Reading the Tea Leaves

As I stood in the (long) line at Trader Joe’s, a box of Jasmine Pearls in pyramid bags caught my eye, and then when I saw the price of $3.99, I really paid attention.

Jasmine Pearls, as teas go, are relatively new, dating back to the 1990s.  The novelty of the tea’s overall appearance assured its popularity among those who seek out rare, specialty teas.  Its place on a Trader Joe’s shelf is testimony to its growing appeal among a wider audience.

The box was the first purchase I opened when I got home, and then I understood the price.  The tea inside each bag was dark, with little silver to be seen at all.  Moreover, about half the tea in the bags was made up, not of Jasmine Pearls, but of Jasmine leaf tea, and fairly broken leaves at that.

Jasmine pearls and leaves in pyramid bag

As for the taste, the cup had a nice tea base, not too strong and not bitter.  My preference is for Jasmine Green tea to have a softer rather than stronger tea flavor, so that the Jasmine fragrance shines through.  The bouquet was middling.  If I had tasted this tea blind, I would have guessed a third, perhaps second, grade Jasmine.  As for the leaf quality, a second grade Jasmine would have been better in its uniformity.

Contents of the bag shown above.

Infused leaves expand to fill bag

As I have already noted for the dry leaves, the pearls were dark, showing very few silver tips.  Separating the opened pearls from the other leaves in the wet leaves, the shoots were thin.

Wet leaves (Trader Joe's Jasm.Pearls)

As the photo directly above shows, some “pearls” still seem wound up; when these are pulled apart gently, there seem to be several strands that make up each pearl.

"Pearls" pulled apart show several strands.

Closeup of the leaves inside the pyramid bag.

At home I was able to figure that the price of $3.99 for fifteen 2gram bags came to about $60 for a pound of that tea.  A portion of this is attributable to the convenient pyramid bagging.  But even discounting that, if you are willing to pay $60 for a pound of Jasmine Green, you could easily do better for far less money.  A loose leaf Yin Hao (Silver Sprouting or SilverTip), a known top grade in the Jasmine family, will run you about $40/lb retail.  And a Swallow’s Tongue Jasmine (Chur She) or a Special Grade Jasmine should both be under $20/lb retail.  Even a First grade Jasmine, with nice uniform leaves, just a few petals and no flowers remaining, will give you a better quality cup, and at about $10-$12/lb.  (See my post on Tea Grades for more detail about Jasmine teas.)

Better quality Pearls

If what you really want is Jasmine Pearl tea, then go for one that exhibits all the features that justify the price of $100-$120/lb: generous plump buds, with lots of tip relative to stem, a silvery sheen in the overall appearance of the dry pearls, without any dark grey pearls, with just an odd petal or so to be seen.  At this price level, you’d be spending between $6.25 to $7.50 per ounce, which is almost as much tea as all the fifteen bags held in the box I bought for $3.99, but the quality you find is more than doubly better.

In my view the whole point of using and paying for pyramid bags is to be able to enjoy excellent quality, loose leaf teas in a convenient, time-saving and work-saving way.  As a packer, it makes little sense to use the machine to bag a fourth or fifth grade tea; better to put really good quality leaf teas into the machine’s neat little bags.

Wet buds from higher quality Jasmine Pearls; note small proportion of stem or leaf to bud.

I’m a long time fan of Trader Joe’s, but if this tea was your first encounter with Silvery Jasmine Pearls, you may well wonder what all the buzz was about in tea circles.

As for the tea itself, Jasmine Pearls, much of the appeal lies in the visual; after all, it isn’t necessary to splurge on Jasmine Pearls for a great cup of Jasmine tea.  It’s fine to spend $60/lb as opposed to $120/lb for Jasmine Pearls, but be aware of the difference in the quality of the pearls.