The third white tea from the Nannuoshan collection. Good white tea will age well and mature in flavor. You do not need to finish it off in a hurry if stored well. This one is from 2008. In the dry leaf I catch a complex blending of scents. This is leafy and deeply earthy. There is a touch of sour mixed with sweet. I also catch the fragrance of hay with floral overtones.
The leaf is very dark compared to their younger, Bai Mu Dan offering. It looks more mature with silver buds covered in fine downy hair. The leaves have only a slight hint of green. Mostly they are darker shades of brown, looking more like black tea at this point.
A 30 second steep in 195 F water results in a liquor that is clear with only a light tinting of yellow. The leaf remained mostly on the top of the water during the steep. After emptying the teapot, the leaves can be seen as chocolate brown and cinnamon.
The aroma is very suggestive of a black tea. Along with the leafy and peony floral notes, I detect a healthy dose of malt.
Tasting, there is a green leafy note up front, followed by a touch of ginger without the heat. After this, it turns a mellow mineral, followed by a mystery taste. It isn’t really potato. I am thinking maybe water chestnut, but not really. What is that familiar flavor?
Second cup, also at 30 seconds, had a plum aroma as I poured. The taste continues where the first cup left off with the addition of a peppery spice note up front. This cup also has a pleasant peony taste.
Cup three was steeped for 45 seconds. Weird, it is back to having a malty aroma with a much lighter plum note. This tastes much like the second, except the spicy note is much less pronounced. The plum that I caught in the aroma is also drifting in to the taste.
Sorry getting long winded. I’ll finish by saying this seems to pack a lot of cha qi. I feel warm and fuzzy, very mellow, yet very focused.
yaaay!