Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Frontier Co-Op
Product Description:
This tea takes its name from its silvery, unopened buds. It has a delicate, ethereal flavor that builds on the palette with each sip.
Taster’s Review:
It amazes me how different white tea can taste from tea company to tea company, even when dealing with the same type (White Peony or Bai Mu Dan) of white tea.
This White Peony from Frontier Co-Op possesses a surprisingly earthy scent that reminds me of a the smell of a damp, musty wood with hints of moss and earth.
The taste is fresh and sweet. It is a delicate flavor but it is one that develops as I make my way down the cup. At the start, I found it to be quite delicate but now as I am near the end of the cup, I’m finding it to be really flavorful. There are pleasant fruit-like flavors and a slight vegetative quality to the cup.
And like the scent suggests, there are also interesting woodsy tones to the flavor, as well as a slight earthy taste. It isn’t overwhelming and it adds to the intrigue of the cup.
An enchanting cup of white tea, this White Peony from Frontier Co-Op!
On the 6th Day of Christmas … from 52Teas
I can’t believe that there is less than a week until Christmas! Are you ready for it? I’m not!
I still have TONS of shopping left to do.
But… ready or not, the holiday is coming.
One thing I am ready for is to find out what tea is waiting for me inside this pouch!
The sixth tea of Christmas is…
BLACK CURRANT BAI MU DAN
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Product Description:
Sometimes I think white tea is not as much fun as the others. It’s such a delicate and subtle flavor to begin with that it doesn’t lend itself to things like chocolate peanut butter cup. What DOES pair well with it are nice sweet fruits, like black currant.
Chelsea, my faithful sidekick insists that our black currant papaya green tea is great for taking baths in. She says it makes her smell good and it leaves her skin feeling softer. Clearly, I’m not one to take a bath in our teas, but I have to admit that it’s pretty sexy to think of Chelsea taking a bath in them. (Sorry Sheri).
Anyway, (and before I get myself in too much trouble) whether you drink it or bathe in it, I think you are going to find this tea amazing. We actually doubled up on the amount of real black currants in this blend and it is delicious.
Taster’s Review:
This tea was released on “White Tea Week” (and maybe Frank should make White Tea Week an annual tradition!) during the week of February 22, 2010. The reason it was White Tea Week is that three different white teas were released in the same week. I ended up ordering all three teas, and this one ended up being one of my favorites, even though it was the one of which I was probably the most skeptical.
You can read my first review of this tea here, and even though I have tasted this one before, I am really glad to receive more in this 12 Days of Christmas package, because it really is an excellent tea.
The white tea tastes fresh and smooth. The black currant has a sweet, wine-like flavor that melds perfectly with the Bai Mu Dan base.
Fruity and delicious! I love this one! Of all the teas that I’ve purchased from 52Teas, this is the one that I can remember disappearing the fastest. That is… I couldn’t STOP drinking it until it was gone! That’s how much I love this tea!
I only made a small amount to sip as a hot tea for this review, because I want to save the rest for iced tea… as good as this is hot, it’s even better iced! This is definitely my favorite iced tea!
Strawberry Seduction from Element Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Element Tea
Company Description:
Chinese Bai Mu Dan White tea is blended with strawberries, enhancing the natural sweetness of this full leaf and bud tea. A true favorite! Makes a great iced tea!
Taster’s Review:
This tea smells nice – especially the brewed liquor! The strawberry scent is strong, there is a leafy element and a hint of flower too. Beautiful. It would make a lovely bath tea… but I made this tea to drink!
I can taste the sweet, juicy taste of the strawberry. It is just a little tart… but this is a very delicate tart note – perhaps the most delicate tartness that I’ve encountered in a strawberry blend to date. Rather than that “berry tingle” (as I often call it), it is more like a “berry kiss” on the tip of the tongue. Very nice!
I can also taste the leafy sweetness of the white tea. It is vaguely vegetative with distant floral notes. There is no bitterness (I think you can just set this to brew and forget about it, come back to it 10 minutes later and it still wouldn’t be bitter – just as long as the water isn’t too hot!) and very little astringency.
