White Peony (Bai Mudan) from t leaf T (Review)
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.
jonnykane wrote:
Yeah I’ve been enjoying the white teas lately… if you liked the Bai Mudan white tea and are based in Melbourne, T2 have some great white teas… the equivilent being Pai Mu Tan or for the higher grade white downy leaves on their own try their Silver Needles or White Flowery Pekoe