I’ve got to admit something: I’m pretty ignorant when it comes to white teas. I don’t know what it is – maybe I can’t ever brew them right – but they just don’t hold as much appeal to me unless they’re flavoured or blended with fruit.
This tea is a good example. The smell of the leaf and the taste of the tea are both extremely mild. So mild, in fact, that last night when I did my first taste of this, I couldn’t taste anything at all. Giving more leaf and steeping for longer did bring out some sweet notes, but nothing identifiable.
I just don’t have luck with straight white teas. What am I doing wrong? I know that white teas are delicate, so I steep them for less time at lower temperatures, but I just can’t find a straight blend that makes my heart sing.
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I suspect it isn’t just you—a whole ton of us just can’t really get into white teas. I hear butiki’s white rhino is pretty flavourful, though.
The temp looks good. You might have better luck doing it more gongfu style or attempt using more leaf. I usually use around 1.5 TSP for 8 oz. I usually only use one minute for my first steep. I sometimes find the first steep weaker but the later steeps are usually richer in flavour and creamier. You might try bringing the leaves as well. The Chinese whites I’ve had range from Cornsilk and floral, to fruity. So it might be that you haven’t found the right one yet. The African ones sound really nice and some of the higher quality Ceylon’s can be very nice as well.
I use extra leaf with my whites, almost always. Mine are so light that a tsp is hardly any tea at all.
Perhaps saying I used 2 tsp for 16 oz is off-base. I didn’t have my measuring spoon handy, so I just took a few pinches out of the sample packet.
I think I’ve just been underleafing things in general these days – had similar issues with some Mao Feng teas and a Dragon Well.
Honestly, even when I use more leaf and stuff, I just tend to prefer a more robust tea most of the time, and since whites are more delicate, they tend not to be what I gravitate towards, even if the flavours are nice. Shrug.
+1 what yyz said. I was having the exact same issue you describe until I tried yyz’s instructions. It was like a whole new world opened up! I’ve been filling the gaiwan to half and using water at 175 and steeping 45 seconds to a minute for the first few steeps. It appears the leaf/water ratio has to be much higher for whites than other teas for me to get flavor out of them.
You can use water at approximately 80 ºC (180 ºF) and Steep between 3-5 minutes. If you prefer flavored teas instead of plain teas, you can add herbs such as peppermint or lavender, or you can also add honey for a more soothing tea. Blueberry and other fruit flavors work well also.
Agree with yyz, you also can try gongfu style with Gaiwan, Pour 80ºC water into the Gaiwan, and wait for approximately 1-2 minutes. To extract the flavor from the leaves when brewing them multiple times, be sure to add an additional minute to the brewing time each time you re-steep the leaves. This will assure that you get the most flavor, aroma.
I suspect it isn’t just you—a whole ton of us just can’t really get into white teas. I hear butiki’s white rhino is pretty flavourful, though.
The temp looks good. You might have better luck doing it more gongfu style or attempt using more leaf. I usually use around 1.5 TSP for 8 oz. I usually only use one minute for my first steep. I sometimes find the first steep weaker but the later steeps are usually richer in flavour and creamier. You might try bringing the leaves as well. The Chinese whites I’ve had range from Cornsilk and floral, to fruity. So it might be that you haven’t found the right one yet. The African ones sound really nice and some of the higher quality Ceylon’s can be very nice as well.
I use extra leaf with my whites, almost always. Mine are so light that a tsp is hardly any tea at all.
Perhaps saying I used 2 tsp for 16 oz is off-base. I didn’t have my measuring spoon handy, so I just took a few pinches out of the sample packet.
I think I’ve just been underleafing things in general these days – had similar issues with some Mao Feng teas and a Dragon Well.
Honestly, even when I use more leaf and stuff, I just tend to prefer a more robust tea most of the time, and since whites are more delicate, they tend not to be what I gravitate towards, even if the flavours are nice. Shrug.
+1 what yyz said. I was having the exact same issue you describe until I tried yyz’s instructions. It was like a whole new world opened up! I’ve been filling the gaiwan to half and using water at 175 and steeping 45 seconds to a minute for the first few steeps. It appears the leaf/water ratio has to be much higher for whites than other teas for me to get flavor out of them.
You can use water at approximately 80 ºC (180 ºF) and Steep between 3-5 minutes. If you prefer flavored teas instead of plain teas, you can add herbs such as peppermint or lavender, or you can also add honey for a more soothing tea. Blueberry and other fruit flavors work well also.
Agree with yyz, you also can try gongfu style with Gaiwan, Pour 80ºC water into the Gaiwan, and wait for approximately 1-2 minutes. To extract the flavor from the leaves when brewing them multiple times, be sure to add an additional minute to the brewing time each time you re-steep the leaves. This will assure that you get the most flavor, aroma.