60

Jasmine Yin Hao. Adagio.
Lot no. 90535. FB: n/a.

Recently received this single-serving portions-pouch of a terrific-sounding green tea, scented with Jasmine flowers, though the flowers themselves were absent from the blend. Prepared the full 3 g portion as directed, Western style: in 8 oz 180°F alpine spring water for 2.5 min. The liquor was a light amber hue, scented strongly of lovely jasmine, both the dry leaf and the infusion. It was a pleasure to drink, though except for a slight astringency, I could taste nothing of the green tea itself. I might as well have steeped a jasmine-scented empty teabag with a few mg of caffeine. I steeped a second infusion, re-using the leaf, hoping the jasmine element might be reduced sufficiently to permit appreciation of the Yin Hao, which by itself is said to be good for multiple infusions or gongfu style prep. Alas, though the jasmine was much weaker, I still could not discern notes from the green base, which I now conclude to be somewhat less than stellar. Really, after reading about the qualities of Yin Hao green tea, it was a disappointment to taste nothing of it. In the end, nothing set this apart from every other jasmine green tea I’ve had. If you like jasmine aroma and flavor, I can recommend this, just don’t expect more. I’ll rate it at 60 for being nice but unidimensional. Still better than drinking plain water!

Flavors: Astringent, Jasmine

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 2 min, 30 sec 3 g 8 OZ / 236 ML

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Life is too short to drink bad tea!
Pan-American: Left-coast reared (on Bigelow’s Constant Comment and Twinings’ Earl Grey) and right-coast educated, I’ve used this moniker & Email since the glory days of AOL in the 90’s, reflecting two of my lifelong loves— tea and ‘Trek.

Now a midwestern molecular biologist (right down to the stereotypical Hawaiian shirts), I’m finally broadening the scope of my sippage and getting into all sorts of Assamicas, from mainstream Assam CTCs to Taiwan blacks & TRES varietals, to varied Pu’erhs. With some other stuff tossed in for fun. I enjoy reading other folks’ tasting notes (thank you). I’ve lurked here from time to time and am now adding a few notes of my own to better appreciate the experience. Note that my sense of taste varies from the typical, for example I find stevia to be unsweet and bitter. My dislike of red rooibos may be similarly rooted in genetics, which impacts perceptions of many flavors, from asparagus to stevia to cilantro.

I don’t work for a tea vendor, and I’m not a professional tea sommelier. And I don’t taste every nuance, hint of flavor or note of aroma, nor am I trained to describe those that I do detect. But I taste enough to have opinions, and do my best to be descriptive. Sensory preferences can shift from day to day and person to person, so numerical ratings are kinda bogus, especially between and among various people. But there are individual trends, and I try to reflect that. As reference points for my ratings, I give Lipton Black Tea bags “orange pekoe and pekoe, cut black” a score of 65 because it is widely available and profoundly consistent. I view it as just okay. I would give plain, hot, quality spring water a rating of 25, and I buy Crystal Geyser brand for brewing because my local well water is stinky and discolored, and my filtration & softening system leaves it salty and unpleasant. Tea should make the commercial Spring Water better, not worse, so a rating below 25 speaks for itself.

I am conversationally friendly but absolutely not here looking for dates or money, nor to sell anything. If I’ve started to follow you, I don’t mean to be creepy, it only means you recently posted something I liked reading, or it was about an interesting tea or event. And I’ve recently discovered that the Steepster system only notifies me of new posts written by people I follow. If you follow me, I won’t assume anything. If I do not follow you, it isn’t a snub—you’re still a good human being!
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