JASMINE TEA

Jasmine is in common use. Its flowers are either extracted by the labour-intensive method of or through chemical extraction. It is expensive due to the large number of flowers needed to produce a small amount of oil. The flowers have to be gathered at night because the odour of jasmine is more powerful after dark. The flowers are laid out on cotton cloths soaked in olive oil for several days and then extracted leaving the true jasmine essence. Some of the countries producing jasmine are India, Egypt, China and Morocco

The French are known for their jasmine syrup, most commonly made from an extract of jasmine flowers. In the United States, this French jasmine syrup is used to make jasmine and .

Jasmine tea is consumed in , where it is called jasmine-flower tea flowers are also used to make so-called , which often has a base of , but sometimes an base is used. Flowers and are "mated" in machines that control temperature and humidity. It takes four hours or so for the tea to absorb the fragrance and flavour of the jasmine blossoms, and for the highest grades, this process may be repeated as many as seven times. Because the tea has absorbed moisture from the flowers, it must be refired to prevent spoilage. The spent flowers may or may not be removed from the final product, as the flowers are completely dry and contain no aroma. Giant fans are used to blow away and remove the petals from the denser tea leaves. If present, they simply add visual appeal and are no indication of the quality of the tea.

Widely cultivated for its flowers, jasmine is enjoyed in the , as a house plant, and as cut flowers. The flowers are worn by women in their hair in southern and southeast Asia. The delicate jasmine flower opens only at night and may be plucked in the morning when the tiny petals are tightly closed, then stored in a cool place until night. The petals begin to open between six and eight in the evening, as the temperature lowers.

Jasmine tea is consumed in China, where it is called jasmine-flower tea