Cherries Jubilee Bai Mu Dan

Danish tax people are on to my activities. 196 kr in customs fees they demanded in ransom for my 52teas order. The contents of which cost 50 kr LESS than that, shipping included. Greedy greedy customs!

Anyway, this tea came out just after I had decided that I wanted to try some great cherry blacks. This is not a black, though, and it has other things than cherries going on, obviously, but still. Uncanny.

I was sceptical at first because of the brandy. I’ve mentioned before at length my dislike of alcohol in general, but having read some posts about it, it seems like the brandy shouldn’t be too strong. My curiosity returned and I plucked up the courage to buy some for myself and check it out. Somehow I don’t think I’d have managed to get peace of mind until I had tried it.

It smells quite cherry-y, but also of something else which I can only describe as borderline bubblegum. Synesthesia input says dark purple-y red.

Flavour is very much cherries as well, and also quite nutty, which I think is the white tea shining through. Also a touch of vanilla to all the fruit but not really enough to make much of a spectacle of itself. It’s a bit like onions in a spaghetti sauce. It doesn’t taste like onions at all, but if you leave them out, you’ll get a boring sauce. The vanilla is like that here. If it was left out, the flavour would be paler. Or maybe still very nice, but just different.

The brandy is excellent in its absence. I admit I don’t know what brandy really tastes like other than ‘alcoholic’ and since I dislike the alcoholic flavour and feeling of spirits, it’s impossible for me to get past it. So I’m not about to find out what it tastes like just to see if I can find it here. For me, the fact that I can’t find it, is a great big plus.

I’m glad I was brave and gave this a try, it was really well worth it. Whether it was also worth the extra customs expense… yeah, why not? Doesn’t mean I won’t whine about it though.

mmmmmm this tea might be a bit old but I can see why this would have been pretty popular. I’m holding off rating this because i think it’s been around a bit. However, this seems like it would be super tasty. Thank you kittenna for the sample!

Thanks to JoonSusanna I get to try this tea (that’s been on my list for quite a while now!)

When I opened the packet, the first aroma I caught was a play-doughy scent. Not good. I seem to have noticed that bai mu dan teas, when they get old, seem to develop that sort of aroma/flavour, which I fins quite unpleasant. I’ve smelled it with multiple teas, but it doesn’t always carry through to the flavour, so I’m hoping it doesn’t here!

Clearly I’m out of tea-steeping practice, because it just occurred to me that I steeped this in boiling water. Oops! Anyhow, once brewed, the aroma of the tea thankfully is no longer like play dough and a bit like alcoholic/cherries.

The flavour is definitely a fruity bai mu dan, with some astringency (I imagine that’s my fault though). It’s not bad, but it’s not great either. I suspect that this has lost some flavour due to its age, but it’s not reading as Cherries Jubilee to me (although I was just hoping for a non-floral cherry white). I’ll have to try a re-steep on this though, as there’s a huge cherry in the infuser that probably needs to be sliced open or something beforehand.

Anyways, thanks for this one, JoonSusanna! I always love trying new teas :D No rating as there’s too much likelihood of age being a factor here!

I’m a cherry fanatic so this tea was a must-have when Frank came up with it. Most of the cherry flavoured teas I’ve tried from other companies have been disapointing, either too artifical-tasting or flavourless. But I keep trying in hopes I’ll stumble across a good one.

I had to restrain myself from eating those dried cherries that were mixed in – when I lived at home I would always steal and eat the dried cherries my mom used for baking (much to her ire). ;) And low-and-behold, this tea actually tastes like cherry and real cherries too! The vanilla is detectable too, thought subtly, but I can only pick up the brandy in the scent of the dry tea.

I do wish the cherry flavour was a bit stronger, but that might just be an indication that it needs a longer steep time, so I’ll do that before I give this blend an actual rating. At this point I’m liking – but not quite loving – this tea.

Dry leaves overwhelmingly remind me of this http://tinyurl.com/3n6rsbh
Which I think smells super yummy. Very cherry almond. I just want to reach in and eat one of the whole dried cherries swimming in the mix.
Heated water to 175 in my Breville and steeped for 4 minutes in one of my new, pretty, double walled Bodum glass cups (http://tinyurl.com/3e3g7go) Which work AWESOME for steeping 8 ounces of tea at at a time, (since the Breville can’t do that.) They retain heat perfectly and they’re cool to the touch even if boiling water is placed in them. Highly recommend! My ForLife infusers (http://tinyurl.com/3m5sk23) fit perfectly in the 8.5 ounce cups. So great!
Steeps to a elegant pale golden liquor. The cherry almond scent of the dry leaves has transferred to the tea quite well. The aroma is beautiful.
Taste is just as lovely as the scent and appearance. I added a smidge of raw honey and that imparted a nice sweetness that really brought out the flavors. Wasn’t necessary, though; I just have a big sweet tooth. This seems like it would be really nice paired with some delicate shortbread cookies. Makes me want to have a tea party. The bf especially loves this one! Whites are really starting to grow on us. Well done, Frank.

Finally, finally, finally… After what seemed like forever to wait… I received my second 52 teas order in Ecuador! : ) This order took longer than the last order to arrive, so I started to loose hope that it would arrive, that maybe it got “lost” in customs… But it is here! Yay!!! Joy, joy, joy!

