Tea: Jipin Baimudan (Exceptional White Peony)
Type: Fuding White Tea (Dabaihao cultivar)
Harvest: Spring 2017
Region: Panxi Village, Fuding, Fujian
Producer: Yuanming Tea Garden
Tasting Notes: Honey Melon, sweetgrass, goji berries, rice pudding, honied milk
This tea has been aged loose in an exceptional environment (a dark, warm, humidity controlled, charcoal lined wooded warehouse). The leaves are already beginning to take on a darker, more muted green, while the white buds themselves are starting to turn a warmer silver color. The pick is a high-grade Exceptional Peony and consists almost entirely of one or two leaves and one bud plucks.
The aroma off the warmed leaves is distinctly melonesque, with sweet sugar notes that haven't begun darkening into the earthy vanilla of the 2015 Baimudan. The taste of this tea is pleasantly thick on the tongue, with a texture that changes with the temperature of water used while brewing. The flavor in the mouth is that of an aged white tea between the two worlds of fresh grassy vegetation and aged medicine cabinet savor, caught in a transformative moment filled with honey cream and milky sweetnesses. The liquors is a clean yellow gold which can darken if steeped at length.
There is a saying in Chinese regarding white tea, “一年茶三年药七年宝” meaning “one year old is tea, three years old is medicine, seven years old is a treasure.” This tea has just passed its three-year mark, and it is distinctly different from fresh tea. The green flavors are transforming into something sweeter, the sharp edges are mellowed into something more savory, and even the color has begun to change. We decided on this 2017 white tea in order to examine this development of flavors between fresh tea and aged tea, however we like this tea on its own so much that we’ve decided to offer it as a stand-alone product as well.
For those interested in comparing aged Baimudan, check out the Dead Flowers Sample Box, which compares White Peony at these three different ages.
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.
