64 Tasting Notes
A flavorful yellow tea from TeaGschwendner’s Edmun’s Select Collection.
This is one of those teas you could serve to someone who thinks there’s not much difference between a Chinese green and yellow. There’s a distinguishing light floral undertone that reminded me of Vietnamese Lotus tea. Very pleasant, even with the necessary rough estimate nature of brewing tea at work.
Preparation
There aren’t nearly as many varities of white tea as there are of, say, green and oolong, so any time a new variety of white tea from a new region pops up, I’m ready to try it out. Tea Trekker’s Shangri-La White Silvertips from Nepal caught my eye after noting it’s description: “reminiscent of a light-bodied black tea.” Sold!
This tea is, in every way, a middle ground between the two most well-known Chinese whites, Silver Needle and Bai Mu Dan. Silver Needle is bud-only, Bai Mu Dan is two leaves and one bud, Shangri-La White Silvertips is one leaf and one bud. The color of the liquor falls in between, as does the intensity of the flavor.
The tea has light fruity notes, but also a hint of depth one might find in a light black tea (as the description aptly mentions). It’s a well-rounded tea that I dare say I enjoy more than Bai Mu Dan. A solid cup from a region not known for their white teas.
Preparation
This tea is very old (as I’ve said before: http://steepster.com/laze/posts/4200 ), yet maintains its flavor. Kind of crazy. And scary.
Didn’t use hot enough water for this steeping (brought it to a near boil, but took too long to get it poured over the leaves), but this is a very forgiving tea. I guess if a non-pu-erh tea can last nearly a decade, it can handle some variation in temperature, too.
Not subtle, kind of fruity, quite strong.
