King Peony (Mudan Wang)

The pick quality is outstanding, consisting almost exclusively of one long silver bud and a single slim leaf.  There is very little discoloration in these scale leaves suggesting the highest care was given to their processing.  Further, the pick is Ma Ti, or Horse Stirrup, which suggests many of these trees were in fact let to grow wild instead of pruning to waist height, this backs up the farmers claim that this is indeed a wild white peony, 野生牡丹王.

When infused, the bouquet opens up full of floral spring fragrances and a heavy notes of cinnamon.  The brew itself is a creamy gold, it’s rich in the mouth with a thick savory body when brewed at high temperatures and delivers a creamy milky sweetness when brewed at lower temps (between 85 and 100 degrees Celcius).  The aroma on the lid and in the empty cup is one of pungent flowers and residual cinnamon spices with a heavy lingering afterthought of spring vegetation.  This very clean and refreshing tea is one of our top favorites to drink all through the year, fresh baimudan would certainly be our one and only if we could only choose one.

Our Baimudan, or White Peony, is a thickly vegetal early pick of white tea from Panxi Village in Northern Fujian China.  The pick is Mudan Wang, meaning King Peony.  This is one of the three main grades of Baimudan: Baimudan Wang (king white peony) consists of almost entirely buds and small leaves, Baimudan Jipin (exceptional grade white peony) consists of one bud and one or two leaves, while Baimudan (white peony) consists of one bud and two or even three leaves!

Check out more of Qiu's white teas, watch our sourcing trip to the farm, and take a crash course in general Fuding white tea knowledge.