Mountain Stream Teas’ Sanxia White Tea | Tea Review

Last week, I tried an aged green tea from the same producer, so naturally, I wanted to try another tea from the area!

Description: “The first steeps are classic sweet and subtle white before opening up in later steeps to a flavor note somewhere around the meeting point of ginger and orange.”

Instructions: 5 grams | 100 ml | 95°C/205°F | 30, 45, 60 seconds, then add 5-10 seconds | 3-4 steeps

Review: A few reasons why I wanted to try this white tea is that it shared many similarities with the aged green tea from last week such also being a Qin Xin Gan Zhong heritage cultivar, made from the producer and area, was hand-plucked, and processed in a small batch. The main difference is this tea was picked in 2020, and of course, was made into a white tea instead of a green.

The dry leaves for the white tea were mostly dark brown leaves with a good amount of shiny silvery buds. The leaves had lovely sweet honey and floral aroma, that reminded me of a spring garden in bloom. It had a surprisingly strong smell of white tea, which I could detect straight away after opening the package.

Pre-warmed gaiwan: The warmed leaves had roasted, sweet honey, berries, and a floral smell.

Infusion 1 (30 seconds): After a relatively short infusion, the liquor quickly transformed into a golden yellow colour, and had a toasted, honey, and fruity smell. Similar to how it smelled, the liquor had a taste profile of honey, caramel, hay, and a suggestion of malt.

Infusion 2 (45 seconds): The liquor brewed into a darker amber colour with a toasted, sweet floral smell. It had a thicker mouthfeel and flavours of hay, honey, fruit, and floral. The liquor ended with a lingering aftertaste of sweetness.

Infusion 3 (60 seconds): The dark golden brown liquor was much milder in aroma and taste. The flavour had some lingering hay, vegetal, and burnt caramel notes and a bit of dryness in the mouth.

After the gong fu session, what remained was unfurled large brownish brick and dark olive green leaves, alongside buds. I did not end up pairing this tea with food, however, I think it would work well with fruits, and berries, as long as the food wasn’t overpowering. This is a nice enjoyable white tea and I enjoyed the honey and fruity notes (4/5 rating).

The question of the post: What other Taiwanese would you like to see?