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!
Organic Ancient Green Tuo Cha Pu-Erh Tea from Arbor Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: Arbor Teas
Tea Description:
This compressed Green Pu-erh is made with top-quality sun-dried buds from the antique tea trees of the Jing Mai Mangjing region of China’s southwest Yunnan province. Many of these tea trees range from 800 to 1200-years-old with the eldest exceeding 1300-years-old! The flavor of this organic Chinese tea is mildly sweet with a character of gentle white and green teas. This Pu-erh is created using the traditional sheng processing techinque and aged for eight years. The infusion of this exquisite organic tea is light brown with a rose hue, yielding the flavor and aroma of malted grains and sweet apples. The faintest hint of earthiness that is characteristic of organic pu-erh tea can also be detected. Each tuo cha is individually wrapped and perfect for a medium sized teapot or can be broken apart to accommodate a single serving.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Wow! This Organic Ancient Green Tuo Cha Pu-Erh Tea from Arbor Teas is one of the nicest and most unusual Tuo Cha Pu-Erh Teas I’ve yet to taste.
The dry appearance of the Tuo Cha is the first thing that took me by surprise … it doesn’t look like the typical Tuo Cha … the leaves are green and yellow-ish (like straw!) and it looks a bit more to me like hay that has been compressed into bails than it does a Pu-erh Tuo Cha. The aroma is quite different too, normally, I experience a strong earthy note from Pu-erh, but the aroma here is rather mild.
The flavor of the first infusion is just as mild as the fragrance. And I’m liking this mellow attitude that I’m getting from this tea. It is light and sweet, reminding me more of a gentle green tea or perhaps a delicate white tea than a Pu-erh. It doesn’t taste earthy, brine-y or fish-y or any other flavors that are often associated with Pu-erh. It is vaguely reminiscent of the flavor I’d get if I were to sip the simmering water from a pot of farro rather than what I would normally taste from a Pu-erh, and I’ve got to tell you … I like that a whole lot!
The second infusion offers a slightly deeper flavor. The flavor is a little more earthy … but again, it’s not the same kind of “earth” note I’d get from a typical Pu-erh. This is more like the earthiness I’d taste from a Shou Mei white. Sweet, almost hay-like. Notes of flower to this cup as well. There is a slight dryness to this infusion that I didn’t experience with the first infusion. Where I liked the mild, mellow flavor of the first cup, I’m liking the sweet, white tea-like flavor of this second cup … I like that this tea has different things to show me as I take this tea journey.
The third infusion is my favorite so far! The flavor is sweet and has a distinct fruit-like taste to it. The above description suggests notes of apple, and I’d agree with that … there are hints of the sweet apple-y notes as well as whisper of tartness. Nice contrast. The earthiness is no longer present, this is much more like a hay-ish taste, with notes of the aforementioned farro and the fruit tones. A crisp, light sweetness to this cup. Very nice!
And this tea is still going strong! I like that this tea offers me a taste of the lighter side of Pu-erh … it is smooth and sweet, but it is much crisper and more delicate than the typical Pu-erh tea. If you are a fan of Pu-erh and are looking for something a little different, you should give this one a try. On the other hand, if you typically find Pu-erh to be a little too earthy or brine-y for your liking … this one will change your mind about Pu-erh!
A really delightful Pu-erh!
2010 Xing Hai Raw Beeng Cha from Canton Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: Canton Tea Co.
Tea Description:
Another classic puerh from Xing Hai, made from authentic leaves, grade 5 –7, harvested from the large, mature tea bushes of Meng Hai.
A good quality raw puerh, it will keep improving for 10 years or more. For best aging results, store in a well-aired location with a constant temperature. The Xing Hai Beeng Cha is a young puerh and shows the classic characteristics of mild flowery notes with a traditional bittersweet finish. It will develop more woody notes as it matures.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I know I’ve mentioned this before, but the more I am sampling different Pu-erh teas, the more I’m realizing that I really do like them. I still suffer a bit from a couple of bad experiences concerning Pu-erh, but, really, the number of good experiences I’ve had outweigh the number of bad at this point.
This is a really nice raw pu-erh, quite sweet with pleasing floral notes. I don’t think I’ve had a pu-erh where I really noticed such well-pronounced floral tones before. Usually, I taste earthiness, and yes, I taste that here too, but, I don’t think I’ve had a pu-erh where the focus is more on the notes of flower over the notes of earth.
The sweetness is very molasses-like … in fact, had I not prepared this cup myself, I would have thought that whomever did prepare it for me added a dollop of molasses to the cup.
Overall, the cup is very smooth – no bitterness, no astringency – and it has a very mellow character. A very enjoyable cup of tea, I find it to be an especially enjoyable tea to enjoy in the early evening while watching the sunset.
Anji Bai Cha from Canton Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Canton Tea Co.
Company Description:
Anji Bai Cha is a beautiful tea in every sense. The leaves are long, delicate and a bright vivid green, the scent has notes of citrus and nuts, and the taste is a complex mix of tangy fresh and creamy soft. The liquor is a lively pale green with the bright clarity of a classic high-grown mountain tea.
Taster’s Review:
This tea was also noted as a white tea on the Canton Tea Co. website, although it is found listed as a green tea. Despite this minor confusion, I can see how it might be considered either a white tea or a green tea, because it does have qualities of both types of tea.
The liquor brews up so light in color, so in that respect it reminds me of a white tea. It also has a relatively delicate flavor which is also quite characteristic of a white tea.
However, the color of the leaves are so vibrant and green (they look like blades of grass!) with no real indication of the silvery color that is like other white teas. Also the flavor is much more in line with a green tea – it has a pleasant vegetative flavor that is not overly grassy. It tastes more like steamed broccoli than it does grass.
There is also a very delicious, juicy fruit note to this tea that is reminiscent of sweet apples. The crispness in the tea enhances this taste beautifully! It tastes very much like a high quality green tea to me.
Yes, I like this one very much… call it a white tea, call it a green tea… I call it GOOD tea!