Organic White Peony (Bai Mu Dan) Tea

Thank you one more time, Angel and Teavivre, for the sample!

This is my second consecutive day of trying out a white tea. I was quite pleased with the one I sampled yesterday so I was hoping for a similar experience today.

When I opened the sample package, the leaves were long, wide, green, and fresh looking. The aroma was rich and grainy and perhaps a little sweet.

I steeped the leaves for five minutes at 195 degrees (no 194-degree setting on my tea maker). Even with maximum steeping time, the color was a very light (almost transparent) yellow. The faint brewed odor was slightly sweet with a hay-like quality.

The taste was not robust but it was ample and sweet. As I swished the liquor around my mouth, flashes of fresh hay, grass, and honey registered on my palate.

The more I sipped this tea, the more I liked it. The brew was quite smooth without any hint of astringency. The mild flavor seemed to increase its presence as I journeyed toward the bottom of my cup. By the time I finished my first cup, I had achieved enjoyment status. The aftertaste was delicate but also smooth and likable.

As a white tea, this one is quite good. I didn’t find any undesirable characteristics. My only recommendation would be to bring out this fine selection with lunch, dinner, or dessert. There was nothing wrong with it at 8:00 AM, but I personally depend on the stronger and more robust teas at that time of the morning to jerk me out of my sleepy stupor.

Sipdown! (107)

I find that I enjoy this one much more with a 1-minute steep instead of a 2-minute one. That odd metallic taste is nowhere to be found and it’s lovely and grainy and hay-like. Yummy! :)

“Three minutes was a very sufficient length of time, as the tea is full without any astringency of which to speak!

“The aftertaste is pleasant, clean, yet still full, and it lingers in the mouth…I believe that the freshness of the leaves adds a lot to the experience, and I highly recommend trying this one sooner, rather than later.”

Full review coming tomorrow to CreateWriteDrink.com.

I’d like to thank Angel & Teavivre for sharing a generous sample of this tea, as well as the white tea cake I sampled earlier today. This is a really delicate looking tea, & I poured the entire sample into my glass test tube steeper, giving it 1 min at 194, with a few resteeps. The original steeping was really very nice, & I’m guessing that the reason this is called peony is because of the floral taste of it. It is floral, and more flavorful that I recall white teas being, so either I’m sampling better more flavorful white teas, or I’m getting the proper parameters down, or maybe I’m actually developing a taste for white tea? Either way, I enjoyed the initial cup, & the resteeps were also ok, although they gradually took on a little bitterness.

I received some white tea samples for review from Teavivre the other day and on this nearly rainy Saturday I am sitting down with the beau to try this one out. Thanks Teavivre! We are brewing Western style according to the Teavivre directions with the full packet of leaves at 90 degrees for about a minute. We’ve got three samples of each tea, so we can try with a gaiwan at another time. For now, my liquor is a light yellow and smells faintly of hay and maybe something cucumber related, but I think that is because I accidentally saw the flavours list on Steepster before beginning my review.

Since it only steeped at 90, I am able to try it fairly quickly. This is the advantage of lower temp teas, I swear! First sips are mild. A light note of hay but not as sweet as the green oolong I had the other day. It is flavourful but light, if that makes sense. Not like weak tea or lightly favoured water but not a bold flavour either. My non-tea drinking brothers might not find any taste here at all, but the beau and I do. It is hard to describe, but hay and a bit of floral are present. I always worry that people will think hay means unpleasant, but it’s not. I love the smell of fresh hay. I am getting some residual sweetness that I think is a result of my earlier Jolly Rancher. Whoops.

The beau reports: “This is good. I like it. It has less of the earthy taste you get in other whites. More like jasmine but less in your face.” He says it has “a hint” of floral. I don’t notice, but I rarely do. We both like it, he more than I as whites are more his forte. For me, as a Chinese black tea drinker, this is a nice cuppa occasionally but not something I’m likely to enjoy regularly. He says it might be under-steeped and isn’t strong enough to get a high rating from him right now. I will do another steep in a bit and put a number on it after that one. I think he is right and a bit more time would have boosted the profile here. Will report back then!

EDIT: Second steep was forgotten in the pot which yielded a more flavourful brew but (surprisingly) no bitterness. It was enjoyable, but maybe a bit too much white tea in one day for me.

Inspired by the review from Uniquity and accompanied by not enjoying giving a negative review – I am trying this one again today. First, I don’t mind giving a negative review of crappy tea, if it is crappy tea. In my opinion, once you reach a certain level of quality it should not happen. It is generally a matter of taste preference or bad preparation. I have always been impressed with Teavivre in the past. Yesterday, this turned out just bitter.

