Second Helpings

Heaven Scent

    “I’d love to put this in my bath.” The young woman next to me is swooning, as I am, over a tea called Jasmine Pearls. You’ll understand why if you’ve ever taken a stroll on a gentle evening in springtime or early summer around one of Oakland’s many garden neighborhoods and been hit by that unmistakable fragrance. And you’re not alone if the scent has compelled you to follow your nose to the source to remind yourself that, yes, this is jasmine, and no, you haven’t died and woken up in heaven.
    The jasmine tea in question is one of an assortment of teas—green, white, oolong and black—being poured for our small group to taste at the Numi Tea Garden in Oakland. Here, on the first Saturday of each month, co-owner Ahmed Rahim (or a substitute if he’s away) conducts informal classes, referred to as Tea 101. For a sliding-scale $5 or $10 donation, tea tipplers get to try nine or 10 different teas—and leave with a souvenir certificate to prove they’ve done it. The Jasmine Pearls we’re drinking come in their unbrewed form shaped as little balls that look like
tiny rosebuds. I didn’t need to be a genius to guess that jasmine flowers are used to perfume and flavor the tea, but I am fascinated to learn about the process. Once picked, the green tea leaves are laid out overnight under a covering of fresh jasmine flowers. In the morning the flowers are removed and the tea left to rest. The next night, the tea is again covered with a new layer of fresh jasmine blossoms. In the morning the flowers are once again removed. This happens three more times, after which the leaves are rolled into buds and dried; ready to open and release their delightful smell and taste a world away from their source in China when put in a pot and steeped in boiling water right here in Oakland. Or—and why not?—tossed into a bathtub filled with hot water.
    Numi Tea Garden, 2230 Livingston St.; open 11 a.m.–7 p.m Tue.–Sat.; (510) 533-8720; for Mother’s Day and other tea garden events, see www.numitea.com.