Imperial Grade Yue Guang Bai White Tea Mini Cake

This might be the oldest moonlight white I’ve tried and possibly the highest grade (but none of the others have really said much about how fancy they are except for saying they’re tippy). It broke my brain a little bit. I’ve heard that as moonlights age they become more like black tea but until this one I hadn’t had any that really reminded me of black tea. Some sniffs smelled like white tea, some like black. The flavor was mostly black tea with that tongue-coating maltiness of fancier blacks like golden needles. Being white but also black-ish was sort of like White2Tea’s Hot Brandy, which is a blend of black and white. I usually enjoy a good tongue-coating feels-like-you-could-chew-it black tea but I was really more in the mood for a fruit juicy type white tea. I’m sure I’ll enjoy it more when I’m in more of a black tea mood. I like the small 100g size of the cake. I wish more pressed teas came in 50-100g sizes. The smaller cakes are easier to store (at least for the size and shape of my tea storage boxes) and I’m less nervous about buying small cakes if I’m not sure if I like something yet. I’m not thrilled about the plain white wrapper on this tea, though. I think I’m going to have to make some kind of label or outer wrapper or something for it so I remember what it is.

[Autumn 2017 harvest]

I am very happy about the developments of this tea over time. It is now even more oxidized and starts to resemble a black tea. However, beneath its undeniable sweetness, there hides a well-balanced character without an overbearing complexity that is common among high-end black teas. One other general observation to note is the longevity that is almost unparalleled for a tea at this price point. One can easily push the tea beyond 350ml/g, and this may improve even further with subsequent aging.

The aromas seem to be more pronounced than before. Before the rinse, there are notes of white peach, cherry wood, hot hay, and other floral ones. On the other hand, during the session I can detect hints of apple, peach blossoms and other flowers, shellfish, maple syrup, and sugarcane emerging from the gaiwan.

The taste profile is decidedly sweet and woody, with occasional dips into floral, fruity, and towards the second half also malty and bitter territories. The very end of the session is characterized by a smooth, creamy and mineral taste though. Additionally, flavours of nectar, sandalwood, apricot, winter honey, nougat, and tree bark that come up over the course of the session.

The aftertaste is slightly drying, warming and coupled with a throat tingling sensation. As I mentioned in earlier notes, it is quite a subtle aftertaste. Compared to the sensations from the liquor itself, I find it to have more of the dry grass and thistle notes, but overall it’s fairly similar just more floral.