Tender green tea leaves and slender silver buds are skilfully hand rolled into elegant individual pearls. Once rolled the tea is wrapped in silk mesh and dried by fire to set the form. The tea is then held until August/September when the finest jasmine blossoms are in bloom. The jasmine flowers are picked before noon and set aside until evening when the petals begin to open in the cool air.
Once open the marrying of the jasmine to the tea happens in a minimum of 2 applications after which the jasmine flowers are removed. We admire the craftsmanship of the jasmine pearl but we particularly love the sense of calm we experience with this tea. It starts when we open the packet and the scent of the jasmine flowers gently wafts out and continues as we keep brewing the same leaves throughout the day.
The perfect way to brew this tea is using water below boiling, steeped for no more than 3 minutes and then pouring all the liquor off the leaf with each brew. Set the leaves aside and then top up the pot with more water throughout the same day until the pearls are fully unfurled and all the flavour is exhausted.
Ingredients: Green tea from China scented with Chinese jasmine.
