A tea that goes back to the 5th century and is still going strong, there are a thousand and one reasons to fall head over heels with the delicate delight of jasmine tea. When we talk about jasmine tea we are really referring to tea that has been scented with the lilt of gentle jasmine flowers. This practice has been going on since the early dynasty days of China. While it sounds like a simple pretty idea (bringing a floral burst to tea), adding jasmine to your cup also comes with a ton of benefits too. Who knew that this joyful blossoms brought so many health boosts to the table.
Because jasmine tea is primarily made with tea leaves from the Camellia Sinensis plant, when you sit down to sip a cup of jasmine tea, you get all the benefits that come with black and green tea along with a few added extras carried by the sweet and fragrant jasmine flower. Here we dive into all the jasmine tea benefits so you too can get jazzed about this beautiful bloom…
What is Jasmine Tea?
Jasmine tea is a tea that is scented with jasmine flowers. It is usually made with a green tea base although you can also use white tea or black tea. The jasmine blossom is added and it brings a slightly sweet taste and fragrance. This is one of the most popular scented teas in China.
Using jasmine blossom in tea became big news back in the Ming dynasty. Who knows how it first came about but as the Ming’s were obsessed with florals it makes sense that they would see fit to sprinkle some onto their most popular drink too. Every relic that has survived from that time shows intricate patterns of beautiful blooms adorning everything and this trend carried over into the food and drink set upon the tables.
Adding a flavorful twist to tea was no new thing in ancient China, from the heady scent of bergamot to citrus shades and lovely lychee, adding flavor notes to a beautiful brew was considered to be quite the crowd-pleaser. Jasmine was the scent that made quite the splash and was so popular that it carried on over into the Qing dynasty and even became one of the first flavored teas to travel outside of China in the 19th century. Carried on a ship to western shores as soon as it hit, the world fell in love and even to this day, jasmine tea is one of the most beloved tea tastes across the world.
Jasmine tea is made by using an existing tea as the base. Often its green tea that is the tea of choice but sometimes black, white, and even oolong are used too. Not only will the teas differ but the jasmine can differ too. There are two main types of jasmine flowers – common jasmine (AKA Jasminum officinale) and Sampaguita (Jasminum sambac). Of the two types, the common jasmine is the oldest and was believed to have been imported from the exotic lands of Persia. Even in our modern world the vision of the vine like jasmine draping itself over everything in sight and blooming with its bright and intense star like flowers is enough to make you swoon.
Crafting jasmine tea is an art and the process pays homage to its delightful delicacy. The tea leaves are picked in late spring when they are fresh and fragrant. They are then dried according to the type of tea and with varying oxidation depending on if the tea is black, white, green or oolong. The tea is then stored for a few months until the jasmine is ready to bloom.
Jasmine blooms in the late summer when everything is heady and hot. They are picked at noon when the day's temperature hits the highest. At this time, the jasmine bud remains tightly closed against the sun and they will only burst open later when they are cool and ready. It’s done this way to ensure the very best scenting process. But there is another method in which the flowers are picked at night when they are said to be open and at their highest scent level. The freshly bloomed flowers are placed with the tea leaves in carefully controlled circumstances. The temperature and environment have to be just right so the tea leaves will soak up that delicious floral scent. Depending on the quality and artisanship of the tea it may be scented again and again (always with fresh jasmine flowers) and it can take a day to complete or several weeks depending on the complexity.
How Much Caffeine Does Jasmine Tea Contain?
As jasmine tea has a tea base that comes from the Camellia Sinensis tea plant it does contain caffeine although the amount may vary. Green tea has less caffeine than black tea so if you are sensitive to caffeine you can moderate it a little more by choosing a green tea base.
Some people prefer to avoid high caffeine intake for many reasons. Caffeine can interrupt sleep, make you restless, and deliver a stimulating effect if consumed in relatively high amounts. Jasmine tea (if made with green tea) tends to have around a quarter of the amount of caffeine than a cup of coffee has, so sipping this tea won’t send you into the jittery sleepless territory. When using the green tea base it has around 25 milligrams of caffeine. Jasmine tea also contains L-theanine, a unique amino acid that boosts brainpower.
How Jasmine Tea can Influence your Diet
There are many incredible benefits that come with sitting down to sip jasmine tea every day. From increasing your metabolism to waking up your brain, helping your body to relax, and even using all those lush antioxidants and minerals to help reduce the risks of disease and illness, jasmine tea brings more than a dreamy taste, it brings daily health benefits too. Keep reading to find out exactly what these benefits are.
What Does Jasmine Tea Taste Like?
But first, let's discover the taste. What can jasmine tea do to your palate and why did the world go so crazy for it? Jasmine is delicate, floral, and has a very subtle sweetness. The aroma brings with it a slightly perfumed bouquet that instantly soothes the soul.
