65
drank White House by TWG Tea Company
33 tasting notes

TWG finally managed to let me down, wow. I picked this up from Dean & Deluca instead of a TWG salon, just because I was there and I wanted to try a few new TWGs.

Looks like a shoumei white, leaves with no buds and brews fairly dark. This makes sense as well, since the characteristic TWG floral blend you find in a lot of their other main teas is present and pairs well with the lightly fruity crispness of the lower quality showmei whites. The strength of the floral and berry notes is dialed way down to make room for the tea to come through, but in my opinion is still too strong and the white tea is too low a grade to warrant their name being on the label or to even notice this is much of a tea at all. I think this is one of those “mass market/appeal/bulk” teas some larger firms pump out to milk their brand value to appease the accountants and shareholders, while keeping a portfolio of much better single-estate and higher quality blends to keep the connoisseurs and fans attached.

I’ll finish what I have, strip the label and keep the double-lid tin for future teas I buy and bring home from their tea rooms, but unless I find some for darn cheap it probably won’t make its way back into my collection.

Flavors: Berries, Flowers, Fruit Tree Flowers

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 3 min, 0 sec 4 tsp 10 OZ / 300 ML

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Musician, pilot, philanthropist, tea lover. Nothing beats a spiced oolong at 10,000 feet. Except maybe a cuppa dian hong with my feet next to the fireplace. Or some fresh bai hao yin zhen before bedtime. My rating system is pretty much like this:

1-20 : ‘Blech’ cuppa. Didn’t even finish the one I brewed, rest went in trash. That bad, at least for me.

21-40: ‘Meh’ cuppa. Finished it but threw away the rest of the tea or used it for other purposes like baking, gifts for in-laws, or serve to unwanted houseguests. Kinda like Twinnings or Lipton bag tea.

41-60: ‘Standard’ cuppa. Won’t buy any more, but will certainly brew all that I have left. Probably will use it to blend with other teas or as a base, or large quantities of iced tea for parties and such.

61-80: Good cuppa. Now we’re talking. Worth buying more if at the right price, love blending some of these too. Sometimes a few oddballs will find their way into this score just because I liked the fruity flavor or having it as an iced tea. Also my starting score range for new kinds of tea until I develop a good feel for my preferences or learn to better distinguish quality characteristics.

81-99: Awesome cuppa. You’ll probably find this in my pantry pretty regularly, unless it has been discontinued or I’m waiting for my next trip to Asia or Europe to pick up some more. Holds up well to multiple infusions (unless black/herbal), and will typically drink it unadulterated/straight. I’ll gladly pay premium prices and chances are I’ll be ordering and tasting a bunch of other teas this producer/company offers.

100: Cuppa bliss, oh where have you been all my life???! I will burn frequent flier miles and journey to the ends of the earth while paying nearly any price to make sure I have this stocked at all times. Over time as I discover some magical new teas, a few may fall off this list. Try to keep it max 1 per type of tea.

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