This sample set is intended as an exploration of how white tea changes over time. White tea is often aged in China, and many people place great value on aged white teas. There is a common saying in Chinese about white tea: White tea starts as tea, after three years it becomes medicine, after seven years it becomes a treasure.
In this box, we explore how white tea naturally ages in a loose state. We start out with a very fresh green and thickly vegetal King White Peony harvested in Spring of 2022. From here, we work our way backwards in time, looking at how this type of tea changes over the years, developing vanilla, melon, and daffodil notes. These teas have all been grown, sun dried, and charcoal roasted by our tea master Qiu in his Panxi Garden and Production Facility.
Something magical happens with White Tea around the third year of age, suddenly all the fresh grass and vegetation transforms to something sweetly spicy, redolent of vanilla and baking pastries. These flavors will continue to deepen over the years, until we hit the seventh year. Tea at this age point have begun to come full circle, reclaiming their once fresh floral notes, but in a mature way similar to potpourri, while still retaining its sweet vanilla undertones.
In the set: you will find
- 14g King Peony 2023 Spring
- 14g Exceptional Peony 2017 Spring
- 14g White Peony 2015 Spring
Recommended brewing is 6-7 grams of tea in a 100-120ml gaiwan with water right off the boil (though also experiment with cooler temperatures)
We are very excited to share this tea tasting opportunity, as comparison-brewing is one of the few ways to really understand the complexities of certain types of teas.
All these teas were sourced from Qiu and his incredible collection of meticulously curated white teas! Check out more of Qiu's white teas and read up on your general Fuding white tea knowledge!
