Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Zen Tea
Tea Description:
Gives mild white sweet accent with toffee. Must try teas for white tea lovers.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Yum! Toffee!
This is really a lovely blend. I don’t think I’ve had a white tea flavored with toffee before, and these two elements go together surprisingly well.
The white tea is gentle and sweet, with a mild, fresh taste that is reminiscent of the taste that is in the air after the hay and alfalfa fields have been cut. (Yes, I lived on a ranch in my youth) The tea tastes light and airy, with a note of vegetation and a hint of hay. The warm notes of the hay together with the sweet notes of the toffee is a very interesting flavor. It’s almost smoky, but it’s a very mellow smoked note. Perhaps toasty is a better way to describe this flavor, with subtle wisps of smoke, like the flavor you might get if you were to roast nuts over an open campfire.
Which leads me to the nutty flavor that I taste. It is a deep, delicious nutty tone, which makes me think of the center of a toffee candy bar, you know how there are bits of nuts in that toffee? Yes, that’s what I taste: delicious, cruncy roast nuts! It goes perfectly with the sweet, caramelized toffee flavor.
This is a very cozy tasting tea, something you’d want to curl up and sip on a cold autumn afternoon (like today!) I like that it offers a pleasing sweetness – no additions needed – and I like the mellow attitude of this tea. A sweet, gentle indulgence!
Bai Mu Dan from The Little Red Cup Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: The Little Red Cup Tea Co.
Tea Description:
Our organic Bai Mu Dan (White Peony Tea) is a white tea, grown in the very northeastern corner of Jiangxi Province. Made from only one bud and the two adjacent young leaves, this tea is carefully processed to promote a bare minimum of oxidation. It is sun dried, heaped, and then gently baked until fully dried. Bai Mu Dan is always handled carefully in order to minimize leaf breakage so as to maintain optimal quality.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The photo is a little misleading, as it would depict a greener (fresher? higher quality?) Bai Mu Dan than I received in my package. These leaves are dull, dark brown. Broken, crumbly leaves. And no indication of velvety, fuzzy down on the leaves. I’ve had higher quality Bai Mu Dan teas from China.
So while this is not the best Bai Mu Dan I’ve come across, the flavor is still quite pleasing. It is delicate, with sweet fruit notes in the foreground, and a hint of vegetation and hay in the background. It is not grassy, exactly, but, imagine the taste of the fresh air you might experience in a field of hay … that’s what the background here tastes like: light, delicate, airy, with hints of the elements that surround you. It is almost as if I can taste the sunlight that dried this tea.
There is a crispness to the flavor that is very refreshing. Overall, I’m enjoying this for its delicate, sweet flavor with delicious fruit notes throughout. As I mentioned, it’s not the highest quality Bai Mu Dan I’ve had, but it is certainly one of the most reasonably priced Bai Mu Dan teas I’ve sampled and the flavor is certainly pleasant. I also appreciate that this is a Fair Trade and Organic tea. So for that, this tea gets an enthusiastic thumbs up.
Royal Wedding Commemorative Tea from Capital Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black & White Teas
Where to Buy: Capital Teas
Tea Description:
A commemorative union of our bold Cream Earl Grey Black and our light and refreshing Cream Earl Grey White, enhanced with the essence of roses.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
One year ago today, there was a wedding that captured the attention of millions around the world. This tea was created to commemorate that occasion, and what a lovely tea it is!
Because the tea base is a blend of both black and white teas, I opted for a fairly low brewing temperature (175°F) and a brewing time of 4 minutes in my Breville one-touch. The results is a tea that is rich and creamy in flavor, where I can taste both types of tea as well as the tangy bergamot, the touches of cream and even the hint of rose.
The black tea flavor is much softer than one might expect from a black tea … a consequence from not only the lower brewing temperature, but also from the addition of white tea leaves in the blend. The black tea doesn’t taste bold or strong, exactly, but the black tea does offer a certain richness to the blend that is quite nice.
