This tea was received from Verdant Tea’s monthly ‘Tea Club’.
Supposedly this is wild arbor shou mei tea, from tea groves planted generations ago and untended for many years at the Wu Family’s farm.
This white tea has been aged 5 years already, as it was harvested in 2016.
I was originally going to let this tea age another couple of years, but I couldn’t help myself.
Table of Contents
Tea Specifications
Brand: Verdant Tea / Wu Family
Tea: Wild Arbor Shou Mei Cake
Tea Varietal: Da Bai
Vintage: Spring, 2016
Elevation: 600 Meters
Origin: Wuyangcun, Xiapu, Fujian, China
Review
I brewed 5 grams of this tea in a small glass pitcher using spring water.
I then rinsed the tea in hot water for 10 seconds and discarded the rinse.
First Steep
Steeped for 30 seconds.
I like this a lot, and it’s very drinkable, but I’m not surprised, because the Wu Family grows excellent white tea. Their teas may not be super fancy or complex in flavor, but I feel that their tea gives an accurate representation of what natural, unprocessed Fujian white tea should taste like, as there aren’t any ‘off’ notes in their tea. It tastes relatively clean.
Flavor notes: Chinese herbs, grape leaf, tangerine peel, cinnamon, and cream.
Second Steep
Steeped for 45 seconds.
Flavor profile is similar to the first steep, but the tea is a little ‘juicier’, so to speak.
It seems to coat the mouth and induce saliva production.
Third Steep
Steeped for 1 minute.
The Chinese herb note has picked up a bit of a grassy element.
Verdant Tea says this tea has a bay leaf note, and it’s sort of similar to that, but I wouldn’t say it’s quite accurate.
Conclusion
I haven’t had a Wu Family white tea which I have disliked thus far.
A good white tea with a fair bit of age on it, for a fair price.
It could certainly have a higher tea bud content, but it’s shou mei, so, this is to be expected.
