragrance were so intertwined, however, that I was not sure if I was tasting green tea or jasmine.
Curious, I started again, and brewed fresh pearls for three minutes. This yielded a very floral fragrance, a medium jade color, and a mild green tea flavor lacking in sweetness, though it did become through as the tea cooled. A second, longer steeping yields more sweetness, but not a strong flavor.
While the flavor of this tea did not wow me, for someone who drinks pearl jasmine more for the olfactory experience, this tea really delivers. With short steepings as suggested by the purveyor, you could probably keep this tea going all day.
— To purchase Grand Tea Premium Pearl Jasmine, or for more specific information on ingredients or the story behind this particular blend, click here to go directly to the manufacturer's web site.
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