From the UK comes this bai mudan (White Peony), a white tea with a light body but a fuller flavour than other white teas. Yumchaa’s Pai Mu Tan is a refreshing tea with a surprisingly minty flavour, which gives the tea a sugary finish.

The leaf consistency leaves a little to be desired, with twigs and broken leaf pieces accompanying the powdery white tips and young leaves you would normally find in a bai mudan. But the drink itself is enjoyable enough, as notes of strawberry are met by the more savoury, vegetal characteristics common to bai mudan teas.

Available from Yumchaa

© Eric for Tea Finely Brewed, 2010. | Pai Mu Tan from Yumchaa | One comment |
Post categories: Tea reviews, White tea
Post tags: Bai Mudan, white peony, Yumchaa

Most of the time, I try to review teas that you can buy, should you feel so inclined. Today’s tea, unfortunately, is already sold out. But I’m going to taunt you with my review anyway.

Margaret’s Hope is a tea estate in Darjeeling, India. This is their hand-rolled, special grade 2nd flush tea, a spectacular white tea boasting huge, lush leaves. And I mean seriously huge. Some of the leaves stretch for about two inches. No broken leaves here.

Can you tell I’m impressed?

Besides boasting a magnificent size, the leaves are an attractive mixture of rustic brown and downy white. Dry, they have a wonderfully fruity aroma, reminding me of mango.

The tea infuses into a golden liquor. On the first infusion, I find the tea quite savoury, with a drying mouthfeel (something I note with many Darjeelings) and a mild hint of something sweeter (again, mango comes to mind). It is the second infusion that really impresses me: it’s balanced more delicately between sweet and savoury, as if to gather the best of both worlds. A lovely little hint of dark chocolate emerges. Pleasant drinking, to put it mildly.

As mentioned, this tea isn’t available anymore. Still, if you’re in the mood for some high quality Darjeeling tea, head on over to Thunderbolt Tea and tempt yourself with their excellent collection of Darjeelings. You can also check out the collection of Darjeeling teas listed in the Tea Marketplace.

ps. Lest anyone accuse me of heinous crimes, let me clarify that this tea was a free sample sent to me by Thunderbolt Tea.

© Eric for Tea Finely Brewed, 2010. | Margaret’s Hope Hand Rolled Special Grade 2009, Darjeeling 2nd Flush from Thunderbolt Tea | 3 comments |
Post categories: Tea reviews, White tea
Post tags: Darjeeling, Darjeeling 2nd flush, Darjeeling white tea, Margaret's Hope Estate, Thunderbolt Tea

Fair trade is a tricky thing. I’ve written before about why I believe fair trade is important, but there’s a flipside: too often, fair trade tea is of lower quality to similarly-priced, non-fair trade tea. Which leaves a tea lover to decide between sacrificing quality or sacrificing an ethical stance.

Over the past year I have bought primarily non-fair trade tea, for one big reason: there are very few fair trade tea options around here in Melbourne, and the ones that I can find tend to be in teabag form. But one goal I’ve set for myself over the next few months is to explore some of the fair trade tea options available online. Here are four online tea stores that sell fair trade tea.

1. The Tea Spot

The Tea Spot have four fair trade organic teas:

• Organic Blue Mountain Nilgiri ? Single-estate black tea from India’s Nilgiri tea region.
• Organic Green Twisted Spears ? Hand-twisted spears from Sri Lanka.
• Organic Monkey-Picked White ? A buttery white tea from Fujian Province, China.
• Organic New Moon Darjeeling ? Autumnal Darjeeling tea. It’s single-estate, but they don’t specify which estate.

You can also get The Tea Spot’s Black Label Organic Teas set, which includes all four of the teas above and ends up saving you about 20%.

