It wasn’t until recently that I discovered that Jasmine tea was really just green tea scented with jasmine flowers. To say I was shocked is an understatement. But it made me think of all the wonderful flavours and ingredients I could combine with jasmine tea.
Lychee, peach, pears, grapes, aloe – the list goes on.
Fast forward to an uneventful Friday night home and a couple of quick Google searches later for Canadian distributors that carried Jasmine tea, and I found what I felt was “the Jasmine Tea” for the summer of 2023 on Genuine Tea Co’s website.
Contents
About Genuine Tea Co.
- Genuine Tea Co. was started by David and Sarah, a couple who met on a ski resort and ended up learning about and exploring tea for five years. Their mission – to “share their love of tea and adventure with others.” Since launching their business, they’ve appeared on the dragon’s den, and even been awarded best tea in Toronto 2017 – 2021 in NOW Magazine Readers’ Choice Awards.
What I like about Genuine Tea Co.
- Ease of ordering online: While there might be a lot of drop down menus, genuine tea’s website is relatively easy to browse through and order from. They also let you know when your order is ready or delivered with a tracker.
- Full of options: I prefer loose leaf teas to bagged teas, but I love that Genuine tea offers both options, and their tea bags are fully biodegradable. They also have a lot of different high quality teas for different people and seasons.
- Founders give back: David and Sarah ensure that their teas are ethically sourced and donate 1% of all proceeds to the Canadian Mental Health Association which is really nice to see with a tea company.
About Imperial Jasmine Green Tea
- Imperial Jasmine is made with rare Mao Jian green tea leaves tea that scented with Jasmin blossoms. The leaves are grown in Fujian province and sold in 50g (1.76 oz) or 500g (17.64 oz) packages.
How much does Imperial Jasmine Cost?
- Imperial Jasmine retails at CAD 9.95 for a 50g packet and CAD 69.65 for a 500g packet. So you’d be saving by going with the 500g packet, but that is a lot of tea.
Cost Summary
Price (per gram): $0.14/g – $0.20/g
Price (per oz): $3.97/oz – $5.67/oz
My review of Imperial Jasmine Tea
Tea Sommelier’s Notes
- Tea: Green tea flavoured with Jasmine blossoms
- Origin: Fujian, China
- Aroma: Floral
- Appearance: Dark green loose leaf (dry), beautiful yellow liquor
- Flavor: Light, floral, sweet with a very subtle vegetal taste
What I like about Imperial Jasmine Tea
I purchased Genuine Tea’s Jasmine Tea as loose leaf instead of bagged tea. And to evaluate the tea, I had it without sugar and brewed exactly as instructed (75 °C, 1tsp: 8fl oz., 2 minute steep time).
Green teas can sometimes have very vegetal, grassy or smoky flavours, with some Jasmine teas being really artificial tasting or overpowering but it wasn’t the case with this tea. Rather, I was able to taste a lot of beautiful smooth floral notes from the jasmine without it being unbearably floral.
Nevertheless, here are the top 3 things that stood out for me about Imperial Jasmine Tea.
- Taste: I can’t say I’ve had too many properly brewed jasmine teas to compare to recently, but Genuine Tea’s Imperial Jasmine really delivered what I was looking for. From the very first whiff to very first sip, this tea tastes amazing.
- Packaging: In addition to the compostable tea packet which is great for our environment, something I thought was really cool was the clear instructions and graphics depicting how caffeinated the tea is and how to properly steep the tea.
- Price: I think $9.95 is a fair price for a 50g jasmine tea bag. Especially when you consider that a portion of that includes fairly compensating tea cultivators and donating to their cause of choice — mental health.
Final Thoughts
I really liked my entire experience with Genuine Tea Co. and will be ordering from them again. One thing I did learn from my journey is to get it delivered because the shipping cost ended up being the same price as a TTC fare there and back home. But as I like to say, you live and you learn.
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