Starter Tea Sampler

I do have a White Peony sampler thanks to Kaylee who kindly swapped this one with me. I didn’t wanted to make a new listing for that.

Some background info from the pouch:
Picked: March 2021
Origin: Zhenghe, Fujian, China

I used 3 grams from 8 grams pouch — I wanted to use all 8 grams, but decided to follow a bit the instructions written — 3 g, 150 ml, 85°C…

My gaiwan is only 125 ml; but I was too lazy in hot days to calculate how much tea I should use.

But nevertheless, I have a wonderful tea, that invited me with aromas of muscat, white grapes and flowery aroma, while just in pouch. It was sealed very well apparently, considering it is 4 years old white tea!

And then, brewing; I have started with 10 seconds and did 10 seconds increments and sometimes just 5.
It was so flavourful, smooth and refreshing, with cucumber and muscat being the dominant flavours. As I know, that white tea, even hot can be nicely refreshing in hot days… this was like cooling me down like a little shower.

Also the visual of the tea was very nice; very fuzzy buds and one leaf; very bright green and almost silver in color.

To sum up, I am surprised this one was so flavourful despite its age, and so refreshing. It will be a shame to finish this one soon, so I guess I have to look after some good whites soon-ish.

Saw this on Nichole’s blog, and reading the description, the milk oolong was not a usual Jin Xuan: it’s actually a Shan Lin Xi Jin Xuan. So with that and stellar reviews of the company from many bloggers, I got some.

Of course, I began with the Green Oolongs.

Yunnan Black-cake style black.
I tried it out first to give it a chance and at behest of dark chocolate notes and crashing from pneumonia symptoms. It’s smoother than most Yunnan Blacks with some pu-erh like qualities, very Cabernet like in parallel notes. It was more malty and tannin heavy than I like in my blacks, though not bad. Only got through four rebrews though before I gave up.

Milk Oolong-
If I were blind tasting this, I would have thought Shan Lin Xi because of it’s thick, sweet profile and high mountain misty quality green and florality. I do get orchid and some definite hazelnut in layers, but not so much on the “fudge.” Maybe oolong spinachy milk in the viscousness? Still good, though I have not made up my mind on it yet. I do like it very much in comparison to other Jin Xuan’s I’ve had.

High Mountain Oolong
It’s an Alishan, and I forced myself to try to be surprised I liked the it best, yet I was not. It’s technically more vegetal than the Milk Oolong, and very nutty with a slightly higher oxidation while still being green, buttery and naturally sweet. I finished it quickly.

The Bai Mu DAn
Higher trichomes than normal, some needles with the rest of the silver leaves. Very crisp and vegetal, cucumber, bready, light, and malty. I have yet to get the muscat grapes described. Maybe white grapes. Good and I still need to play with it.

Haven’t done the Ceylon yet or the lemongrass. They’ll come in the future. Oolongs impressed me overall the most. The milk oolong was more distinct, though the High Mountain Oolong had the fullest flavor. The Bai Mudan is the highest quality, though it’s finickier to brew than expected. I was very pleased with everything I got though, and am enjoying my new tea journal.