Perhaps the most popular flavor in the world, Jasmine tea is a traditional drink from China. To this day, Jasmine has been used to give scent to popular types of tea all over the world including black, white, green and Chinese oolong tea varieties.
Jasmine is unique for its special blend of high quality loses tea leaves combined with jasmine petals that give off a delicate and aromatic fragrance that adds sweetness to the beverage.
However, choosing the right blend of jasmine tea contains a little technical knowhow. The first thing to consider is the fact that there are no international standards on grading tea. Each country has their own system so the perceived quality of tea in one country may differ from another.
Here are some basic guidelines as to how different tea varieties are graded.
Black Tea
Black tea is rated according to how it is processed. Basically, the rating will depend on what part of the world the tea is grown. Also, the approximate percentage of whole leaves in your tea and if it comes from an early or late plucking has to be considered.
In the US, the best black teas come in whole leaf varieties marked Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe. Avoid the teas marked as “dust.”
Green Tea
In China, green tea is graded by the shape of the leaves. This also goes for other countries albeit the different names they give to the leaf shapes. Most of the time, only the shape of the leaf is of great concern. Other ratings come secondary.
Oolong Tea
The best type of Oolong tea is referred to as being “Fanciest” or “Extra Fancy. The word “Common” on the other hand is used to denote the lowest type of tea.
White Tea
When choosing the bets white tea, you better get the two highest grades of white tea namely Silver Needles or White Peony. White tea is graded based on how the leaves are plucked.