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.
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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!
2008 Menghai Ripened Puerh/Teavivre
I was introduced to Teavivre by a Tea Friend on Facebook. She told me that it was some of the best teas she had ever tried.
With that glowing recommendation I went to check out their site. They had a fantastic promotion going where you could get 5 FREE samples if you paid the $4.90 shipping.
What an awesome deal!
When I opened the sample bag I had a hard time smelling the pu-erh so I poured it into my Gaiwan. Once it was in there I was able to smell a sweet, fruity, honey-like aroma. It was such a nice smell I was excited for my first sip! Teavivre recommends the brew temperature of 212ºF for 3-5 minutes.
However, if you look on their website that is if you are making a full cup. Since I am making my Pu-erh in a Gaiwan they had different instructions!
For the Chinese Gongfu Method they recommend to still use 212ºF water for 12 separate steepings: rinse twice, 15 seconds, 15s, 15s, 15s, 15s, 15s, 20s, 30s, 40s, 60s, 100s, 160s. It goes on to say that each rinse time is 5 seconds.
As the first and second rinse steeped I could tell why they recommended a rinse, these first steepings had an almost smoky aroma which I wasn’t expecting. I am not a huge fan of smoky teas so I was a little nervous.
By the first 15 second steeping the smoky smell had completely disappeared and I was left with a mild, sweet smell with just the right amount of earthiness. There was a light nuttiness to the flavor which was incredibly pleasant. As I went through each steeping the tea became sweeter and more floral in aroma and kept the sweet but nutty flavor.
I absolutely loved this tea and would highly recommend it to anyone that likes a darker tea or is generally curious about Pu-erh tea. This is a great starter pu-erh, the sweet flavor will pull you in! Also, since it is so low in caffeine (less than 10% of a cup of coffee) it is one that you can drink at any time of day. Also, since you can get so many steepings out of the tea leaves it is absolutely worth the money you spend.
I look forward to adding more of this tea to my cabinet!
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Leaf Type: Puerh
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Description
Soft and smooth, rich and thick texture
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Organic Nonpareil Ming Qian Dragon Well Long Jing Green Tea/Teavivre
I have said it before and I will say it again, I don’t love green teas. I especially don’t love non-flavored green teas. However, if someone is kind enough to send me something to try, I will always give it a chance even if I would not have picked it for myself. Such is the case with this Organic Nonpareil Ming Qian Dragon Well Long Jing Green Tea sent to me by the very generous Angel at Teavivre.
I brewed this tea for 1 minute in 185F water, per the company’s recommendations.
As far as green teas go, this a nice very nice one. No bitterness and no vegetal flavor. In fact, the flavor is almost closer to a silver needle white tea than a typical green tea. It’s a slight bit floral and a lot beany, as in it has a bean flavor to it. Beans and corn. Fresh and bright. I actually liked this one a lot more than I thought I would and as a testament to that, the mug was emptied before I even fully worked out my review.
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Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Description
Tender, refreshing, no bitterness even over steeped
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Jasmine Snow Bud (Mo Li Xue Ya)/Teavivre. . . .
My favorite jasmine teas have come from Teavivre, a tea company located in the Fujian Province in China. My number one jasmine to keep on hand is their Premium Jasmine Dragon Pearl tea, as well as their Peach Jasmine Dragon Pearl, which is a favorite with guests. I think I have owned nearly every type of jasmine tea they have ever carried!
I also kept their “economy” jasmine tea on hand for serving with food, because the meal masks the high quality of the other teas and it made sense to go with something less expensive when I couldn’t taste and enjoy the tea fully. But I really preferred the others for special tea times and gong fu steeping.
Jasmine tea is a great de-stresser for me. It is as effective as a bubble bath, if not more so, for making tight muscles relax and tense nerves mellow. I love to make a pot when there is a lot of hubbub, like lots of guests and mad holiday cooking going on full speed ahead. So when I found out they have added new jasmine teas to their line up, I had to try them!
This snow bud tea is a loose tea that is first scented repeatedly with fresh jasmine flowers and then finally, more strongly scented jasmine flowers are added to the leaves and left to impart even more flavor.
Does this make it too flowery? Too soapy? Not at all. This costs about the same as the economy grade jasmine I used to buy but is far superior to it, in my opinion. At this price point, I will gladly serve it with food, but the flavor and smoothness of the base is so good that I can happily enjoy it all by itself or with a treat. It is a worthy addition to the Teavivre jasmine collection.
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Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Description
Rich jasmine fragrance with sweet aftertaste
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Organic Nonpareil Fujian Black Tea/Teavivre. . . .
This story begins with a tragedy. A tea tragedy.
What is a tea tragedy, you may ask? A tea tragedy is anything tea related that breaks your heart a little bit – or a lot – like dropping the tin and spilling the last of a now-discontinued tea, or forgetting you were steeping a tea you were looking forward to and ruining it, or failing to read the instructions on a special tea that doesn’t go by “the usual parameters.”
The last was my tragedy. I was looking forward to this tea and didn’t look at the instructions. I assumed the sample pouch was heavier than it was and made 22 ounces of tea with enough leaf for twelve. All was not lost, and the tea was nice but it was obviously not all it was supposed to be.
To make up for my blunder, I had a gongfu session with this tea this morning. Many of the finest teas are really good steeped Western style but downright gorgeous gongfu. I gave it the full treatment – traditional Asian music playing, a tea tray on the carpet, and a surprise guest – a ladybug – who wandered around my linen tea towel the whole morning!
To begin: Steep one – much thicker mouth feel than the underleafed Western cup as one would expect. The honey notes are intense. If someone else had prepared this, and said to me “By the way, I took the liberty of adding some honey to the tea,” I would have believed them. The aroma was that sweet and the feel that thick, but not sickeningly sweet. Honey overwhelms me easily, and this was a lovely, natural taste.
Steep two – Oops. Minor tea tragedy. I got lost in thought for just a moment and slightly oversteeped. And I only had to pay attention for twenty seconds! But it turned out to be one of my favorite steeps. Now the baked sweet potato is joined by a hint of orange and the flavor is even more intense than the first steep. The honey aroma is still there, and the sweetness.
Steep three and onward – increasing the time a bit for each steep, this 5 grams of leaf continues to deliver. On steep eight I do see a noticeable decrease in color but the aroma is still at a desirable level. Perhaps because the sweet potato flavor is fading, a light briskness is now present. And on steep nine, I know it is time to stop. The color has lightened further, and the body is thinner. Still good and still drinkable, nevertheless it is time to stop, and to sit back and enjoy the lingering flavors of the tea.
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Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Description
Thick, full bodied texture with pure and clean profile