The dry leaves of this tea may not look appetizing. They are enormous and broad, which are not usually associated with white tea. But the smell of the dry leaves is heavenly. It smells sweet as a cookie with vanilla. Maybe I am exaggerating, but I was impressed with its excellent perfume. These aromatic notes disappeared when the leaves were infused, and the wet leaves had a mineral and woody scent.
Despite the look of the leaves, this white comes from Fuding, the white tea heaven on earth. More importantly, the leaves picked according to a strict standard whereby only newly grown large leaves are picked. The seller makes a distinction that these big leaves are grown in the harvest season and not the remaining ones from the previous seasons.
I don’t know, it is a kind of tea that surprises you as it tasted so delicately sweet, floral and mineral. I did not get any spiciness some other aged Shou Meis gave me. While this tea is only 3 years old, it has aged beautifully, and I was able to taste some sheng pu-erh wilderness.
The liquor colour also changed as I steeped this tea and became darker and thicker. The taste became somewhat nutty, but it did not lose its essence, which is a delicate tea with several fine floral and mineral notes. No bitterness at all and the seller attributes this to the fact that this tea has no buds.
I cannot wait to try it again.
Tea Profile:
Type: White
Origin: Guanyang, Fuding, Fujian
Harvest time: 2017
Leaf colour: Multinotes of green and brown
Liquor colour: From yellow to amber
Tea aroma: Floral (dry leaves); Mineral and woody (wet leaves)
Tea taste: Mellow and refreshing with lingering floral notes
Steeping/brewing: Place 4 g of this tea in a 150 ml teapot and pour water at 95°C. Rinse the leaves and discard the water. Infuse the leaves for 15 sec for the second steeping and add 5 sec to each consecutive steeping.
Shelf life: Can be aged