Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Jas eTea
Tea Description:
“Snow Dragon” is made entirely from small bud shoots picked in a 3 day window of time when they are just the right size. They are meticulously hand-processed into these tight little curls. When brewed they will open slowly as they dance in the water. The brewed tea is almost totally transparent with a light fruity flavor akin to White tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is such a cool looking tea: the leaves are curled into spirals, and they “dance” while they’re brewing. If you have a glass gaiwan or teacup, I recommend using it to steep this tea so that you can watch them dance!
The dry leaf has a very faint aroma that is vaguely vegetative – reminding me of the smell of the air in the morning after it’s rained all night: clean and fresh and somewhat grassy. The brewed tea smells a little stronger, like freshly steamed green beans. The color of the infused tea is a very pale color – looking much more like a white tea than a green tea.
The flavor is much less vegetal than the fragrance would suggest. Yes, there are some slightly grassy notes in there, but primarily what I’m tasting is a lovely sweetness. It’s a very pure kind of sweetness, it doesn’t really taste like honey or caramel or any of those other comparative terms that I use to describe a sweet flavor. This tastes so natural and clean – like fresh dew or mountain air. This reminds me – again – of a white tea, and not so much of a green tea.
There are the faintest nutty tones in the background that also contribute to this sweetness, or perhaps they are highlighted by it. Either way they work in a synergistic fashion to bring out the best of each.
After the first couple of sips, the sweetness shifts focus to a more fruit-like flavor – apricot? There is a mild astringency to this tea, and the finish is sweet, with a sweet grass aftertaste. It is in this aftertaste that I begin to recognize the green of this tea.
I love how this tea reveals itself in stages, showing first its dewy qualities, and then slowly giving me a little more flavor with the nutty tones. Sometime afterward, the fruit tones arrive. This tea keeps me guessing while giving me new flavors to explore.
What a memorable tea this is!
Jasmine Snow Dragon Premium from Shang Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Shang Tea
Product Description:
Ingredients: 100% Organic White tea leaves, Jasmine flowers- Antioxidant Rich
Truly a treasure tea, freely rolled tea leaves open to present a delicate and beautiful jasmine flavor. Jasmine Snow Dragon is a signature tea of Shang Tea .
Taster’s Review:
Do you love jasmine? I mean, really love jasmine? If your answer is yes, then have I got a tea for you!
I happen to LOVE jasmine tea. The aroma is intoxicating, and the flavor elevates me to a place of pure joy when I sip it. And this Jasmine Snow Dragon from Shang Tea is one of the BEST jasmine teas I’ve ever tasted.
From the moment I opened the pouch of this tea, I knew I was about to try something very special. The aroma was so sweet and floral – it took my breath away. It smelled like I was walking into a jasmine jungle! Now, I don’t know if such a place exists, but if it did, it would smell like this tea. It was as though I were surrounded by jasmine vines and shrubs while the petals “rained” down upon me.
And that amazing fragrance continues with the brewed tea. Do be sure to inhale deeply before taking a sip of this tea. My nostrils fill with the delightful scent of jasmine.
And the flavor! OH! The flavor! It tastes so extravagant! So luxurious! (Forgive the exclamations!)
The jasmine flavor is very pungent – sweet floral notes with a bit of a sharp, bitter taste from the jasmine. To the point where it might be off-putting for those who do not love jasmine. But if you do love it – you will think you’ve died and gone to heaven.
The white tea base is very soft but it is not completely overpowered by jasmine. There are soft, fresh notes from the white tea with the faintest whisper of vegetative taste. The overall cup is sweet, very floral and just enough bitterness to keep it all interesting.
I recommend brewing this one in your gaiwan, using a little extra leaf and very short steeps. This will get the most sweetness out of the jasmine without allowing it to develop to the point of being more bitter than sweet.
I LOVE this tea! LOVE it!
Snow Dragon from Imperial Tea Garden
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Imperial Tea Garden
Product Description:
Snow Dragon white tea is a fine example of what an exquisitely hand crafted what tea should be. Each dragon is twisted by hand from select downy covered leaf buds. Hints of jammy pugnency are released as the tiny snow dragons roar back to life. Repeated steeping can be yielded from this premium white tea. Careful inspection of the infused tea leaves reveals why this is such a highly respected white tea by connoisseurs.
Taster’s Review:
This is amazing. I’ve tried a lot of white teas. This is my favorite. It’s new to my list of favorites (since I’m only just now trying it), but, I truly can’t imagine coming across something better than this!
The dry leaf is so beautiful… spun into tiny spirals that look a lot like my favorite perm from the 80’s (haha!) They slowly unfurl in the hot water to create one of the palest liquors I’ve seen: a very pale, golden amber. Gorgeous! And because they unfurl so slowly, they beg for multiple infusions (I managed 6 flavorful infusions from the same leaves!)
I am finding it difficult to come up with descriptive words for this tea, because every time I take a sip, words escape me! All that I can think is “wow! this is so good!”
But I shall try to tell you what I’m tasting.
Even though the liquor is incredibly light, the flavor is intense and complex. Light… but intense. If that makes sense! (Yes, this tea is so good that I’m finding myself writing in rhyme.)
At the start of the sip, a delicate sweetness greets the palate, and then without warning the palate is hit with a pungent floral quality that is sharp, slightly bitter and sweet all at the same time. There is an underlying tone of fruit that begins to come to the surface just after that pungency subsides just a little, and becomes a sweet yet savory kind of taste.
For being so light-bodied and a white tea at that… this tea really loads the palate full of flavor!
I LOVE this tea and I want more!
Snow Dragon from Imperial Tea Garden
Tea Type: White Tea
Where To Buy: Imperial Tea Garden
Product Description:
Tasters Review: Snow Dragon white tea is a fine example of what an exquisitely
hand crafted what tea should be. Each dragon is twisted by
hand from select downy covered leaf buds. Hints of jammy
pugnency are released as the tiny snow dragons roar back to life.
Repeated steeping can be yielded from this premium white tea.
Careful inspection of the infused tea leaves reveals why this is
such a highly respected white tea by connoisseurs.
Tasters Review:
This tea looks sooooo neat from the time I took it out of the package until the very end of the cup!! The leaves are tightly spiraled and slightly fuzzy! Post infusion the leaves are much different in every way – color, texture, size, you name it! The Spirals unwind and the slightly fuzzy feel of the leaves turn more rubbery – at least that’s the way they look!
Sure this tea is neat to look at and even has a cool name BUT it tastes great, too!
It’s a very powerful white tea – taste-wise…maybe somewhere between a green and a white.
In the middle of the sip I can relate to the jam-like mention in the description!
This is a FUN tea! Ideal for a chat between friends or at the end of the day while unwinding…either way it will NOT disappoint!
