This was the last of the white teas I consumed this month. I think I finished my 25g pouch Friday afternoon. Sadly, this tea was the least impressive of the bunch. It was not a bad tea, but it was not as memorable or as unique as the other white teas I have tried recently.
I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of rolled tea buds in 4 ounces of 185 F water for 8 seconds. This infusion was followed by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 10 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.
Prior to the rinse, the dry tea buds produced aromas of hay, corn husk, sugarcane, smoke, and honey. After the rinse, I detected a stronger corn husk scent as well as new aromas of butter and cream. The first infusion introduced scents of lettuce, grass, and fennel. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered notes of cream, butter, hay, and corn husk backed by hints of grass, sugarcane, smoke, and honey. I also caught some vague herbal touches that I could not identify. Subsequent infusions saw stronger aromas of fennel and smoke appear on the nose along with scents of straw and cooked green beans. Stronger honey, sugarcane, and grass notes were present in the mouth along with belatedly emerging hints of lettuce and fennel. New impressions of minerals, straw, spinach, cooked green beans, and sour plum were also on display. The final few infusions offered mineral, butter, lettuce, hay, and corn husk impressions that were backed by subtle fennel, grass, spinach, and sugarcane notes.
Despite a nice, thick mouthfeel, this struck me as being a pretty standard Yunnan white tea. Aside from the initially distracting smokiness it displayed, there was nothing about it that stood out to me for any length of time. More than anything, it would probably be a suitable Yunnan white tea for beginners, but if you are someone who is used to much more depth and complexity and goes looking for highly unique and challenging teas, it will probably not be of much interest.
Flavors: Butter, Corn Husk, Cream, Fennel, Grass, Green Beans, Hay, Honey, Lettuce, Mineral, Plum, Smoke, Spinach, Straw, Sugarcane
