Malawi White Peony

At 9am the city water guys came to the door to tell me they’d be turning my water off at 9:45 for 2 – 3 hours, so I jumped in the shower & got cleaned up. Then I realized I needed to hoard some water for my tea!! I filled every available jar, pitcher, measuring cup, etc. I also quickly washed the dished that were basking in the sink. And I filled a couple of buckets in the bathroom so the toilet could be flushed.

I haven’t really drank much tea so far today, as my guts are still a little out of sink from being sick. I tried Tazo’s Wild Sweet Orange, but it quickly became clear that THAT wasn’t going to work out (way too acidic, I don’t even like it on a good day). Down the drain.
I liquidated 2 apples in my vitamix…that was good.
I liquidated a carrot in my vitamix…also good.
I ate 1/2 an avocado & took a few sips of cultured kraut juice to get some healthy bacteria into my guts.
I think I deserve some tea now.
This tea is mild, which is not necessarily what I want, but it is what I need. There is a very small hint of maltiness & roses, & a citrus brightness as well.
They never did turn off the water…so far…

Having a cup Malawi White Peony this evening. We spent most of the afternoon at the movie theater watching “Cloud Atlas” – it’s nearly three hours long, longer if you account for the previews! But it was a really amazing movie. Now I need to read the book.

Anyway… YOU too could be drinking this tea – did you know that we’re giving away a $20 gift certificate to Butiki Teas on the SororiTea Sisters blog? This giveaway ends tomorrow! http://sororiteasisters.com/2012/11/14/its-time-for-a-giveaway/ Did I mention that there is also free shipping that goes along with the gift certificate? Awesome!

This is really excellent – one of the nicest “white peony” teas I’ve had, and it’s not from China! It has a juiciness to it, the citrus tones really come right out and enhance the overall flavor. Vegetative too, and the fruit and vegetative notes really mingle well together. A really outstanding white tea.

I have a wee bit of this tea left, I think I shall send it to my SororiTea Sister Azzrian!

This is FAB!

The leaves are amazingly HUGE and of different colors and sizes!

It’s incredibly fresh and is slightly florally-sweet. There is a hint of maltiness to it for a white which is nice and a tad fruity in the aftertaste.

What a great white!

Another sample from Stacy (thank you!)

I loved how large the leaves were for this tea- I felt like I was steeping something wild and exotic as I poured the water into my teapot.

Once the tea was finished steeping, I poured it into my cup & was greeted by a delicate floral scent with what seemed like hints of hay as well? Very light and inviting.

The flavor of this tea was very smooth, floral (kind of rosy, maybe? I’ve never had any rose teas so I’m just guessing here) with slight hints of what I’d describe as lime zest. Absolutely lovely.

Butiki Teas, you did it again! :) I am totally impressed. I love how they named their company Butiki, which means lizard in Tagalog! Yep I’m Filipino! And they have a great variety of African teas, of which I am an absolute huge fan.

So onto Malawai White Peony. The leaves are very LARGE and of different colors. Some a deep green, some with brown, and others with yellow. They fit nicely in my kyusu.

The liquor was a very light yellow color. The scent was a little vegetal and floral. I love the taste! It is so light and refreshing! It goes down smoothly and is very clean. There is no astringency or bitterness to it. There is some green-ness to this taste, but not grassy. There is some floral tones with a slight sweetness to it. Overall, this is a good tea!

Tried this again this morning. I was able to smell the rose that others and the website mentions last night, but this morning I was able to detect the “lime” flavor that I missed last night (my dinner was soup that had lots of garlic and sriracha). This is a tea that I would drink happily with both sweet and savory foods, but it’s not the kind I would drink alone. Right now I am about to brew another cup to have with the Sakura/Matcha Kit Kats my mother brought back for me from Japan. I know they aren’t vegan, but I’m making an exception because they were a gift… I’m not sure if this is going to be a good combination or a terrible one!

I’ve been admiring my Butiki order and finally have the constant drizzle of a day perfectly suited for bai mu dan. This tea has such large leaves I can’t even fit them in my gaiwan. After much awkward head scratching, I finally decided that a kyusu would be the best method. Wouldn’t it be great to have one?
Regular sencha pot prep this is a slightly floral and earthen. It reminds me of Mars and Frontier’s bai mu dan, oddly. There’s no bitterness and as it cools it becomes less floral and gains a more classic bai mu dan savory taste.
Absolutely awesome. Butiki is definitely one of favorite tea merchants now.

Here’s a unique white tea if I ever tasted one. It tastes like roses and chocolate, a good tea for a special occasion ;)

I personally don’t like rose, natural or added, so it’s not the best tea for me, but I highly recommend it to those who do and to those who usually don’t like white teas.

Sipdown! I’ve been waiting until my tastebuds are back to normal to try this one. Sure glad I did!

The leaves of this one are huge, and remind me of a Shou Mei I had once. Awesome.

This one tastes really nice. It is a delicate, smooth tea for sure. Slightly malty in taste, with a nice sweetness – almost fruit like in nature. Maybe lemon? It’s not sour, but the sweetness seems familiar. A slight buttery feel and flavor are present…yum. There are also some vegetal notes, with a hay-like taste that makes this cup super calming for me. Brings me back to a time where I used to muck horse stalls and take the horses out in the field and watch them play. I’m picking up very subtle floral notes – nothing screams I AM A FLOWER to me, which is nice. =)

Overall, I may have to add this to my list of future purchases. I enjoy nice cups of white tea, and this one is towards the top in my book. Very pleasing. Thanks for the sample, Stacy!

Well first I have to say, WOW! This is a really, really good white tea. Generally, I prefer the whites to the greens because they tend to have less of a “fresh mown grass” flavor to them. This was incredibly light and fresh with hints of citrus to it. It gives the mild impression that you are drinking fruit juice instead of tea. As a few people have noted before, the tea leaves are huge. It comes with whole leaves still attached to twigs. This was a little tough to get in the brew basket of my two cup pot, but I decided to drop the leaves into the pot and use the basket as a strainer. Worked like a charm. If you like white teas, give this one a try. Highly recommended.