Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
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About this Blend:
Murmur starts with a white peony base which features the signature unopened tea bud and two accompanying leaves. This tea has beautiful delicate notes of juicy honeydew drizzled in honey, with accents of darker fruit and chocolate. Next, the strawberries are added to accent the white peony’s fruity notes and add a little tartness to the back of the palate. Lastly the cacao nibs contribute to the rich, classic chocolate taste that pops mid palate.
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Taster’s Review:
As I mentioned in part 1 of this review, I wanted to approach reviewing this tea by reviewing three separate tastings. The first part of this review featured my first tasting of the actual blend “Murmur” as blended by Handmade tea. This article will feature the last two tastings: the second tasting will be of the White Peony Tea base, while the third will be of a taster’s improved batch of Murmur, with extra strawberries and cacao nibs.
Second Tasting
This is a decent Bai Mu Dan. It’s of good quality, beautifully colored leaves ranging from a pale, silvery green to a light tan. These leaves are broken, but I wouldn’t say that they’re “crushed” – I’ve seen larger, whole leaves with some of the higher quality White Peony teas that I’ve encountered, while I’ve encountered some crushed, tiny leaves. These are somewhere in the middle – appearing more whole than broken, and I was happy to see the tiny, silvery hairs on the leaves, indicating that these leaves have been handled well. White Peony is a delicate tea, and it should be handled as such!
As for the taste, it is good. Delicately flavored – that’s to be expected – with distant notes of vegetation and a soft, velvet-y mouthfeel. Some fruity notes, but interestingly enough, I found that when it’s part of the blend, the melon-esque tones of this tea really seem to emerge. The addition of the dried strawberries and cacao nibs emphasized the subtle melon notes of the tea, allowing this taster to explore some of the nuances that I might have otherwise missed with the pure Bai Mu Dan.
Third Tasting
For this third and final tasting (at least, for reviewing purposes), I decided to add what was left of the freeze-dried strawberries and the cacao nibs to the large tin of blended tea. I say “what was left” because my SororiTea Sister, TeaEqualsBliss, had tried and reviewed this tea before I did, so she also used some of the berries and cacao. The two sampler tins were about half-full when I got them, and I emptied the entire contents of both small sampler tins into the blended tea and gave them a gentle shake to combine.
I have to say, that of the three tastings, this one is my favorite. The chocolate is stronger, and the strawberry flavor also emerges somewhat stronger – although because this is a “blended” tea and not a “flavored” one, neither flavor is particularly strong. If you were to taste a chocolate strawberry flavored tea that was flavored by a reputable company side-by-side with this blended tea, they’d taste very different.
But that’s not to say that this is not good – I really like this, and with a white tea, this blended approach really works well because it keeps the flavors subtle so that the white tea is not overwhelmed. Instead, it seems to be celebrated with the strawberries and cacao bringing out flavors that I didn’t notice when drinking the pure White Peony Tea.
Overall, a very tasty tea that offers a pleasant, contemplative cup when you want one … or just really refreshing taste that calms and soothes you when you just want to relax and contemplate nothing!
