Jingmai Sun-Dried "Three Aroma" Bai Mu Dan White Tea Cake

I’ve been painfully waiting for TWO MONTHS for my last order of tea, it got help up in customs for like six weeks which is just crazy. Happily, it’s finally arrived and I can’t wait to try everything out.

This white tea cake is the first one I’ve selected mostly because I haven’t drunk any white tea in a long while now and because it was the cheapest part of my order (save the best for last and such). The compression on the cake is quite nice and airy, very easy to pull apart, however the leaves are brittle and are dusting quite easily. I hope that doesn’t bring out the bitterness too much. The dry aroma is fruity and slightly floral with hints of balsamic vinegar. Very interesting nose for sure.

For this brew I used a 140ml teapot with 7.5 grams of tea (although I wish I had used a little more than that), and 85°C water. A quick wash was followed by steeps increasing in 10 or 15 second increments up to 1 minute long.

By the second or third pot the soup becomes a lovely sunset yellow/orange colour, and the flavour finally presents itself fully. I found the first couple pots to lack some flavour, perhaps this tea takes longer to “wake up”? Anyway, the taste is quite nice, but it’s not blowing me away or anything. There’s a bit of a raisin flavour mixing with peppercorn which is tasty. Not getting as many floral notes as I anticipated. The mouth feel is really what’s winning me over though, it’s very creamy and thick, thankfully with no astringency or bitterness. Nice. I think generally it’s a sweeter tea which somewhat makes up for a generic flavour profile.

All in all, a decent but forgetful white tea. The price definitely reflects the experience in this case. Also, as per the name, I did notice three distinct aromas between the dry leaves, the tea soup, and the wet leaves. Very interesting in that regard.

I am pretty happy about the progression of this tea so far. It clearly retains its identity and complexity, while further developing its sweet, woody and medicinal sides.

Before the rinse, the leaves smell like an orchard; flowery with a hint of carrot cake. Once wet, they exude aromas of mead, sauerkraut, kohlrabi, apple, vanilla, and elderberry. Overall, however, it is quite a floral scent, a little bit reminiscent of high mountain Taiwanese oolongs.

The taste starts of sweet, floral and vegetal with notes of green wood, sweet grass, and cucumber, as well as a metallic and slightly medicinal character.

Third infusion is then more nutty, it tastes of brown rice a bit. There are also hints of citrus fruits, mushrooms and pine fores. In the balanced and flavourful fourth steep, I find notes of dill and fish meat – familiar from my first encounter with this tea – but the tea is more spicy and warm now than two years ago. In the second half of the session, the tea continues to display its eclectic nature, but eventually settles on a floral and woody base to finish up with.

Throughout, the aftertaste is very warming and fragrant with notes of various spices, yeast, butter, and cream. The liquor texture is also airy and very smooth, pretty much the same as I remember it from previous sessions.