Exclusive Dutch White Tea

So, finally, I have decided to try this tea. I have received 5 grams sample and half of it I sent to derk who enjoyed it greatly.

I tried to follow vendor suggestions, starting with 20 seconds steep and rather small increments like 5 seconds only. Using 95°C hot water. That seems steep to me, when it is a white tea.

If you want to read more about this Dutch-grown tea, they have updated its description and it is available for reading here: https://moychay.nl/products/exclusive-dutch-white-tea

The harvest year isn’t written on the pouch, but I assume they have only one and that’s 2021. Don’t get fooled, this tea isn’t stale and weak… instead I have received a strong, complex and unique tea I will try to describe.

The leaves look amazing on their own. Large, autumn-like leaves; I didn’t sniffed to them when dry, but now, when they’re damp, they release interesting fruity notes, that remind me berries, maybe raspberries and forest berries, shortly followed with faint, but noticeable autumn leaf piles, because of stems I believe

Flavour after two steeps I made so far, while writing those lines… is mouthcoating, strong, sweet-berry like somehow similar to the aroma of the leaves, but in extra, I consider it a bit spicy, like there was a cinnamon and nutmeg hidden in the leaves. Especially strong in the second session, 25 seconds long. Mouthfeel is not fading, coats well; with sweet aftertaste. It’s not cloying though, and complements well the fruity-spicy flavours.

Long steeps doesn’t hurt this tea. Well, to wrap it up; Dutch-grown tea seems to be good enough to drink; naturally a bit more expensive than their Eastern counterparts, not mentioning Georgian; but equally delightful.

While this was a small sample-from-a-sample, just 2.5g of leaf gave me a clear picture of this tea. It’s indestructible — boiling water and long steeps do no harm. It tastes so much like an oxidized and aging Fujian white that if I hadn’t known this was grown in the Netherlands (assuming, since there’s no description for the tea), I’d be none the wiser. Darker character, sweet and dry but not drying, this is a pure expression of Camellia sinensis. Very neat!

Thanks so much for my first Dutch tea, Martin!!