The health benefits of jasmine tea include a reduced risk of heart attacks, a stronger immune system, and the prevention of diabetes. Jasmine tea also helps prevent cancer, while reducing stress, improving digestive processes, and lowering cholesterol. It has also been found to eliminate harmful bacteria and ease chronic inflammation like muscle aches and pains.
Jasmine tea is not considered an “herbal tea”, because it is actually normal tea (green, white, black, or oolong) that is flavored with jasmine flowers to create the unique scent and taste.
China has a long and famed history with tea, and jasmine is one of the most popular types to emerge from that ancient nation. Jasmine tea first appears in official records during the Song Dynasty, which ended in the 13th Century A.D., but at that time, it was mainly reserved for royalty. Jasmine tea may have originally come from Persia, through India, along with the cultural exportation of Buddhism to China. In later dynasties, jasmine tea became a common export to the western world, and remains very popular to this day.
The tea can be made in a number of ways, of varying strengths and grades. Some are made as loose-leaf teas, while others are cut up and put into teabags. Some are rolled or bound in different shapes, like the very common “jasmine pearl”, usually composed of two tea buds and one tea leaf.