I’ve always really loved the ritual of making and drinking tea. I have quite a few favorites (because I can’t possibly choose one brand) when it comes to tea purveyors, but one of them is Fortnum & Mason from UK. They sell wonderful selections of high quality specialty teas and I discovered their Jasmine Pearl tea recently which is so perfect to drink on spring and summer afternoons.
Jasmine Tea
In case you’re not familiar with Jasmine tea, they are produced by scenting Jasmine flowers with loose tea leaves. Although green tea is the most commonly used tea leaves as a base, white or black tea is also used. There are many Jasmine teas available on the market, but you always want to choose high quality tea since there are low quality teas scented with artificial jasmine fragrance.
According to Fortnum & Mason site, their Jasmine pearl tea is produced using hand harvested whole jasmine flowers. After the tea leaves are scented with Jasmine, leaves are then hand rolled. They also recommend using glass tea pot to enjoy this tea, which I don’t but if you do, you’ll get to see the leaves open up like beautiful blooming flowers as it brews in the pot!
In the US, Fortnum & Mason products are sold through Williams-Sonoma, but unfortunately I could not this particular tea. It is however available through Amazon, which is where I found mine. For 2.1 ounces, the price is almost $50.00, but it’s well worth it and it’s one of the best Jasmine teas I’ve had in a long time.
Jingdezhen Rice Grain Tea Set
When I bought my Jasmine pearl tea, I immediately thought of my rice grain porcelain tea set. This is a traditional blue and white porcelain made in the city of Jingdezhen in China. It’s named the “Rice grain” pattern based on the process of piercing holes in the porcelain before it’s fired. The blue and white translucent pieces are well known around the world and have been around pretty much forever.
If you want to know more about this pattern, there’s a well researched post from watersilkdragon.wordpress.com. There’s detailed information about its history, the manufacturing process, as well as details on different base marks and border decorations. I learned a thing or two about my own pieces despite owning them for a long time!
If you’re interested in purchasing Jingdezhen rice grain porcelain try Etsy; you will find lot of listings there.
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