Numi Monkey King Jasmine Green Tea Review

A Rather Weak Flavored Jasmine Tea

Summary : This is an enjoyable tea. But, I found the flavor, especially of the jasmine flowers, to be on the weak side. In terms of flavor, I found the tea to fall quite a bit short of other jasmine teas.

Review : I really like jasmine teas. Truthfully, I really like almost all "flowering teas," or those teas that have been scented with various flowers...of which jasmine is one of the most popular. I suspect the reason I like "flowery teas" is because, especially during the winter, these teas remind me of warm, summer weather. And I absolutely love summer.

And so it happened that on this January evening I found myself in the mood for a "summer tea." And as luck would have it, a jasmine green tea from Numi was the first one I found when rummaging through my tea assortments.

Here is how Numi describes this tea : "Jasmine tea is the oldest known scented tea, and ours begins its life in the gardens of Hunan Province. The rich soil and fluctuations in daily temperature yield a fragrant leaf which is further scented with delicate white Jasmine blossoms. During summer, these are gathered daily by the banks of the Min River and repeatedly mated each night with the prepared tea, naturally embracing all of the flowers' scent. When brewed, this smooth, organic green tea has layers of subtle fragrance and hints of moonlight. It is a most romantic tea, and, like a bowl of fresh picked flowers, will bring the joy of summer to your every sip."

This organic green tea from Numi contains the following ingredients : Organic Special Grade Green Tea scented with Organic Summer Jasmine Flowers.

Numi normally makes their teas seem quite exotic in their description of it, and in this case, it was no exception. What is interesting is that a really flavorful jasmine tea actually meets their description nearly "dead-on accurately."

Unfortunately, in the case of this organic jasmine green tea, I found the description did not fit the flavor or the aroma.

First off, the aroma of this tea was very, very weak. Normally, teas that have jasmine in them have an immensely strong aroma...smelling of jasmine flowers. And I've found this in not just loose-leaf jasmine teas, but also in bagged jasmine teas too. Which is why I was disappointed by the rather weak and fleeting aroma this tea had.

And sadly, the weak aroma of this tea pretty much matched the flavor of this tea, too. Now, I'm not saying this tea had a bad flavor. Indeed, it had a nice one. The problem is...the flavor was just weak, at least in comparison to other jasmine teas I've tried and really like.

In stronger jasmine teas, when you drink the tea...it is almost like you are drinking a flower! And the tea will have a beautiful aroma to match the flavor too...even when you drink it. Sadly, this tea from Numi just didn't have it. Either I got a bag that was "old" and had lost its flavor, or Numi used some bad jasmine flowers, or, perhaps, this tea was just meant to be weak flavored to begin with.

Regardless, jasmine tea lovers of the world will enjoy this tea to some degree...since the tea does indeed have a jasmine flavor. Just don't be saddened by the weak flavor...as this tea falls far, far short in terms of flavor and "kick" when stacked up against other jasmine teas.

Recommendation : Yes, depending on how strong you like your jasmine tea to be. If you really like strong, loose-leaf jasmine tea...then you'll be disappointed in this one. However, if you find loose-leaf jasmine teas to be "rather overpowering," which they can indeed be, then perhaps you'll enjoy this tea more than I did. And, of course, as this is a green tea...not a jasmine herbal tea...one nice benefit of this tea is that you get your healthy antioxidants along with the modest jasmine flavor.

Featured Green Tea Chun Mee (Organic) Tea : Organic, special Grade 'Precious Eyebrow' Chinese green tea. Price : $5.95 for 1/4 lb of tea Available from Dragonwater Tea Company

@ Copyright 2008 TeaDiscussion.Com    All work on this site is the legal property of TeaDiscussion.Com and may not be duplicated in any way without express permission.