My problem with this one was mostly how I brewed it. Today I am doing it my way. Half the sample (2.5g) and 10 oz water heated to 180F. I steeped 1 minute. The liquor is clear, bright, and yellow. The taste is dry and reminds me of the dehydrated camellia flowers. I liked them because they were different. I find this very flavorful with strong cucumber/melon notes and a wood pulp flavor – not the negative version of yesterday, but a very nice one. There is a sort of floral note hanging around, or maybe I imagine it because I expect it. The aftertaste is lingering and mouthwatering. It also seems much sweeter in the aftertaste. No bitterness. No astringency that I notice.

It is not as powerful and deep as Silver Needle but then it is half the price. Messing with the parameters I find this to be quite pleasant. My one negative that I found again today that I did not mention here yesterday is the leaf. It looks like mulch. I don’t recall a Teavivre tea that was not beautiful full leaf. I thought my previous sample had been crushed or something but this one is the same way. This is mostly tiny broken pieces. Any one else notice the same thing?

White tea tends to leave me feeling cleansed and refreshed more than any other tea I drink regularly. There is something about its creamy thick texture and its soft yet bright flavours that just do that for me, so I was very happy when Angel asked me to participate in this round of tastings. Teavivre generously sent 3 packages of each tea, more than enough to try it several ways and to possibly share with friends!

The intact leaves of this tea include a stem bearing a silver furry bud and 1-2 intact leaves, but as is common many of the leaves are broken and loose from the stem. The leaves are mostly spruce to a light green live tree leaf colour. A few of the leaves have undergone a slight oxidation and are edged brown. They smell of hay and something tart.

I’ve steeped this tea twice now once at a lower temperature of around 75-80°C throughout the session and the second time aat 85-90°C and they both have a slightly different flavour profile.

I used Teavivre’s intervals for gongfu brewing of this tea ( rinse, 25,45,70, 90,150s)
And used 3 TSP of tea ( I usually use 2, so this is slightly more leaf than I usually use for this tea) in a 150ml open Gaiwan.

The broth was a pale, green, tinged gold which deepened to a deeper gold colour with longer steeps and hotter temperatures.

The tea smelled of cucumber, hay,tart fruit and when brewed at lower temperatures a faint hint of cocoa.

These notes are for (75-80°C)

1st steeping: The tea had light crisp fresh notes up front with cucumber, hay, and clover nectar notes. It finished with tart fruit over a mix of nectar, cocoa and fermented grain notes with a creamy texture. The nectar could be interpreted as honey but it was more of a sweet floral tone. the nectar was slightly spicy as it cooled with hints of cinnamon.

2nd steeping: The flavours were more blended. The cucumber was not as distinct. The broth was thicker and sweeter with cream being added to the blend of cucumber, clover nectar, hay, and grain notes. The cocoa was absent.

3rd steeping: Less grainy notes were present. Citrus note were stronger, the cucumber was more distinct and was mixed with cream with a faint hint of vanilla. Cream and honey lingered in the aftertaste.

4th steeping: Cream, with cucumber, nectar and a hint of tart plum and a slight reference to grainy notes.

5th steeping: Similar flavour to above, with a mineral note and a lingering sweetness.

85-90°C: The clover nectar flavour was stronger, the cocoa was absent and the grainy notes were very faint.

Here is a picture of the tea brewing: http://instagram.com/p/rpTv8pmK47/

This tea was gentle and cleansing and quite enjoyable. Thanks Teavivre!

This is another amazing tea from Teavivre. These guys just continue to amaze me…amazing customer service, fabulous (and organic!) teas, and just the happiest customers.

This tea is perfectly sweet and mellowing after a hectic day like today. The dry leaf is adorably fluffy and smells of fresh hay rounds. It tastes slightly floral but it is silky smooth and delicate. The second steep has brewed a gorgeous deep yellow and really brings out the floral notes. Out of all the teas that I have had this tea has been one of the best at pulling off the full floral flavor without being too chemically or perfumy nor too overwhelming. It is just peaceful and relaxing. It has definitely put me in the mood to do some yoga:]

I got four wonderful steeps out of these leaves..so awesome. It has gotten me reenergized but oddly in a calming sort of way. Now back to kicking so bootay :D

This tea has a fresh cut hay aroma that I usually get with white tea and the color of apple juice. The flavor is similar to its aroma with pronounced notes of hay and cucumber.

Yay white tea! Even though I am staunchly loyal to the dark side of tea, I also love white teas. They’re the stormtroopers to the Darth Vader that is black tea. They just work together. You green tea lovers can keep your Dagobah swamp growth :-P

These leaves are large, lush, and light green and smell sweetly vegetal. They brew up a light green-yellow, which sounds mundane. This tea is not that. It tastes of honeysuckle and mountain air. There’s a vegetal element to it, almost like a spinach. But it doesn’t assault your tongue like a green tea would. It’s there, a polite distance away, having a quiet conversation with you. The loveliness ends with a sweet mineral taste.

I love my silver needle whites more, but this tea was excellent. Thanks for sending it, Virginia!