The jasmine plant was brought to China from Persia before the third century. Before Qing Dynasty, the production of jasmine green tea was a kind of homemade tea. After Qing, especially after the new China, Jasmine green tea went into large scale production stage.
Jasmine blossoms open at night, and release all of their fragrant oils within hours. Jasmine pickers spend the entire day carefully hand plucking only those buds set to bloom that same evening. Rapidly harvesting thousands of buds that are perfectly poised to bloom is a feat of remarkable dexterity and concentration.
Each evening in June, July and August, tea leaves and jasmine blossoms are placed in thin alternating layers in the scenting house. As the day’s fresh jasmine buds unfurl and release their essential oils, the tea absorbs the jasmine essence.
The Town of Jasmine---Heng County in GuangXi Province
China's largest jasmine base is opening its doors to the public. It is located in Hengxian County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, which accounts for 60 percent of the global jasmine market.
Scented teas (also called flower teas) can be either green or white teas that are been infused with certain flowers, which impart a delicate and interesting taste, and of course a wonderful aroma. Scented tea is processed from first-class green tea scented with sweet-smelling flowers. The scented teas are named after the flower with which the tea is scented: Jasmine Tea.Processed with flowers of subtle and distinctive scents, the teas yield a variety of refined flavor. The rich aroma of the flower and the brisk taste of the tea make the beverage a work of art. great jasmine teas, however, combine only high quality green or white teas with a subtle but distinct jasmine flavor infused into the leaves from freshly-picked jasmine flowers.
Chinese Flower Tea is a unique class of Chinese tea. It subdivides into Flower Tea and Scented Tea. Flower Tea is a simple concept where dried flowers are used, without much processing, to make tea. Scented Tea uses green tea, red tea as base and mix with scent of flowers. Chinese Flower Tea has light to medium flavor and medium to strong aroma.
Although, many teas are still flavored directly with flowers, herbs, spices, or even smoke, teas with more specialized flavors are produced through the addition of flavorings or perfumes. This is particularly true for tea blends with pronounced fruit or flower aromas, where the flavours cannot be achieved with the original ingredients. Due to the amount of scents that can be produced by the mentioned artificial methods, the section will concentrate on teas flavored directly with the original scent materials.
The production of truly outstanding scented teas is a matter of balancing flavor with aromatics. The result is the combination of an exceptional tea,
complemented by an aroma of flowers or fruit oils. Scented tea should be made with the highest quality spring picked leaf and scented several times, using only fresh flowers or oils. Scented teas are fragrant and tempting and a treasure for any tea lover.
With the 40 years of China’s reform and opening up, as one of the main exports, Chinese tea has been sold overseas. The famous song “Such a Beautiful Jasmine” has made Chinese jasmine renowned throughout the world while the exported jasmine tea has also grown popularity among the world people. Luc Pokorn, a Canadian, come to China to further his study here. As a tea lover, he cannot help exploring how and why the Chinese jasmine can make its fragrance of both the flower and the tea famous around the world.
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