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Very tightly compressed and difficult to pick apart. Perhaps I didn’t store it with enough humidity? Notes of undergrowth, earthy, and a bit metallic with some astringency and low bitteness.

Brew times for 6g of leaves with boiling water
50sec, 25sec …

Also known as “Moonlight White”, this review is for the Spring 2021 harvest.

This tea has great bag appeal with a malty smell and a combination of fuzzy white tips and flatter dark leaves. The soup is malty and sweet, though delicate and on the weaker side so you’ll want to use more than some other white teas. It has medium body, no bitterness and very mild astringency with a slight peony aroma. It is very easy to drink but does not pack a punch if that is what you are looking for. Overall, I enjoyed this tea as it is great to session throughout the day since it is easy to drink and has a lower caffeine content.

I brewed it in a 140ml clay teapot and poured 100ml cups. I drink the wash, so my first brew time is longer to begin with:

6g, boiling: 45, 35, 40, 45, 1m.

At the 1min brew and later, the tea begins to get weak.

Once broken apart, the brick had quite a few fine grains of tea which ended up in the cup. The brick was tightly packed which resulted in small, broken leaf pieces once picked apart. I found one small (2mm) pebble. It was difficult to find the sweet spot between being too weak and too bitter but once I found it, the tea was passable. It had a dryer, malty hay taste that was a little bit vegetal. It was fairly astringent and got very bitter and astringent fast when over-brewed by even 5sec. I brewed it at boiling temperature, however perhaps somebody with a variable temperature kettle will be able to get more flavour and less bitterness out of it at a lower temperature.

Steep times: 45, 15, 15, 20, 45
I drink the wash, hence why my first steep is so long. Brewed in a clay teapot.

I haven’t tried many white teas, but I very much enjoyed this one. It has a very floral aroma with a sweetness and thickness which both give it qualities of a black tea to me. The taste lingers for a while after you sip it. Definitely packs a punch and reveals nuances in the taste as you brew it — gongfu style in this case.

It’s got the mellow caramel sweetness that I look for in a Pu’er with no wet-piling dank flavour to it. The liquor is very thick and robust. The individual flapjacks are perfectly sized with gorgeous packaing to boot!

Has a dank wet-leaf smell, a bit of astringency and could benefit from airing out and/or aging for 6 months to a few years. When purchased in 2017, it isn’t one I’d buy again unless it was left to age and air out longer.

It has an average thickness, a mellow caramel flavour with little to no astringency and no dank soil taste whatsoever. It doesn’t last for very many brews and thins out slightly on the quicker side, though this isn’t an issue for me since I have only a few cups in the morning. It’s a very good daily drinker and value for money.