This tea was presented in the form of a compressed toucha wrapped in tissue paper. According to Chicago Tea Garden it contains the petals of the jasmine sambac, which is the night blooming flower traditionally used to make jasmine scented teas. I brewed this tea in a porcelain gaiwan with 212 degree water using four subsequent 30 second steepings. The liquor was a bright copper color and had a light floral aroma.
At first I was on the fence about this tea. At times it was a little too astringent but at others it was a nice balance between the sweetness of the jasmine and the earthiness of the puerh. The third infusion was the best of the four I did. All in all though it is a very decent selection, especially for a jasmine addict such as myself. The color and taste had hardly dissipated by the end of my session. I would definitely recommend this tea.
This tea looked fascinating to me when I added it to RateTea.net. I can't really picture what it would be like…my first impression was that Pu-erh and Jasmine are aromas that would not blend well, but Tony Gebely at Chicago Tea Garden seems to really know what he's doing, especially when it comes to Pu-erh.
I find that Jasmine tea often scalds more easily (and at a lower temperature) than other similar green or pouchong teas. Based on the fact that I can tolerate Pouchongs brewed with quite hot water, but need to use much cooler water to brew Jasmine pouchong, I wonder if it's something about the Jasmine aroma rather than the tea…
…and thus I'd wonder if maybe it would be better to use lower-temperature water with this tea.