Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Product Description:
As for this week’s Tea of the Week, it is an amazingly harmonious blend of light, sweet bai mu dan white tea, dried cherries and natural flavors including cherry, brandy and just a bit of vanilla. I really think you’re going to like this one.
Taster’s Review:
When I saw that this tea would be headed my way, I was a little worried. Yes, I know that Frank of 52Teas is the “Willy Wonka of Teas” and I’ve enjoyed just about everything from 52Teas that I’ve tried … I can’t think of any I’ve not enjoyed. But, cherry and brandy flavors together worried me just a wee bit, because I was worried that the combination might end up tasting cough syrup-y.
And when I smelled the dry leaf, my apprehension was not alleviated, because it does smell a little like cough syrup. The aroma of the vanilla and the cherry do have an appealing fragrance, but there is also just a bit of cough syrup-iness to the scent as well. So, yes… worry I did.
But, those worries assuaged when I took my first sip. Deee-lish! This in no way, shape or form tastes like cough syrup. Hooray!
The Bai Mu Dan makes an excellent base – it is light and crisp. At first it was a little difficult to discern the flavor of the Bai Mu Dan but it developed nicely as I continued to sip. Now I can taste hints of freshness from the Bai Mu Dan: sweet and delicate and very nice.
The cherry flavor is sweet but there is a touch of tartness in there too. Not a lot, but just enough to keep the cherry flavor from tasting too sickly sweet. The brandy flavor is light here, and it doesn’t really taste much like alcohol at all, although I do taste the brandy-wine like taste, without the solvent taste of alcohol.
My favorite flavor here, though, is the vanilla. It isn’t an overwhelming flavor, but I like how it ties everything together. It “blurs the edges” – so to speak – between the flavors of white tea, cherry and brandy flavors, and makes it a very cohesive, seamless flavor.
This tea just proves that Frank has earned his title of “Willy Wonka of Teas!”
2009 Shou Mei from Life in Teacup
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Life in Teacup
Product Description:
Production Year – 2009
Production Season – Spring
Production Region – Fujian
Taster’s Review:
I have not tried many Shou Mei teas, because when it comes to white teas, Shou Mei just isn’t as popular as Bai Mu Dan or Silver Needle varieties. And while it tends to be considered a “lower grade” of white tea, I appreciate that it has a stronger flavor than those of a higher grade, while still maintaining many of the flavor characteristics that I enjoy about white tea.
Of those few that I’ve had the opportunity to try, this Shou Mei from Life in Teacup is one of the best. The leaves are large and fuzzy, and range in color from silvery (the color of the fuzz), to green to light brown.
The flavor of the liquor is very pleasing. It starts out sweet, maintaining that sweet profile throughout the sip, and it lingers long into the aftertaste. Notes of fruit and flower weave their way in and out throughout the sip. Fruit wise, I notice hints of apple and peach.
The mouthfeel is soft and smooth and thicker than one might expect from a white tea. It has a mild brothy kind of quality to it, but it’s a sweet rather than savory brothy. There is very little astringency to this cup. The finish is sweet and dry. More than any other white tea, I would liken a good Shou Mei to a fine dry white wine.
I like to sip on white teas later in the day, because even though the evidence is inconclusive on whether or not white tea is lower in caffeine than other types of Camellia Sinensis, they seem lighter to me and seem to soothe me and help me relax more than a green or black tea can. And this tea is certainly calming my spirits this evening!
Cheers!
Jasmine Silver Needle from thepuriTea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: thepuriTea
Product Description:
If you’re new to white teas, start with our Jasmine Silver Needle. Like our Silver Needle white tea, it is plucked from the buds of the tea plant in springtime and then naturally scented with fresh jasmine flowers in summertime. This labor-intensive process results in a robust, sweet, smooth jasmine flavor that’s completely unlike the bitter, artificially flavored jasmine teas out there. Drink Jasmine Silver Needle for its silky mouthfeel, full jasmine flavor and banana-like undertones. For an added treat, try it with Cuban beans and rice, Chinese chicken soup or Thai mango sticky rice.
