Group tea tasting: Fuding BaiMudan White Tea

[cdh]

So we've reached a quorum and samples have been dispatched.  The tea is from a cake I ordered from one of the alibaba-ish direct-from-China sites, DHGate.com.  Here are photos of the wrapper and the cake.  This tea has been very forgiving in my attempts to brew it... 180F works, 195F works.  Gongfu works, more western ratios work.  I generally use about 5g, whether doing gongfu or western.  But I also use the same tea basket for both styles of brewing.  This tea will keep giving tasty reinfusions all day.  When you get it, give t a brew and let us know what you find.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

@cdh, is that a dedicated "tea knife"?    It looks a lot like an oyster knife.    I love it!

[cdh]

It is totally an oyster knife.  Does the job.  Wait til you see my good-enough gaiwan setup.  

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Please!    You had me Googling the Gongfu ceremony.    I am entranced by the tray.     THAT is the definition of purpose-designed!  

[KennethT]

I can't wait!

[liuzhou]

6 hours ago, cdh said:

Here are photos of the wrapper and the cake.

 

I'm a little confused. Nowhere on the wrapper does it say that this is Fuding BaiMudan White Tea, which would be 福鼎白牡丹茶. Instead it says 福鼎野年老白茶, which means Fuding wild, aged white tea.

 

But I'm no tea expert.

[KennethT]

2 hours ago, cdh said:

It is totally an oyster knife.  Does the job.  Wait til you see my good-enough gaiwan setup.  

Is it similar to mine?

 

I'd love one of those box things...

[liuzhou]

1 minute ago, KennethT said:

I'd love one of those box things...

 

 

I have two of those. Never use them for the intended purpose, though.

 

[cdh]

Since I don't read Chinese, I don't see what you saw, Liuzhou.  The folks I bought it from sold it as BaiMuDan, and to look at it, it looks about like the picking style defined as baimudan... As I understand white tea nomenclature, there is yin zhen, which is just unopened buds, baimudan, which is upper leaves and a late  bud or two, and shou mei, which is bigger leaves from further down the stem.  

[cdh]

11 hours ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

Please!    You had me Googling the Gongfu ceremony.    I am entranced by the tray.     THAT is the definition of purpose-designed!  

 

Gongfu  isn't so much a ceremony as a procedure... six of one, half a dozen of the other, I guess. It's about higher leaf to water ratios and shorter steeping times, and repetitive steepings. 

[heidih]

@cdh  You reminded me of my first exposure to tea brewing in the late Barbara Tropp's "The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking". Gotta dig it out. 

[cdh]

Here's my good-enough gaiwan setup. A corelle coffee cup and a strainer basket that just about takes up all the space in it.   That's an oolong I've been brewing again and again for the past few days... interesting tea in that the early infusions are close to tasteless, but now that I'm 3 days and 8 or 9 infusions in it is getting very flavorful.  No idea why that is, but it is.  

[Margaret Pilgrim]

56 minutes ago, cdh said:

... interesting tea in that the early infusions are close to tasteless, but now that I'm 3 days and 8 or 9 infusions in it is getting very flavorful. 

 

Thank you for this invaluable insight.    You've given us a lot to "chew".    

[cdh]

And now that I've captured its soul, my tea kettle has decided to give up the ghost.  Hope it is still under warranty. 

Edited February 12, 2020 by cdh (log)

[heidih]

and so it goes - you will figure it  out. A new soul awaits

[cdh]

Ha.  Wasn't the tea kettle... was the circuit breaker... the espresso machine, the microwave and the teapot all pulling current at the same time seems to trip it. A trip to the basement has sorted it out. 

[heidih]

oh that on and off advice - magic.  Had a neighbor who thought I was a wizard -not! Brew on young man

[cdh]

For a bit of preparatory info, here's a fun video about white tea: 

 

That channel is a fun tea rabbit hole to jump down and learn about tea from the perspective of a Swiss/Chinese London tea shop owner. 

[donk79]

3 hours ago, cdh said:

For a bit of preparatory info, here's a fun video about white tea: 

 

That channel is a fun tea rabbit hole to jump down and learn about tea from the perspective of a Swiss/Chinese London tea shop owner. 

Mei Leaf has been a large part of my tea education in the past couple of years.  I only wish the videos were more condensed.  Very informative when you have the time, though.

[cdh]

Yup.  He's informative but loquacious.  And always subtly selling his own picks... but that's easy to filter out.  He's a font of good info. 

[KennethT]

1 hour ago, cdh said:

Yup.  He's informative but loquacious.  And always subtly selling his own picks... but that's easy to filter out.  He's a font of good info. 

Indeed!

[Margaret Pilgrim]

We stepped into Aroma Tea Shop on 6th Avenue at Clement, San Francisco, this morning.    Tiny shop but well displayed stock.    I was impressed by the young salesman who was helpful without being hard-sell in any way.    I will return to buy when needs arise.   This is one wall; the opposite one contained the large stock of bulk teas.

[heidih]

You sent me down a rabbit hole to a local herbal shop I used to frequent to get bozo's ginseng.. I think the wall of wooden drawers is part of a famous movie.  Quite lovely

 

https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en&pb=!1s0x80c2ca9e49e52725%3A0x8a01ecbf632f2cbe!3m1!7e115!4shttps%3A%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipN78c0X95IK3VAC1zkhq7ZUXDvB5vPqVgk4hBA0%3Dw138-h133-k-no!5sfamous chinese medicine shop gardena - Google Search!15sCAQ&imagekey=!1e10!2sAF1QipOOOjU8fM-Al2TJw6ifBcfgOptlDgEr8zUXHISg&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiXoYTQgtXnAhW_JzQIHZxMD1sQoiowE3oECBsQBg

[KennethT]

I got my sample last night and have been preparing to taste this weekend. Very exciting!

[cdh]

I'm starting a session today.  5.7g of the little bits that have collected on the wrapper when I dug chunks out of the cake went into my good-enough gaiwan which is around 100ml. Water is at 185F.   Did an initial rinse.  20 second initial steep.  Slightly floral aromatics, rich woodsy flavor, long aftertaste. Some dried fruit is coming out after infusion 2, also about 20 seconds.  Infusions 3 and 4 were 30ish seconds.  Body is filling out and it is getting a nice thick mouthfeel and long aftertaste.  Woodsiness is abating and fruitiness is coming out more.

Edited February 17, 2020 by cdh (log)