I like how the little sample pouch says ‘3+ cups’. Whoever wrote that have clearly never seen me make tea. :)
I’ve had this one for a while and it’s another one that I don’t know who sent it to me. Considering that it comes from Shang Tea, of whom I am a fan, it may be slightly odd that I’ve been sitting on it for so long. It’s because I’ve had this ‘white tea – urgh…’ phase, which has been going on for rather a long time now. It’s not that I dislike it, it’s just that I’m not at all that fond of it. My severe falling out of love with Bai Mu Dan hasn’t helped matters any either. Shang Tea have, however, in the past provided me with some rather large surprises, so I’m hoping for the best.
The aroma is not very strong and it’s difficult to pin down. It just smells white, really, in that it doesn’t smell at all like any of the other types of tea. Using the inhale-exhale-inhale trick that I learned from Bonnie the other day (thank you Bonnie! I think you’ve just helped me avoid actually dipping the tip of my nose in tea in search of aroma with this trick. (Accidental dipping, mind you)) I can pick up something that reminds me vaguely of cucumber or courgette, but isn’t really either. It’s sort of slightly sweet and it smells like that texture, but still doesn’t really allow itself to be identified. It does remind me some of Bai Mu Dan, though.
The flavour does have a fair bit of courgette to it as well, but strangely, it’s not as unappealing as I normally find it. It’s immediately followed by something very sweet and honey-ish, and I think that’s what rescues it for me, because normally I prefer my courgette flavour to be in courgettes. Bit like cinnamon really. For me, cinnamon and tea ought have nothing to do with each other at all, whether it be naturally occuring or otherwise.
Once again Shang Tea has surprised me. This is really rather nice. It’s not something I must run out and tell the world about, but it’s enjoyable to get to try. If I were fonder of white than I am, I would probably be swooning all over the place.
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Give yourself credit! You took time to really investigate this tea! So many times people say "White Tea …don’t like it! " take a sip, write an I told you so note and that’s it.
Good review!
Oh yes, the number of times my nose has accidently met with the contents of my teacup…
Okay, what’s the inhale-exhale-inhale trick?
I think you’re the third person I’ve seen to say cinnamon and tea shouldn’t go together. I find that so odd, I love cinnamon in tea! Now maple syrup…that’s a flavour I can generally do without in tea.
Daniel, when you want to have a closer look at the aroma, instead of just sniffing at it, try to keep your breath normal through your nose, but keep your nose near the tea, so that you sort of breathe on it. It makes a lot of steam and makes the aroma easier to smell.
As for the spice, I think it’s because it’s such a strong one. It’s the same sort of problem I have with ginger. It prickles and there is SO much of it. I’ve never met anything that was just a smidge. The difference between cinnamon and ginger, though, is that while I can have both of them in cooking and baking, but ginger still not in large amounts whereas a cinnamon stick or two in a vegetable stew can be really awesome.
I tried adding some maple syrup to a tea once to see what would happen and it didn’t work for me. I never sweeten tea, so all I got was a cup of sugary ruined tea and no maple.
Krystaleyn, yes indeed. And I go ‘WAH-WHAT-WAS-THAT?!!-oh…’ every single time and then feel like an idiot. :p
Bonnie, I try to keep an open mind with things I’m not super-fond of. There are some that I’ve simply given up trying all together, like for example anything which is known to contain the Evil Hibiscus, jasmine scented things and to some degree Darjeeling because I know I definitely won’t like them. With things like white tea it’s more diffuse why I don’t care for them. I can’t put my finger on anything in specific in them; they simply don’t really push my wow-buttons and they don’t have what I’m generally looking for in a good cup of tea. But there is always the chance of being surprised, so I try to give it a go and I try to keep an open mind. I don’t always manage it, sometimes something is just bleugh or I don’t have the energy for it.
I could have sworn I wanted to round this reply off with something intelligent and insightful on the subject, but I’ll be damned if I can remember what it was. I’ll return if it comes back… All I can remember is ‘oh I should remember to mention whatever it was!’ which is not super-helpful.
