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“Had this both iced and hot and it was tasty both ways. Unfortunately, it fulfills it’s namesake, which means I drank it lazing around outside and can no longer recall the greater finesse of this...” Read full tasting note
“I had a sample of this from Kittenna for months now and for some reason it dawned on me today that I have yet to try it. This one is nice, citrusy and vanilla, though I don’ think I am getting the...” Read full tasting note
“My summertime white tea has no citrus pieces in it, so I hope this is the right listing? Delicious bai mu dan base that tastes like dried leaves/slightly vegetal. I would describe it as “crisp” and...” Read full tasting note
“kittenna gave me a small sample of this one and it was pretty tasty. It’s not as intensely creamy orange as i’d like but it was really enjoyable. Final Count: 92” Read full tasting note
Tea Description: Since summertime is upon us, I decided I needed to have a tea that I dedicate to the hot days of summer. Something light, sweet and refreshing. Something that’s naturally cooling whether you’re serving it hot or over ice. So I came up with this blend – aptly named “Summertime.”
I started with a beautiful, fluffy Bai Mu Dan and added essence of orange, vanilla and a hint of honey. Then I added dried orange sections, orange blossoms and vanilla bean. The result is a creamy, orange-y, delightfully delicious treat that you’ll want to stock up on for your summertime enjoyment – but quantities are VERY limited on this tea as I only had a pound of Bai Mu Dan on hand at the time of blending.
ingredients: organic white tea, orange blossoms, dried orange sections, organic vanilla bean & organic natural flavors.
At 52teas.com, you will find unique, hand-blended artisan loose leaf teas: a new limited edition creation every week of the year. We pride ourselves on offering truly unique, one-of-a-kind tea blends that you won’t find anywhere else.
Had this both iced and hot and it was tasty both ways. Unfortunately, it fulfills it’s namesake, which means I drank it lazing around outside and can no longer recall the greater finesse of this tea. It was good though, and will be missed!
Flavors: Blueberry, Orange, Orange Blossom, Vanilla
I had a sample of this from Kittenna for months now and for some reason it dawned on me today that I have yet to try it. This one is nice, citrusy and vanilla, though I don’ think I am getting the same creamsicle flavor that others have had. Though this definitely nods towards that, it is more citrusy than orange and the citrus borders a little on the side of chemical. I can see why people enjoy this but for me, the sample was enough. Thank you Kittenna!
My summertime white tea has no citrus pieces in it, so I hope this is the right listing?
Delicious bai mu dan base that tastes like dried leaves/slightly vegetal. I would describe it as “crisp” and clean, perfect for a cold brew.
I taste fruit, but more blackberry and raspberry than citrus. It is fairly crisp, so maybe that’s the lemon/citrus. The white base really comes through, the fruit is present but in the background. This is a perfect flavoured white tea because you can really taste the high quality base.
Flavors: Blackberry, Fruity, Sweet, Tannin, Vegetal
It’s not Shou Mei – it’s Bai Mu Dan. :)
Corrected, thank you. either way, the choice of base is perfect!
I’m glad you liked it – I didn’t mean to sound snarky or anything so I hope it didn’t come off that way. Since I have made an effort to move away from using Shou Mei as a base, I just want to make sure people know that. Shou Mei is considerably cheaper than the Bai Mu Dan that I use now – but the Bai Mu Dan is so much better in every respect other than cost. The one exception to my “moving away from Shou Mei” statement is that I have used it in several blends with Houjicha – I like the way it lightens the toasted flavor of the Houjicha. Although, now that I have cleared away my stock of the Shou Mei, I may try to find a substitute for it in the Houjicha blends because I just do not care for Shou Mei.
Oh no, not at all. I’m a huge fan of aged shou mei, but less so with bai mu dan (too vegetal to drink plain). I do enjoy both used in blends, I just find shou mei to have a great flavour profile that is quite strong but never grassy or “green”. I would definitely be interested in shou mei blends, but I can see how you would avoid using it if you aren’t a fan. I think you do a great job of picking the perfect base/blend of bases to use in each of your teas.
May I suggest looking into kukicha as a base for teas too? Can’t go wrong with kukicha genmaicha or maple kukicha. ;) It’s cheap and everyone seems to like it (compared to more vegetal vegetal green teas).
I don’t think I’ve had a chance to taste your houjicha/shou mei blends yet, although I’ve been eyeing my unopened package of toasted marshmallow for a morning latte.
I’ve used a green kukicha for a blend (lemon-lime meringue) and I enjoyed it. I want to find a better supplier for it though. :)
Thank you for the suggestion!
I don’t believe that the Shou Mei that I had been using was an aged Shou Mei. I think most of my dislike of Shou Mei lies in the fact that the one supplier that I did utilize for the Shou Mei that I had in stock – the material was far too stemmy to earn my appreciation. I had received a sample of the Shou Mei before I purchased it, but I didn’t find the sample as stemmy as I found the kilo that I purchased afterward to be. I found myself picking out so many stems as I was blending it – and I know that I still didn’t get all the stems out of it – so I found myself rather frustrated with that from a quality aspect.
Sipdown (in the middle of winter) Purchased Aug 2016
Western – 12 oz. 3min/170F & 3min/160F
Orange, lemon, hay, smooth. & Orange and vanilla. The cooler water brought out the vanilla flavor, but I lost the white tea base. I liked the combination of the vanilla and orange.
Flavors: Hay, Lemon, Orange, Vanilla
This tea is pretty great. More or less an orange creamsicle in a mug, which is what I was hoping for. Nice light base, lovely vanilla-orange flavour. A hint of sweetness.
don’t even remember seeing this one :(
Sil – it’s still available: http://52teas.com/summertime-white-tea-taster/ It wasn’t a tea of the week, it was a VIT.
This is an all-new VIT that I crafted for (interestingly enough) summertime.
I had a pound of Bai Mu Dan in stock and decided that this was the time to use it since Bai Mu Dan has always been like a summertime type of tea. It’s light, refreshing and is naturally cooling. Even when I drink it hot, I find it to be very cooling and much more refreshing than a cold soda. (Then again, I may be biased?)
To that pound of Bai Mu Dan, I added orange blossoms, dried orange segments and then I diced up some vanilla bean and added some natural flavors to create a creamsicle type of experience. It’s sweet, refreshing and really, really good!
I’ll be adding this to the website by Sunday evening.
Flavors: Creamy, Fruity, Honey, Orange, Sweet, Vanilla
I got some vanilla bean powder and it’s pretty good, I wonder how that would work in a tea? It was sent to me free for review.
One of the companies I get spices from sells a powdered vanilla bean but I haven’t tried it. I worry that it might be too fine a powder for the tea – that the consistency wouldn’t work quite right – and because vanilla bean is probably the most expensive ingredient that I work with on a regular basis, I don’t want to spend that kind of money on an experiment so work with the whole beans instead.
That sounds delicious! Where do you buy your orange blossoms? I’ve been looking for some.
@rosebudmelissa – I get mine from a wholesale supplier, I wish I could be of more help.
No problem :)
