What-Cha keeps impressing me with their ability to find the unusual and delicious. The leaf is so white it looks ghostly. Instead of soft tender buds, these seem more crisp. The dry aroma is field grass. Once brewed the first cup seemed more green tea like than white. At first I thought it tasted dairy or milky. As it cooled it became creamy corn. Behind it is a vegetal green flavor and the good type bitter of excellent green tea. This is interestingly complex but not particularly subtle. That is unusual for a white. Had I not seen the dry leaf, I would have a hard time believing. A white tea for people who don’t care for subtle white tea.
The second cup is totally different. It reminds me of sheng. The main flavor is apricot. Along with it is the bright sheng bitter. It doesn’t seem drying and doesn’t have cheek tingle. It just has a neat edge. A shorter second steep might calm it but I’m kind of liking it. So I have a white tea, that is at first like a bold green, then becomes a young sheng. How cool is that?
I am finding Vietnam teas to be bolder and just different than other regions in a good way.
