White Peony

My life has become so chaotic and unsure lately, remember my epic adventure I hinted at the other day, well nevermind about that. I will have an epic adventure, but it won’t be for at least another year…probably. See, things are crazy! So that means that some days there won’t be a blog and some days there will be two. Regardless of craziness, I have an excellent work in progress that I will be working on today…a tea table, yes, it is time to get back to work on my antique table turned into a tea table project. Still need to find a good water proof and heat proof varnish, since my last attempt at a water proof tea tray ended in sadness because the heat warped things.

Today’s tea came to me from Hong Kong, which totally made my day because that city is sooo high on my list of places I want to visit! From Man Cha Teas, I present White Peony! Ah, but this is no ordinary pile of fluffy Bai Mu Dan, this is something unique and spherical. From Fuding, China, this tea involves taking the needles and leaves of a typical Bai Mu Dan and gently withering them and wrapping them into a ball, sans any heating or drying. I think this is the first spherical tea I have had, not counting blooming teas, which are totally different. Before I get into the review, I want to point out the little card, one side has a lovely photo and the other a bunch of relevant info to the tea, I LOVE when tea companies include things like this, I tend to keep them as little relics of past teas. So, how does this little ball smell? The aroma is not too terribly strong, I get hints of honey, melon, and cucumber with a touch of sourdough bread and a general yeastiness. The melon and cucumber give the tea a bit of a cool edge, which is great because at the time of taking my tasting notes it was hot! It more I sniff the stronger the notes become, clearly warming it up with my sniffing allows the aroma to escape.

I decided to use my green gaiwan (easy gaiwan, pseudo houhin, whatever) for this orb of tea, it should have enough room for the ball to explode into a pile of leaves. The aroma of the partially fallen apart orb is pretty melon heavy, like a blend of honeydew and cantaloupe, funny…I kinda hate melon, but I like the notes in white tea. There are also notes of mellow cooling cucumber and a crisp muscatel note reminiscent of white wine. The aroma of the liquid is very mild with sweet spicy notes and a bit of honey.

Oh wow, the first steep is super sweet, starting out with a flower nectar and honey sweetness, it is very clean and clear tasting with a smooth mouthfeel. The initial nectar sweetness transitions to cooling cucumber and finishes off with a delicate sweetness. The initial steep was mild, but the itense sweetness made up for it.

On the second steep, the leaves have really exploded, no more orb to be found, and the color of the liquid has become quite dark and rich. The aroma is like a spicy white wine, makes me wish I knew more about wine so I knew exactly which one to compare it to! The taste is rich with a thick mouthfeel, there are notes of muscadines and honey, it reminds me of the Grecian honeyed wine I used to make and drink, very sweet and heady. The finish is cooling cucumber and a lingering cucumber aftertaste.

For the third steep, the aroma is a bit milder, like gentle honey and cucumbers, with a hint of white wine. The taste is surprisingly not as sweet, it takes on a slightly vegetal savory tone, with notes of cucumber and lettuce being the predominant notes. This transitions to a sweet grape and melon finish with an aftertaste of cucumbers. I enjoyed this sphere of white tea immensely, perfect for a hot day!

For the blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/06/man-cha-teas-white-peony-tea-review.html