I’ve been holding onto my Shang white tea samples for a while, and I’m not sure why. I guess I’m just not always in a white tea mood. Well, today I am! There is a ton of tea in this packet and it seems like way too much for one cup, but I’m going to trust the instructions and go for it anyway. The leaves are large and overall, this tea looks similar to bai mudan. Dry scent is lovely sweet hay and oats. I decided to go with a 2 minute steep – I would generally go longer, but I was afraid considering the volume of leaves.
Oh, honey honey! The aroma smell deliciously of honey, which is not something I’ve really found in white teas before. There’s also an interesting sweet and slightly fruity scent that reminds me of juicy sweet grapes or a sweet Moscato. The flavor is classic white tea, but with a little bit of extra. It has the usual hay or straw flavor, along with a nice light graininess that reminds me of oats. The texture is creamy and lovely, it reminds me almost of soy or almond milk. Over everything is that amazing sweet honey that I was smelling in the aroma. I can taste the honey throughout the entire sip, from beginning to end, but it’s not overpowering of the other flavors. There’s a wee little bit of cucumber that pokes its head out near the end, and it adds a nice refreshing element.
Overall, a lovely and delicious white tea with an amazing amount of (unexpected) honey flavor. :)
Flavors: Creamy, Cucumber, Grain, Hay, Honey, Oats
