Yunnan White Jasmine

This was my favorite of the three. The dry leaves have a strong jasmine smell, I wonder if this tea is jasmine flavored rather than jasmine scented.

I started out with a gongfu session on this tea starting at 175 °F for five seconds which was not particularly flavorful so for my second infusion I brewed at 175 °F for thirty seconds and each subsequent infusion I added five degrees and fifteen seconds. While this tea did not last as long as the other two (only twelve infusions), it was rather nice. The jasmine aroma on this was quite pungent, but it does not linger that long. There was a nice vanilla element to the taste as well as lemon.

I also brewed it 175 °F for two and a half minutes which made a much more effervescent tea. This time the jasmine scent was not as strong and there was a distinct vanilla scent to it. The taste was considerably better than any I had during my gongfu session with it. I tasted jasmine, vanilla, pine and blackberry, the later of two were completely absent from previous session. I rather enjoy this tea and prefer not gongfu brewing since I found such complexity in it when I steep it for longer times. I am not sure if I would purchase this tea again, even though it was pretty much perfect, because it is quite similar to an oolong at my local faux-Victorian tea house for considerably cheaper.