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“Know what you get when you don’t really wash out your press from the last spicy pu’er you had and then brew white peony in it? Yeah, that’s right. White peony with a light ginger taste midsip. One...” Read full tasting note
“The following cracked me up in the description!! *Personality: White Peony is like the little sister of the Prom Queen (Silver Needles), you can hardly mention her without referencing her more...” Read full tasting note
“This is an excellent White Peony. Sweet, slightly grassy, but more hay-like than of grass. It is very delicate, but even though it is delicate, there is such a pleasing complexity to it that...” Read full tasting note
“This is wonderful. I am sort of in love with it which is a surprise because so far I had not really loved white teas. The leaf itself is beautiful and slightly strange – so silvery, so long, the...” Read full tasting note
Hanyu Pinyin: bai mu dan
Production area: Fuding, Fujian
Harvest time: Spring ‘2012
Type:
White tea
Overview:
Don’t let the name mislead you, White Peony is completely made from the Camellia Sinensis plant. It may look like withered flowers but that is because White teas undergo less stages of processing and are largely preserved in their original state.
Our White Peony is harvested from the Dabaicha (大白茶) cultivar grown in Fuding （福鼎）and consist of one 1 bud and 2 leaves.
Taste:
Refreshing with a more subtle but lingering licorice like sweetness
Liquor:
Clear golden with reddish hue
Personality:
White Peony is like the little sister of the Prom Queen (Silver Needles), you can hardly mention her without referencing her more illustrious sibling.
Removed from the shadows however, you will be pleasantly surprised at how well she stands on her own merit.
Company description not available.
Know what you get when you don’t really wash out your press from the last spicy pu’er you had and then brew white peony in it? Yeah, that’s right. White peony with a light ginger taste midsip. One of those stupid moments that actually didn’t turn out too bad even if it isn’t what I was going for. 3:00 and its the first tea I have had all day. Too busy.
I never see reviews of Peony Tea S anymore. I suspect shipping is the culprit as their tea is very good. This is 2 years old and still very fresh tasting.
The following cracked me up in the description!!
*Personality:
White Peony is like the little sister of the Prom Queen (Silver Needles), you can hardly mention her without referencing her more illustrious sibling.
Removed from the shadows however, you will be pleasantly surprised at how well she stands on her own merit.*
Awesome description!
These are some of the more (if not most) long and winding and stiffer peony leaves I have infused! I appreciate that about it.
My co-worker thinks I am crazy for drinking all this HOT tea when it’s 95+ outside…I keep telling her it’s cold inside because of the air conditioning and it’s moot-point. LOL
This smells slightly floral and slightly perfumy. It tastes floral but it’s pretty and crisp. One of the more NATURALLY flavorful Peony’s I have tried! Top-Notch Quality!
This is beautiful!
hahaha I told my coworkers the exact same thing! It’s totally cold from the air conditioning – perfect hot tea environment! lol
That IS a great description!
I will drink hot tea almost no matter what. :P
This is really good tea. I haven’t published my review yet but agree the personality description made me laugh out loud when I read it on their site.
This is an excellent White Peony. Sweet, slightly grassy, but more hay-like than of grass. It is very delicate, but even though it is delicate, there is such a pleasing complexity to it that develops as I continue to sip it. Such a sweet and memorable tea.
Toward the finish I notice a slight dryness, with the aftertaste that is sweet, dry and tasting a bit of the clean, mountain air in the winter. Cool and crisp like that.
As I said at the start, this is an excellent white peony… I highly recommend this one.
This is wonderful. I am sort of in love with it which is a surprise because so far I had not really loved white teas.
The leaf itself is beautiful and slightly strange – so silvery, so long, the strangeness that is the blossom. It smells wonderfully, an essence of tea smell with notes which remind me of raisins and yes, vague flowers (I have no idea what peonies smell like!).
