Someone told me once that white tea just tasted like a cup of hot water to them. I probably would have agreed early on in my tea journey. When your tastebuds are accustomed to strong root beer and sweet, fizzy, highly flavored soda it takes a while to train your palate to find subtle flavors, at least it did for me. Perhaps the real foodies “get it” right from the start.
I haven’t had unflavored white tea in a while and decided that today would be a good day to take a cup of Bai MuDan outside and enjoy its simplicity while sitting in the sunshine, a rare treat in late winter. Though very windy, it is warm and the sun is welcome after many days of rain.
The packet called for two grams of leaf for twelve ounces of water, which I thought seemed to far too little at first. I used my new Upton Digital Tea Scale since large leaf white tea can be tricky to judge. Teavivre recommends five to eight minutes, and I steeped for about five because I was ready for my break!
First, this is a beautiful golden cup of tea. The color is rich and deep and it actually LOOKS full bodied in the cup. The flavor did not let me down. No one could mistake this for a “cup of hot water!” The flavor lingers for quite a while, too.
I see a lot of white tea described accurately as tasting like sunshine on hay, mainly Shou Mei, but this Bai MuDan tastes like golden stalks with a hint of spring in the air, with the scent of distant flowers laid over, and maybe even a little soft, sweet vegetable like snow pea or sugar snap peas.
I think this is going to be my go-to quiet time cup for a while.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Description
Teavivre’s White Peony Bai MuDan tea is farmed and produced on Mt. Taimu, using material from Dabaihao tea trees. While this is a slightly oxidized white tea, it is produced with the same minimal processing as Silver Needle white tea, with the main difference between the two being that silver needle uses only buds, while bai mudan includes opened leaves as well.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
2017 Wild Arbor Bai Mu Dan/Verdant – Skysamurai
The best part about a portable gaiwan is that you can bring it places that would be too awkward for other tea accessories.
Nothing quite like a good session on the beach. Though our MN sand is kinda rough. 1st steeping. Couple of minutes.
Light yellow liquid. Mellow with no astringency.
Beautiful fuzzy leaves and gorgeous pale green leaves. Velvety and oddly floral in aroma. Or maybe more akin to a very dark chocolate?
Flavor is earthy. Slightly rough on the tongue with the third steeping.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: White Tea
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Ginger Peach Snowcone/T by Daniel -Ashmanra-
This is a tea shop I would love to visit in person someday! The website promises that new visitors to the shop are greeted with a curtsy and a twirl, and I could really use that kind of enthusiasm right now!
Ginger Peach Snowcone is a blend of White Monkey Chinese tea, sunflower blossom, and natural flavors.
It has only been two days since I bemoaned to a friend that almost all peach teas add ginger, which is fine in small amounts but too hot for this gal in any significant amounts unless I add lots of sweetener. I really love straight peach flavor or peach and vanilla.
Sniffing the dry blend, I detected no ginger and figured I was home free. Sniffing the steeped tea I detected no ginger. Sipping the tea…no ginger.
Now, this is really great in my book, but if you were looking for a punch of ginger you won’t be happy.
The funny thing, even the peach is incredibly light and what I taste is the white monkey base, a nice dose of floral taste from the sunflower, and the lightest hint of peach, making this a truly delicate and refreshing blend. I tried it hot and unsweetened and as an iced sweet tea.
What is this reminding me of? Come on, think!
I’ve got it!
Suddenly the scent transported me back to my childhood, going to the beauty shop with my mother every Saturday morning, and smelling the sweet smells of all the shampoos and hairsprays and colognes. Something there smelled just like this tea and it just makes me feel so girly that I want to put on some cute low pumps, a sweet skirt, a little pearl necklace, and paint my nails pink.
Thanks for a lovely trip down memory lane! If I ever get to visit T by Daniel, I will return the curtsy and twirl!
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: T by Daniel
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Melonade/DAVIDs Tea
The weather is warmer which means more and more reaching for summery blends. That means a lot of fruity blends become more appealing and I start picking up lemonade for a super refreshing beverage, tea lemonades.
Tea lemonades are actually how I got my sister to drink tea. Technically, I suppose it was the staff at DAVIDsTEA who got her to drink tea by giving her a sample of their Frozen Raspberry blend, iced and mixed with some lemonade. She liked it so much, she actually purchased the tea and it is one of two blends she keeps stocked. Personally, I am not the biggest fan of that tea so instead I reached for this one, Melonade, to go with my lemonade craving.
I was not sure what to expect from this green tea with apple, melon , carrot, roasted chicory root, sweet blackberry leaves, apple pomace, lemon peel, beetroot, passion fruit granules , marigold blossoms, citric acid, and natural and artificial flavouring. I was a little hesitant mostly because I usually don’t like chicory or blackberry leaves. With that said, I am happy to report that as a tea lemonade, this is really quite nice.
This tea lemonade can only be described as juicy. It is like sweet, fresh melon just overflowing with juice. I have actually had a lemon drop melon before which is a melon version of lemon drop candies and this tea lemonade reminds me so much of that – sweet melon, kept from being too sweet by slightly tart lemon. It really is refreshing and just Summer in a cup. Yum!
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: DAVIDs Tea
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Blueberry White/Adagio Teas -Skysamurai-
Top of the morning to you. Had to wait till I was done with my granola to drink this one because I knew it was going to overwhelm the flavor.
The aroma though, I don’t think, would have been overcome. It’s intensely blueberry. Not the artificial type but that same smell you get from blueberries in blueberry muffins. Delightful. This can be found in both the dry and wet aroma, surprisingly. The wet aroma, I find, generally lacks the fruity aromas as they percolate into the water.
The flavor is good both hot and cold the blueberry flavor is dominate while the white tea gently sits on your palate with a few earthy tidbits. I would try to guess what type of white tea this is but honestly it’s ctc’d too much to tell.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Description
White Blueberry tea blends together the taste of juicy blueberries with premium white tea from Fujian province, China. Very fragrant, like freshly harvested ‘highbush’ blueberries (the aromatic variety). Soft, rounded mouthfeel with a clean, refreshing finish. White Blueberry tea is a customer favorite, delectable both hot or iced.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!