Author: Michelle

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Wing Wah’s Sau-Mei Tea

Sau-Mei Tea by Wing Wah
White Tea / Straight
100g

I received Wing Wah’s Sau-Mei Tea as a gift, and was unable to find information regarding the price.

First Impressions

Wing Wah’s Sau-Mei Tea came to me in a fairly big gold foil bag. There’s minimal information about the tea on the packaging, aside from some key instructions of storing it in a cool, dry place. For those unfamiliar with shou-mei, it’s a traditional Chinese white tea.

Shou-Mei tea has some beautiful dried leaves. There’s a mix of colours ranging from brown to bright green. Some of the leaves have visible downy feathers on them, quite reminiscent of a silver needle. There’s a few sticks mixed in. This is a very airy tea, it takes up a lot of space with just a little bit. The dry leaf has a light floral aroma with slight plum notes.

Preparation

There were no steeping instructions on the packaging. I opted to steep Shou-Mei Tea in 185°F (85°C) for 2 minutes.

First Taste

Shou-Mei Tea steeps to a beautiful golden yellow. The texture of the tea is very smooth, with a light creaminess. The flavour is a nice mix of floral and fresh-tasting plum notes. It’s a really enjoyable tea. The light sweetness to it makes it a good pairing with pastries (I might have had this with a chocolate croissant…).

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Sau-Mei Tea seven times (eight steeps total with the same leaves), I added an extra 30 seconds for each additional steep. As I steeped it, I found that the creaminess grew stronger as the colour became more golden yellow. The floral notes were more prevalent in the subsequent steeps while the plum notes subsided.

My Overall Impression

I loved Wing Wah’s Sau-Mei Tea. This was a very pleasant white tea to drink. I loved how well it resteeped, and how the flavours changed with each resteep. I really enjoy teas that can be resteeped that retain their flavour – it really shows to the quality in the leaves. Additionally, I know that 185°F is a bit on the ‘high’ side of what you’d want to steep a white tea in, but the leaves held up beautifully and I had zero issues with astringency or bitterness.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

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Outdoor Summer Tea Party

If you follow me on Instagram (@onemoresteep), you might have already heard about or seen photos from my outdoor summer tea party last week! If you missed it, or you’re interested in learning more about what went into the tea party, continue reading!

I started planning this back in May when I first stumbled across the teal and pink flamingo paper plates and napkins at a local dollar store – which is really when the whole idea started rolling. I also picked up an extra pitcher (for lemonade), the pink table cloth, and a green serving platter at my local dollar store as well.

There were eight people total (and two dogs!), and it was held at a local park that had covered picnic tables. It was actually a pretty awesome day, weather-wise. There was some overcast in the morning and it led to the entire day being a lot cooler than it had been in previous days.

Everyone got a pineapple or a cactus glass drinking cup at their seat – and this was also something that they got to take home as well. This turned out to be a huge hit. I got both the pineapple glasses and the cactus glasses from Stokes.

Food items that I brought included: ham, cheese & lettuce sandwiches, turkey & cranberry pinwheels (wraps that are sliced), egg salad croissants (inspired by Little White House), cheese rice crackers. Food items that my guests had brought: fruit salad (so many blueberries!), cupcakes, chocolate covered cream puffs (!), and brownies.

Of course, there was tea! I cold-steeped two fruit infusions from DavidsTea – Just Peachy and Strawberry Lemonade. I also made a pitcher of ‘regular’ lemonade using organic lemons and agave syrup.

Each guest was sent home with a little goodie bag consisting of honey sticks (from the Honeybee Centre), strawberry Pocky, guava candy, and little tins of tea (assorted varieties). The goodie bags for the kiddo attendees also included a sheet of tea-themed stickers.

As it was kid-friendly, I kept the food simple and nothing too out-of-the-ordinary, and I think it worked out pretty well. Especially since they weren’t kids I’m often around, I don’t know how adventurous they are with food. That said, the iced tea choices were hit between kids and adults alike, and pretty much all of the food was gone by the end of it so I would call that a success!

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Aroma Tea House’s Golden Oolong

Golden Oolong by Aroma Tea House
Oolong Tea / Straight
$10.00 for 100g

First Impressions

Another Vancouver Tea Festival purchase and the second oolong out of four from the sampler set that I purchased from Aroma Tea House’s booth. Like the Formosa Oolong that I reviewed earlier this month, Golden Oolong came to me in a sturdy little cardboard tube that holds the tea inside.

The tea leaves vary from light green to a darker forest green. The aroma from the leaves was both floral and nutty, which was an interesting flavour combination to smell. I found it to be more vibrant than expected from an oolong.

Preparation

As part of the sampler packaging, there were no steeping instructions on the cardboard tube. On the product page online, Aroma Tea House recommended steeping Golden Oolong in a small teapot for 15 to 30 seconds, with no suggestions for water temperature. I used my Breville IQ Kettle‘s green tea temperature setting of 175°F (79°C) and steeped it for 30 seconds.

I prepared Golden Oolong in my gaiwan, doing short steeps and pouring the tea out into a small tasting cup throughout the process to taste.

First Taste

The aroma of Golden Oolong is primarily that of the flowers – the product page on Aroma Tea House’s website suggests that it smells like osmanthus flowers. The floral smell is bright and inviting. I can definitely figure out where Golden Oolong got its name with the colour of the steeped tea. The taste of Golden Oolong is a bit nutty and floral, with a hint of sweetness. With the short steeps that I did, I found that the tea remained smooth with no bitterness or astringency noted. It had a light creamy mouthfeel to it that I found really enjoyable.

A Second Cup?

With the gongfu method of preparing the tea in my gaiwan, I resteeped the same leaves fifteen times. I kept the steeping time at 30 seconds for the first five resteeps before increasing gradually at 15 seconds for each subsequent resteep.

I found that the colour of the tea became more dark gold as I continued to steep the tea. The floral notes got stronger while the nuttiness became less and less pronounced.

My Overall Impression

I loved Aroma Tea House’s Golden Oolong. I found it to be a very pleasant tea to drink, and the flavour profile was complex enough to keep me interested throughout all the steeps. If you opt to steep in a teapot instead of a gaiwan, I would recommend keeping the steeps short since it doesn’t take long to make a good cup of tea – and definitely resteep those leaves! They did so well and it made for a great tea drinking session.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.