Angrboda – so, funny story… I happened to glance at myself in the mirror this evening during one of my numerous trips to the bathroom, and what did I find? Oh yes… there was matcha on the tip of my nose! Now, dunking one’s nose in most teas just results in a bit of surprise and possibly burning, if the tea is hot. Matcha, on the other hand, is green. Bright, dark green. The worst part? I definitely had just come back from the supermarket. I hope the cute guy manning the self-checkout didn’t notice! It wasn’t super-obvious… I think…. (Now, I’m not entirely sure how this matcha got there, but given the colour, I suspect it was from a sniff of the matcha packet itself and not my tea, but I could be wrong if I sniffed and got a floaty blob of unincorporated matcha at just the right/wrong spot…)
LOL! Okay, I’ve never done that, but then again I’ve never been sucked into the matcha trend either. :p At least my tea is only wet. :D
Give yourself credit! You took time to really investigate this tea! So many times people say "White Tea …don’t like it! " take a sip, write an I told you so note and that’s it.
Good review!
Oh yes, the number of times my nose has accidently met with the contents of my teacup…
Okay, what’s the inhale-exhale-inhale trick?
I think you’re the third person I’ve seen to say cinnamon and tea shouldn’t go together. I find that so odd, I love cinnamon in tea! Now maple syrup…that’s a flavour I can generally do without in tea.
Daniel, when you want to have a closer look at the aroma, instead of just sniffing at it, try to keep your breath normal through your nose, but keep your nose near the tea, so that you sort of breathe on it. It makes a lot of steam and makes the aroma easier to smell.
As for the spice, I think it’s because it’s such a strong one. It’s the same sort of problem I have with ginger. It prickles and there is SO much of it. I’ve never met anything that was just a smidge. The difference between cinnamon and ginger, though, is that while I can have both of them in cooking and baking, but ginger still not in large amounts whereas a cinnamon stick or two in a vegetable stew can be really awesome.
I tried adding some maple syrup to a tea once to see what would happen and it didn’t work for me. I never sweeten tea, so all I got was a cup of sugary ruined tea and no maple.
Krystaleyn, yes indeed. And I go ‘WAH-WHAT-WAS-THAT?!!-oh…’ every single time and then feel like an idiot. :p
Bonnie, I try to keep an open mind with things I’m not super-fond of. There are some that I’ve simply given up trying all together, like for example anything which is known to contain the Evil Hibiscus, jasmine scented things and to some degree Darjeeling because I know I definitely won’t like them. With things like white tea it’s more diffuse why I don’t care for them. I can’t put my finger on anything in specific in them; they simply don’t really push my wow-buttons and they don’t have what I’m generally looking for in a good cup of tea. But there is always the chance of being surprised, so I try to give it a go and I try to keep an open mind. I don’t always manage it, sometimes something is just bleugh or I don’t have the energy for it.
I could have sworn I wanted to round this reply off with something intelligent and insightful on the subject, but I’ll be damned if I can remember what it was. I’ll return if it comes back… All I can remember is ‘oh I should remember to mention whatever it was!’ which is not super-helpful.
Angrboda – so, funny story… I happened to glance at myself in the mirror this evening during one of my numerous trips to the bathroom, and what did I find? Oh yes… there was matcha on the tip of my nose! Now, dunking one’s nose in most teas just results in a bit of surprise and possibly burning, if the tea is hot. Matcha, on the other hand, is green. Bright, dark green. The worst part? I definitely had just come back from the supermarket. I hope the cute guy manning the self-checkout didn’t notice! It wasn’t super-obvious… I think…. (Now, I’m not entirely sure how this matcha got there, but given the colour, I suspect it was from a sniff of the matcha packet itself and not my tea, but I could be wrong if I sniffed and got a floaty blob of unincorporated matcha at just the right/wrong spot…)
LOL! Okay, I’ve never done that, but then again I’ve never been sucked into the matcha trend either. :p At least my tea is only wet. :D