Iced Jasmine Pu-erh (Numi Tea)

It’s been a while since I’ve reviewed an iced tea. In the interim I’ve had a few I’ve liked and a few I haven’t. This iced Jasmine Pu-erh from Numi Tea provided a nice respite from the usual iced tea by offering up a pure iced tea. But to have a mass market iced pu-erh is something special altogether.

This is the second in a series of posts on Numi Teas’ new Pu-erh Iced Teas.

After the Mango Pu-erh I reviewed the other day, this iced Jasmine Pu-erh is equally impressive. Using full organic jasmine flower petals when brewing this tea makes this one of the more well rounded jasmines out there, let alone one which is iced.

The liquor is slightly cloudy in the bottle. This is the mark of a good natural tea and indicates the use of actual ingredients and not flavorings or extracts. The coloring for this tea appears a milky golden yellow.

Iced teas don’t have the same aromatic properties as hot teas. The cool liquid doesn’t effuse the scents we expect nearly as strong. The result? You have to be right next to the bottle to smell the jasmine aroma and its floral tones.

I’ve had some iced Jasmine teas which fall flat, and I’ve had some which are remarkably refreshing. This Jasmine Pu-erh bests all of those for me. Jasmine seems to provide a typically tart or puckery finish when iced. It seems softened by either the small 10g sample of sugar in the bottle or by the smoothness of the green pu-erh used to brew this tea. On the palate the jasmine plays nicely with a hint of something lightly fruity in the finish.

This tea isn’t very astringent. Unlike some ices teas it doesn’t dry the palate or lack nuance. Pu’erh itself is notably smooth when high quality, and this seems to translate well when iced.

Fans of Pu-erh or floral teas and Jasmine teas in particular might enjoy this iced beverage. Because of its more subtle nature when iced, those who don’t typically enjoy Pu-erh as much might still want to give this one a try.