2. Numi Organic Tea

Numi Organic Tea have quite an extensive range of fair trade teas, most of which are organic as well:

• White Rose – Velvet Garden ? A white tea combined with rose petals. Also available as tea bags.
• White Nectar – Osmanthus Spring ? Organic white tea with Osmanthus flower. Also available as tea bags.
• White Orange Spice – Moonlight Spice ? White tea mixed with orange, berries, lime and spices. Also available as tea bags.
• Ginger Sun – Lemon Decaf Green ? Himalayan grown green tea combined with lemongrass and ginger. Also available as tea bags
• Jasmine Green Tea – Monkey King ? Jasmine tea from Jiangxi Province in China. Also available as tea bags
• Mate Lemon Green Tea – Rainforest Green ? Yerba Maté blended with lemon myrtle and chun mee green tea. Also available as tea bags
• Decaf Black Vanilla – Indian Night ? Organic black tea blended with vanilla. Also available as tea bags
• Breakfast Blend – Morning Rise ? A breakfast tea blended from Ceylon, Assam, Keemun and Darjeeling teas. Also available as tea bags
• Aged Earl Grey – Bergamot Black ? Full-leaf Assam tea blended with natural Italian Bergamot, not oils or flavorings. Also available as tea bags
• Berry Black – Raspberry Darjeeling Black Tea ? North American forest fruits blended with Darjeeling tea. Also available as tea bags
• Golden Chai – Spiced Assam Black Tea ? Numi’s chai tea. Also available as tea bags
• Lapsang Souchong – Smoky Tarry ? From the Wuyi Mountains in China comes Numi’s Lapsang Souchong.
• Chamomile Lemon – Sweet Meadows ? Egyptian chamomile tea blended with Australian lemon myrtle.
• Ruby Chai – Spiced Rooibos is a rooibos chai blend. Also available as ]tea bags.

Also check out Numi’s Velvet Tea Caddy, which has four of their fair trade teas and could make a great gift idea. (Click here for more tea gifts).

3. Art of Tea

Art of Tea have a small selection of fair trade teas, all three of which can be bought together in their Fair Trade Tea Gift Set, which includes:

• Biodynamic Darjeeling ? Black tea from the Makaibari Estate.
• Egyptian Chamomile ? Chamomile tea from Egypt.
• Gunpowder ? Gunpowder green tea from Zhejiang Province, in northern China.

4. Rishi Tea

Rishi Tea have made a name for themselves with quite a huge range of fair trade teas. You can see all their fair trade teas listed here. Also be sure to check out their store on Amazon , which has some great discounts.

© Eric for Tea Finely Brewed, 2009. | 4 Places to Buy Fair-Trade Tea Online | 5 comments |
Post categories: Black tea, Fair Trade tea, Green tea, Oolong tea, Organic tea, Pu-erh tea, Tisanes, White tea
Post tags: Art of Tea, buying tea online, Numi Organic Tea, Rishi Tea, The Tea Spot

© Eric for Tea Finely Brewed, 2009. | Cyber Monday Giveaway from The Tea Spot | No comment |
Post categories: Specials, White tea
Post tags: Cyber Monday tea specials, The Tea Spot

One of the things I’ve learned from Michael Harney’s Guide to Tea so far: tea buds are endowed with extra caffeine and polyphenols, to repel sun and bugs. As a result, white tea actually contains more caffeine than black tea and green tea, contrary to what you hear most of the time.

So this morning I decided to forego my usual cup of black tea and substitute it for a white: Teavana’s Silver Yin Zhen Pearls.

In the spirit of disclosure, I confess: I received this tea as a free sample, and Teavana is currently an advertiser on Tea Finely Brewed.

With all formalities aside, let’s discuss this tea. My first experience with white tea was a white peony I bought in New Zealand last year. I reviewed that here. Since then, I have tried a handful of other white teas, but I would still consider myself something of a novice when it comes to white tea.

But these pearls are instantly enjoyable, even for a novice like myself. There is a sweetness like burnt brown sugar woven through the tea’s vegetal textures. That makes sense: another thing I’ve learned from Harney’s Guide to Tea is that just as tea buds are turning into leaves, the tea plant injects an extra shot of glucose into the young buds, making them much sweeter than tea leaves.

There is also an astringency about this tea, which suggest to me that I might have brewed this a bit too strong (I used a teaspoon of pearls for a cup). The liquid is darker than expected, again telling me that I could probably get away with using fewer pearls next time. As it is, the astringency is far from overwhelming, but it dries the mouth and puckers the lips.

Silver Yin Zhen Pearls is available from Teavana for $22 per a 2oz bag.

