Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Steenbergs Organics
Tea Description:
Steenbergs Organic White Tea is an Organic Pai Mu Tan – literally White Peony – is an organic white tea from the Fujian Province of China. Pai Mu Tan is sometimes spelt organic Bai Mu Dan. Organic white teas – which were the favourite tea of Emperor Hui Tsung in 1100AD – are the least processed of all organic tea drinks. The organic white tea leaves are dried on the ground or on a shelf in the sun. Then, these organic white teas are immediately dried without any rolling and packed. It’s the rolling process that would normally have started the oxidation of the organic tea leaves – for organic green teas, firing occurs soon after rolling to prevent any significant oxidation. As a result, organic white teas release the least amount of caffeine of all teas (generally 5 -10mg per cup) and have a flavour as close to the fresh leaf as you’ll get.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I am so impressed with these leaves! They look so fresh – some of the freshest white tea leaves I’ve ever seen! They’re actually variegated shades of pale green to silver, rather than dull grey and brown the way so many other Pai Mu Tan teas that I’ve encountered appear. The look as though they could have just been plucked!
And the quality of the leaves is evident in the flavor. This tea is sweet and delicate in taste, with lovely notes of fresh hay and crisp, clean mountain air. There is a very pleasant creaminess to this cup as well as hints of flower in the distance. The creaminess, as well as the crisp, fresh flavors has a very comforting effect, making this an ideal tea to enjoy as evening approaches and you want to unwind a bit after a hectic day.
This is a really fine quality Pai Mu Tan – but then, I’ve come to expect nothing less from this company… one that a few months ago was rather unknown to me, but now, even though I’ve only tried fewer than a handful of teas from them, I’m very impressed with everything that I’ve tried. They seem to strive to deliver nothing but the best, and it shows!
White Pear Tea from Tealicious Tea Company
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.
Bai Mu Dan from Canton Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Canton Tea Co.
Product Description:
Other Names: Bai Mu Dan Tea, Pai Mu Dan Tea, White Pekoe Tea
White Peony undergoes very little processing. Made from just the unopened silvery buds and the small, top two leaves it is picked in spring and gently withered to yield a refreshing, easy-drinking tea, full of soft fruit flavours and melon notes with a lingering sweet aftertaste.
Taster’s Review:
This is the second tea that I’m tasting from the “Migration” themed Steepster Select Package. At first, I kind of wondered why a Bai Mu Dan would be offered as part of a “Migration” theme … but after opening the pouch, I understood. The leaves are crisp and dry, just like the fallen leaves that cover the ground this time of year.
The tea these beautiful, whole leaves produces is exquisite! Definitely one of the very best Bai Mu Dan teas I’ve yet to taste. It is surprisingly rich and flavorful. Many White Peony/Bai Mu Dan teas that I’ve tried in the past tend to be somewhat pale in flavor – delicate – but, this is not a typical Bai Mu Dan!
It possesses a delightfully sweet flavor and as the description above suggests, I taste the melon notes! That melon flavors intensify as the tea cools. There is very little vegetative/grassy taste to this Bai Mu Dan. Instead, I taste a crisp, clean, and sweet delicious flavor unlike any other Bai Mu Dan I’ve tasted in recent memory. Sure, many of those white teas tasted good, maybe even great, but, this one stands out as exceptional.
Sweet Lily from Praise Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Praise Tea
Product Description:
Our Organic and Fair Trade Sweet Lily white tea is wonderful treat.
Cultivate your love for tea with this wonderful blend of Pai Mu Dan and dried apples. Deliciously fruity and very healthy it may be one of the smoothest blends you’ve tasted, providing a gentle lift any time of day. Delightful hot or on ice. Try some with white crystal sugar.
Origin: South Indian
Estate: Oothu EstateIngredients: Apple, White Tea – Pai Mu Dan
Taster’s Review:
I love the name of this tea. Perhaps it is because my daughter’s name is Lilith, and we often call her Lili – Sweet Lili! (Yes, I know the name of the tea is Sweet Lily, but they are pronounced the same.) I really like the aroma of the dry leaf – it has a light flowery scent that reminds me of the air on a bright spring morning. It smells fresh and clean and beautiful.
The tea brews to a lovely plum-red color – which leads me to realize that in addition to the apple and white tea, this tea also contains either hibiscus or beetroot. The dry leaf looks like hibiscus (only because I have less experience with dry beetroot than I do dry hibiscus); but the brewed tea doesn’t taste hibiscus-y. So perhaps it is beetroot. Or maybe it’s hibiscus. Really, since I can’t taste that tart-y hibiscus taste, it doesn’t matter to me whether it is hibiscus or beetroot. So long as it tastes good! And this tastes good.
The white tea is not overwhelmed by the crisp apple taste. The white tea has a light, fresh taste that is only barely vegetative – and only when I really concentrate on the taste can I actually taste that barely vegetative taste. It tastes much the way I described the smell: fresh, clean and beautiful.
While apples evoke thoughts of autumn for me, this tea is very spring-like, in my opinion. Perhaps it is because the apple flavor is a gentle taste that I would describe as sweet with a hint of apple-y tartness. The flavor gradually becomes stronger as I reach mid-cup, but this never really becomes a strong apple flavor. It is soft and soothing, like a precious spring morning … the calm after a spring rain.
I really enjoyed this cup of tea. I found it to be delicious hot, but just a little too mild in flavor for iced tea. The flavors can be perked up with a little sweetener though. A very nice tea, I like it.