Tea: What Is Jasmine Tea?

Copyright 2007 Marcus StoutOne of the tea blends you simply cannot miss is Jasmine tea. Ifyou've never tried it, you're missing a real treat. Much of theworld has already discovered the fragrance and flavor of Jasminetea. In fact, it is the most popular Chinese flavored tea.What makes jasmine tea so special is its special blend of highquality loose tea leaves with jasmine petals. The jasmine petalsimpart a delicate yet very aromatic fragrance to the tea. Thejasmine petals also impart a slightly sweet flavor to the tea.Jasmine has been produced in China for at least 700 years. Theoriginal production of jasmine tea included plucking the jasmineblossoms just as they are beginning to bloom and adding them tothe tea leaves at night to ensure the best infusion of the aromaand fragrance. In most cases, the tea was scented twice usingtwo different sets of jasmine blossoms to ensure that the tea isproperly infused.Jasmine tea is most often made using green tea. Jasmine green teais one of the healthiest teas you can drink. Green tea has beenshown to have more health benefits than black tea because of theway that it's processed. Green tea does not go through afermentation process. The fermentation process that happens toblack tea converts the natural anti-oxidants to other compounds.So, while black tea is a healthy beverage, it is not as healthyas green tea, whose anti-oxidants are left in their naturalstate.Anti-oxidants are important to protecting our health.Anti-oxidants help to neutralize free radicals. Free radicals areoxygen containing molecules that are created as a by product ofconverting the food we eat into energy. Left unchecked, thesefree radicals damage our cells and DNA, leading to aging anddisease.A diet rich in anti-oxidants keeps these free radicals undercontrol. And, green tea is one of the best sources ofanti-oxidants around. Including green tea in your diet along withother plant based products like fruits and vegetables can helpprotect your health.In recent years, a lot of research has shown some very specificand interesting things about drinking green tea. We've learnedthat green tea has the power to prevent many types of cancer,including breast cancer, colon cancer and lung cancer. Inaddition, long term green tea drinkers tend to have a lower bodyweight and are more successful at losing weight.Green tea can also help prevent heart disease by helping lowercholesterol and preventing blood clots, which are the leadingcause of heart attacks and strokes. In addition, green tea may behelpful at regulating insulin naturally.So, if you like the idea of adding green tea to your diet, thenjasmine green tea may be a great way to enjoy a wonderfulfragrance and flavor and protect your health at the same time.If, however, you're not a green tea drinker, you can findjasmine tea in other forms. Oolong jasmine tea is also a verypopular blend. Oolong teas are also processed a bit differentlythan black teas. Oolong teas are semi-fermented, meaning thatthey are fermented, but for a shorter period of time than blackteas. To produce a good oolong tea, fermentation must be stoppedwhen the leaves are 30% red and 70% green.It is the ability to stop the fermentation at precisely the righttime that gives oolong teas their distinct flavor. Most oolongteas are also dried using charcoal, giving it another distinctdimension. Oolong jasmine tea has the typically smooth and fruitytaste usually found in oolong teas combined with the fragrantsweetness of jasmine.Jasmine tea can be made from white tea, too. In fact, today,white jasmine tea is becoming quite popular. Sweet and lightwhite tea combined with the subtle scent of jasmine makes for avery delicate and refreshing beverage. It's one of the mildestjasmine teas you'll find. And, drinking white jasmine tea willprovide all the health benefits of drinking green jasmine tea.Finally, there are also a few black jasmine teas. Because blacktea has a bolder flavor, you'll find black jasmine teas to havea more subtle jasmine flavor, as the jasmine scent and taste doesnot stand out as much when combined with black tea as it doeswhen combined with lighter green and oolong teas.As you can see, jasmine is a favorite for blending with tea,making jasmine tea one of the easiest tea blends to find. Becausejasmine tea is so common, however, it's important to ensure thatyou're choosing only the best quality tea when you purchase yourjasmine tea.The best jasmine tea is made using real jasmine petals combinedwith the highest quality loose leaf teas. In jasmine green tea,you'll often find that some of the best and most flavorfuljasmine teas use tightly rolled green tea pearls mixed withjasmine petals.In addition to teas mixed only with jasmine, you'll also findjasmine teas mixed with other flavors as well. Because jasmineimparts mostly fragrance and only a subtle flavor to the tea, itmixes easily with other flavors, as well.You'll find jasmine tea flavored also with vanilla, rose andorange. All of these have the delicate aroma and sweet flavor ofjasmine, but include a second, complementary flavor to adddimension to the taste of the tea.Whatever form of jasmine tea you choose, you're sure to love it.Jasmine tea, whether in green, oolong or black form is one of themost traditional of all Chinese teas and certainly one of themost fragrant and enjoyable.============================================================Marcus Stout is President of the Golden Moon Tea Company. For more information about tea, (http://www.goldenmoontea.com/greentea) green tea (http://www.goldenmoontea.com/blacktea) and black tea go to http://www.goldenmoontea.com ============================================================Read More Articles From Marcus Stout:http://thePhantomWriters.com/free_content/d/index.shtml#Marcus_Stout