I finally tried the Harney & Sons Winter White Earl Grey today, having received a tin in one of their gift sets over the holidays. I had put off trying this one because I was too busy drinking black-tea based Earl Greys with light cream. I worried that I would not like this combination. Could I drink an Earl Grey without cream? White tea with cream just sounds like a disaster to me.
What I found today is that the first infusion was not very appealing. I followed the prescription on the tin, and I think that it was an oversteep. The range given was 3-8 minutes, and I opted for 5 minutes, with water cooled down a bit from having boiled. The liquor was peachy orange colored and the bergamot was completely overwhelming, to the point of almost being harsh.
Since this is a whole-leaf white tea (mutan) in a sachet, I did try a second infusion which was a vast improvement! Next time I’ll start with cooler water and a short steep and see whether I find the first infusion more appealing…
third infusion: yes, that’s right, one sachet three big 11 ounce cups! The second was the best, as the third started to seem a bit wan. Now I am pretty sure that I know how to tame this tea! Short steep; much cooler water. Let’s see: if I took about half of the bergamot out of the first steep, and added it to the third, it would be good. So I’ll try that.
Preparation
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Wow, it recommends 90°C that seems really high for a white tea.
yyz: I did not use a thermometer, but waited a bit before infusing, so I don’t know exactly what the temperature was. The instructions on the tin say to use below boiling water, so that’s sort of vague, but you are right that generally I brew white at a much lower temp, and I’ll do that next time. The second infusion, in fact was with the same water after it had been cooling down, so the initial problem was probably a combination of both overheating and oversteeping!
I find that three or four minutes is all you need.
I have this, and find it is much improved with a shorter steep.
Wow, it recommends 90°C that seems really high for a white tea.
yyz: I did not use a thermometer, but waited a bit before infusing, so I don’t know exactly what the temperature was. The instructions on the tin say to use below boiling water, so that’s sort of vague, but you are right that generally I brew white at a much lower temp, and I’ll do that next time. The second infusion, in fact was with the same water after it had been cooling down, so the initial problem was probably a combination of both overheating and oversteeping!
I find that three or four minutes is all you need.
I have this, and find it is much improved with a shorter steep.