Jasmine Tea

Tea can be infused with many fragrances. Chrysanthemum, Gardenia, Osmanthus, Rose, Magnolia are just some of the few floral scents. By far, Jasmine is the most popular fragrance of them all. It is also my favorite tea. Jasmine teas are produced in Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Zhejiang Provinces. The best Jasmine tea comes from Fujian Province in China. Due to the favorable weather conditions, Fujian Province is perfect for tea farming. This region is also known to produce excellent Oolong tea.

The process of making Jasmine tea takes two steps. The first step involves picking young tea leaves in the spring. The young leaves will be use to create a base tea. It is stored it in a cool place until the Jasmine flowers blossom in the summer. The skillful workers keep the tea leaf open and ready for the scent of the flowers. Jasmine flowers are plucked during summer months. To be precise, they are plucked between July and September, from noon to 4p.m. by experienced workers. They look for 1/2 inch blossoms that just turn from ivory to a white color. For the next 4 hours after plucking, the Jasmine flowers are kept at a warm temperature with the base tea. This encourages the flowers to open and the scent to infuse with the tea. To create a strong scent, some tea receives multiple infusion of the flower scent. When infusion is completed, the flowers can be discarded.

Adding Jasmine tea to food gives it the extra luxurious aroma. Try this delicious Jasmine syrup with fruit salad. Brew 2 teaspoons of Jasmine tea leaves in 1/3 cup of hot water. Melt 2 tablespoons of honey and the add zest and juice of 1 lime. Marinate fruits for just one hour before serving.

Another way to use Jasmine tea is when cooking rice. Just replace 2 to 3 cups of the water you use to cook the rice with tea. This gives the rice the extra nutrients of the antioxidants as well as the aroma of the Jasmine flowers.