White Peony King

This tea is superlative. I would have to say that it’s my favorite of all of the white peony whites I’ve ever tasted. I’ve never had a bad one, because white peony is my favorite of all teas, but Shang’s White Peony King, which is his top grade grown on his own white tea farm in China, is perfection.

One of my favorite teas to drink. This tea is so smooth and delicate and can be resteeped 6-7 times without any problems.

Backlog.

This was the last white tea I had at my campus dorm three days before I moved out, three days before graduation. It turned out so much better than the first time having a great balance of malt, herbs, peony florals, and sweet melon in the taste. I got some apricot as some had described and some definite creamy oat qualities along the way. I just had to write that out, and again, thank you so much Nicole for this offering! I hope the teas I sent you are treating you well!

Today’s cold brew. 30oz water, leaf added until it looked good.

Juicy, crisp and thick. Reminds me of clouds and cotton. Flowery at end of sip – probably the peony. Flavor coats mouth for a while after.
Good staying power. I’ve refilled once and leaves still had flavor to give. Leaves are intact, so no little bits up the straw like yesterday. 94

Sipdown! (135)

I seem to be rarely in the mood for white teas, so much so that I think I need to make myself try one every day, just because I have quite a few samples to get through. I believe this is my very last sample from my visit to Shang, and I have certainly enjoyed all of their teas so far. The leaves look similar to other bai mudans I’ve had – a varied mixture of sizes and colors with some silvery buds mixed in. Dry scent is lovely grain and hay with sweet honey. I only did a 2-minute steep because there was so much leaf (I used the whole packet, as they recommend on the instructions).

The brewed aroma is a mixture of oats and sweet hay with a lovely honey scent and just a hint of either melon or cucumber. Yum yum yum! This tea is deliciously grainy, like all of Shang’s teas have been. The flavor seems most similar to oats in my opinion. There’s also hay, but in a mild sense. Overall, it’s quite sweet and creamy and feels lovely in the mouth. I thought I tasted a hint of cinnamon in a couple of sips, but I never really got any of that melon/cucumber from the aroma. Overall, very delicious if you enjoy grainy teas. :)

Backlog!

Shang Tea don’t have any mediocre tea to offer, not to mention a bad one. It’s pretty apparent. I still haven’t tried the entire sampler that I got from them but I don’t think there was yet a tea from them I’ve had that I was at least remotely disappointed with.

I don’t have straight white teas very often. Not sure why because I definitely enjoy them. I know that to some white teas don’t taste like much of anything, but I have always enjoyed their delicate and sweet notes. Anyway, the cup of this tasted unmistakably of honey, smelled gorgeous and I loved it. I am not sure if I would get more of it as I would probably go with their honeysuckle white instead, but I definitely recommend it to all the white tea aficionados!