Country of Origin: China
Leaf Appearance: jade green, curled with some buds
Ingredients: green tea
Steep time: 3 minutes
Water Temperature: 175 degrees
Preparation Method: Teavana Perfect Tea Maker
Liquor: gold
The categories of tea seem like they are clearly defined but there are quite a lot of grey areas. This particular tea was listed as a white tea on their website but behaved like a green. Was I crazy? I inquired about the processing to see if that might clear things up. The leaves were withered and rolled prior to the heating step. That still didn’t tell me much. When I pose the question to my fellow tea nerds on Facebook, the responses ran the gamut of the tea world. After a few days of Googling, I found a listing on Amazon from this same vendor:
This green Yunnan has the special, white downy appearance typical of white teas which are also picked young. Delicate, smooth and floral it is a most attractive yet uncommon green tea.
Now that the type is settled, let’s get to the tea! It was mellow in the cup with sweet meadow notes and hints of melon. My second infusion had a nice floral quality that had not been as present on the first go around. There was hardly any astringency, making it a good candidate for travel mug brewing. I find that’s really the best way to get the most out of your green teas. Just keep refilling with water until the flavor is gone. £14.33 (about $22) for 125g, this tea is a fairly decent buy.
Yunnan White Dragon sample provided by Grey’s Teas.