Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Tealicious Tea Company
Tea Description:
Our White Pear Tea is our best seller, it is a sweet and aromatic tea with the delicate flavors of roses and chunks of pears gently blended with Pai Mu Dan. It offers the perfect flavor and taste in every cup.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This tea smells incredible. I’d never think of combining the aromas of pear and rose together to create something so pleasing to the nose, but, it really is delightful … inspiring me to imagine walking through a pear orchard that is “fenced in” by rows of rose bushes, with the breeze gently picking up the fragrance of the rose and the pear and swirling them around in the air as I stroll.
What I really like, though, is the fact that I not only smell the pear, but I taste it too. It seems that pear is a difficult flavor to nail for some tea artists, because more often than not, it seems, when I encounter a pear flavored tea, I taste tea but I don’t a lot of pear. Pear is one of those delicate, sumptuous fruits that need to be expressed “just so” … and all too often, tea artists aren’t able to capture the flavor.
But I taste the pear here. And I taste the rose! And what an interesting flavor these two ingredients create together. The rose tastes sweet and floral and exotic, while the pear has a deliciously sweet taste – a distinct pear taste!
And amidst all this excitement over the flavors, you might think that the Pai Mu Dan has been forgotten, or worse, not even noticed because its flavor had been obscured by the pear and rose … but that certainly is not the case. The white tea is fresh, light and delicately vegetative. It melds beautifully with the pear and the rose to create a very lush, relaxing cup of tea … this is a lovely tea, indeed.
Shizuoka Shincha Green Tea from Green Tea Lovers
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Green Tea Lovers
Product Description:
LIMITED EDITION ONCE A YEAR TEA. Shincha is a first crop, young bud sencha. This shincha is grown in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan’s premier tea growing region. Over half of the yearly production of Japanese tea comes from Shizuoka. The shincha leaves are hand picked and hand rolled into long and extremely fine needles. This tea has a soft taste like fresh spring green tea. The aroma is noticeably sweet and reminds one of wild orchid. Shincha’s key characteristic is its refreshing and invigorating scent of new leaves. Another feature of shincha is it’s less bitter/astringent taste. Shincha has a higher content of amino acids (L-Theanine) and vitamin C, giving it full-bodied flavor and sweetness. L-theanine is linked to increased alpha brain wave production and is considered a natural antidepressant and stress reliever. Japanese studies link consumption of L-theanine with strengthening the immune system. L-theanine is often added to energy drinks and is known to give a 6-hour sustainable energy boost.
Taster’s Review:
This is an excellent Shincha!
The aroma is surprising, I expected it to have a strong vegetal smell, but it does not. Instead, it is sweet and nutty, with a fragrant floral note. If I didn’t know I was smelling a green tea (which is quite obvious from the appearance, of course, but, let’s say if I were blindfolded), I wouldn’t have immediately guessed that this was a green tea by smelling it.
The flavor is equally as surprising. There is a hint of vegetative flavor to the flavor, but, only a hint. Not nearly what you might expect from a green tea. Instead, this is sweet and nutty, just like the aroma. The floral tones are there too, as well as a creamy note – a slight creaminess that I wouldn’t categorize as “buttery,” but more of a soft, mild, fresh cream kind of taste and texture.
This is really a remarkable Shincha, one that inspires a sense of calm and relaxation. Sure, it will also provide an energy boost, but, in a gentle sort of way, making it a great tea for the afternoon. It will help you de-stress while you quietly recharge your battery!
White Eagle Long Life Green Tea from Imperial Tea Garden
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Imperial Tea Garden
Product Description:
At 17.65% by dry weight, White Eagle Long Life green tea is one of the highest polyphenol antioxidant teas on the planet. The cup is abound with astringency, however, to the trained palate, notes of honey & orchid like sweetness intermingle. The unique production method of this Mao Feng tea grown in the Hunan Province of China, is highly regulated to ensure its authenticity. White Eagle Long Life’s reputation is preserved in the likes of
other great Mao Feng teas such as Dragon Well. White Eagle long life green tea may not grant immortality, however, the health benefits from removing oxidative stress is unsurpassed.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is the case of the green tea that made me think it’s a white tea … at least, until I tasted it. 
The name was my first “hint” that this might be a white tea. And then there is the appearance of the dry leaves. These look like they could be a green tea with lots of silvery white tips … or a white tea with lots of … well, silvery white tips.
And then there is the color of the liquor … if this is green tea, it is certainly one of the lightest infusions I’ve yet to see. It looks like … well, it looks like a white tea to me.
But the flavor and aroma give it away.
The aroma is grassy and sweet, reminding me of the smell of young grass in the springtime. The flavor has a very distinct “green-tea-ness” – fresh and vegetative, with a crisp sweetness. Sure, these words could be easily used to describe a white tea just as easily as a green, but, the flavor with this tea is stronger than a typical white. It tastes like a green tea, and this is one of the sweeter green teas that I’ve tasted, with well-defined floral notes and a honey-esque sweetness that lingers.
The description of this tea suggests a strong astringency, and at the start, I didn’t really get that. I detected some astringency, certainly, but, I certainly would not describe this tea as astringent. As I continue to sip, the astringency builds slightly, but only slightly. Perhaps it is the way I chose to steep it? I put a generous amount of the tea (a heaping teaspoonful) of tea into my gaiwan, and heated the water to 170°F, and infused the first infusion for 1 minute, adding 15 seconds to each subsequent infusion. This produced a lovely tea, and made for six very flavorful infusions.
So, whether you are a fan of white tea, or of green tea, this is a tea that you should definitely try!