Pai Hao, Bai Hao, “Oriental Beauty,” “White Hair”…So when Payton and I did a comparison of this tea with Darjeeling Himalaya and Chi-tsu Bing Cha (see other notes!), we recognized a core note of woodiness which we later modified to “walnut shell.”
Bai Hao deviates from this center in that it breathes an earthier, saltier flavor…which I have always considered the perfect likeness to a pile of crisp autumn leaves fermenting and baking in the orange October sun. Now that I have been eating seaweed granola for several months, I also detect an unmistakable flavor of seaweed in Bai Hao’s cup. Dulse, to be exact. Payton commented on a burnt sugar flavor, and now I’m thinking of (vegan) pumpkin pie along with that pile of leaves…I always crave this tea when the season shifts over to the vermilion days of fall.
HOWEVER…{I humbly implore the Vermont sun}…that won’t be for a while yet, right?
I’m liking summer. Thanks.
Pai Hao
“A deep amber cup which gives a semi-sweet and slightly earthy flavor.”
