Second to last untasted, unwritten about white tea in my cupboard! Yay! Tomorrow I can check another box. And soon after that another: I only have two oolong samples (that I’m aware of) left to taste and write about.
After today (counting the pu erh of the day) the cupboard count is:
15 pu erh
28 oolong
And a bunch of pu erh samples. I have no idea where they all came from.
Anyway, about today’s white tea. This is another one of those situations where I was driven to buy something because of aesthetics. I liked the name and the way the tea was tied into little blossoms.
The last time I had a tea in this sort of shape, I had trouble getting a lot of flavor out of it. I decided to steep this one at a hotter temp than recommended and at 4 minutes in the Breville. I used 8 stars.
In the packet, the tea has an earthy, white tea smell — that sort of je ne sais quois earthiness that if you have ever had white tea you know what I mean and if you haven’t, I want to say it’s a little like dirt, but in a good way.
For me, the tea is pale yellow — there is no green — and clear. It does not give off much aroma. What it does give off is a sort of sweet water smell.
It is very mild, as described. And not smoky, as described. And not bitter, as described.
I sort of wish they’d described what it was supposed to taste like, though. It’s always a little troubling when a tea’s taste can only be described by what it isn’t.
It does have flavor. Not a strong flavor, not a deep flavor (there I go again), but it does have flavor. It’s almost a little floral, like a faint petals and nectar flavor.
It’s one of those things I’ll likely keep longer than I would otherwise because I like the stars.
But it gets a rating on the higher side anyway because it has some flavor, unlike many other white teas I’ve tasted.
Flavors: Earth, Loam, Sweet
I can understand why you bought this. What a unique looking tea.
I steeped the little stars twice — the second time they started to come untied. It reminded me of hair coming out of a pony tail. LOL