© Eric for Tea Finely Brewed, 2009. | Silver Yin Zhen Pearls by Teavana | 2 comments |
Post categories: Tea reviews, White tea
Post tags: Bai Hao Yin Zhen, silver needle, Teavana

This morning I dropped the lid of my glass teapot. It shattered on our kitchen floor. What, pray tell, am I now supposed to do with a teapot that has no lid?

With that out of the way, I turn now to the topic at hand: Ya-ya Teahouse’s A Leaf and a Bud – a furry, luscious tea from Assam’s Satrupa Estate. I’ve had a sample of this tea in my cupboard for months now, and enjoyed it on a few occasions, but decided to take a closer look today.

First impressions of this tea are strong. Very strong. Take one look at those brilliant furry buds and long leaves and tell me you’re not impressed! Visual appearance? Check.

I fill my pot (the porcelain one, given the new-found barrenness of my glass pot) with boiling water and let it heat for a few seconds, before pouring the water into a Pyrex measuring cup (I use this to gauge the water temperature and measure out the quantity I will need). At this point, I drop three and a half teaspoons – roughly speaking – in my pot and sniff. Deeply. A wonderful bouquet of berries and spices I can’t quite place drifts up. Aroma? Check.

Now comes the steeping. I set a stopwatch with the intention of steeping it for three minutes, but promptly forget all about it and allow the tea to infuse for about four minutes before pouring it out. Thankfully, the tea is forgiving. It washes into the mouth with all its berry-like sweetness. There is a savoury body there, complementing the sweet high notes and giving the tea depth.

As a point of comparison, I think of the Bai Mudan I reviewed on this blog at the start of the year. Today’s tea is made from Assam leaf, and I find it to be a fascinating show of that leaf’s qualities. It is more astringent than the Bai Mudan, and quite a bit more sweet. A Leaf and a Bud didn’t seem quite as rich in character as the Bai Mudan, but it is still a wonderfully smooth, light cup of white tea.

A Leaf and a Bud is available from Ya-ya Teahouse for $16.50 NZ per 100 grams.

© eric for Tea Finely Brewed, 2009. | A Leaf and a Bud from Ya-ya Teahouse | 3 comments |
Post categories: Tea reviews, White tea
Post tags: Assam, Satrupa Estate, Ya-ya Teahouse

Last November, Bec and I spent a month travelling around New Zealand. It was a great time to visit, just as summer was setting in, and we explored quite a bit of South Island in a campervan. One of the things we did often – as you do – was to visit local cafés. Got to support the local economy, right?

Here in Melbourne, I’ve learned to keep an eye out for cafés serving T2 teas or another tea brand I respect. If I’m going to be paying for a cup of tea, I want to know I’m getting more than just a Lipton tea bag.

As we made our way through New Zealand, I saw a lot of Twinings and Dilmah – and the occasional Lipton – but eventually discovered t leaf T, which can roughly be considered the T2 of New Zealand. In Wellington, I found a little t leaf T outlet where I spent a happy half hour browsing their offerings. In the end, I picked up a Feijoa Green as a gift for Bec and a White Peony as an early Christmas gift for myself.

First, a disclaimer: This is my first foray into the fine world of White Peony tea (Bai Mudan). How t leaf T’s offering compares to the other options available out there is impossible for me to judge. But one thing I can say without a doubt: White Peony is an excellent tea.

Bai Mudan is a new-style white tea made from the first tea leaves of the season (as opposed to traditional budset white tea, which is made from the buds). The leaves are coiled into needle shape and covered in downy white hair.

Since the tea had cost me more than any other tea I’d ever bought (at that stage), I decided to save it for a special occasion. Christmas Day. After a family dinner the night before and a family lunch that day, Bec and I collapsed on the couch to finally unwrap the presents we’d bought each other. She made for herself a organic matcha from O-Cha (a birthday present I’d bought her the week before), and I brewed my first cup of White Peony.

The aroma of the dried leaves was delicious: smoky and full. As per the packet suggestions, I used a single teaspoon of leaves, steeping it in about 200 milliliters of water. By brewing the tea for a couple minutes, I was able to get at least five well-flavoured cups of tea from the one lot of leaves.

The first taste bursts with vegetal flavours of juicy zucchinis or squash, wrapped in the tea’s smoky sweetness. A fruity hint of grape became gradually more apparent, lingering in the dryness of the aftertaste.

