Royal White Peony

(DavidsTea 2022: 65)
2022 Sipdown 67/365!

I laughed when I navigated to this tea’s page and saw my previous rating, because when I gave the leaves/tea a sniff as I was brewing it, I definitely regretted my decision to drink it tonight, as it just did not smell appealing. Taste-wise, I don’t know if it’s really a 40, but it really just is not the profile of white tea that I enjoy. I struggle to describe it, but there’s kind of a staleness to it that just doesn’t work for me, contrasted with an “aged” flavour that I find and thoroughly enjoy in other white teas. (Yes, I know, that’s a terrible description but I did say I struggle to describe it!) I really have no idea what might be at the heart of this difference, but I could probably figure it out if I cared enough to (but, I don’t).

Bumping rating up a bit, 40 is pretty harsh. It is not that bad.

I may have oversteeped this one a tad, but I like it a lot nonetheless. I think if I had steeped it a little less long I’d be tasting more light vegetal notes. I’m tasting edamame and hay, with a very smooth finish. I do taste some more dusty (?) notes on the back of my tongue, maybe I left this tea in my cupboard too long (but I doubt it). I’m going to try rinsing the leaves before preparing this one next time.

Vegetal. Yup! Crisp, yeah I see it. Peas? Hmmm. More like green beans, I think. Or maybe edamame? I dunno. Not quite peas. Either way, I quite like it. There was a time this was my fave tea. (err. well, next to Assam which is kinda my forever tea home)
Unfortunately… This is starting to lose flavour. I have a few cups left. I don’t crave straight while teas often, so it takes awhile to get through samples. Maybe I’ll try cold brewing like Ms. Strange mentioned.
Then again, I find that non black teas… They are good to have in my office as our water filter system has a hot water feature, so I can get 90c water anytime (and wait a minute or so for it to cool if I need). So many decisions to make :P
My desk is far enough away from the kitchen area that filling the kettle and waiting for it to boil is a pain, esp since it has no whistle to let me know its done haha. Mine at home beeps.

So all of that said, does anyone know of a black tea that takes milk well, and can be steeped around 90c? I’ve tried it with my regular blacks and they’re “ok” but not as great as I know they usually are, which makes me want to just save it for later. Making it at home and trekking it in is a pain as well since it means I have to lug it on my 15+ min walk from the go train to work. Doesn’t sound like much but that is in addition to my gym gear and lunch. It adds up! Plus I generally don’t have caffeine until after I get off the go train.Cuz naps yo. So it doesn’t make much sense to carry. Anyhow. Sorry for the ramble. Input is welcome!

Brewed at 175 F for 1 minute. This tea was light and vegetal, and the brew smelt like peas. I steeped the second cup for 1 minute and 30 seconds and the taste notes mention mentioned before were intensified. The leaf is very light and she filled the can right to the top which was nice. I liked this tea and would recommend it to anybody who likes the characteristics mentioned above.

Sipdown (164)

Apparently I am the stereotype of an old person because in an attempt to google this tea for recommended brewing parameters, I ended up texting “Davids royal white peony” to a friend. She was confused to say the least. Eventually I did figure it out and ended up dumping the whole sample directly into the mug and steeping it at 170F. So now I am taking a break from watching Scream Queens to drink this grandpa style and while listening to the song suggested by Roswell Strange.

The music pairing for this tea is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff4KLQEbJ9Q

So this tea is very rich in pea flavor. Seriously. It’s as if I boiled peas and am now drinking the water left over in the pot. There is also a slight sweetness which compliments the upbeat nature of the song.

However, I must say that I don’t know if I would consider this the right tea for this song. I think something more summery and bright, although this does have a summery quality to it, would be better. I feel citrus notes or even more floral elements would better compliment the breezy romanticism of the song. That’s just me though. So despite enjoying the exercise, this pairing was lost on me. I love Mika though so I was more than happy to listen to the song on loop while I thought this out.

Thank you Roswell Strange!!

Cold Brew!

This one is fascinating as a cold brew because the flavour profile changes so completely. I almost don’t believe it’s the same time. The flavour is much more bold and full bodied, and there’s an overlying sweetness that certainly tops the subtle sweetness of the hot cup I enjoyed last week. In many ways, it reminds me of DT’s Elderflower Spritz blend which uses white tea in addition to sencha and other added ingredients. Mostly, that’s because this has a very sweet floral flavour with underlying fruit/berry notes. The floral notes are a little rosey but mostly generic. There’s also a touch of sweet lemon flavour. And of course you get hints of sweet hay as well.

It’s a very, very different experience but an equally enjoyable one.

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyASdjZE0R0&list=LL1M1wDjmJD4SJr_CwzXAGuQ&index=85

I started listening to this while drinking the tea even before I realized the floral notes were reminding me of roses, but it seemed even more perfect after I made the connection. The reason I actually chose this was because the flavour of the tea reminded me of the beautiful shade of pink used in the cover art for this song…

Steeping this one up for the first time today. It came out five days ago, on August 2nd, as DTs introduced three or four new unflavoured teas. I assume the rationale is to win back a bit of interest from those of us who are not fans of the over-imitation flavoured and over-imitation sweetened teas they’ve started cranking out lately. I was certainly happy to see that this bai mu dan was one of the new offerings.

I am breaking in a new glass tea jar—well, not all that new as I bought it at the tea festival here at the end of January, but I’ve just begun using it in earnest. Why have I waited so long to engage with this tea jar? I like the shape and I like the style, but two things keep me from using it for daily steeping and carrying, aside from my experience that glass teas jars don’t tend to be good containers for throwing into my bag on a day out in the world. The tea capacity of this one is only about 10 or 12 ounces, as compared to my 16 ounce glass tea jars. The second thing is that this one is glass on the inside and glass on the outside, which makes it more fragile in my world. I can’t speak to either the leak factor as I use it upright at home, or the how long does the tea stay hot factor as that doesn’t concern me much.

This tea is quite lovely: mild, vegetal, and creamy. Very nice. I am not detecting the fresh snow pea flavour advertised.

Because white tea is so light in weight in comparison to other teas, the DT person who served me when I bought this one crammed the tea into the bag and tapped it down with the metal scoop resulting in crushed leaves. I see them at the bottom of my jar and it hurts my heart a little. Criminal. It’d be nice if DT’s gave their staff a bit of instruction on respect for the higher quality leaf. Maybe that is too much to ask.

I am going to give multiple steeping a whirl and see how it goes.

Edit—The second steep is still lovely and light. This may be the last good one.

Taste 1: Vegetal
Taste 2: Fresh/Cool
Taste 3: Creamy
Intensity: Delicate
Mouth Feel: Crisp

I tried this in the store iced as I went to buy my matcha shaker travel mug. I quite enjoyed it. It was light and refreshing. I might buy some in the near future and try steeping it less than they did since I found it a tad too strong. I usually only steep my white teas 30 seconds or so.

A beautiful, fresh, and crisp straight white tea. Reminds me of fresh snow peas ☺️