Jasmine Tea, an all time best seller

Tea can be infused with many fragrances.Chrysanthemum, Gardenia, Osmanthus, Rose, Magnolia and Jasmine are some of the more common flower scents in tea. By far, Jasmine tea has the highest demand in the market. This is also my favorite tea. Jasmine tea are also produced from other regions like Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Zhejiang Provinces. Fujian Province produce the winning tea Jasmine tea. Due to the favorable weather conditions, Fujian Province produce very good Jasmine and Oolong tea. This region also produce excellent Oolong tea.

Jasmine tea takes two steps to make. The first step is picking young tea leaves in the spring. Tender young leaves are plucked to make a base tea. The processed tea will store in a cool place until the Jasmine flowers blossom in the summer. The skillful workers keep the tea leaves 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 4pm. The best Jasmine blossoms are 1/2 inch in size and just turn from ivory to white color. Jasmine blossoms are blend with the base tea during the next four hours. The heat encourages the flowers to open and infuse the tea with the floral fragrance. For a stronger scent, some teas are infused multiple times. When infusion is completed, the flowers can be discarded.

Cooking with Jasmine tea addes a luxurious fragrance to food.Try this delicious Jasmine sauce recipe with fruit salad. Brew 2 teaspoons of Jasmine tea in 1/3 cup of hot water.  Melt 2 tablespoons of honey and  add zest and juice of 1 lime. Marinate the fruits for one hour before serving. 

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

Morning Glory Teahouse now has Jasmine Ring from Fujian Province. Order it today at www.MorningGloryTeahouse.com.