Thank you Ian for this sample! I’ve taken some time getting to the bottom of my sample box so I’m sorry to keep Ian waiting. Now I’m in an hurry waiting for new deliveries to arrive from my April purchases (I’m an addict) and want to start with all the waiting reviews finished.
For Happy New Year, I followed regular steeping regulations for a Bai Mu Dan which was a mistake. Too short on the steeping and too cool a temp. I should have read the vendor review in this case first because it says steep 7 minutes and much hotter water. Explains why my first pot was flat and weak at 2 minutes. Not giving up, the first extraction was so poor that most of the tea essence was still inside the leaves ready for a proper second go.
Now the second (almost first) steep at almost boiling and 7 minutes. If this is highly forgiving tea like the vendor says, then I must agree that any other tea would have gone all bitter and this didn’t. There is a little vegital flavor but I can’t taste any floral notes. Maybe if it cools a bit. I’m waiting. And waiting. And waiting. No floral notes.
Not very impressed to tell you the truth. I’ve been spoiled with other Bai Mu Dan’s that are so beautiful that maybe I’m looking for the same here. This is just flat. There is a bit of astringency and vanilla cookie on the finish sort of. I’m feeling that I’m in a wind tunnel with this tea wanting to like it because everyone else does…but I don’t. Every time I walk towards the wind…I get pushed back to the wall. This is not good to me.
