Tag: White Tea

Posted on

Chai Castle’s Dream of the Orient

Dream of the Orient by Chai Castle
White Tea & Green Tea / Flavoured
$8.50 for 50g

Chai Castle has provided me with Dream of the Orient for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

Dream of the Orient was a sample pick from Chai Castle that I was really excited about. This white tea and green tea blend smells delightful – there’s a light fruity aroma and I can smell the mango and jasmine. I find the mango is the most prominent aroma with the jasmine in the background.

Dream of the Orient consists of: white tea (pai mu tan), green tea (darjeeling), green tea (fog tea, lung, jasmine jade pearls), candied pineapple, papaya, mango pieces, natural flavour, orange peels, strawberry, apricot, sour cherry pieces, and red currants. So many fruits!

Preparation

Chai Castle recommends steeping Dream of the Orient in 79°C (175°F) water for 2 to 3 minutes. I did an initial steep for 3 minutes.

First Taste

Dream of the Orient steeps to a very pale yellow after a three minute steep. The aroma is mostly fruity with a hint of floral notes in the background – that jasmine is quite strong to stand against all those fruit ingredients! The flavour of mango is quite strong, there’s some vegetal notes in the background, with the floral/jasmine notes lingering on the tongue. It makes for a nice flavour – the ingredients play nicely with the tea base.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Dream of the Orient twice, adding an extra 30 seconds per steep. The flavour remains quite well balanced with each steep. I found the fruit flavours (mango, apricot, pineapple) to be more pronounced with each steep and held up well with each steep.

My Overall Impression

I liked Chai Castle’s Dream of the Orient. I loved the mango flavour, and found that it worked really well with the jasmine and the green tea base. I would have liked for the other fruit flavours to come out a bit more – perhaps they just need to be more present to add in more sour cherry, red currants, and papaya. Dream of the Orient does resteep well, the green tea and white tea base makes for a delicious tea. I think with the fruity base, this tea would be good iced as well or cold steeped.

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

Posted on

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.

Posted on

Teatourist’s Crushes & Blushes Collection

Crushes & Blushes Collection (February 2018) by Teatourist
£11-15 for 1 box, plus shipping (+£3-5 per box)

Teatourist has provided me with the Crushes & Blushes Collection for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

I was super excited to receive the Crushes & Blushes Collection from Teatourist. Part of this box also included the announcement that they’re launching the Build-A-Box option on their website. It’s super neat for those who want to choose their own teas instead of getting one of the curated collections. You get to pick any six teas from Teatourist’s extensive catalogue of teas, and then they’ll package it all together and send it to you. No word yet on how much this will cost. I personally love getting the curated boxes, because a lot of the teas I get are ones that I probably wouldn’t pick for myself, but love getting the opportunity to try. So if you’re into surprises, the subscription box might be a great choice for you – but if you want to choose your own due to allergies or just personal preference, that’s an option! You could even gift a Build-A-Box to someone and put all that though and effort into a personalized tea box.

Now onto the Crushes & Blushes Collection! This box has a selection of six tea tasters: two herbal infusions, one white tea, one black tea, one rooibos, and one green tea. I’ll be sharing my thoughts on all six of them: Whole Rose Buds from The Tea Makers of London (herbal infusion), North Jetty Beach by Beach House Teas (herbal infusion), Sparkling White by Hoogly Tea (white tea), Honey Red Jade Tea by Golden Tea Leaf (black tea), Raspberry & Rhubarb by The Tea Experience (rooibos), and Cheeky Charlie by The Kettle Shed (green tea). Continue reading “Teatourist’s Crushes & Blushes Collection”