Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Butiki Teas
Tea Description:
Our Pineapple Cilantro Cream pairs our high quality Organic Bai Mu Dan with a delicate pineapple flavor and rich creaminess that finishes with fresh cilantro notes. This full bodied tea is gentle and refreshing and has an intoxicatingly sweet pineapple aroma. We recommend drinking this tea at a warmer temperature to maximize the flavors. This tea was originally intended as an art project inspired by an abstract painting but after hearing positive feedback from a customer who had tried this blend, we decided to make it available on our website.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
OK, yeah, you got me. I ordered this one out of sheer curiosity. Pineapple … Cilantro? Cream??? That sounds just too weird for me to NOT try.
And I’m loving this Pineapple Cilantro Cream White Tea Blend from Butiki Teas. Yes, it’s unusual, quite unlike any tea that I’ve ever tried! But, that may just be what I like best about it – it is so different, and yet, so tasty! This combination of flavors really works well.
The first thing I notice about this tea – besides the unique taste! – is that the flavors are remarkably well-balanced. It doesn’t taste like Pineapple with a hint of cilantro and a creamy backdrop, or like a heavily cilantro’d white tea with notes of pineapple and cream.
I taste the three components of pineapple, cilantro and cream pretty equally. The white tea is a nice base for this because it tastes light and crisp, and really contributes to the overall *fresh taste* of this tea. The pineapple adds a sweet, juicy note. The cilantro is enhanced by the freshness of the white tea and it offers just a hint of herbaceous warmth to the cup. The cream softens the cup, sweetens it – and melds beautifully with the natural creamy tones of the Bai Mu Dan. It is a well-rounded, exotic tasting experience for the palate!
And this gets even better as it cools – making it a delightfully different iced tea treat! What a clever blend from Butiki Teas!
Mango Madness White Tea Blend from David’s Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: David’s Tea
Tea Description:
One sip of this tea and you’ll do anything to get your hands on more. In fact, we’re a bit worried about letting people get a taste. There might be riots. Looting. Traffic jams. It’s a lot of responsibility! But who can blame you for going crazy over this delicious white tea? It’s fruity. It’s refreshing. It tastes just like a ripe piece of mango. In short, it’s total madness.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
I have to tell you, that when I was looking at the dry leaf of this Mango Madness White Tea Blend from David’s Tea, I thought I was looking at a fruit tisane – not a white tea blend! There are lots of big chunks of fruit, including orange peel, chunks of apple and of course mango, pieces of pineapple and strawberry … and not a whole lot of what looked to me like white tea leaves. There were some in there, but, from the visual standpoint, this is more fruit than it is tea leaves.
And that extends to the taste too – this tastes more like a tropical fruit medley than it does a white tea. I taste the mango with notes of orange and pineapple. It is sweet and juicy. The apple adds more sweetness than it does a distinct apple flavor (which is common in fruity blends like this).
The white tea IS discernible, but to really get a good taste of it, you need to slurp the cup. I can taste the light earthy note of the white tea. But this doesn’t really TASTE a lot like a white tea. It tastes more like a fruit tisane with some white tea leaves in it. And unfortunately, the mango isn’t as sweet and lush as I had hoped from a tea calling itself Mango Madness.
This is tasty enough – it’s especially nice iced! – but I have had better from David’s Tea.
White Whisper Tea from Butiki Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Butiki Teas
Tea Description:
White Whisper’s long downy silvery green buds have a delicate buttery flavor with light floral and peach notes. This remarkable tea originates from a small scale farm in Kenya and is pesticide free. More extensive information on our Kenyan teas can be found HERE.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
When I heard about this White Whisper Tea from Butiki Teas – a Kenyan tea – I really wanted to try it! I have really enjoyed the few teas from Kenya that I’ve tried, but most of what I’ve tried thus far have been black teas, and I was really interested to try this White Whisper.
And it is LOVELY! The description that Butiki Teas has provided (and that I’ve included above) is spot-on! This does have a delicate buttery tone to it, not quite as buttery as say, a Chinese Sencha might be, but, there are delightful notes of butter to this that I don’t usually find in a white tea. There are also delicious peach tones. These peach tones did not immediately speak out to me, it took a few sips for the peach to really emerge.
