This was the first white tea I ever tried. It was before I joined Steepster, before I really started drinking tea “properly” or “seriously” or whatever I should call my relationship with tea these days. I was studying for my MLitt in Scotland, and staying in a B&B for 2-3 nights a week. They weren’t particularly generous with the tea in the rooms, and the local (tiny) supermarket didn’t have a particularly huge selection, but they had a couple of things other than the normal bagged black, and they’re the ones I went for. The obsession was starting, even then. I remember picking this up mostly on a whim, maybe because Roland drinks it in Stephen King’s Wizard and Glass, and so the phrase “white tea” was in my brain anyway.
It came back to the hotel with me. I steeped it in boiling water for 4 minutes, and added milk. Poor tortured tea. Needleess to say, I didn’t really like it. In my defence, the box didn’t provide any helpful guidance, and actually suggested boiling water to begin with. The milk, I admit, was my mistake.
I think about it now and want to hit my previous self over the head, but we all started somewhere with tea. Some of our starts were possibly rockier than others. I’d like to go back and revisit this tea one day, just to see if I can make a better job of it. I’m sure I can, but this one deserves at least 75 for the pain I put it through.