My New Obsession is Moonlight Tea - Looking for More Info
Hi all,
I’ve recently been introduced to Moonlight tea – Yue Guang Bai – thank you OMGsrsly for sharing with me. I really like it and hadn’t heard of it until very recently. I’m now obsessed. I need more of this stuff. I have placed two order so I have more on the way, but am looking for more info from the community.
There has been some conversation in the pu’erh of the day thread, and some conversation on a couple of tasting notes but was hoping others might have further information.
Is it pu’erh or is it a white tea? There seems to be some inconsistencies on where companies list it.
Is the loose form a mao cha or is it white tea?
What are your favorites? Where do you buy it or where should I be looking for it?
I’d never heard of it so I’m also thinking that there are others out there who might enjoy learning about it as well. Just trying to open a discussion.
All info and opinions are welcome. :))
I’ve ordered these two:
http://www.dragonteahouse.biz/beauty-of-moonlight-white-yunnan-puer-tea-cake-2012-raw-200g/
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Premium-Yunnan-Organic-Moonlight-White-Buds-puer-Puer-Puerh-Loose-Leaf-Tea-Raw-/331433813419?ssPageName=ADME:L:OU:CA:3160
I also found:
http://www.esgreen.com/yue-guang-bai-moonlight-white.html
I am in love with it too! Phi sent me some a while back from Puershop and it was amazing. From what I gather, it is like yabao in the sense that it is processed like a white tea, but stands up to aging. I would guess that it is a sheng, and if you get it in loose form it could be considered maocha. They do have it in cake form too.
I am SO not an expert, but there is my 2 cents. Maybe someone who does know will chime in?
I’m just really confused. All the cake forms I’ve seen have been listed as “pu’erh” and some of the loose is listed as “pu’erh” but some loose is listed as “white”. Of the two samples I’ve tried I thought one had some earthiness to it – seemed a little sheng esque – the other not so much. Dunno – that’s why I’m asking….
Yeah, the one I had was a moonlight white puerh tea. There was an earthy/camphor taste to it along with hay and fruit notes. Pretty confusing!
A question I have is: sheng can be made of white tea can it ? Basically the process is the same except for the fact that it’s put into a cake no ?
BTW, I am in nothing an expert ether, which explain my stupid questions :P
I don’t really no much about it but Tanlong Tea has it sold as either 50g loose or a 357g cake. http://www.tanlongtea.com/collections/our-teas-puer/products/ancient-tree-moon-light-white-puer-357g. They are in Toronto so the prices are in CAD.
It’s definitely a white tea. Sheng is different in that it is pan roasted, just not long enough to cross the line into green tea territory. The leaves are also supposedly dried at night (hence the moonlight). They tend to have a very different taste because they are made from the Assamica variety in Yunnan rather than the Sinsenis variety in Fujian (where most white teas are made). I really like the ones offered by Wild Tea Qi, both the loose tea and the compressed bricks.
Interesting. I’m just confused because some companies list it as pu’erh, and one of the ones I’ve tried has a little sheng ish flavor to it. Thanks for your input. :)
No prob! There’s confusion with vendors too. The leaves used are the same that would be used to make puerh so a lot of that gets mixed up in translation. Add to that the recent trend of pressing white tea into cakes and it’s hard to know what anything is anymore :P
Wow how pretty is this – the leaves are just beautiful….
http://yunnansourcing.com/en/yi-shan-tea-factory-of-jinggu/3164-2014-yi-shan-autumn-white-tea-and-camellia-flower-cake-200-grams.html
Want! It will have to wait until after World Tea Expo but I am so ordering one of those.
Oh, that is gorgeous! I wonder if it taste as good as it looks. Awkward Soul/Oolong Owl, you should break into it and let us know!
Dexter , you are a bad influence! Now I am adding that to my YS cart.
I think White Puerh qualifies as the most confusing type of puerh. It is classified as puerh, aged like puerh, compressed like puerh. However, I don’t think it is puerh. But I admit I am not at all sure. I have that cake from DTH but have never tried it. I will try to pull it out of my pumidor where it is with my sheng and review it.
LOL This is not good news because I generally buy pu’erh based on how pretty the wrapper is…. If I can’t understand how to choose “real” pu’erh I might not stand a chance on this. :))
Would love to hear your thoughts on the DTH cake – I bought one because it was 200g vs 357 and the wrapper was pretty… no idea if it’s a good one or not. :)
I reviewed the one from Dragon Tea House. It was different. Not really puerh that’s for sure.
I read your review – One of the ones I tried had a little mustiness or age something that made me think of sheng – the other not so much – more of a white tea. Sounds like the one you tried was more white and possibly could use more of a Western style brew…. dunno – this stuff fascinates me.
Feel free to check out our Brick Aged White Tea.
http://www.shangtea.com/brick-aged-white
We specifically call it Brick Aged White Tea (and not Puerh) because we didn’t want people assuming our tea came from the City of Pu’er, or other cities within Yunnan. Also because of varietal differences, I assume some would call the Moonlight Tea, Puerh because it uses a Puerh varietal of tea plant or that its base material is from Yunnan. We also process our Brick Aged White Tea a little different than most Puerh is process. Most Puerh is rolled before being compressed into cakes. Our Brick Aged White Tea is just steemed and then compressed, no rolling or other processing involved. We also use the true white tea varietal (Da Bai, Da Hao) and source ours from an organic tea farm in Fujian opposed to Yunnan. So that is how we differentiate our Brick Aged White Tea between a Puerh. So they could be naming the tea based off the fact that it was just processed in a white tea style (if they are calling it a White Tea), even though it maybe Yunnan base material or that they are using a Puerh varietal, which could be their reasoning for calling it a Puerh.
Hope this helps!
That is great information – thank you so much for sharing. This actually makes me feel better. It seems like there are a lot of variables that could determine what the final product “is” and then the vendor has to decide how to best relay that to the customers. LOL no wonder I’m confused. :))
I love this one from Bana Tea Company http://www.banateacompany.com/pages/puerh_teas-Moonlight-Jingmai.html
There is also a 2007 cake. I haven’t tried, but sounds amazing http://www.banateacompany.com/pages/puerh_teas-Moonlight-cake.html
I know this feel. I went in to a shop I frequent one time looking for yabao; unfortunately, they’d sold out, but they recommended a yue guang bai to me. I got fifty grams after tasting it in-store and haven’t regretted it. I plan to save up a bit and go back to buy a cake.
Dexter, I would love to hear which ones you really love in the Moonlight tea once you’ve tried a few. I happened to order Yunnan Organic Moonlight White Buds Puer from Streetshop88 Ebay and loved it. Been trying out some samples Yang-Chu sent me too.
So far my favorite was the one that OMGsrsly sent me from The Chinese Tea Shop – it was a little white, a little sheng, and a whole lot of fruity honey goodness.
http://store.thechineseteashop.com/Moonlight_White_Pu_Erh_Tea_Cake_2011_GreenSheng_p/pugc-10-mlw.htm
My favourite has been the Streetshop88 one because it had fruity notes but they’ve all had that malty, honey, hay flavour. That one from The Chinese Tea Shop sounds really good!
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