2018 Lullaby

Sipdown!

Grandpa-style. This seems like a pleasant enough white tea, there’s a strong sweet-tart apricot/nectarine note to it that I enjoyed. Otherwise I mostly tasted the usual hay and oats, dry leaves. There’s a bit of a thick floral note that reminds me of a chrysanthemum tisane that I tried a few weeks ago. It’s a bit malty as well.

Overall, tasty. Getting close to finishing off these white tea coins…

I had this tea as part of the White2Tea Basics White Tea Sample set. First thing I noticed was how long it took for the mini cake to open completely: it took a rinse and 3 steeps, along with some help from my fingers. Because of that, the first couple of steeps were very light. I got some grassy notes.

The fourth and fifth steeps were both quite bitter, but I might have let it steep for too long. I boiled some water and started over with flash steeps, and the bitterness gave way to the grass and some bamboo. I got a salivating mouthfeel from those steeps. There was still some punch to it.

From the eight infusion onward i still noticed a latent bitterness in the back of my throat, very mild, but the nice encapsulating mouthfeel persisted. The taste wasn’t anything special.

Sipdown (720)!

Finished this last little bit off Western style, and honestly maybe that’s how I should have been drinking this tea all along?! It was amazing but it at least had some boldness and thickness to the flavour that I wasn’t really getting by brewing it Gongfu. More of a thick medicinal, but soothing, taste with hints of malt and lightly charred straw. Almost a chrysanthemum note to it as well.

This is a review of one of the little Lullabies that I received as a freebie with my order.

It is full bodied, very fragrant and flavourful. Its balanced nature makes it possible to brew quite strong. It is definitely a high quality tea, but I didn’t find it to be particularly special. the other Bai Mu Dan from White2Tea from 2018 – Censers – is more memorable and complex I think. Lullaby is more of a tea to enjoy mindlessly, it also helps by inducing a tranquil state. The name is quite fitting. I would choose it when I want something refreshing, thick and tasty with a long aftertaste.