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“Experience buying from Tea Trekker http://steepster.com/places/2820-tea-trekker-online-northampton-massachusetts Age of Leaf: Harvested spring 2010. Received spring 2011, brewed up summer/fall...” Read full tasting note
Yue Guang Bai is a deliciusly unusual green tea. In addition to showing the bright, pure flavor and clarity of an early season green tea, Yue Guang Bai fills the mouth with a richness that only a first-class white tea or a world-class oolong will have.
The core flavor of Yue Guang Bai is mysteriously subtle and layered with nuance. Tea drinkers who seek a green tea that has a full-bodied mouth-feel with absolutely no astringency will find this tea from the sub-tropical region of Yunnan Province irresistible.
Yue Guang Bai is a big, light, fluffy leaf tea reminiscent of the SunShine Tea™ from Yunnan that TeaTrekker featured for many seasons.
Our SunShine Tea™ was sun-dried, whereas Yue Guang Bai is warm-air-dried. Yue Guang Bai is a true regional Yunnan specialty, and a tea which does not fit the exact characteristics of traditional green tea manufacture.
This tea is processed very simply and the light withering that it undergoes gives it the appearance of a white tea. This slight natural oxidation imparts to it a flavor that is reminiscent of a very mild black tea.
Yue Guang Bai is light, elusive, clean, and deliciously smooth. Extremely easy to steep and demanding many re-steepings, it is simply delicious.
Harvested from old-growth tea bushes in Simao in mid-February of 2010.
Company description not available.
Experience buying from Tea Trekker http://steepster.com/places/2820-tea-trekker-online-northampton-massachusetts
Age of Leaf: Harvested spring 2010. Received spring 2011, brewed up summer/fall 2011.
Brewing Guidelines: I have brewed it four times so far: three times on its own, and once with another green tea (Specialteas Yunnan Silver Tips). I tried brewing it at both my standard green tea temperatures (170, 175, 180) and at my standard white tea temperatures (160, 165, 170). Each time was a full pot (six 8-ounce cups) in my glass Bodum with metal infuser/plunger. Stevia added.
Appearance and Aroma of Dry Leaf: Very large and fluffy (two TBS for each serving). In some ways it looks more like a mid-grade Bai Mu Dan white tea with its large multi-colored leaves—a mixture of whitish, light green, and dark green looking leaves. Smells somewhat like a black/red tea, thus it does not have that vegetal and sometimes sweet smell typical of a Chinese green tea.
Appearance and Aroma of Tea Liquor: amber colored, with a somewhat smoky aroma.
Appearance and Aroma of Wet leaf: The largest leaves of any green tea I have seen, yet. Even the buds are huge. A sight to see!
Blends well with: Specialteas Yunnan Silver Tips.
Flavor: The flavor profile is unusual for a green tea; in some ways it tastes similar to a black tea, especially on the later steepings. It is mildly smoky, and somewhat sweet, not astringent.
Value: Good. Sale price: $10 / 4 ounces. Normally: $14 / 4 ounces.
Overall: Since it undergoes light withering—warm air-dried—I am not sure it has the theanine content in a typical green tea (which is a big reason why I drink green tea).
I have had brewed up this tea at least four times so far (as of this writing). The first time I was a little disappointed in the flavor as I was expecting something like a more standard green tea flavor profile (using my standard green tea temperatures). The second time I recognized the similarities of the flavor to that of a black tea and opened myself up to the possibilities of a more complex flavor profile (again using my standard green tea temperatures). Now I have brewed it at least four times and I am really starting to like it (although, ironically, my wife is now decidedly against drinking it). Recently, I brewed it using my standard white tea temperatures, and it seemed to brew up a good tasting cup.
I have never experienced this kind of swing in how I experience a certain tea. Previously, I have been brewing it up and enjoying it on occasion. Now I that see this tea in a more favorable light I have been brewing it up more often. This change in how I experience a particular tea over time gives me hope that other teas I do not currently like may gift me with some hidden treasure at some later date!
