Layla Teapot and Jasmine Flowering Tea from Primula

I was lucky to receive a Primula Layla Teapot and flowering tea set from a friend  The Primula teapot features all-glass construction, even the brewing basket is clear.  It has an impressive capacity, making it perfect for sharing a blooming tea session with a few friends.

The flowering tea set came with blooming tea balls, which make good use of the transparent, glass-bodied teapot.  I’m not sure which flavor of blooming tea was included, as it lacked a label, but I suspect it is their house blend jasmine bloom.

This is the first blooming tea I’ve actually conducted myself.  Previously I’ve always been viewing at someone else’s tea party.  Now that I have a teapot so suited for blooming teas, I’ll have to try this type of tea more often.

On an afternoon where I needed some zen, I brewed up a pot of hot water and dropped in the tea ball.  As the water soaked into the leaves, they slowly peeled back, like a hand opening its fingers. The process did take a few minutes and I found myself impatient at first.  As I relaxed, I found I was surprised how much the bloom was changing in each moment, until we finally reached the unfurling of the pink, center blossoms.

I poured a small cup of the tea to sip on while the bloom continued to relax its leaves.  The tea brewed up a golden color, clear and bright, making the blossom look sunlit from every angle.  The tea tasted mainly of jasmine, but had a surprisingly earthy undertone almost like the sweet-floral notes of cacao or dark chocolate.  I like jasmine pearls, but it was nice to have a deeper flavor balance to the light, flowery notes.

I sipped on the tea all afternoon and watched the leaves continue to soak until they were saturated with tea.  It was a lovely experience and the Primula flowering tea set would make a great gift. I can’t wait to brew more tea in this lovely teapot!

 


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Green tea/TeaPot
Where to Buy: Primula
Description:

Create an unforgettable and extraordinary tea experience with this crystal clear glass teapot and accompanying flowering tea blossoms. The Layla glass teapot and tea set offers a generous 36 oz capacity. Serve up to 9 cups of tea in this stunning clear glass tea set, which offers the perfect window from which to watch the included tea flowers begin to bloom in colorful profusion as they steep. After tea, cleanup is easy because this BPA free borosilicate glass teapot is both microwave and dishwasher safe.

Each tea flower has been exceptionally crafted by artisans in China to create the hand-sewn green tea with all natural tea flowers. The green tea is blended five times with jasmine to emanate an ambrosial floral fragrance. Each package contains 12 different flowering teas along with an illustrated picture and health benefit guide. Choose a pot of Floral Passion, Noble Madam, Oriental Beauty or Camellia Joy. Or watch your cup erupt with Wild Flowers, Gilded Lotus, Lover’s Blossom or Juliet’s Kiss. Other popular flavors like London Fog, Butterfly Floret, Fairy Lily and Summer Bouquet complete your choices in the taste sensation. Try all twelve green tea blends and be amazed at how each bud delivers a delectable cup of tea and an optical sensation. Each tea blend is packed with healthy anti-oxidants and can be steeped three times giving you over 250 cups in each canister. These tea flowers make an excellent gift for special occasions and are something any tea lover would enjoy.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Jasmine Dragon Pearls from Enjoying Tea

In the early days of my loose leaf tea drinking, I first encountered jasmine green tea pearls.  I was working evening shifts at the college library and we had a small, varied supply of tea, mainly our favorite tea bags.  But one night, one of my coworkers had brought in loose leaf teas they were looking to share.  I was fascinated by these little green pellets in one of the tea canisters and dropped a few in mug even though we didn’t have tea bags or filters.  I watched the balls of tea unfurl and fill my mug with flavor.  Turns out they were jasmine green tea pearls, and I’ve had a nostalgic affinity for this kind of tea ever since.

The Jasmine Dragon Pearls from Enjoying Tea are beautiful little tea oddities.  Tightly rolled pellets of tea, twined with both grey fuzzy buds, and olive green leaves.  Brew them gently, despite their tight shape, these leaves are still green tea at heart, keep the temperature of your water a little cooler than normal.

