This is just not enjoyable tea.
Adagio says: “An exquisite version of the White Peony”… White Peony, at least the ones I have had, are beautiful teas. This tea seems to have aromas which remind you of being in the ape house at a zoo. Dry grassy wild-brush, mild floral notes, perspiring animal, white pepper and minerals dominate the flavor profile; the mouth-feel is quite off-putting. The tea was in a sealed pouch sample bag… so its probably not old, and I am very familiar with preparing white teas so its not over-extraction.
I am all for funky tasking unique teas… this isn’t that. This tea just isn’t very good. Disappointing… but its alright, I have been on a streak of good teas so I was bound to hit a bump! Not throwing it away, I will experiment with different infusions and update if I can make it acceptable… or give it to someone I don’t like very much!
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Ahaha! The primate house at the zoo, oh man I know that smell. If you decide to experiment with this more, you might try steeping it for just 1 minute. Use 2g of leaf per 100ml(about 3 oz) of water. You can get multiple infusions this way, at least 3 or 4 good ones. 185F is what I always brew white tea at.
I’m not very well-versed in western style brewing. Most of the teas I’m interested in come from China, Japan, and Taiwan where tea is brewed in much smaller receptacles and for shorter durations, often with more leaf than Western style would use, and more repeated infusions. As I’ve never brewed White Peony western style, I can’t really say how it tastes that way, but I can say that I tend to appreciate white teas for their lighter qualities so to steep them for long periods of time is sort of unfathomable to me. I have done some longer infusions in the gaiwan before and they just tend to come off very dry and flat tasting. You really miss out on the complexity of the delicate notes white teas are famous for because the amount of flavor just suffocates them. On the other hand, I am spoiled to have a vendor in Kansas City here who specializes in white tea, farms it himself in Fujian province China, and has some of the best white tea in the world. Some types I’ve tried from other companies have been almost tasteless or tasted just weird… like paper or musty, haven’t run into primates yet though, though I don’t doubt I will someday!
Some silver needle and other bud-heavy white teas tolerate longer times simply because it takes more time to saturate the buds and pull out the flavor than with these delicate white peony leaves. It could be that steeping your White Symphony lighter (shorter time) will help pull out better nuances, or it could be that this tea is just not good stuff. I haven’t had it. Good luck with it anyway!
Ahaha! The primate house at the zoo, oh man I know that smell. If you decide to experiment with this more, you might try steeping it for just 1 minute. Use 2g of leaf per 100ml(about 3 oz) of water. You can get multiple infusions this way, at least 3 or 4 good ones. 185F is what I always brew white tea at.
I’m not very well-versed in western style brewing. Most of the teas I’m interested in come from China, Japan, and Taiwan where tea is brewed in much smaller receptacles and for shorter durations, often with more leaf than Western style would use, and more repeated infusions. As I’ve never brewed White Peony western style, I can’t really say how it tastes that way, but I can say that I tend to appreciate white teas for their lighter qualities so to steep them for long periods of time is sort of unfathomable to me. I have done some longer infusions in the gaiwan before and they just tend to come off very dry and flat tasting. You really miss out on the complexity of the delicate notes white teas are famous for because the amount of flavor just suffocates them. On the other hand, I am spoiled to have a vendor in Kansas City here who specializes in white tea, farms it himself in Fujian province China, and has some of the best white tea in the world. Some types I’ve tried from other companies have been almost tasteless or tasted just weird… like paper or musty, haven’t run into primates yet though, though I don’t doubt I will someday!
Some silver needle and other bud-heavy white teas tolerate longer times simply because it takes more time to saturate the buds and pull out the flavor than with these delicate white peony leaves. It could be that steeping your White Symphony lighter (shorter time) will help pull out better nuances, or it could be that this tea is just not good stuff. I haven’t had it. Good luck with it anyway!