Jasmine Tea: How Real Jasmine Tea Is Made and How to Tell It From Flavoured

Real jasmine tea is green tea (sometimes white tea or oolong) scented with fresh jasmine blossoms. The flowers are mixed with the tea at night, when they open and release their fragrance, and then removed; good teas are scented several times over several nights. The best jasmine teas contain few or no dried petals, smell fresh and natural rather than sweet and perfumey, and taste of flowers and tea, not of soap. Brew it with water around 80–85 °C and short steeps, and it won't turn bitter.

For years I thought I didn't like jasmine tea. What I didn't like, it turns out, was the jasmine tea I'd been served: pale, bitter green tea with a smell like hand cream. Then, at a tea tasting, someone brewed a jasmine silver needle in a glass gaiwan. The aroma was cool and bright, like standing next to a jasmine bush in the evening, and the tea underneath was sweet and clean. Nothing about it was loud.

That's the difference between scented and flavoured jasmine tea, and it's the most useful thing I can tell you about it. Jasmine isn't a tea I drink every day; I'm a sheng and oolong drinker at heart. But a good jasmine tea is one of the loveliest things you can drink on a warm summer afternoon, and it's one of the teas I most often use to win over friends who "don't like tea".

How real jasmine tea is made#

Jasmine tea is made in two stages, months apart.

The base tea. Green tea is picked and made in spring. Much of the best base tea comes from Fujian, the historic home of jasmine tea, where the city of Fuzhou has been scenting tea for centuries. Guangxi, especially Hengxian county, now grows much of China's jasmine and produces a large share of all jasmine tea.

The scenting. Jasmine blooms in the heat of summer. The flower buds are picked during the day while still closed. In the evening, as they begin to open, they're mixed with the tea in layers or piles. Through the night the flowers release their fragrance and the dry tea absorbs it. The warmth of the pile has to be watched so the flowers don't spoil. Next day the spent flowers are sifted out and the tea is gently dried.

One round of scenting gives a light aroma. Good teas are scented several times, each time with fresh flowers; the finest go through many rounds. Each round adds depth, and the aroma becomes part of the tea rather than sitting on top of it. This is slow, seasonal, labour-intensive work, which is why good jasmine tea is never the cheapest tea on the shelf.

Styles of jasmine tea#

Style	Base	What it's like
Jasmine pearls (Mo Li Long Zhu, "dragon pearls")	Green tea buds and leaves, hand-rolled into balls	Sweet, smooth, rounded; beautiful to watch unfurl
Jasmine silver needle (Mo Li Yin Zhen)	Buds only, green or white tea	The most delicate: cool, clean floral, very sweet
Jasmine Mao Feng / Mao Jian	Bud and leaf, green tea	Everyday jasmine; fresher, more green tea character
Jasmine white tea	White tea, sometimes Bai Mu Dan	Softer, honeyed, gentle
Jasmine oolong	Oolong	Rounder, with more body under the flowers
Broken grades and teabags	Small leaf pieces	Stronger and simpler; often flavoured

If you're new to jasmine tea, start with pearls or a silver needle from a vendor who says the tea is scented with flowers.

Scented vs flavoured: how to tell#

Sign	Scented with flowers	Flavoured
Smell of the dry leaf	Fresh, cool, natural jasmine	Sweet, heavy, like perfume or candy
After a few steeps	Aroma stays, becomes softer	Aroma disappears after the first steep
Taste	Floral and tea together	Flowery smell, flat or bitter tea underneath
Aftertaste	Clean, sweet	Can feel soapy or artificial
Petals	Few or none	Often lots, for show
Label	Says "scented", often how many times	Says "flavour", "natural flavour" or nothing at all

The most reliable test is simply the third steep. A well-scented tea still smells of jasmine at the third or fourth cup. A flavoured one has usually lost it by then.

My side-by-side: scented vs flavoured#

To check this for myself, I brewed two jasmine pearl teas next to each other: one from a specialist who says it's scented seven times with fresh flowers, and one from a supermarket box with "natural jasmine flavour" in small print. Two glass gaiwans, 5 g in each, 85 °C, same timings.

Steep 1 (20 s). Both smelled strongly of jasmine. Honestly, from the dry leaf alone I might have picked the flavoured one: it was louder and sweeter. In the cup, the scented tea was sweet and cool with a clean green tea taste underneath. The flavoured one smelled like hand cream and tasted thin.

Steep 3. The scented tea had softened, but the jasmine was still there, now closer to fresh flowers after rain. The flavoured one had almost no aroma left, and the base tea was flat and a little bitter.

Steep 5. The scented tea was still pleasant: light, floral, sweet. I stopped the flavoured one here.

That's the pattern every time. Flavouring shouts in the first cup and then disappears. Real scenting is quieter at the start and stays with you for the whole session.

How to brew jasmine tea#

Gongfu#

Leaf / 100 ml	Water	Rinse	1st steep	Then	Steeps
5 g	80–85 °C	No	15 s	+5 s	5–7

For pearls, give the first steep a few extra seconds so the balls can start to open. A glass or porcelain gaiwan is ideal: glass lets you watch the leaves, and neither holds on to the aroma. Don't brew jasmine tea in a clay pot you use for anything else; the scent lingers. Full parameters for every tea are in my gongfu brewing chart.

In a mug or teapot#

About 2–3 g per 250 ml, water at 80–85 °C, 1.5 minutes. Remove the leaves or pour off the tea; don't let it sit. Pearls can be re-steeped two or three times.

In a glass#

Jasmine pearls and silver needle are wonderful brewed grandpa style in a tall glass. Use a small amount of leaf (8–10 pearls is enough) and top up with warm water as you drink.

Cold brew#

Jasmine tea makes an excellent iced tea. About 2 teaspoons per litre of cold water, 8–12 hours in the fridge. It comes out sweet and floral. More in cold brew tea.

Why your jasmine tea tastes bitter#

Almost always because the water was too hot or the steep too long. The jasmine aroma survives hot water; the green tea underneath doesn't. Cool the water to 80–85 °C and keep steeps short. Hard water also dulls the flowers, see water for tea.

Storing jasmine tea#

Keep it in an airtight, opaque container, away from other teas and strong smells. Jasmine aroma is strong enough to pass into anything stored next to it, and the base green tea is sensitive to light and heat. Drink it within about a year for the best aroma. Keep jasmine tea in its own container and never in a caddy you use for other teas.

Is jasmine tea good for the evening?#

It's usually a green tea, so it has a normal amount of caffeine for a green tea, and bud-heavy teas like pearls and silver needle can be quite lively. If caffeine keeps you awake, drink it earlier in the day, or use a light hand with the leaf.

My honest take#

If you think you don't like jasmine tea, there's a good chance you've only had the flavoured kind, brewed with boiling water. Give it one more try with a properly scented tea and water at 80–85 °C. I was a sceptic too, and it took exactly one good cup to change my mind.

The bottom line#

Good jasmine tea is a slow, seasonal craft: spring tea, summer flowers and several nights of scenting. Look for a fresh, natural aroma that lasts through several steeps, don't be impressed by petals, and keep the water well off the boil. Then it's one of the most beautiful teas China makes.

Read next: Longjing and Bi Luo Chun.