13 Health Benefits of Jasmine Tea
While jasmine tea certainly has poetry in it thanks to its floral notes and regal history, it also comes jam-packed with perfect science too. There are many incredible benefits that come with this tea – not just from the actual tea plant but also from the joy of the jasmine flowers too. We invite you to pour yourself a steaming cup, curl up, and have a read of what this amazing aromatic tea can do for your body, mind, and soul.
1. Get Naturally Glowing Skin
Say hello to gorgeous dewy and glowing skin when you welcome jasmine tea into your life. Botanical beauty has long been a thing and for good reason, jasmine petals are said to have deep cleansing properties and can encourage natural healing in the skin. Even if you don’t slather jasmine on your face, drinking it also brings benefits for the skin too. Research has found that the polyphenols in tea can contribute to healthy aging as they keep out free radicals which can cause cell damage.
2. Includes Compounds to Reduce the Chances of Cancer
Antioxidants, polyphenols, and ECGC are all incredible compounds that are even said to have cancer-fighting properties. Animal studies have shown that the polyphenols found in the green tea base that makes jasmine tea helped to reduce tumor cell growth, reduced tumor size, and even suppressed the spread of cancer cells. While human studies are needed to back this research up, there’s certainly nothing to lose in sipping fragrant jasmine tea in the hopes that it can reduce potential future risk of a serious health condition.
3. Improve Your Gut Health
There have been a bunch of studies into good gut health and how having a healthy gut can impact everything from your immune system to mental health. The good news is that jasmine tea can also boost your gut health too. This tea is rich in polyphenols which can act as prebiotics and help to nourish your microbiome. There are also animal studies that have been done and showcase that jasmine can help your body have high levels of cellular antioxidants and can cut down on inflammation. These are all the ingredients you need for your gut to thrive.
4. Improve Functional Activities of Brain
The small amount of caffeine found in jasmine tea packs quite the punch. There is around 15-60mg of caffeine in this tea and it helps to accelerate the nervous system which can boost brain power and quickly deliver messages and signals between your brain and your body. While speeding up your nervous system may not sound like something you need (particularly for anxious people) fear not. Jasmine tea also invites the brain to fire off plenty of dopamine and serotonin which are the happy chemicals.
5. Keeps the Cardiovascular Cells Healthy
Cut down your cholesterol levels and keep those heart cells healed and healthy all by falling for the pure pleasure of jasmine tea. The Journal of Nutrition found that the abundance of catechins in jasmine tea helped to stop LDL-oxidation which leads to the ‘bad’ cholesterol. As your arteries and veins suffer from inflammation this can lead to stress on the body and even strokes and heart attacks. But jasmine tea can help to reduce this risk as they help prevent the oxidizing process. As a result, blood pressure and cholesterol drops and cardiovascular problems are no more.
6. Can Help Manage Blood Sugar Levels
For those at risk of type 2 diabetes or already trying to manage the health condition, a cup of jasmine tea can be worth its weight in gold thanks to those green tea leaves too. Jasmine tea that uses green tea as its base will bring a burst of health benefits to those with diabetes. This brew is known for its high level of ECGC compounds which help your body to use insulin effectively and even help to reduce blood sugar levels in the body.
7. Good for Oral Health
Keeping your teeth clean, strong, and ready to bite down on life is important especially as with age and lifestyle our teeth can lose some of their glossy bright shine. Fortunately, jasmine tea can bring back a boost of health thanks to the abundance of catechins found in green tea. A study found that a group of people who used a green tea-based mouthwash for one week had a similar effect to using an antiseptic mouthwash. A different study showed that jasmine tea could also reduce bad breath by cutting through bacteria.
8. Induces Sleep and Prevents Insomnia
While jasmine tea does include a little caffeine depending on your tea base, pouring yourself a cup a few hours before bed can be a good addition to your bedtime routine. The scent of the jasmine blossom encourages a parasympathetic nervous system response which can help the body to relax and the mind to slow down. As it also helps the digestive system to chill out, this too can keep the body from tossing and turning and trying to get comfortable all night. If you want to bring jasmine tea into your nightly routine then be sure to choose pure jasmine tea or opt for the green tea base as this has less caffeine than black tea.
9. Lose The Extra Weight
As jasmine tea can stir up your metabolism it is also believed to be a good way of helping reduce unwanted obesity. For those who have been encouraged to lose weight for health or medical reasons, jasmine tea can be a part of your journey. This tea is super low in calories and naturally sweet to help cut those sugar cravings, it also can increase your metabolism by up to 5% and help your body burn fat by up to 16%.
10. Provides Healthy Hair
Get lush, thick, and healthy locks by upping your intake of joyful jasmine tea. This delicate floral brew brings brilliant benefits to your hair and can even help keep your scalp healthy and fighting any kind of fungal or bacterial infections. Not only can jasmine tea keep your scalp shiny and bright, but the caffeine content found in the green tea base is also believed to stimulate hair growth. Studies have shown that green tea can also help prevent hair loss too.
