It’s taken me a bit of time to appreciate this tea. Since I’m predominantly a black-tea drinker, Snow Buds organic white tea was a little too subtle for me at first, kinda like those hints my wife leaves for me when she wants me to do something.
Rishi’s description of the tea is very accurate. It’s grassy and has a sweet hazelnut finish. The grassiness reminds me a bit of a sencha, while the nutty finish is vaguely reminiscent of Rishi’s dragonwell (which is less smokey than other dragonwells I’ve tried).
If you’re a green tea lover and looking for something less caffeinated, perhaps in the evening, this is a pretty good find. It requires a fairly long steep time, however. Rishi recommends five to six minutes. Go for six. And since white tea is made from the virtually tannin-free buds, you don’t have to worry about the tea going tannic on you from the longer steep time. The never-steep-your-tea-longer-than-five-minutes rule can be damned with this one.
I found this tea to be not as interesting flavor-wise as Rishi’s Peach Blossom white tea, but if you’re a purist and want to taste a good white tea straight (without the peach and jasmine), this is the real deal.
Available by the ounce at http://www.rishi-tea.com and in 1.3 ounce tins (it’s hard to pack bud teas very tightly) at my local (go figure) Food Emporium supermarket, home to the very sweet, but dumbfoundingly unknowledgeable sales clerk. (Ah, to be young, cute and perky and able to get away with not knowing a bloody thing about what you’re selling.)
