Bai Mu Dan White Tea

Overall thoughts: Wow! I did not expect a white tea, and a Bai Mu Dan at that, would bowl me over quite like this. This is very much like homemade marshmallows, or perhaps more accurately like nutty, delicious nougat (montpelier or torrone, your choice!).

I got a free sample of this tea with my last Verdant order, and I decided to have a gongfu session with it this afternoon. My teaching schedule for the next month is totally bonkers; non-stop anatomy lab all day, 4 days a week. It is truly exhausting. It also means that I have no time for tea (which I typically drink at my desk), which adds to the exhaustion. It’s hard to want to do anything on the weekend, and I realized that sitting down and having a gongfu session would be a nice, relaxing activity.

I chose this one because the lightness would be good for a muggy summer day (never mind that I have central AC now, I know that it is muggy outside and that is enough). Also it is a one-off sample, so I would get a sipdown, too!

Bai Mu Dans are never really my favorite white tea (I tend to prefer Fudings), but one of the reasons I love Fudings is the lovely, light marshmallow flavor that they can have. Bai Mu Dans I usually find kind of hay-like, a bit sweet, but lacking that thick creaminess. But not this Bai Mu Dan! Yes, I get the hay notes, but I also get lovely marshmallowy-ness that goes toward a French nougat (montpelier) with almonds and pistachios. Delish! There are a lot of nuances in each steep that are hard to really pull apart, but I must admit it’s been a while since I’ve had a tea that shattered my expectations and made me step back and just say “Wow.” What a lovely harvest.

HH TTB #8/18

I have been slacking on getting the rest of the TTB teas reviewed. I got two amazing orders this past week and have been drooling over those cups. This tea I pulled out b/c I haven’t been too exposed to white teas. Some of my very first teas were whites, but since discovering black tea and the range of flavors there I have not returned too frequently to white. A lot of it has to do to the delicate nature of the tea. I enjoy the flavor but they are soo picky about temperature and time. This tea is absolutely delicious. So much bettrer than my expectations. I will not be able to describe the flavor well, but i get creamy sweet hay like taste with a tad of honeysuckle, not sure. It is very tasty and I am glad I pulled out a cup of this to try.

(From the UTTB.)

Just got around to trying this one. It’s definitely better the more it cools…I’m getting hay-like notes, sweet cream, honeysuckle, and rice pudding. It’s naturally sweet with a slightly nutty flavor. If I had to describe it as a color, it’s the inside of almonds. A very light tan. The color of foam on top of a latte, maybe. Verdant recommends starting with a 30sec infusion and increasing in increments of 10-15sec. I did a first infusion of 55 seconds and a second infusion of 1min 15. In my experience, longer steeps work better for white teas because they bring out stronger flavors (as long as the water isn’t too hot). Water temp was somewhere between 170F and 190F, if I had to guess.

When the tea is hot it’s mostly hay with a touch of buttery green. I wait about 10-15 minutes after brewing to drink. It settles into that creamy, nutty, flowery loveliness that white teas can have! Very nice.

Thanks for putting this in the box MzPriss!

March Mad(Hatter) Tea Tournament!
Round #1 – Match #12    Octavia – Berry Mocha Truffle VS. Verdant – Bai Mu Dan White

I HOPE I can at least get through the first round of teas by the end of March ( my tournament is 32 teas rather than 16.)  I’m realizing there are many chocolate/berry teas on my brackets, probably because I love that combination of flavors.  A lovely blend from Octavia, with my beloved cocoa shells again.  sigh.  Not many other teas would stand a chance.  The white tea sure looks unique for a white tea, but it is fading now and I’m not very inspired by the steeps today.  Any sort of cocoa/fruit tea will always be comforting to me.   I guess my heart will always be with flavored teas and that is OKAY:  winner:  Berry Mocha Truffle.

Sipdown (213!)
It was so busy with people over last night; two spent the nights it was get up and go, go to breakfast, drop our friends off, run around, visit family and do more stuff. It was a really great day. We went to the garden center and picked up some pots and plants and tomorrow the kiddo and I will mess around and plant them and make a mess. :D I can’t wait.

The only bad part of my day is that I didn’t get my first cup of tea until 9:00pm!!! But I didn’t get a caffeine head-ache until then so that’s maybe a good thing?

This was a nice white tea. Frankly, I’m so exhausted that I can’t really figure out what exactly this tastes like, but it’s nice.

Creamy hay tea, with some juicy fruitiness. Good for a Sunday afternoon.

Hmmm. Reserving final judgment for later cups. I am generally very impressed with white tea. Yeah its often subtle but it has great depth. I have generally had great experience with Verdant Tea so far. They have all been high quality and interesting. This one just isn’t grabbing me. The leaf is beautiful. You can tell by looking it has silver needle mixed in. The wet leaf scent is melon and some other fruit. Why am I not amazed? The taste so far just isn’t living up to my expectation. I used 175 F water and a little over a minute steep. I am going to check how I brewed Concept Teas version (my favorite Bai Mu Dan ever) and go from there.

I followed the suggested steeping parameters exactly, and my first two steepings were unremarkable. Starting with the third, this tea developed an enchanting sweetness that has only grown stronger here on my sixth steep. I absolutely agree with other reviewers about the notes of cream and almond. I will have to give this a try western style as well, since I generally prefer stronger flavors, but I am really enjoying this one.