The dry leaf was already heady and fragrant with jasmine blossoms.  Brewed, the flowery notes continued to be pronounced, full and luscious like a bouquet of flowers in your hand.  Beneath all that flower-power, the tea has a buttery base, with slightly earthy and savory undertones.  The less sweet notes paired well against the powerful jasmine.  The overtones of each sip carry the floral flavors, so sweet they are almost fruity.

Jasmine Dragon Pearls from Enjoying Tea lived up to my fond first memories of trying jasmine pearls from many years ago.  Give this tea a try and make your own jasmine-scented memories!


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Enjoying Tea
Description:

This green tea has a unique shape of a pearl and comes from the Chinese province of Fujian. These hand rolled pearls consisted of both leaves and bud. This tea has a sweet flavor with a flowery jasmine aroma. Researchers in Japan found that people who drink green regularly have a lower chance of getting cancer or developing heart diseases. Dragon Pearl is a great tasting healthy tea to drink regularly. We highly recommend it.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Emily Dickinson’s Jasmine Tea Blend – Simpson and Vail. . . .

Now I have to start this off by saying that I am a sucker for author inspired tea blends. So it goes without saying that you are sure to find me reviewing more in the near future. Which shouldn’t be surprising since what is better than a cup of tea and a good book?

Now I think that this tea was simply delightful. It is not too strong and not too subtle, it has a perfect balance in my opinion. As a matter of fact when I was drinking this tea it was like it started to clear my head. Now I don’t mean completely like a lavender tea would do, but to the point where I could think about things. Now since I go to college I began to think about things I could do for my final that is coming up but not only that I can imagine this tea being a perfect companion when I am writing for a more creative venture.

I was also surprised that this tea had little to no dry notes in it whatsoever. And in my experience with jasmine, there would always be slight, somewhat powerful dryness to it.  But I believe that this a soft and balanced tea because of the ingredients. The jasmine tea is a beautiful binder for the rose petals, jasmine blossoms, marigold petals and blue cornflower petals. It goes without saying if you have read any of my previous reviews, that I have always loved the pairing of jasmine and rose. In my book, jasmine and rose will always be the power couple.

Now when I was in the process of brewing my cup I had a look at the tea leaves and apart from the enjoyment of finding little jasmine blossoms I was happy to see plenty of blue cornflower petals. Now, for those who don’t know, my favorite tea of all time is Lady Grey and that contains, you guessed it, blue cornflower. And I believe that the blue cornflower is a perfect addition to this tea for it adds a nice subtle, sugary sweetness to the blend.

On top of the delightfully delicate tasting tea the price is not at all bad either. It is $9.75 for a 4 oz tin but if you don’t want the tin you can save about $3 and pay $6.90 for a bag of the same size. Along with a great price this tea also has deep connection with the talented poet we know as Emily Dickinson. As the description reads on the bottom of this review, this tea was based off of Ms. Dickenson’s garden, which was a place that she got most of her inspiration from for her poetry.

All in all, I believe that this a beautiful tribute to Emily Dickinson and I will be purchasing this for my ever growing collection of teas in the future. (My collection is very expansive. If you don’t believe me, head over to my Instagram and I usually post updates on how big it has gotten.)

See you for the next cuppa!


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: Simpson and Vail
Description:

Emily Dickinson was born on December 10th, 1830 and lived in a home that was central to Amherst political society thanks to her father and brothers. Growing up around powerful men prepared Dickinson for a life of the same, but society dictated that, as a woman, she was relegated to seemingly less meaningful ventures. Her anger at this slight comes across in her poetry and letters where she explored complex ideas of meaning and self while examining the smallest details of the world around her. She withdrew herself from society and lived in relative solitude until her death. Only a few of her poems were made public during her lifetime, but four years after her demise, a collection of poems was published and met with popular and critical acclaim. Her poems reveal a complicated mind that examined itself with as much attention to detail as it examined the world. Dickinson’s defiance of categorization and simplification make her a popular poet to study even today.

