Can Fresh Jasmine Flowers Be Used to Make Tea? Benefits and Effects Explained

Jasmine, also known as naihua, xianghua, muliihua and so on, was compared by the ancients to “the finest fragrance in the world”. So can fresh jasmine flowers be used to make tea? Its fragrance is pure, elegant and pleasantly rich; it can be used to scent tea leaves and extract essential oil, and it has high economic value. Its nature and flavor are sweet and cool, and it has the effect of clearing heat and relieving the surface. Folk remedies include using jasmine water to rinse the eyes to treat redness, swelling and pain of the eyes, and using an appropriate amount of jasmine soaked in vegetable oil as ear drops to treat otitis media. Drinking jasmine infused in water can also treat disharmony of stomach qi. Therefore, cooking it into congee with glutinous rice, which strengthens the spleen and benefits the stomach, can clear heat, relieve the surface and dispel foul qi.

1. Can fresh jasmine flowers be used to make tea?

Jasmine contains a variety of organic compounds and vitamins, as well as sugars, starch and other nutrients beneficial to the human body, making it an ideal beauty tonic.

Fresh jasmine tea can be brewed and drunk. Jasmine tea is made by mixing fresh jasmine flowers into tea leaves so that the tea leaves absorb their fragrance.

Jasmine has emerald-green leaves, pure white flowers and a rich fragrance, and is the most common fragrant potted flowering plant. Jasmine tea, praised as “allowing one to smell the breath of spring in tea”, is made by picking and processing tea leaves into finished tea, then blending them with jasmine flowers and putting them through a certain processing technique. The reason jasmine flowers are made into a dried product is that it is convenient for storage.

Every year from July to August, jasmine flowers that have not yet fully opened are collected and dehydrated to make dried jasmine flowers, which can be used both to brew tea and to cook congee. Cook congee with 100 grams of fresh japonica rice, and when the congee is nearly ready, add 3-5 grams of dried jasmine flowers and cook for another 5-10 minutes. Jasmine congee is sweet and fragrant, very refreshing; the fragrance of jasmine can rise to the top of the head and descend to the lower abdomen, dispelling all stale qi in the chest. It not only refreshes the mind, but can also condition dry skin, with effects of beautifying the skin, strengthening the body, refreshing the spirit, and resisting aging.

2. What can jasmine be paired with for drinking? What are the effects?

1. Rose jasmine tea

Brew French rose and jasmine in a 2:1 ratio to make rose jasmine tea; taken over the long term, it can regulate menstruation and relieve pain, and has the effect of beautifying and moisturizing the skin. In addition, if conditions permit, an appropriate amount of lemon verbena can be added for an additional weight-loss effect.

2. Lavender jasmine tea

Brewed as a tea, lavender can soothe the emotions, calm the mind and nourish the heart, and also has a beautifying and skin-care effect. Taken together with jasmine tea, it can relieve anxiety; combined with chamomile and drunk over the long term, it has the further effect of reducing stomach pain.

3. Mint leaf jasmine tea

Mint leaves have the effect of clearing fire and heat; drunk together with jasmine tea, they can freshen the breath, clear heat and reduce fire, brighten the eyes and clear the liver, and refresh the mind and relieve stress. Alternatively, drinking it with osmanthus has a stronger effect of restoring appetite.

4. Chrysanthemum jasmine tea

Chrysanthemum is known for clearing the liver and brightening the eyes, clearing fire and heat, and protecting against radiation, and is especially suitable for taking in spring and summer. Taken over the long term, chrysanthemum tea can detoxify, dispel wind, clear heat and soothe the throat; drunk together with jasmine tea, it can promote metabolism and has beauty effects of benefiting qi and blood, brightening the skin, and nourishing and protecting the hair. Taken over the long term, it can further reduce fire and clear heat, and calm the mind and soothe the spirit.

Although jasmine is good, it is cool in nature, so people with a cold constitution are not suited to taking large amounts at night, as it has an adverse effect on sleep.