I could not control temperature too well, so keep in mind the desired 80C are probably just an approximation. But regarding the liquor, brewing this at the advised amount with bottled water, at close to the advised temperature, and at 2 minutes per steep:
1st steep – very pale, very light golden with no hints of red (yet). Surprisingly full of body and tastes fruity and slightly floral at the same time, a taste which reminds me a bit of grapes – tiny grapes with a lot of skin but sweet table grapes just the same (comparing anything to wine grapes would not be a compliment!).
weirdly I do not like at all the smell during the steep, it smells very grassy and almost minty, I worry if I am using too hot water. But it does not translate to the taste of the steep
2nd steep – no worries after all. A deeper color, and flavour much richer, with perhaps even more body. No bitterness or astringency. Absolutely wonderful.
3rd steep – ah, now it has decided to remind that yes indeed this is related to black tea. The color now really has reddish tones. Just as sweet if not even more, with even more body, and the taste has now moved fully to raisins. I try to decide if this or the 2nd steep is my favorite, I decide the 2nd probably but it is close.
Brewing the 4th steep I am wary, I think the leaves are probably gone.
4th steep – but no, still alive and kicking. Slightly less rich than the 3rd steep, but still great and full of body. Lovely. I am going to go for a 5th steep but decided to stop the review right here since Peony Tea S only advises 4 steeps, not fair to take it further and risk finding fault on it when it´s me taking it past its limits.
I received this tea from Peony Tea S a few months ago, when they were asking for volunteers to test their shipping services, thank you so very much for your generosity! They selected the teas and I took my time getting to them. This was a weird psychological thing: a mix of weather, me being slightly intimidated by the tea´s obvious quality and wanting to try them for the first time when I could give them their due attention. I left this for last because well, silly me, thinking I was not fond of white tea. I was wrong, of this I am very very fond indeed.
Ah, a note, as advised by Derek, I kept this (and the green tea) in the fridge, sealed and double sealed from the rest of the fridge. I think it is more than worth that small effort!
That’s so interesting that takes on reddish hues! I’ve always neglected white peony for silver needles but this sounds so complex and lovely. You had me at “grapes”.
It does indeed take reddish hues but most noticeable at third infusion – I think third infusion really reminds you that hello, it´s the same plant as black tea after all!
About grapes, ah, it´s probably my cultural bias. I never smelled peonies in my life but can mentally file 10 or 20 different grape tastes ;) It goes a bit like little sweet ripe grapes to those grapes left in the vine which get all dried up and are oh so sweet but not dry enough to be raisins yet.
And do not tell anyone, but am drinking the 5th steep so far and it is lovely! Not as good as the previous ones but far better than any white tea I ever had. Weird, I like this bai mu dan much better than the silver needles I tried before.
I envy your ability to distinguish grapes. The greater complexities of grapes, and in extension, wine, are almost entirely lost on me. I’m at the level where I can say this one’s sweet, and that one not so much, and ice wine is very sweet.
It’s been a while since I’ve smelled peonies but the ones I did come across were of the variety with little to no scent. Faintly sweet, almost like a lily, if they did produce an odor, if I recall correctly. I’ve heard different variety of peonies can smell completely different too, and that certain teas have grape-like qualities to them, so your description is helpful. It definitely makes me want to pick up some of this.
Five steeps is great and marks a good tea! I rarely manage to get that many in.
I love peonies, the flowers, but almost have only seen them in florist – no scent, and the ones I have seen growing had very little! So no idea. But it might be like roses, a lot of roses you see grown ornamentally or particularly sold in florists have hardly any scent and can give only a pale idea of what truly old roses or roses grown for oil smell like. A rose garden of old species roses can be an incredible revelation.
Wine is everywhere in this country. It´s something I compare with tea a lot and which has a lot in common with tea.
