I've talked prior about my prior love of teas from Teavana, and have had in my heart a special place for a favorite of mine from there that I had (luckily) stockpiled a supply of before they stopped their normal operation but soon ran out of a year or so later. That cherished tea was none other than their Jasmine Dragon Phoenix Pearls.
While trying to remember the exact name of my beloved Jasmine Green Tea Pearls form Teavana I had stumbled upon a kindred spirit on Reddit trying to find something similar in lieu of Teavana due to its closing, and I was shocked to see the page of the post: 9 years ago! It really doesn't feel like it was all that long ago, much less nigh a decade! It's amazing how fast time goes by, and how old that makes me feel. Given of course, I was much younger back then, a high schooler who had fallen in love with the spirit of Gongfu Tea and the ceremony of engaging in the hobby in a way that felt more ritualized and meditative rather than the rushed and transactional feeling of western tea in which one makes it to make it, no silliness to be had, steeping and pouring and preparing the tea are simply means to an end, not the joy of the process. Gongfu had (and does) feel more akin to a love of the journey much more than a love of the destination like Western Tea "ceremonies".
To get to the point however, this Jasmine Green Tea Pearl tea from Steeping Room certainly itched a long overdue longing for a replacement, and to my account and blurred rose-tinted memory, meets recollection of what Teavana had once provided me. It's floral and fresh, the rolled tea pearls are a joy to decant from the container and create a satisfying resonance when hitting the ceramic of the tea pot, and unfurl excellently in the pot after steeping.
A longtime favorite, and a nostalgic one, a weighted and personal rating, but for sure a 9/10 a minimum. I am always reluctant to give a perfect score when rating anything, because there's always the possibility of a better tea somewhere somehow, but this is pretty darn close.