The white tea is a less distinguishable flavor than the black tea, which is to be expected as white tea tends to be a more delicate tasting tea to begin with. What I notice more than the fresh flavor of the Pai Mu Tan is the lightness in flavor its presence offers as well as a soft, creamy texture that is quite “white tea like.”
Each sip is enchanted with a sweet, vanilla cream taste that when brought together with the other components of this tea end up tasting a bit like delicious vanilla caramel. YUM!
The bergamot is a mellow yet tangy citrus flavor that has hints of flower within its bright, sunny flavor. These floral notes are further highlighted by the addition of roses to the blend. The rose is sweet and pleasant, giving the cup a distinct feminine overtone – an enjoyable contrast to the somewhat masculine undertone of the bergamot.
What a beautiful tribute to the wedding that captured the imagination of so many, and gave little girls hope that anyone – no matter their status in life – could one day marry their prince.
Eight Oasis Blend from Praise Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green, White & Pu-erh Teas
Where to Buy: Praise Tea
Tea Description:
Our combination of Sencha, Gunpowder, Mini Tuo, Chun Mee, Pai Mu Tan, Lung Ching, Snow Bud, Pi Lo Chun, candied pineapple and strawberry takes you to an oasis of delight. Delectable both hot and cold. Try some with white crystal sugar. Indulge your taste buds.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
After a quick glance at this tea’s ingredient list, I thought that this tea may just have a little too much going on. It smelled intriguing, though, with its delicious notes of strawberry and pineapple, so I decided to give it a try.
And somehow, this massive list of ingredients works together very well! While it is next to impossible to pick out each individual tea’s characteristics, I can taste the fresh, vegetative flavor of green tea, a light earthy quality from the tuocha, and I can even taste notes that are very much like white tea – notes of hay and that crisp, airy quality that is often noted in white tea.
The strawberry and pineapple notes are less distinctive than the flavors of the tea, but, that’s alright. In fact, I find it to be quite refreshing to have the tea as the center focus in this cup, and have the fruit flavors to serve as accent notes to enliven the overall flavor. The place where the fruit really stands out is in the aftertaste, where I can taste the flavors of both the pineapple and the strawberry.
This tea does have a natural sweetness to it, so I would recommend tasting before you sweeten. I did end up adding just a pinch of sugar which helped to enhance the fruit notes more than sweeten the cup. Without the sugar, the fruit notes fall a little flat … they’re still present, but, just not as lively as with a pinch of sugar.
This one makes a nice iced tea too. I recommend steeping it at least twice, as it is even tastier with the second infusion.
White Peony (Bai MuDan) from Teavivre
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Product Description:
A great White Peony (Bai MuDan) Tea
- Organically grown at Mt. Taimu in Fujian province
- Tea buds covered in white hairs, with one or two new leaves
- Pale orange-yellow color when brewed
- A delicate, slightly flowery, sweet, lingering taste
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I think this very well may be the highest quality Bai Mu Dan tea that I’ve ever experienced. The dry leaves vary in color from light green to silvery white. Most Bai Mu Dan teas that I’ve seen are more of a very light tan to off-white color. These leaves are covered with fluffy, fuzzy hairs, and possess a strong grassy scent. They brew to a beautiful, very pale yellow color that is more pale than it is yellow.
And it tastes so good. So delicate and sweet. There are notes of a grassy/vegetative taste, but it is much softer than the aroma of the dry leaf might suggest. There is a very pleasant creamy note to this tea, it’s very soft and luxurious … like wrapping ones self in a soft, fluffy robe.
There are hints of flower in the distance, and a delicious honey-esque sweetness to this cup. The sweetness lingers well into the aftertaste. There is no bitterness to this tea, and very little astringency. The cup is quite smooth from start to finish.
If you’re new to white tea, and what to experience one of the very best available, this tea should be on your MUST TRY list.