I even made a sixth steep but the fifth was the last great one. Still five steeps, incredible.
peonies are my fav flowers (in light pink)- the smell is so wonderful really. I should try in a tea as well. Florist now have often “frozen” flowers…which leads to less perfumed flowers unfortunately
Oh I think white peony tea is usually not really scented with peonies (though I got a black blueberry tea which includes peony scent reportedly). These white peony tea is just, I think, literal translation from the Chinese bai mu dan ou tai mu pan or something like that. But it is just the name of this type of white tea, no peonies involved though sellers description mentions it is supposed to have floral notes similar to peonies.
okay so I’ll have to blend real peonies myself (!) oh lord it would be terrible if I blend a tea myself :D
No, it would be fun to “blend” a tea yourself! Well with some considerations, that it would be more like mixing or infusing, not really blending with oils. But it would depend on what you would mix – confess to sometimes mixing different loose teas! I got a very strong violet tea which is lovely if I mix it would something simpler and plainer. And made my own chai mix which turned out pretty OK! I think somethings, particularly already dried herbs and spices or flowers might be easier to work with – lavender, dried roses, cinnamon, etc. Lavender is so strong I guess it would work well (or perhaps too well!). But be careful with fresh flowers or fruits, they might rot in the tea and/or make the tea rot as well – I got a melon flavoured white tea which I swear tastes of rotten fermented melon, urgh. But if you are ever in London check Yumchaa´s Blueberry Hill, blueberries, cream and peonies.
I’m realizing that my nose isn’t my most discerning of parts (although physically one of the more prominent). Smelling the dry leaves stumped me so I cheated = I peaked at other notes. I have to use TeaEqualBliss’ description of licorice,just a hint. There’s a kinda hot cinnamon thing there too.
There are pieces and stems to the leaves, but that makes sense since they are so long and curled slightly. It makes for a fluffy sack of tea that crushes easily. I don’t have much to say about the unfurling. The liquor a light gold.
Really alot going on in this cuppa. A hint of that licorice, with a sweet heavier than grass flavor. I geuss I will agree with both LiberTEAS and K S in the use of hay in my description (see what I get for cheating,not an original thought one). The aftertaste is where I see the very sweet licorice tone the most. It’s astringency is low, but it’s flavor kinda bold, even after several infusions.
That’s it,…I like it!
tunes=William Elliott Whitmore-Old Devils/Digging My Grave/Dry/Red Buds
Folky with an edge.Throaty gravely voice.
I thought your last note was funny! LOL! And don’t feel bad about peeking at other notes. Would you make fun of a baby for saying BA-BA instead of bottle? You are learning, and we all had (have) to learn! I remember trying to describe Queen Catherine for the first time. I was so frustrated because I tasted something and couldn’t pin it down. My friend was drinking tea with me and was very experienced, said that it was just a touch smoky. Smoky! I would never have thought of that word with tea, but she was right! Your notes are very enjoyable. Have fun, and this is the best place to grow!
Ditto and thanks for the interesting musical recommendations. I’m a sucker for acoustic instruments and gravely voices!
And he is a fellow Hoosier. That makes 3 people in the state of Indiana that drink tea. LOL. I am not so all alone.
I finally tried this…thank you Derek Chew for sending me the sample! I agree with K S as to the smell of hay, but I was also getting some fresh cut grass in there too. I’m not a huge fan of white teas and no I don’t know why…so this was new for me. I liked it, but I think I might see if I like it better cold brewed.
read full review here http://wifeywoman.teatra.de/2012/07/14/two-out-of-three-isnt-bad/
So I agree with TeaEqualsBliss that the personality description is clever and hilarious. My thanks to Peony Tea S for the free samples, the sample bags they send me were huge! :)
Anyway, white tea isn’t among my favourites, and I haven’t had many, but I do indeed like Bai Mu Dan every once in a while. Its light, almost like drinking feathers in comparison to books that are black tea. I also found this tea to be incredibly smooth and definitely floral. The leaves are huge and fuzzy which throws me everytime, but definitely an enjoyable cup!
Ok, ok. Silver Needles may be the Prom Queen this year, but next year she will graduate and little sister will wear the crown! Wonderfully delicate and lighty floral. Luckily not much of the licorice is coming through. This one should be a staple for everone.
