Bai Mu Dan (White Peony)

I decided to continue with sampling this Peony tea, making this the second time steep. I placed a larger heaping teaspoon in the strainer and poured hot water into the cup and left to steep between 4-5 minutes.

Liquor color: Golden brew
Leaves color are full and a dark green

The tea becomes more vegetal than creamy since steep time is longer with more leaves added. The flavor is more like that of chestnuts, with a hint of smokiness since the water temperature was higher.

I find with the golden brew the taste is livelier, not mellow, with the nutty and vegetal flavor lingering as final notes.

I was able to steep this infusion three times and each time the liquor lightens there is less of a vegetal flavor, however the nutty/smoky aroma does continue to linger.

Most teas that I have been fortunate to sample as the flavor runs out or becomes tepid, I sometimes add my favorite store brought name brand green tea in a teabag to the cup. I do this as final test and since white teas can sometime be confused for green teas. I wanted to see if they could co-exist. And I am happy to say I did not note a disagreement.

With the green tea added all one could discern is vegetal green tea and no hint of melon at all.

This is the second tea from Steepster Select’s November “Migration” box that I’ve tasted. I can see the connection to “Migration” with this tea … the dry leaf is whole, dry and crisp, just as described on the card insert.

This is a wonderful Bai Mu Dan… sweet and flavorful. I can taste the melon-y notes, especially as the tea cools.

So I got this sent to me from Jason from the Surplus Giveaway, this happens to be the first tea I tried from the box! Huge thanks and kudos to him! :D
So I’m a huge fan of the White Peony from DAVID’sTEA, and because of that, I was intrigued into trying this tea because of my love for the one at David’s. They both in comparison have a different level of crispiness, I feel as if the one from DAVID’sTEA is a lot more crisp but I’m not quite sure, the taste in this one may not be right because of the way I steeped it, the bag came with no instructions so I just used my gut instinct. Nonetheless this tea has such a nice refreshing taste to it, a good break from all of the dessert teas I drink, and my constant abusing of my tin of Ginseng Oolong. I will most likely try this tea iced the next time, but I have a physics lab report to start and finish tonight, but other than that, this tea has made my day, and satisfied a craving I didn’t realize I had until after my first sip.

A beautiful tea with a light sweet floral taste and several other notes that appeared and disappeared including a sweet plum and a tease of champagne. It has a great deal of subtlety. It is a beautiful tea as well, from the perfect little leaves to the golden brew.

Did I put honey in there? No, but it sure tastes like I could have. Really nice white tea with just the right amount of sweetness. I wish I had more.

This one you can get a smell from a couple feet away. Not strong, but there.

This doesn’t have a lot of flavor, to me. It’s a bit sweet in the back of the throat, with a generic “tea taste” on the tongue… but mostly is just seems weak and watery. It tastes like I’d have to use a huge amount more tea for water amount to get a decent flavor going.

Not impressed, not a buyer.

This is one of may favourite teas, beautiful refreshing flavour and a real reward.

I love white tea. I really wanted to love this tea. But I’m coming to the bottom of my sample, and I’m just not feeling it. It’s supposed to have this nice, sweet taste, but I’m not tasting it. I even let it cool down a bit (actually, it’s about room temperature now, oops) but nothing comes out for me. I think my taste buds are broken.
It’s not unpleasant by any means, but I’m not running out to buy it. I’ve tried steeping it longer, too. How disappointing.