White Temple tea

This one is from my latest A C Perch’s order which I received yesterday. Yes, the one with the enormous box. I’ve been eyeing it for a while because Rijje posted about it and it being a favourite of hers, and although I must admit to there being some sceptism mixed in with the fascination here, I decided to just go ahead and try it out. I’d probably do that sooner or later anyway, so why not just get it over with? And then I decided that if I didn’t like it, it wouldn’t really be such a bad thing anyway, because I could always ship it off to Greenland where I knew it would get a good home.

This being settled, I felt much better about making the order, and now it’s time to see if the white tropical explosion from 52teas is just a freak incident or if I actually really do enjoy tropical white blends as much as I think I do.

The leaves definitely smell strongly tropical. It’s more like sniffing at the contents of a snack bag of dried fruit than it is sniffing at tea leaves. Making a difference from the 52teas blend, this one doesn’t have coconut in it, which I take as a good sign as coconut in tea is very touch and go for me. Sometimes I think it works. Most of the time it just gets cloying. The pineapple is really strong here, as are the strawberries, and again, as I saw with the raspberry oolong, there are generous amounts of fruit chunks in here, and they’re big too.

After steeping the aroma is more or less the same but without that harshness that dried fruit can have. It smells warm and soft and very fruity, and it’s got an honey-golden colour in the cup. It doesn’t actually remind me that much of the aforementioned white explosion anymore, though, apart from both of them being white blends with tropical fruit. And based on the same type white I think if memory serves me right.

I’m surprised at the level of astringency here. It’s not super-astringent to the point where it becomes unpleasant, just nicely so. Initially I get the flavour of the white tea and not much of the fruit. The characteristic note of walnuts is coming through loud and clear. Then there’s a sweet pang of tropical fruit behind it and mostly on the swallow. If I keep it in my mouth a little longer before swallowing the tropical flavours really expand in the mouth and come out in a sweet fruity pleasantness. At this point is rather like the white explosion again, only a bit less explode-y and without the coconut. This is the more subdued version, the calmer, less impatiently enthusiastic variation of the tropical white.

I can’t get the tropical explosion again although I love it, unless Frank decides to make a new batch, but right now that’s not quite as big a catastrophe as before, because this is most definitely a very worthy substitute. Perhaps even a little better for the lack of the coconut.

Sorry, Rijje. I’m keeping this one, but thank you very much for the inspiration to try it. :)

Well, this is the first time I try a tea from A.C. Perch’s, and it seems to be a tea house with potential!
I have tasted some white teas before, but not many at all, to be exact this is the 2nd white tea I try, which is to say that it isn’t a lot.
The tea itself is Pai Mu Tan, can’t be anything else, the other white tea I’ve tasted was a silver needle, and it didn’t had much flavor. The dry tea smells nice. Fruity, exotic, sweet and so on. The leaves are quite big and flat, and the steeped tea got that characteristic, almost silvery color to it. White teas are so adorable in color. I steeped this tea for a long time, 6 minutes, maybe 7 minutes, but it doesn’t seem to be a too long steeping-time. I can not clearly tell which fruits it smells of in it’s liquid form, it is just one fruity orgy, but there’s clearly strawberry and pineapple in it.

The taste is sweet, which may be caused by the candied fruits added to this tea, and of course the white tea itself, which tends to be sweet. I almost only get strawberry and pineapple when I drink it, and it is also tart due to the pieces of fruits added to it. Great tea, but it really is a fruity orgy. I don’t think it overtakes the best Kusmi-teas I’ve tasted.

Overview:

Appearance: Big, flat white tea leaves, orange peel and candied fruits.
Dry tea-smell: Fruit. Strawberry, pineapple and papaya.
Color: Silvery.
Brewed tea-smell: Strawberry and pineapple.
Taste: White tea, sweetness and tartness. Strawberry and pineapple.

I first had this at my brother’s in Copenhagen, when we visited him last year. We enjoyed it so he sent us some for Christmas and now it is in the regular line-up of teas in our house. The best bit is being able to experiment with how I brew it, instead of relying on my brother’s Philistine ways with tea! ;-) So, I started the pot with two teaspoons of the tea in my 250ml glass pot and brewed it initially for two minutes at 80 degrees. Not enough flavour came through. It was pleasant and a bit bubblegum, but not as nice as I remembered it. After a bit of experimentation, I finally got it right for me. Between 75 and 80 degrees was the right temperature and a 3-4 minute steep brought out the flavours nicely. All the fruit came through, but delicately enough not to be overpowering. I did not notice much of the white tea, except as a background to the rest. Still, it was very nice and perfect for when I want something sweeter to drink. I wonder if it will be sufficient to counter my addiction to jelly snakes and jelly dinosaurs?

I really like the White Temple Tea from AC Perch’s. I love that I can forget it and let it steep for 15-20 minutes when chasing the kids. It is mild and slightly fruity.

I like this tea.
The color is light yellow, It’s smell sweet and “clean”, and then it tastes good.
Sadly enough I overstepped the steeping time. I like to just dip the tea lightly in the water and then fish it out. One of my friends calls it “Sweet water” but this is how I prefer it.
And I normally like my teas strong, so I guess it’s just this tea.

While waiting for my other cup to cool of, I can tell you about the tea I wrote about before “Pukka night time”. I left the teabag in the mug yesterday, only to discover it ripped open with it’s contents scattered all over the table this morning.
To people with cats, please keep the package of this tea out of cats way
… Or don’t. They really seem to love it and it it’s kind of fun watching them roll around the tea.

Now to the tasting notes:
It’s sweet and bitter. I can see pieces of fruits and so, but I can’t taste them.
Maybe it’s so well blended that the different ingredients become one taste. I don’t mind, I like this tea. Guess it’s fitting to drink after a sweet dessert.

I find this tea way too fruity, and I get the feeling of it leaving a plastic like film in my mouth after drinking it. I’m aware it’s a very popular tea, but it’s not for me I think.