jasmine tea/tea/china tea/chinese tea

Detailed Product Description

jasmine tea is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family

(Oleaceae), with about 200 species, native to tropical and warm

temperate regions of the Old World. Most species grow as climbers

on other plants or are trained in gardens on chicken wire, trellis

gates or fences, or made to scramble through shrubs of open

texture. The leaves can be either evergreen (green all year round)

or deciduous (falling in autumn).
Widely cultivated for its flowers, jasmine is enjoyed in the

garden, as a house plant, and as cut flowers. The flowers are worn

by women in their hair in southern and southeast Asia. The delicate

jasmine flower opens only at night and may be plucked in the

morning when the tiny petals are tightly closed, then stored in a

cool place until night. The petals begin to open between six and

eight in the evening, as the temperature lowers.

Jasmine tea is consumed in China, where it is called jasmine-flower

tea . Jasminum sambac flowers are also used to make so-called

jasmine tea, which often has a base of green tea, but sometimes an

Oolong base is used. Flowers and tea are "mated" in machines that

control temperature and humidity. It takes four hours or so for the

tea to absorb the fragrance and flavour of the jasmine blossoms,

and for the highest grades, this process may be repeated as many as

seven times. Because the tea has absorbed moisture from the

flowers, it must be refired to prevent spoilage. The spent flowers

may or may not be removed from the final product, as the flowers

are completely dry and contain no aroma. Giant fans are used to

blow away and remove the petals from the denser tea leaves. If

present, they simply add visual appeal and are no indication of the

quality of the tea.
Jasmine essential oil is in common use. Its flowers are either extracted by the labour-intensive method of enfleurage or through chemical extraction. It is expensive due to the large number of flowers needed to produce a small amount of oil. The flowers have to be gathered at night because the odour of jasmine is more powerful after dark. The flowers are laid out on cotton cloths soaked in olive oil for several days and then extracted leaving the true jasmine essence. Some of the countries producing jasmine essential oil are India, Egypt, China and Morocco.