I was particularly excited about this tea because the day I decided to purchase it, it suddenly sold out! I was so mad at myself for taking so long to decide that the last one managed to be sold… But then, magically, it reappeared as “in-stock”! So I quickly ordered it and sat back semi-patiently to wait for it to arrive.

The leaves are broken a bit smaller than what I was originally expecting for a white tea, but this could have a lot to do with it having been shipped across an entire continent to me! They we nice and fuzzy! I had two large cherries sitting in the tea, looking quite comfortable among the leaves. It would be great to sit on a heap of Bai Mu Dan! Lucky cherries….

The smell of the dry leaves was distinctly Bai Mu Dan with a hint of cherry rather than the other way around. I was happy it worked this way, because the tea smelled delicious!

I brewed two teaspoons of the tea and picked out one cherry to brew with it as well! (Once again, lucky cherry! Bathing Bai Mu Dan!) The brew smelled a bit more of cherry, but the white tea scent still stood up well. I didn’t smell any almond or amaretto like smell… Or vanilla, which I was hoping for…

From the first sip, the cherry showed up first, followed by fruity Bai Mu Dan, a somewhat nutty taste, with a smooth vanilla finish. I was glad that the vanilla finally decided to show up!

The first cup I had I sweetened, and the second I had plain. The sugar really made the cherry and creamy flavors shine, but without sweetener it was just as good with the tea flavor taking center stage.

I really enjoyed this tea. Sadly there is only 1oz of it… Compared to the other blends from 52teas that I have tried, it isn’t my favorite, but it is worth trying and enjoying for sure!

I am very pleased with this. I was worried it would end up tasting like cough syrup, and even though the dry leaf does smell a bit like it, it doesn’t taste like cough syrup. It just tastes YUM!

The cherry flavor is sweet but there is enough tart in there to keep it refreshing. The brandy flavor is not overwhelming, and it doesn’t have that alchohol-y, solvent kind of taste. It is just a hint of brandy-like flavor. The vanilla is soft and sweet and creamy.

Yummy!

I love white tea. Really love it. It’s my favesies, but I’m not rich enough to really stock up on a lot. Getting this Bai Mu Dan in the mail was terribly exciting! I really like this tea, but I can’t really taste the vanilla but the subtle cherry is nice. I wish the flavor was stronger. Compared to other whites I could take it or leave it :/

This is DELICIOUS! Bi mu dan always tastes slightly fruity to me anyway, so it goes perfectly with the cherry flavors. It’s not overwhelmingly cherry, but gently cherry, to match the gentle white, with a hint of vanilla. I can’t find the brandy, but that’s a good thing because I don’t like brandy.

I really like this.

Wow, there is something quite special about this tea.
It’s now added to my VERY short list of whites I enjoy.

The base is lovely, especially on the second steep when it shone through – but I’m getting ahead of myself. The scent is a very real cherry dessert, I can smell the brandy mm!

The taste is amazing, so so smooth and almost syrupy in it’s sweetness. It’s just intoxicating – I taste a hint of vanilla and a some yummy brandy, almost grenadine-like – if you made it from cherries haha!

This tea starts out subtle and then I lose myself in the flavour. I should order a bag… better try more samples first so I can add to my order.

Thank you Jenn for the sweet sweet sample of this deliciousness!

(first steep 2.5 min, second 4 min – even on a 4 min steep I didn’t get any bitterness, just more body and the tea base brought to the forefront)

16 oz. water to 2 heaping tsp. leaf.

I wanted to try this mostly because of the cherry part of the name. I like fruity flavored teas, and cherry with white tea sounded good. I knew it would be a risk, because I’m not a fan of alcohol (in any incarnation) so when some said they couldn’t taste the brandy I decided to go for it.

This is quite cherry! It’s interesting because the cherry is actually more present in the flavor than the scent, which never seems to happen. The vanilla is present too, in a way that complements rather than antagonizes the fruity flavor. It makes the cherry seem sweeter and less tart. No brandy (yes!) and it goes down really smoothly – I don’t detect any bitterness at these parameters. I don’t get a lot of white tea flavor, but I think that’s more because I’m not too familiar with white tea to begin with.

It’s a nice option for when I want something fruity and light!

Sputters….where’s the cherries? The cherry scent that was so pronounced in the dry mix is nowhere to be found in the brewed tea. I know there were cherries in the contents of the brew basket. I get tea. A light, gentle tea.

Okay, scrolling down through the reviews, most people appear to have steeped it for 4 minutes. I did a two minute steep. But still, something? Anything? Sigh. I’m rather annoyed with myself, I don’t have that much of it. Anyway, hopefully in a few days I’ll try this again. I’ll hold off rating until then.

This was my first tea from 52teas and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. The dry tea leaves smelled very cherry-like and not a fake cherry smell either. I brewed for 5 minutes and the aroma of the tea reminded me of juicy cherries.

However, upon tasting the cherry wasn’t overwhelming and instead really complimented the white tea. I didn’t get the vanilla notes that other tasters got, but I did get a bit of an almond/amaretto flavor (unfortunately I wasn’t a big fan of those notes in this tea). Though I do like this tea, the almond/amaretto flavor was enough that I wouldn’t order it again (though my husband wholeheartedly disagrees with me and says that he would definitely order this tea again).