Last week the door went and it was my trusted postman. The lovely Ben, from The Great Tea Co, had told me there was a parcel coming, so I couldn't wait to see what was included. So, it came as a shock when the postie handed me the parcel. I almost dropped it. It was really heavy! My god, I thought, how much tea is in here?
Upon opening the parcel, I discovered two wonderful treats. The weight of the parcel was down to this wonderful blue cast iron teapot, and it's matching trivet. It's really, really heavy but utterly wonderful, and makes for a lovely cup of tea (more on this later!).
Also, included in the package was this wonderful tea, Jasmine With Flowers.
There is something utterly delightful about Jasmine tea. It has a wonderful taste, a fascinating aroma and is just a tea that is really different and really hard to describe in words. It's something that really ought to be tried and experienced.
However, I really will try my best to describe this wonderful tea.
This morning I decided to try not only the tea but the new pot. The night before I had washed the pot and let it dry naturally. As the pot is made form cast iron, if it doesn't dry properly it could be prone to rusting.
Inside the pot is a removable infuser so I filled the infuser with two heaped tablespoons of the tea and set it aside for a short while whilst I heated the pot.
It didn't take long for the pot to warm and I reboiled the kettle, let it cool and poured it over the tea. Almost instantly I could smell the very familiar and much loved scent of jasmine. I let the tea infuse for several minutes (around the five minute mark), removed the infuser and popped on the lid.
I couldn't wait to pour a mug of this tea!
When brewed the tea takes on a lovely amber colour. Normally I use a nice posh glass mug for the purposes of this blog, but this morning, as it was the first cup of the day, I used my trusty Cadbury's mug!
This is a perfect tea to have at breakfast time. I had warmed some crumpets and settled down to enjoy this fragrant tea. I have not brewed loose jasmine tea before so was a bit nervous on first tasting as I wondered if I had brewed it correctly. I need not of worried. I had brewed it perfectly.
My first impression of Jasmine With Flower tea is that the aroma of the tea is very, very strong, far stronger then Jasmine that is available in teabags (and that is not exactly weak!). It fills up the whole kitchen with it's flowery scent. It's almost like summer in a cup - and it's what I imagine the Italian countryside to smell like. Very fragrant, floral and delicious.
I let the tea cool a little and took my initial sip. It is a strange tea in as much as the flavour is present and strong, yet, at the same time, it's also delicate. It's so refreshing and the floral tones are so natural and wonderful that you feel as though you do not want the mug of tea to end.
For the first tea of the day, it has enough oomph to it to get you going but isn't so strong that it's overpowering. This is a perfect tea to go with something very lemony, such as lemon curd on toast for breakfast or lemon sponge cake for afternoon tea.
If I were to hold an afternoon tea this would make for a brilliant blend of tea. Not least because of it's wonderful aroma and taste, but also it's a visually pleasing tea due to it having jasmine blossom's included.
I do think this tea is something really rather special. On the one hand it's something I'd love to share with friends over lunch, but, if I'm perfectly honest, part of me wants to be selfish and keep it all to myself!
So, what of the pot? Well this pot is fantastic. Due to it being made of cast iron, it keeps your tea piping hot till the very last drop, without having to worry about having to use a tea cosy! It's also very sturdy too which I like, and the trivet is wonderful and comes in handy when brewing pots of tea.
This tea is rather special. It's of a very high quality, is sweet, flavoursome and moreish. It's inviting, delicious and tasty.
For more information on Jasmine with Flowers click here.
For more information on the company itself please visit their home page
For more information on the Shimizu pot please click here.
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