Gourmet Tea

Gourmet tea usually refers to exotic blends of teas. It can also refer to teas that are expensive or rare. The term gourmet gets tossed around so widely that sometimes it’s hard to distinguish what is and isn’t gourmet when it comes to tea. Tea blended with fruits, with other teas, and more can be classified as gourmet.  Sometimes organic tea is also classified as gourmet. If you are looking for great gourmet teas that aren’t necessarily blended, here are a couple to look for.

Formosa Pouchong Gourmet Tea

Formosa Pouchong is an oolong tea from Tawain made with green tea leaves. It’s a rare tea. The reason it’s rare is it’s barely oxidized. The flavor of this gourmet tea is inviting and slightly complex. It starts with a floral base, and has a soft texture. Expect this tea to cost around $10 an ounce.

TiKuanYin Tea

TiKuanYin tea, also called Fujian TiKuanYin, is another oolong gourmet tea. This one has its origins in China. TiKuanYin is gourmet simply because of the lengthy process observed in creating the leaves. It requires more than a dozen steps to create this pale tea. The flavors are reminiscent of orchids with hints of melon as it cools. This one also costs around $10 an ounce.

Jasmine Pearl

Jasmine Pearl is a gourmet tea from the Fujian province in China. As the name suggests, this green tea is rolled with jasmine blooms. The result is instead of dried leaves, you have small pearls that you drop in to water. The flavor is light and airy. This can be found at almost any tea store online. Sometimes it’s sold by the pearl, but in most cases it’s still sold by the ounce. The larger the pearls, the less it will take to create the size you want. Expect to pay anywhere from $8-$12 an ounce.

Pu-Erh Tea

This variety of fermented tea is produced in the Yunnan province in China. This blend is often mistaken for  a black tea because it goes through a special fermentation process. There are actually several kinds of Pu-Erh tea, and the price and taste differs. In raw form (also called Sheng Pu-Erh) the leaves are allowed to darken in its natural environment before it’s processed. In ripened, or Shou, the tea is picked at maturation and processed through it’s normal channel. The raw form has a woodsy flavor, with a rich body. The ripe form has a mellower root type flavor.

Fruit Gourmet Tea

Another variety of gourmet tea is those blended with fruits. These exotic tea blends can be made a few ways. In some cases the fruits are dried and sliced in with the tea leaves. As the hot water is added to the tea, the flavors of the dried fruit blend together with the tea leaves to create a unique flavor experience. Some of the more common types of fruit gourmet teas are apple teas, pear teas, and orange teas. In other instances the fruits are juiced over the leaves. As the leaves are dried, the juices remain in the leaf. Some people think this is a more organic way to get a fruit tea. The truth is, either option is still considered an organic tea as long as it’s not processed with chemicals. Fruit tea blends are very popular for gourmet tea gift baskets. These usually include several varieties of gourmet tea for the person to sample.