The floral tones are soft and meld beautifully with the peach notes. The one word I’d use to describe this cup is delicate. It has a very soft taste, but it’s really quite enjoyable. I love the subtle qualities of this tea.
And the tea holds up for quite a few infusions. I managed six – each subsequent infusion just as lovely as the first. Different … yes, but still quite delicious. The flavors begin to emerge more with the later infusions, and then become more harmonious.
A really lovely tea! If you’re a white tea fan – you really should try it!
Pony Goal White Tea Blend from The Teologist
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Amoda Tea
Tea Description:
The White Peony base tea offers a sweet and mild profile perfect for soft flavours. This teas gives an amazing vanilla and cream aroma. When sipped, you can taste the sweet hay and floral notes of the white tea and the orange peel just after. This tea saves the best for last – vanilla and a lingering creaminess that’s almost nutty in flavour.
Learn more about this blend here.
Learn how to subscribe to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
To be honest, I wasn’t all that impressed with my first infusion of this Pony Goal White Tea Blend from The Teaologist. I mean, it was alright … but it just wasn’t the great blend I was expecting … especially since I am generally pretty pleased with Amoda’s selections for their tea boxes, and the last tea that I tried from The Teologist I enjoyed. My first brewing attempt with this tea wasn’t what I expected from the Teaologist … or Amoda.
And I suspect that the reason I was less than satisfied with it is because I brewed it according to the brew suggestions on the package (180°F for 2 – 3 minutes) instead of my usual “go to” steeping parameters for a white tea (160°F for 5 – 7 minutes).
The second time I infused this tea … I went with my go-to parameters and … what a difference! Yes! Now this is good!
The flavors are all present. The Bai Mu Dan is sweet and creamy, which is further accentuated by the vanilla notes. The citrus emerges toward the end of the sip, giving the palate a “creamsicle” sort of taste to enjoy. The notes of strawberry and pomegranate come through, but these are delicate flavors. I notice the pomegranate in the aftertaste more than at any other point.
This tea is tasty served hot, but it is definitely better as it cools. The creamy vanilla tones really POP when it is cool. The strawberry and pomegranate is more distinct when it’s cool too. The citrus notes seem to soften somewhat in the cooling process, but I still get that creamsicle-y kind of finish with this tea and it’s really YUM!
So … it just goes to show you that if you’re not successful with the first attempt with a tea, it’s worth trying again … tweak your parameters and see if you can make the tea work for you! It was definitely worth it to take some time and work with this blend … because it’s really quite good!
Moonlight White Tea from Life in Teacup
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Life in Teacup
Tea Description:
Production Season: Autumn
Production Region: Yunnan, Jing Mai
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Oh wow! I’m amazed at just how flavorful this Moonlight White Tea from Life in Teacup is. More often than not, when I brew a white tea, I find the taste to be delicate. I don’t mind the flavor to be delicate, mind you, but, Life in Teacup recommends to use boiling water on white tea rather than a lower temperature which is what I always use when it comes to white tea – and this will result in a stronger (that is, not delicate!) flavor.
I did not follow the recommendations of Life in Teacup, mostly because I am a creature of habit and when I get a white tea, I think automatically 160°F. So, that’s the temperature that I used. But I’m still getting a WHOLE LOT of flavor from this white tea!
It is sweet, earthy and possesses hints of vegetative notes. I find that the vegetative notes for white teas tend to be a bit more like “hay” than grass or steamed vegetables, and that is true in the case of this tea as well. But I’m finding this tea to be just a bit more on the earthy side than on the vegetative side. I’m also noticing a slight “spiced” quality to the tea as I continue to sip. Not “spicy” … but more like a hint of warmth to the cup that keeps the palate intrigued!
There is also a nice nutty flavor to this, and the nutty flavor accentuates the sweetness in a pleasing way. It’s a soft “textured” tea – it doesn’t feel or taste harsh. It has no bitterness to it. There is some astringency that I notice toward the tail … it sort of has that “tangy” pucker at the tail that is slightly acidic, and it is a really nice contrast to the sweet, soft feel and taste of the tea at the start.
A really enjoyable cuppa!