Taster’s Review:
Perfection! That is what I said to myself after I took my first sip of this tea: Perfection!
My love for jasmine scented teas is well documented through my various tea writings, it is one of my top three tea “flavors” (the other two being chocolate and bergamot). And, there was a time when I thought that jasmine pearls offered the very best jasmine flavor available. I have since discovered, however, that I prefer the flavor of jasmine scented Silver Needle: the jasmine ends up tasting softer … almost velvety. And this Jasmine Silver Needle from thepuriTea is absolutely ethereal!
The Silver Needle is a delicate flavor. It is very lightly grassy, but more sweet than grassy or vegetative. It has a crisp, almost airy kind of quality to it. When met with the sweet, delicate flavor of jasmine, it is truly a match made in tea heaven.
The jasmine does not taste sharp or bitter or artificial. It tastes natural and sweet and delicate … just like the flower itself. The sip is silky soft, smooth, and sweet. The finish is smooth and sweet with very little astringency. I really had to focus to see if I could notice any astringency at all, and there is only a very slight astringency which I would say is unnoticeable unless you’re really trying to notice it. The aftertaste is lightly floral, and if I inhale just after a sip, a sweet crispness of air and flower floats over the palate.
An AMAZING jasmine experience awaits with this tea!
Kilauea Forest (Hawaiian Grown) White Tea from KTeas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: KTeas
Product Description:
Hand-plucked Single-Estate tea: Volcano Village – Home Grown Estate FarmGrowing elevation: 4000′, Volcano Village, Hawaii USAThese leaves are long, loose, downy. The flavor of this shade-grown tea remains delightfully floral throughout multiple steepings.
Taster’s Review:
LOVE!
I really love this tea. This is definitely my favorite (thus far) of the Hawaiian-Grown teas that KTeas offers (although I haven’t yet tried their Oolong, that one is next on my list!) This white tea might even be my favorite white tea I’ve ever tasted. Yes, it’s that good.
The leaves are long and slightly curled and covered with white fuzz. They brew to a light, clear amber color that smells fresh and somewhat earthy, with hints of flower in the background. The aroma does not reveal what is about to be experienced by the palate, though.
The flavor is amazing. At first sip, I noticed many similarities to a high quality Bai Mu Dan. But, after a couple of sips, the complexity of this white began to reveal itself: a lush sweetness and hints of a grassy flavor. A floral quality that begins ever-so-quietly and develops as I continue to sip – and develops even more as I steep these leaves for a second and third time.
The tea has a rather hearty flavor and is surprisingly rich for a white tea. This is not a delicate white tea! If you love tea – try this one! If you have tried white teas in the past and found them to be too softly flavored for your liking – try this one! Everyone should really try this tea!
Lychee Coconut White Tea from Tea Forté
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Tea Forté
Product Description:
Rare white tea with the exotic tropical notes of sweet lychee and the intoxicating fragrance of fresh cut almond.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve had quite a few different lychee flavored teas, but I don’t think I’ve ever tasted a lychee and coconut flavored tea until now. And that’s a shame, because these two tropical fruits go so well together!
The base of this tea is a delicate white tea. It is light and crisp, with a fair amount of astringency, which I think seems a little more distinctive because of the lychee flavor. The finish is dry with a sweet, musky aftertaste.
I think that the lychee and coconut are pretty evenly matched in this cup. The result is a sweet, creamy, tropical-tasting cup that is deliciously different from other tropical flavored teas.
This particular blend is part of the new Skin Smart collection from Tea Forté, a line that has been crafted to work with the body to keep the skin healthy and youthful. Personally, I don’t think I’ve ever purchased a tea for it’s purported health benefits, I drink tea because I love the taste of it. But, if it’s good for me and helps my skin in the process… I consider that a bonus!