Green Botanica · Tea Guide
Jasminum sambac
มะลิ · 茉莉花 · sampaguita · melati
Arabian jasmine is an evergreen shrub from the foothills of the Himalayas and India, grown across tropical Asia for its waxy white flowers. They open at dusk with a sweet, honeyed scent. Dried whole, the buds make a gentle, caffeine-free flower tea and a fragrant addition to many other teas.
Meet the plant
Arabian jasmine is an evergreen shrub or scrambling climber of the olive family, Oleaceae, up to about 3 m tall. Unlike most jasmines, its leaves are not divided into leaflets: each is a single glossy, oval blade, set in opposite pairs or sometimes in threes.
The flowers grow in small clusters at the tips of the shoots. They are white and waxy, up to about 2 cm across, with five to nine petals, or many more in double forms. The buds open at dusk, usually between 6 and 8 in the evening, when the scent is strongest, and each flower lasts less than a day.
The plant rarely sets fruit in cultivation and is grown from cuttings. In Thailand it is grown in rows as a field crop. It flowers most in the hot and rainy seasons; from November to February there are fewer buds, and they fetch higher prices.
| Arabian jasmine | Spanish jasmine | Carolina jasmine | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plant | Jasminum sambac | J. grandiflorum | Gelsemium sempervirens |
| Leaves | Single, oval, glossy | Divided into small leaflets | Single, narrow, pointed |
| Flowers | White, waxy, sweet | White stars, often pink outside | Yellow trumpets |
| Use | Tea, garlands, desserts | Perfume | None: all parts poisonous |
The story
From the foothills of the Himalayas and India, Arabian jasmine spread along trade routes across Asia. Wherever it went, it became a flower for offerings, garlands and tea.
Chinese sources date its arrival, by way of Persia, to the Han dynasty. Fuzhou later became the home of jasmine tea, today a FAO-listed agricultural heritage system.
Thai government sources say that jasmine probably came to Siam from India in the Sukhothai period.
Linnaeus named the plant Nyctanthes sambac, “night flower”; in 1789 William Aiton moved it to Jasminum. Sambac comes from its Arabic name, zambac.
John Barrow printed the Chinese folk song “Mo Li Hua”, “Jasmine Flower”, in his Travels in China. Puccini later wove its melody into his opera Turandot.
The Philippines chose sampaguita as its national flower in 1934; Indonesia named melati one of its national flowers in 1993.
Thailand set Mother’s Day on 12 August, the birthday of Queen Sirikit, and chose the jasmine flower as its symbol.
In Thailand, jasmine is strung into phuang malai garlands for offerings and floated in water to bathe Buddha images. Fresh flowers left overnight in cool water make nam loi dok mali (น้ำลอยดอกมะลิ), used in Thai desserts and in khao chae, rice in iced jasmine water, a Mon dish taken to the royal court.
In China, fresh jasmine has scented green tea for centuries. In the Philippines it is sampaguita, in Indonesia melati and in Hawaii pikake. In India, Madurai malli has had its own geographical indication since 2013.
From bud to cup
Jasmine buds take about three weeks to grow. They are picked by hand when full-sized but still closed, because the scent is made as the flower opens. For tea, the buds are then dried whole.
In Thai trials, a bud takes about 20 days from first appearing to harvest.
Buds are picked by hand when full-sized and white. In China, buds for jasmine tea are picked in the afternoon and open in the evening.
The flower makes its scent as it opens: linalool peaks as the petals begin to fold back. Picked buds go on opening and scenting the air for hours.
In a study of double jasmine, hot air at 60 °C browned the flowers most and lost the most linalool; freeze-drying kept colour and aroma best.
Inside the flower
Jasmine’s scent is a blend of dozens of volatile compounds. A handful shape most of it, and their balance shifts as the flower opens, between single and double forms, and with drying.
Fresh and floral with a hint of citrus, also found in lavender. It peaks as the petals begin to open; in one study, hot-air drying lost it completely.
Benzyl acetate brings a sweet, fruity note, α-farnesene a fresh, green one. With linalool they lead the scent of the opening flower.
Methyl anthranilate adds a honeyed, peach-like note and has the strongest impact in jasmine tea. A trace of indole gives depth.
| Jasmine tea | Jasmine flower tea | |
|---|---|---|
| In the cup | Green tea, sometimes white or black, scented with jasmine | Whole dried jasmine buds only |
| How it is made | Tea leaves layered with fresh flowers up to four times; spent flowers removed | Buds dried whole |
| Caffeine | Yes, from the tea | None |
| Taste | Tea first, with jasmine on top | Soft, sweet and floral |
Tea & kitchen
— from Thai tradition and our kitchen
The Thai way: boil water, let it cool, float fresh unsprayed flowers on top, cover and leave overnight. Use it for desserts or iced drinks.
A Thai blend, cha benjakesorn: jasmine with pikul, bunnak and saraphi flowers and lotus stamens.
A home idea: cold-steep jasmine buds with green tea overnight, then serve over ice with a little honey.
Beyond flavour
Human studies on jasmine are few, and none involved drinking the flower tea. Two of the clearest looked at its scent:
European Journal of Applied Physiology · 2005
Scent study · 24 peopleIn Japan, 24 healthy adults smelled the aroma of jasmine tea, green tea scented with jasmine, for 5 minutes at a level they could only just detect. Heart rate fell slightly and mood was calmer; linalool alone did the same. Scent only: no tea was drunk.
Natural Product Communications · 2010
Placebo-controlled · 40 peopleIn Thailand, 40 healthy adults had their abdomen massaged with Arabian jasmine oil or a placebo oil. With jasmine, breathing rate and blood pressure rose and people felt more alert and vigorous, the opposite of a sedative effect. Oil on the skin, not tea.
Educational product information. Not medical advice. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding or taking medication, consult your doctor before using a new botanical product.
