Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Butiki Teas
Tea Description:
Our premium Anji Bai Cha originates from Anji County in Zhejian Province in China and is grown at an elevation of approximately 2,900 feet. One bud and one tender leaf are utilized from the Bai Ye Yi Hao (white leaf #1) varietal to create this truly beautiful jade green tea. Anji Bai Cha translates to “Anji White Tea”. This tea is classified as green tea by process; the name refers to the color of the unprocessed tea leaves which are white and somewhat translucent in the sun. This rare tea has a short harvesting season of one month in the early spring season. Our Anji Bai Cha is sweet and buttery with vegetal notes and has a silky mouth feel. Sweet white corn and green pea notes are prominent with a gentle floral finish. The sweetness remains and lingers long after each sip. Subtle tart cherry notes can also be detected.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Anji Bai Cha Green Tea from Butiki Teas brews up so LIGHT in color. It’s so pale, in fact, that I questioned whether or not I had put tea in the teapot! The brewed tea is almost as clear and colorless as the water that I poured into the tea kettle.
The flavor is almost as delicate as the color is … but it is beautifully sweet with notes of butter and mild vegetables. The above description suggests corn and green peas … I don’t know if I taste green peas or not (I’m not a fan of peas!) but, I definitely get hints of sweet corn.
I’m also getting the delicate floral finish that is mentioned in the description. I like the way that this starts off sweet, with a smooth texture and a buttered vegetable taste and then as the sip heads into the finish, I notice notes of flower that linger into the aftertaste.
As the tea cools slightly, the flavors begin to emerge a little more. I notice the cherry notes now. It is a sharp, tart note and when it finally did emerge … it took me by surprise. I was like … whoa! What was that? This tea definitely benefits from a couple of minutes cooling time to allow the flavors to come in to focus.
Now I am starting to notice a little more of a green vegetable kind of taste – again, I don’t know if I”d call it green pea because this is not something I eat on any kind of basis – but, I do taste a “green” kind of taste here. It’s crisp and a refreshing contrast to the sweet note of corn. I also note just a hint of a nutty kind of flavor to this.
A very enjoyable cup of tea! I would recommend this one to someone who tends to shy away from green teas because of the strong grassy notes … this is much more subtle in it’s approach. It’s a pleasant, complex cuppa – I like contemplating the complexity of this one. A nice way to spend a chilly evening!