Since that first taste, I’ve come back to my White Peony regularly. It’s a light, rewarding tea that I find particularly satisfying in the latter stages of the afternoon. I’m not sure whether it’s possible for international customers to buy tea through t leaf T’s website, but there are a few other online tea shops offering White Peony, including Narien Teas, Adagio Teas, Mighty Leaf, Numi Organic Tea and Generation Tea.

© eric for Tea Finely Brewed, 2009. | White Peony (Bai Mudan) from t leaf T (Review) | One comment |
Post categories: Tea reviews, White tea
Post tags: Bai Mudan, chinese teas, t leaf T, white peony

What is white tea, exactly?

White tea is made from unopened budsets or the first leaves of Camellia Sinensis, harvested at the start of spring.

The rarest (and most expensive) varieties of white tea are made from unopened budsets, carefully plucked before they are allowed to grown into leaves. As demand for white tea grew, a new variety of white tea was created using the first leaves of the tea plant. Neither traditional budset white tea nor the new-style leaf white tea are processed after they are plucked. Instead, they are simply dried.

Where is white tea grown?

Traditionally, white tea comes from the Fujian province of China. In recent years, to meet with the growing demand, tea growing regions like Assam, Darjeeling, Nilgiri and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) have also started producing white tea. To the purist, however, real white tea only comes from Fujian.

There are parallels between traditional budset white tea and Champagne. Like Champagne, traditional budset white tea is place-specific, rare and highly prized. The new-style leaf white teas and white teas from other growing regions are more common and mimic the traditional budset white tea, but they are like sparkling wines to Champagne: a close relative, but not the real deal.

What are some of the most famous types of white tea?

The two most famous white teas are Bai Hao Yin Zhen (Silver Needle) and Bai Mudan (White Peony). The former is the foremost example of budset white tea. This is the kind of tea ancient Chinese emperors would have been served; it’s rare and very expensive. Bai Mudan is a new-style leaf white tea, so it’s far more accessible. It’s a delicious, fragrant tea.

What’s the best way to brew white tea?

Like green tea and oolong tea, white tea can be steeped multiple times. For each infusion, allow it to steep for 90 seconds to 2 minutes. Don’t use freshly boiled water, but allow it to cool to about 71-77°C (160-170°F).

What are the health benefits of drinking white tea?

Most of the studies into the health benefits of tea have focused on green tea. However, since white tea comes from the same plant as green tea, we may assume that it shares many of the same health benefits. It is lightly oxidized, so may contain less antioxidants than green tea, but studies have shown that it is still effective against cancer. One study has also found that white tea is more effective than green tea in fighting certain diseases, such as Staphylococcus, Streptococcus and pneumonia.

Does white tea contain caffeine?

Like all types of tea produced from Camellia Sinensis, white tea contains caffeine. How much is another question and one with a wild array of responses. The most commonly repeated mantra is that white tea contains less caffeine than green tea, black tea and oolong tea. But to what extent is this grounded in fact?

According to Nigel Melican in this article about caffeine in tea, white tea actually contains more caffeine than other varieties of tea. In The Story of Tea (Mary Lou Heiss / Robert Heiss), they point out that the caffeine is dispersed as the plant ages, so there is a scientific basis behind Melican’s argument that white tea has a high concentration of caffeine.

Where can I buy white tea online?

A great place to start is in the Tea Finely Brewed marketplace, where you can compare white teas from different tea merchants.

• Narien Teas have three white teas in their range, including a very interesting Drum Mountain White Cloud that I’ve personally tried and enjoyed. You can also get 10% off by quoting “teafinelybrewed” at checkout with Narien Teas.
• Generation Tea have several white teas, including a number of organic choices.
• Adagio Teas have a good range of white teas. Try the white tea sampler, which includes silver needle and white peony, as well as two other types of white tea.
• Mighty Leaf have seven different types of white tea, including a number of interesting blends.

Other posts in this series

• Green Tea
• Oolong Tea
• Black Tea
• Pu-erh Tea

© eric for Tea Finely Brewed, 2009. | 7 Common Questions About White Tea | One comment |
Post categories: White tea
Post tags: Bai Hao Yin Zhen, Bai Mudan, Beginner's Guide to Tea, caffeine content of tea, camellia sinensis, chinese teas, Fujian Province, silver needle, tea health, white peony