One of the world?s great indulgences, flower-scented teas such as our Xanadu® Jasmine have been a favorite of discerning tea drinkers since the Chinese Sung Dynasty of the 13th century. As our Xanadu Tea-of-the-Month for September, we invite you to try this tea and discover for yourself why it has been beloved for centuries. Produced in the Daiyun Shan mountains of the famous Chinese coastal tea province of Fukian, this aromatic tea is carefully grown by a collective that specializes in producing exquisite scented teas. The tender, young tea leaves that form the base of our Jasmine tea are individually hand-harvested in April and May, as the collective?s tea bushes emerge from winter?s dormancy.
The newly harvested leaves are steamed to 160º Fahrenheit to halt their natural progression into becoming a conventional black tea. Instead, they are transformed after steaming into a near-green tea known in China as pouchong - a rare form midway between green and oolong - where there exists a perfect balance in flavor and aroma. The tea leaves destined to become our Xanadu Jasmine are set aside at the collective until the end of summer, when the local Jasmine plants are ready to flower.
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