I got this sample from Good Tea Leaf. I hadn’t heard of them before, but apparently they offer samples of tea from various tea vendors for a discounted price once a month. This one came from Nepali Tea Traders. Now, I typically try not to drink tea after about 9 but I just got home from work and it was such a snowy night here in KC that I couldn’t pass up a little tea time. I chose the white tea for it’s relative lightness, and lightness is exactly what I am getting.
I put 7g in my gaiwan and gave it a quick rinse. The little buds and leaves smell very mildly of dried grass with a touch of sweetness. A 10 second steep and I can barely make out any flavor profile. 15 seconds gives me a touch of the same sweet grass as before. I went ahead and skipped to 30s, 45s, a minute… still just sweet grass, maybe a touch of something citrus. When I reheated my water and gave it a longer steep at a highter temperature a decent amount of astringency came out. I will use the rest of the sample to brew this Western style.
Overall I wouldn’t buy this tea again, there are just too many good white teas out there. I also wonder when this tea was picked. A quick scan of the original website didn’t give a production date, and if this is a 2014 or before much of the original complexity could very well be gone. That said, I WOULD order samples form Good Leaf Tea again. Quick shipping and an overall good experience.
Flavors: Grass, Hay, Honey
