Jasmine tea

Jasmine tea (jasmine green tea, scented jasmine tea) is a Chinese tea scented with fresh jasmine flowers: the leaf is layered with buds and takes on their smell. The UK Tea & Infusions Association (UKTIA) classes it as a scented tea, flavoured by flowers rather than by oil or spices.

The base is most often Green tea from Camellia sinensis. The flowers are Jasminum sambac; a 2023 study used the bifoliatum variety and green tea from the Fudingdabaicha cultivar made in April 2022.

The process takes several days. Buds are picked closed, kept at about 35 °C and used once they open into a cup shape, around 9 pm. Tea and flowers are then layered for about 12 hours, the spent flowers removed and the leaf dried, at 110 °C after the first round and 100 °C after later ones. The study ran four rounds, with fewer flowers each time: about 70 kg per 100 kg of tea in round one, 40 kg in round four. A final step called tihua adds 10 kg of flowers for 4–6 hours with no drying. The aroma grows most in the first two rounds.

Two Chinese jasmine names are EU-protected: Fuzhou Mo Li Hua Cha and Hengxian Mo Li Hua Cha, both since the EU–China agreement entered into force on 1 March 2021.

There are no separate caffeine figures for jasmine tea. With a green base the USDA green tea entry applies: 12 mg in 100 g of brew, so about 29 mg per 240 ml cup (estimate).

Earl Grey tea smells of bergamot oil applied to black tea, while here the aroma comes from live flowers. White tea also turns up as a base, though the sources say little about it. The Flavoured teas and blends section covers other additions.

On the pack, look for jasmine tea and a place name: Fuzhou or Hengxian may sit next to a PGI symbol. For tea and flavoured tea the EU caps pyrrolizidine alkaloids at 150 µg/kg.

UKTIA's tip for jasmine tea is 2–3 minutes, no milk; for green tea it quotes water at about 80 °C and one bag or a rounded teaspoon per cup.

Why this matters to you: the number of scenting rounds explains why one jasmine tea smells faint and another rich.