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White Tea by Peet's Coffee & Tea
A whole-leaf white tea from Fujian, China. Smooth taste with fragrant notes of herbs, fresh grass, grapes and flowers.
Snow Leopard is the finest quality white tea of the style known in China as Pai Mu Tan, and is made from specially selected varietals of the tea bush. White teas go through minimal processing, but are highly dependent on environmental conditions for their quality. Plucking must occur in spring when the “flush” is at the correct size, and there is no rain or dew on the leaves. The fresh-plucked leaves are first briefly withered in direct sunshine, and then brought into open-air sheds for full withering/drying for a couple of days, where the wind moving over the tea is regulated by shutters on the shed walls. The final removal of moisture is done by very low baking. The resulting leaf style is open and irregularly shaped, composed of whole wilted leaves with whitish tips. Snow Leopard is smooth, with a fragrance reminiscent of herbs, fresh grass, and flowers, finishing with a white grape sweetness.
I think this may be my fallback tea to order whenever I find myself at a Peet’s.
Unfortunately everything gets steeped in boiling water so the subtleness was kinda lost here, but I was still able to pick up some notes of vanilla and flower. Pretty mild and smooth. I would have to make it myself at home to get a better assessment.
I had this tea in San Luis Obispo today, on my little Avila Beach trip. I used my “Free Cup of Tea” card to purchase this, even though I still had to pay a small amount.
Leaf Quality
They brewed the tea for me in a mug, without me being able to see the dry leaves, as they usually do. Luckily, I got to see the dry leaves in a sample jar. They were a light green, with fur on them. Many of these leaves were definitely buds. I did not get to smell them dry. The wet leaves smelled sweet and grassy, but very faint.
Brewed Tea
The tea yielded a very light, yellow-green liquor. It was very difficult to pick up a discernible scent from the tea, however, I am sure I picked up some floral notes. The taste was also light, but pleasant.
*Note: I am quite sure Peet’s used boiling water for the brewing of this tea. This could have messed with the flavor slightly, so I would like to try this at home in the future.
One of these days I’m going to have to actually buy this tea so I can steep it at a lower temperature. I always get this tea at Peet’s when I get a free tea from buying one of the other teas. I think the water is a little too hot.
A really nice white tea, doesn’t get too bitter even when brewed in water that’s a bit hot.
This is an excellent white tea. Could drink this all day. . .very very smooth.
No it’s not the OS (a Mac joke). A very sweet and flavorful tea. Light and refreshing on the palate. Dispels the myth, that you can’t drink tea on a hot day( it was 85 today). Prepped in glass gaiwan, I like to watch the leaves “dance” as the open up. Kept water at 170 degrees, 2 teaspoons , 6 oz gaiwan yielded 4 steepings.