11. Improves Mental Health & Balances Emotions
As we mentioned a little earlier, studies have shown that the aromatherapy of jasmine can work wonders on your nervous system and help talk you down off a high-stress ledge. The sweet floral scent of jasmine tea is said to have a positive impact on your central nervous system and for centuries this plant has been used to help stave off signs of depression, stress, and anxiety. This is because jasmine oil directly affects the nervous system chemical known as GABA. Studies have compared the scent of jasmine to be as calming as valium which is awesome news for those in need of a little emotional balance and healing in times of high stress.
12. High in Antioxidants: Polyphenols and catechins
Say hello to a whole heap of awesome antioxidants, pretty polyphenols, and cool catechins when you pour yourself a cup of jasmine tea. There are tons of compounds in this type of tea that can help protect your body against free radicals. One of the most powerful compounds in this lineup is a catechin called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG for short). EGCG is incredible and comes with a host of health benefits including helping the heart, keeping your oral health in good shape, and helping reduce inflammation and other problems too.
13. Reduces the Chances of Stroke and Heart Attack in Men
For men who are more at risk of heart disease and higher stroke risk, bringing jasmine tea into your routine can help to keep you healthy and fighting fit. The antioxidant quantity and the catechins found in tea have been found to lower triglycerides and reduce the risks of bad cholesterol in the body. As we know cholesterol is a huge contributing factor when it comes to heart attacks and heightened stroke risks, it’s no surprise that studies have made the link between better heart health and jasmine tea. There has been a whole range of clinical trials to back up the claim that this tea is awesome when it comes to supporting healthy cholesterol.
Some Side Effects of Jasmine Tea
Delicate and fragrant with a subtle and sweet floral taste, jasmine tea is super healthy and comes with little to no side effects for everyday people. For those who prefer caffeine-free teas, it's worth noting that jasmine tea does contain a little caffeine although you can opt for the green tea base if you want to ingest less caffeine than black tea brings.
Pregnant women should also skip out on jasmine tea as the strong scent and chemical compounds could (in rare cases) cause premature contractions. Those with medical conditions and especially iron deficiencies like anaemia should be prudent and check in with their medical professional before sipping jasmine tea.
How to Make Jasmine Tea
Check out our Matcha Green Tea
1. Boil your water (filtered water is always best if possible) and 175 degrees is the optimum temperature for the delicate nature of jasmine tea. If your water is too hot it can make your jasmine tea taste bitter.
2. Place your loose leaf tea or your tea bag into a teapot or strainer in your cup. If using loose leaf then 2 grams of tea per 8oz cup is a great balance to aim for.
3. Pour over the hot water and let steep for 3-5 minutes. If this is too strong for your tastes then you can reduce that to even just a minute for a more subtle taste although the health benefits are stronger with a little longer steeping.
4. Brew up a delicious cup of jasmine tea with ease by using Tea Drops Green Tea as your beautiful and health-boosting base.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What’s the best time to drink jasmine tea?
As jasmine tea does contain a little caffeine, those who are sensitive to caffeine content may prefer to drink it during the daytime. Although it is worth remembering that jasmine does have a gentle sedative effect so pouring a cup a few hours before bed as part of your wind-down session can certainly put you into a state of sheer calm. Those who are sensitive to acidity in the stomach may also want to be sure that they drink jasmine tea after meals rather than on an empty stomach.
Is it safe to drink jasmine tea every day?
Yes. Jasmine tea is considered to be a safe and healthy drink and by building it into your daily routine you can build up those health benefits exponentially.
How many cups of jasmine tea should I drink a day to lose weight?
It’s recommended to drink around 2-3 cups of jasmine tea a day to get the best health benefits and to stir up your metabolism and encourage healthy weight loss. Any more than 2-3 cups and those who are sensitive to caffeine may find that they start to feel the effects more.
Is jasmine tea high in caffeine?
Jasmine tea does contain caffeine but nowhere near to the same extent as a cup of coffee. In fact, jasmine tea is said to contain closer to 25mg of caffeine per cup although this can vary to be between 9-50mg depending on the green tea base you choose.
Is jasmine tea better than green tea?
One of the most awesome things about jasmine tea is the fact that you can choose it with the green tea base. That means you get all the benefits that you can expect from green tea with the added boost of jasmine too.
Wrap Up
So there you have it, all the joys of jasmine tea. As one of the oldest flavored and fragranced teas, there is, it’s a true testament that the tea gods must have been doing something right when they dropped fragrant jasmine tea petals into a cup. With endless health benefits and a soothing remedy for the body and soul, jasmine tea is chock full of good stuff.
What are your thoughts on high-quality jasmine tea? Do you love its delicate floral taste or do you prefer other types of tea instead? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
Medical Disclaimer: While we have delved into the research available on the health benefits of these teas, this is for informative purposes only and shouldn’t be taken as medical advice. Those who have any health-related queries should reach out to a medical professional. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This article is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
