White Tea

I’ve never had a unflavored white tea before and for some reason I was in the mood for my H & S white peach tea today. So I thought well I think I should be experimental and tried this white tea instead. Wow it’s a much fuller flavor than I would have expected and the nose to it isn’t very interesting kinda pollen smelling, which could be due to the chrysanthemums.

It’s a decent tea. Not something I think I’d crave but a nice cuppa. While I am not getting a ton of flavor I personally taste mostly buttery notes. It’s nice but it’s not going to be replacing my H&S white peach. :)

Okay, I admit it: I don’t “get” white tea. I tend to like bold flavors in my tea and whites just don’t deliver. I’m constantly afraid of burning/oversteeping/take your pick, even more than with greens. In general, white tea is Not My Thing.

But this tea! First off, it has chrysanthemum in it. How could I not try it first out of my huge box of samples? The taste is great, too, and much stronger than I expected from my previous experiences with white teas. Mellow, just slightly sweet, and very satisfying. Is this my first good white tea experience? I think so. I think this also means I’m pretty darn impressed with this company so far.

I wanted something light this morning, something to stretch my taste buds to their fullest extent in working out the subtle flavors at play in a mild tea. Well, I certainly got light, or perhaps “lite”. The smell of the dry leaves was appealing enough; a pleasing blend of tea-ness and flower. I noticed that there was one flower in my sample pack, and that others have gotten two.

Two minutes at 180 is all I’m giving it – definitely don’t want to overdo this one. I’m getting a pretty light yellowish-green liquor, with a very faint aroma. I think the floral addition is giving me more of a tisane than tea feel with the smell and appearance. The taste is fine…nothing stand-out, nothing offensive. I’m getting a vegetal top, some honey, and a light aftertaste somewhere in the realm of asparagus. Overall, I’d call it a good basic white tea, wouldn’t turn it down if offered but wouldn’t go out of my way to order it again.

Cardboard. Or maybe I’m tasting the boxes I’m using to pack up. Either way I expected a floral tone even if it is a light floral. Nothing. White teas (on my tongue) are usually so good. Why did this fail? I wish it hadn’t.

Off to try another tea!

Mehhh, so I must say I don’t think I have ever had chrysanthemum in anything before, but I don’t believe I am a fan of them. Nothing was very special about this tea to me, it has a slight honeyish taste to it which I guess is from the chrysanthemum flowers? Hm, not sure how I feel about this one… I’m indifferent on it.

This tea smells sweet dry and once brewed. The chrysanthemum gives it a little honey taste to it. I am not big on the floral musky taste of it. It was an okay tea, I probably preferred it plain. I didn’t bother to to rebrew, just wasn’t much a fan.

I have been having trouble “communicating” with white teas, so I was not real excited when I picked this one out of the sampler box—I was wrong! Pretty green leaves with tiny chrysanthemums steep into a pale golden nectar. A fragrant, not overly floral aroma. Very sweet and more substantial than I expected. 2nd steep—the moment was gone—darker, no sweetness, although some nuttiness, not nearly as good. But the 1st infusion-wow!

This tea must be ANCIENT but it’s a single serving that is in one of those hilarious metallic packagings like a bank vault, so I’m sure the flavor isn’t too much older. If there wasn’t one big ole chrysanthemum flower mixed with what looks like bai mu dan, maybe the flavor would have been fine. I definitely notice the flower’s flavor in the cup and I don’t think I’m much of a fan of chrysanthemum. There is like a tangy, buzzy flavor too. The white tea alone probably would have been fine, especially if it was fresher, though it didn’t taste old to me.
Steep #1 // 10 minutes after boiling // 1 minute steep
Steep #2 // few minutes after boiling // couple minutes steep

I’ve never really had white tea before so I thought I’d give this a try. The cup is light and golden. The smell is intense and not pleasant to my nose. It smells like flowers but not fresh ones.
If I hadn’t had other floral teas, I would conclude I just didn’t like a floral but I’ve had some I love. This one tastes more of stem then anything. The taste is thankfully not as intense as the smell was but still not something I would buy. I’ve considered not finishing the cup but I didn’t quite get to that level. This did not meet the spot so I’m going to have to pull another from the basket.