Processing:

The production of Jasmine tea is more about the jasmine blossoms than the tea itself. To produce a high grade jasmine tea, the jasmine blossoms must be at the perfect stage.

The jasmine harvest begins in June with the prime months being July and August. Blossoms from these months are used to make the higher grade jasmine teas.

The jasmine bud must be carefully selected. If the bud is too tight, it will not open in time to scent the tea. If it opens too soon, the scent will already be lost. There is a great photo showing the differences in jasmine flower buds in the May 2007 "Tea & Coffee Trade Journal" magazine, page 94. The photo shows three flower buds. One is small, tight, and slightly beige. It was picked a day early and is useless. The next one is slightly larger, still a bud, and a beautiful ivory color. It is at the perfect stage. The third bud has already opened and lost all its scent. It was picked a day late. The perfect bud must be picked less than 24 hours before it is going to open.

The daily plucking and processing follows a specific timeline:

Day one:

1pm - 4pm: with the sun out and the morning dew evaporated, jasmine blossoms are plucked in the fields and taken to the factory.

4pm - 8pm: blossoms are heaped in piles on the factory floor to build up heat. temperature is maintained at 38-40 degrees Celsius in the piles. the blossoms begin to open.

8pm - 2am: a layer of blossoms is placed over a layer of green tea leaves. additional layers are built up into a large pile. temperature increases to around 45 degrees Celsius.

Day two:

2am - 7am: the leaves and blossoms are scattered to lower the heat and stop the scenting process and any oxidation from occuring. the leaves are allowed to rest for 4-6 hours.

7am - 12pm: the leaves and blossoms are repiled and the temperature allowed to reach 45 degrees Celsius again.

12pm: the blossoms are hand plucked from the leaves and discarded.

The tea leaves are then allowed to rest for several days before the whole process is repeated. For the highest grade jasmines, Yin Hao, that receive 8-10 scentings, this process can take up to a month and an enormous amount of manual labor.

First grade (low grade) jasmines receive three to four scentings. Medium grade, six or seven. High grade, eight to ten.

The highest grades have all the jasmine blossoms removed. Lower grades avoid this expense, lowering the teas quality and taste.

The teas selected for scenting can be black, oolong, or green, with green tea being the most common. Green tea used for scenting is produced by the Hong Qing method which creates a leaf that absorbs the fragrance of the blossoms.

References:

1. Kung, Lydia & Chao, Brian Return to Fujian: An Appreciation Tea & Coffee Trade Journal, pp94-100, May 2007