Vietnamese "jasmine" tea (new acquisition)

How much do you want, for office use or business?

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A lot of Vietnamese teas seem to be sold as jasmine in the US, even though they are clearly not. I have a can here from "New Japan International" in LA that reads "Jasmine tea" in English, "Tra Sen Co Do Hue" in Vietnamese, and has some Chinese characters. "Tra Sen Co Do Hue" means "Hue style lotus tea," which it actually is. I have not deciphered the Chinese but there is at least the character for lotus in it.

Anybody opening up the can and expecting jasmine tea will be getting a very rude shock.

I have seen a couple unscented green teas in the markets, also with "Jasmine Tea" in English, but with accurate description in Vietnamese below.

--scott

Have you tasted it? Is it good?

And what do they mean by "lotus tea"? Are there lotus blossom pieces in the can?

Would you like to load and link to a photo of the Chinese characters?

/Lew

Okay now I'm jealous. I'll make a note and see what I can find on my next trip to Chinatown. I usually shop the big Chinese markets with plenty of parking and don't shop the smaller Vietnamese stores where parking is limited.

Jim

stePH wrote: ...snip here...snip there...

Oh, yes, of course.

Yes. This is a traditional Vietnamese tea and you'll see it served all over Vietnam, though it is not as popular as the Jasmine. I've been drinking it for decades. It is very heavy stuff.

I may be able to scan and e-mail as a pdf. Would you be okay with that?

--scott

There is a Tazo brand Lotus root green tea that is actually pretty good and nice and light. I've come across a few lotus flavored teas and I'm always up for them, I'll have to track down some of this Vietnamese lotus tea... we have a few Vietnamese groceries around here. I generally don't shop in them because they are both very dirty and stuff is thrown everywhere. and used bowls from their lunch are sitting on the same shelf as new ones for sale.

- Dominic

Are you offering up some for sale?

stePH in cup: rooibos peach (from Teavana)

No, i 'm not tea business man? I only wonder how much you want, because you said " I 'll buy as long as her friend supply" However, i'm vietnamese, so if you really want to buy for making a business (because I know that jasmine tea is verywonderful and it';s almost only in Vietnam), i may find a supplier for you (without any charge, just help). Anybody know how to make jasmine tea? I will tell you the story iin the next.

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I wonder if you've ever heard of a little country called "China" ;-) It's actually not far from Vietnam.

stePH

-- I'll brew another pot of ambiguity.

-- King Crimson, 2002

oh, sure. But you didn't understand me. I say almost, not only. China is a big country of tea. But for the same type of tea, there're different in making and using from VN and China. For example, jasmine tea in Vietnam, produced by let jasmine flower under tea with morning dew on the sieve, and only in early moring, before the sun shining, to make sure that it spice is best. But in Chine, it's not the same, they can make at any time in day. Have you ever been one tradition jasmine tea-production family in Ngoc Ha, Ha Noi?

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snipped-for-privacy@e56g2000cwe.googlegroups.com2/27/06

Come on, StePH. Leave the guy a little national pride. Michael

Lew,

This is the one I told you about in NY. As I said before this one is "lotus flavored" - C. Sinensis tea somehow flavored with lotus apparently not unlike jasmine. There is also a lotus tea - made of lotus flowers produced (at least) around ChengDe. I usually not very fond of "flower teas" as well as "flavored teas" , but I liked both. The lotus flower I bought in China, the Vietnamese lotus-flavored - here in Reno.

Sasha.

That's interesting. I've tasted many jasmine teas - some good, some horrible, some just a way to give flavor to very cheap tea - but I've never had to complain about subtlety. Could Vietnamese use "Jasmine" in another sense, to indicate a nice aroma but not, necessarily, due to the flower? Like jasmine rice?

Best,

Rick.

Thanks for sending the PDF of a photo of the can. There are four characters, and unfortunately I was able to figure out only the first three:

Cha = tea Xin = pith Lian = lotus

To visualize the fourth character, think of quadrants. What you see is:

NW = river (3 strokes) NE = head (9 strokes) SW = person (2 strokes) SE = spoon (2 strokes)

Anyone know what character that forms?

/Lew

I wonder if the reason for the confusion about jasmine vs. lotus is that the Vietnamese, like the Chinese, often just refer to "flower tea" in their own language without being specific. Then, when they make a label for a tea being exported, they might get careless about which flower it is?

/Lew

No idea. May be some local geographical name.

Sasha.

Right. However, when that tea is sold in the US, sometimes it is all marked "Jasmine Tea" on the box, no matter whether it is Saigon jasmine tea or Hue lotus tea or something else. I think the problem is either with the export markings or the importation on this side, but it is not unique to one company.

--scott

I can't guess this truth. All companies always want to mark their trade -marks on products. So, you can understand where the tea was made from the company name. When you see the tea-box with label Jasmine Tea, you should know that it is' made from Jasmine flower with tea, exactly, not from Lotus at all.

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