My summertime white tea has no citrus pieces in it, so I hope this is the right listing?
Delicious bai mu dan base that tastes like dried leaves/slightly vegetal. I would describe it as “crisp” and clean, perfect for a cold brew.
I taste fruit, but more blackberry and raspberry than citrus. It is fairly crisp, so maybe that’s the lemon/citrus. The white base really comes through, the fruit is present but in the background. This is a perfect flavoured white tea because you can really taste the high quality base.
Flavors: Blackberry, Fruity, Sweet, Tannin, Vegetal
Preparation
Comments
I’m glad you liked it – I didn’t mean to sound snarky or anything so I hope it didn’t come off that way. Since I have made an effort to move away from using Shou Mei as a base, I just want to make sure people know that. Shou Mei is considerably cheaper than the Bai Mu Dan that I use now – but the Bai Mu Dan is so much better in every respect other than cost. The one exception to my “moving away from Shou Mei” statement is that I have used it in several blends with Houjicha – I like the way it lightens the toasted flavor of the Houjicha. Although, now that I have cleared away my stock of the Shou Mei, I may try to find a substitute for it in the Houjicha blends because I just do not care for Shou Mei.
Oh no, not at all. I’m a huge fan of aged shou mei, but less so with bai mu dan (too vegetal to drink plain). I do enjoy both used in blends, I just find shou mei to have a great flavour profile that is quite strong but never grassy or “green”. I would definitely be interested in shou mei blends, but I can see how you would avoid using it if you aren’t a fan. I think you do a great job of picking the perfect base/blend of bases to use in each of your teas.
May I suggest looking into kukicha as a base for teas too? Can’t go wrong with kukicha genmaicha or maple kukicha. ;) It’s cheap and everyone seems to like it (compared to more vegetal vegetal green teas).
I don’t think I’ve had a chance to taste your houjicha/shou mei blends yet, although I’ve been eyeing my unopened package of toasted marshmallow for a morning latte.
I’ve used a green kukicha for a blend (lemon-lime meringue) and I enjoyed it. I want to find a better supplier for it though. :)
I don’t believe that the Shou Mei that I had been using was an aged Shou Mei. I think most of my dislike of Shou Mei lies in the fact that the one supplier that I did utilize for the Shou Mei that I had in stock – the material was far too stemmy to earn my appreciation. I had received a sample of the Shou Mei before I purchased it, but I didn’t find the sample as stemmy as I found the kilo that I purchased afterward to be. I found myself picking out so many stems as I was blending it – and I know that I still didn’t get all the stems out of it – so I found myself rather frustrated with that from a quality aspect.
It’s not Shou Mei – it’s Bai Mu Dan. :)
Corrected, thank you. either way, the choice of base is perfect!
I’m glad you liked it – I didn’t mean to sound snarky or anything so I hope it didn’t come off that way. Since I have made an effort to move away from using Shou Mei as a base, I just want to make sure people know that. Shou Mei is considerably cheaper than the Bai Mu Dan that I use now – but the Bai Mu Dan is so much better in every respect other than cost. The one exception to my “moving away from Shou Mei” statement is that I have used it in several blends with Houjicha – I like the way it lightens the toasted flavor of the Houjicha. Although, now that I have cleared away my stock of the Shou Mei, I may try to find a substitute for it in the Houjicha blends because I just do not care for Shou Mei.
Oh no, not at all. I’m a huge fan of aged shou mei, but less so with bai mu dan (too vegetal to drink plain). I do enjoy both used in blends, I just find shou mei to have a great flavour profile that is quite strong but never grassy or “green”. I would definitely be interested in shou mei blends, but I can see how you would avoid using it if you aren’t a fan. I think you do a great job of picking the perfect base/blend of bases to use in each of your teas.
May I suggest looking into kukicha as a base for teas too? Can’t go wrong with kukicha genmaicha or maple kukicha. ;) It’s cheap and everyone seems to like it (compared to more vegetal vegetal green teas).
I don’t think I’ve had a chance to taste your houjicha/shou mei blends yet, although I’ve been eyeing my unopened package of toasted marshmallow for a morning latte.
I’ve used a green kukicha for a blend (lemon-lime meringue) and I enjoyed it. I want to find a better supplier for it though. :)
Thank you for the suggestion!
I don’t believe that the Shou Mei that I had been using was an aged Shou Mei. I think most of my dislike of Shou Mei lies in the fact that the one supplier that I did utilize for the Shou Mei that I had in stock – the material was far too stemmy to earn my appreciation. I had received a sample of the Shou Mei before I purchased it, but I didn’t find the sample as stemmy as I found the kilo that I purchased afterward to be. I found myself picking out so many stems as I was blending it – and I know that I still didn’t get all the stems out of it – so I found myself rather frustrated with that from a quality aspect.