This tea is a beautiful marriage of flavors. It is delicious served hot or iced. However, if you choose to ice it (and you should – it’s really thirst quenching!) I recommend adding just a pinch of sugar or other natural sweetener (such as honey or agave nectar) to perk up the flavors just a bit, as the chill does have a slight muting effect on this tea.
This is a really delicious strawberry tea. I’m so glad that I chose to sip this today… as the skies are turning gray it is nice to have this lovely “kiss” of summer in my teacup!
Ramona’s Spiced Pear Bai Mu Dan from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Company Description:
This one was a request from a former employee, Ramona, who asked me repeatedly to create it. I just felt like spiced pear was never as exciting as some of the other crazy blends we were creating, so I never got around to it. Well, I never forgot about it either, so here it is. This one is for you, Ramona!
Taster’s Review:
Pear is one of my favorite fruits, but it isn’t always my favorite flavor for tea. Very often, the pear flavor will be so delicate that I can hardly taste the pear. There have been exceptions, though… like this one!
The light-bodied white tea is a lovely base for the softer flavor of the pear, because both the tea and the pear can be tasted without one overwhelming the other. The spices are skillfully balanced so that they do not overpower the other flavors. The pear is sweet, juicy and delicious. The white tea is fresh and crisp. The spices are gentle and warm, not hot or spicy.
The combination of pear, spice and white tea creates a lovely flavor that reminds me of a baked pear dessert! Delicious! Like many baked fruit desserts, this tea tastes best served warm. I made a pitcher of this to serve as iced tea, and it was yummy, but, I noticed that both the pear and the white tea became a bit muted. The result was more like a spiced cider – with the fruit flavor being pretty difficult to discern. It was still very tasty, but, not quite as sumptuous as it is when served hot.
Black Currant Bai Mu Dan from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Company Description:
Sometimes I think white tea is not as much fun as the others. It’s such a delicate and subtle flavor to begin with that it doesn’t lend itself to things like chocolate peanut butter cup. What DOES pair well with it are nice sweet fruits, like black currant.
Taster’s Review:
52Teas is one of my favorite tea companies. Why? Well, there are several reasons. They offer a new flavor every week, and these flavors are usually just a little bit out of the ordinary. And, perhaps most importantly for me, they offer these new and unusual teas in a quantity that I can feel comfortable about buying – 1 or 2 ounce pouches, depending upon the type of tea, and they are easy to store and are re-sealable. This is the perfect amount of tea for this tea reviewer because it’s not a huge commitment, but it is just enough to taste the tea several times to determine whether I like it enough to sit down and write about it, and it’s also enough to share some with my SororiTEA Sister, Jennifer.
All of this, and their prices are reasonable too – usually just $7.99 per 2 ounce package (and did I mention that the shipping is free?)
All of these reasons really wouldn’t add up to much, though, if the teas didn’t taste good. And I must say, while I have tasted quite a few of 52Teas offerings, I’ve yet to try one that disappoints me – and more often than not, I am very pleasantly surprised by them.
This is one tea that really surprised me. I held off buying it for a while because I’ve never really considered myself to be much of a fan of black currants (although, I don’t know why, as I love black currants in tea cakes and most of the black currant teas that I’ve tasted have been delicious). I am glad that I finally gave in to my curiosity and tried it, because it is really quite good.
The fruit flavor is vibrant and yet it does not overpower the delicate flavor of the Bai Mu Dan. It is sweet and refreshing – especially when served chilled. This is one of my newest favorite iced teas! It is much tastier than any of those RTD bottled teas out there – and the best part is that because you brew it yourself, you can control the amount of sweetener you add to it, or you can choose to not sweeten it at all! I do add just a little bit of agave nectar to mine, because this really brings the fruity flavors into focus plus I can taste some of the sweet, delicate notes of the white tea just a little better.
Another outstanding tea from 52Teas!