In the years she spent away from society, Emily Dickinson cultivated an extensive garden. In it, she grew jasmine flowers, cornflowers, roses, and many other flowers, plants and herbs. These flowers appear repeatedly in her poetry so our blend had to be floral. We created a delightful combination of jasmine tea and rose petals that brews to a light ecru cup with long green leaves and rose petal accents. This delicate tea hits you with a strong jasmine taste that’s sweetened and mellowed with the subtle flavors of the rose petals.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Imperial Jasmine Green Tea from Teasenz

JasmineImperialTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green

Where to Buy: Teasenz

Tea Description:

Reserved for the imperial families since the Song Dynasty in 960 AD. All the appeal and flavor of green tea and enhanced by the aroma of jasmine flowers, Emporial Jasmine Green Tea has a subtly sweet taste and blooming fragrance. Light, soft, and perfumy with a delicate mouthfeel.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I have been craving a green jasmine tea for a bit now.  I haven’t had any jasmine pearls in a bit so I thought this might be a great tea to try and calm my cravings.

Let’s start with how gorgeous this tea looks.  Just simply gorgeous. One of those teas that makes you sit back and really take it all in. Twisty green and white like tea leaves. I can’t get over how much I love the look of this tea.

Now the aroma of this dry leaf is simply outstanding.  You get everything.  The sweet grassy like aromas of the green tea mingled in brilliantly with the floral aspects.  This is one of those teas that once you smell it, your mouth starts to water.

I prepped my water and brewed the tea for a few minutes. I couldn’t wait to get the gorgeous fragrant brew into my mug.  Took my first sip, and sadly, I honestly didn’t care for the flavor. For me, the floral aspects overtake everything else. Now this could absolutely be an error on my part and probably is. I may not have shaken the pouch up enough to distribute the flavors appropriately.

The only flavor I get is an overwhelming floral taste is even too much for this floral loving gal.  Typically the more floral flavor there is the more I like it but this one isn’t that way.

For how gorgeous this tea is and how beautifully the cuppa smells, I think I need to take another swing at this tea. It has all the characteristics of being an amazing cuppa so I’m thinking I either oversteeped or overleafed.

I have adored all the other teas from this company, this is an ooops on me!

1001 Nights from Three Teas (an Etsy Store)

1001NightsTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green

Where to Buy:  Three Teas

Tea Description:

From the site:  I finally have this tea back!! I sold out over Christmas. Whenever I got some more it was only a few packages at a time and they sold before I had time to post them. So get this while you can! This flavored tea is a wonderful addition to any tea connoisseurs collection.

This tea is made of Jasmine & Roses which gives this loose leaf Green Tea a memorable fragrance and flavor. The best of both worlds.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I have been addicted to floral teas this summer.  To the point where I was craving them and digging thru my stash looking for  any teas with rose petals or jasmine flowers.  I will admit.  I may have had a problem.

This tea actually ranks up there with the best floral teas I’ve tried so far.  I love it!

Brewed this tea up with my Breville One Touch this morning for my travel companion for my way to work on the medium green tea setting. The packaging says to steep this for up to 5 minutes.  I would be hesitant to steep this tea that long.  I would start with 3 minutes on the first infusion to play it safe.

First sip in- I was insanely impressed.  This version of a jasmine green tea not only gives you the best of the jasmine green tea world but with the addition of the rose petals there is an added sweetness.  There are also notes of plums in each sip giving this floral tea a bit more depth than what I’ve had in the past.  The green tea is lovely and is quite smooth and adds a touch of buttery creaminess to the tea. What a gorgeous tea! I’m very happy with how this tea turned out.

To be honest-I am hooked! I am sitting here at happy that I did bring the rest of the tea I have with me to work so I can make up another cuppa.  I’m excited to try this tea as an iced tea and as a cold brew.  I think I have enough to try this tea a few different ways.

This tea is truly a memorable one and will be on my radar to purchase more once I sipdown more teas.

This will be a sipdown by the end of the day.  Woot! Woot! #26!