ABC Wednesday - Jasmine Tea

What was I going to post for J, I wondered while eating an apple cake at the Mystery Tea House as I  looked at my pot of tea, waiting for it to brew, and realised that there in front of me was the answer.  I was drinking an aromatic Jasmine Oolong tea, a combination of my favourites.  Jasmine tea dates way back to the Song  dynasty. Traditionally the night blooming jasmine is gathered in the morning and kept cool all day. In the evening when the flowers begins to open and release their scent they are placed with the tea.  Jasmine is most often combined with green teas so combined with Oolong is not as easily available in the UK.  Nowadays the process creating Jasmine tea is more mechanised.  The flowers and teas are mixed in machines that control temperature and humidity. It takes at least 4 hours for the tea to absorb the fragrance and flavour of the jasmine blossom and for higher grades of tea the process can be repeated several times.

And it can end up looking like this, the small jasmine pearls and the large balls of blooming jasmine. Or perhaps combined with other flavours like rose and jasmine in green tea, like the Yunnan tea package. I came across this in an unexpected place; the coffee loving nation of France.  The cha box was a Christmas present and filled with different teas.  So now do you fancy a relaxing cuppa?

My Chinese tea cups, the one on the right is the oldest, the one on the left is more sophisticated for it has a removable matching tea strainer in the top. Take the top off place it upside down on its flat top and take the strainer out to rest on it.  Both are ideal for jasmine tea, but if drinking the blooming type, glass is required

so you can watch the magic of the ball unfurl into a beautiful flower.

Jump into the fun over at ABC Wednesday where there will be lots more words starting with J