Since I’ve been trying various black teas lately, I wanted to switch it up and go in the opposite direction, tea production wise, and taste something on the lighter side.
Description: “Remarkably delicate, with the sweetness of spring long stored over winter.“
Instructions: 2g per 150 ml | 158°F/70°C | 1 – 2 minutes | 2 infusions
Review: As white tea is rarer to come across, it has taken me many years to learn to appreciate its more subtle qualities. I have been lucky enough to attend events such as an aged white tea event in Hong Kong, a virtual tea tasting with Camellia Sinensis and an online course geared around tasting which have helped me learn about white tea!
The dry buds of the white had an olive hue and a thick layer of silvery white hairs. The tea was comprised of full plump buds with the occasional small broken bud and leaf. It smelled fresh, floral, and of stone fruits and hay.
Infusion 1 (1 minute): There with a lovely scent of fresh flowers and fresh cut grass when the water hit the dry leaves. After brewing, the liquor was a very pale yellow, almost transparent, colour. While I normally associate hay notes with a white tea, this tea was a very spring like taste, with dominant vegetal, spinach, and grape notes with some lingering of nuttiness and hay. The liquor left dryness at the back of the throat.
Infusion 2 (2 minutes): The liquor was a visibly darker tan colour and smelled of flowers and hay. The more vegetal, grassy, and nutty taste was still present with a hint of hay, stone fruits, and roses.
The wet leaves were green olive and brown colour and had a roasted, earthy, and floral smell.
Since the tea is so delicate, I decided to taste it with fruits like peach and grapes which gave the tea a nice amount of sweetness and didn’t overpower the taste.
I found this enjoyable white tea and was quite fresh, fruity and floral, not something I normally associate with white teas! So much so, I kept thinking it was a green tea. This would be a nice white tea for someone who likes a more delicate tea but doesn’t want some of the strong vegetal and fresh grass taste some green teas have (3.5/5 rating).
- Type: White tea
- Origin: China, Fuding, Fujian
- Caffeine: Unknown
- Ingredients: White tea
- Company: Rare Tea Company (US/Canada site)
The question of the post: What would you pair with a white tea?
