The 2020 Baimudan, White Peony, is a thickly vegetal white tea from Fujian China. Being of the Jipin grade, its harvest dates are a small window after Silver Needle harvesting is completed, which usually falls just before April 4th, or the Tomb Sweeping holiday in China. The pick largely consists of long fuzzy buds and one or two equally fuzzy leaves. In China, only the dabaihao varietal from Fujian can be made into genuine white tea, and it is this characteristic downy hair on the leaves and thick buds that make the varietal easily distinguishable.
The wet leaves exude an aroma of sweet grass and crushed flowers. The liquid brew starts out very clear, almost white but for the suspended down, as the brews continue the tea finds its stride in a thick and oily gold. The mouthfeel is thick, not bitter or astringent, but soothing and quenching. The aroma on the lid and in the empty cup is one of sweet flowers, slight spice, and light vegetation. This very clean and refreshing tea is one of our top favorites to drink all through the year, fresh baimudan would certainly be our one and only if we could only choose one.