jasmine yin hao green tea

type: green

origin: china

ingredients: green tea jasmine

caffeine: no-caffeine

price level: $$$$

Our Jasmine Yin Hao is a high-quality jasmine tea that has an incredibly fragrant aroma and a balanced and delicate flavor. Sweet and light, it is smooth, medium-bodied, and has absolutely no astringency. For the top grades of jasmine tea, leaf plucking commences in April and early May. Because the jasmine vines do not bloom until July and into September, however, this base tea must be kept in storage in anticipation of the arrival of the blossoms. Night-blooming white jasmine flowers are picked in the morning while the tiny petals are tightly closed and set aside until nightfall. The petals begin to pop open in the cool night air, which is the signal for the scenting to begin. Once open, the "marrying" of the jasmine and the tea takes place in several applications-each taking up to four hours-after which the jasmine petals are removed. It takes four hours or so for the tea to absorb the fragrance and flavor of the jasmine blossoms, and for the highest grades such as Jasmine Yin Hao, this process may be repeated as many as seven times.