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Alex Zorach

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Member since Sep. 1st, 2009. Reviewed 1448 teas.

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Picture of Yunnan Yue Guang Bai Air-Dried White Tea

Yunnan Yue Guang Bai Air-Dried White Tea from Yunnan Sourcing

Style: Moonlight White – Region: Jinggu, Yunnan, China

85 / 100 Aroma: 9/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 5/5
Mar. 8th, 2021

This is only the second Moonlight White tea I've ever tried; the first was from Life in Teacup. I've had this tea for nearly two years from its harvest date, but am only reviewing it now, so I've seen how it ages slightly. It seemed to change character much more quickly than a pu-erh.

The leaf is striking and unique...

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Picture of Mouling Estate SFTGFOP Arunachal Pradesh White Tea

Mouling Estate SFTGFOP Arunachal Pradesh White Tea from Upton Tea Imports

Style: White Tea – Region: Arunachal Pradesh, India

54 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 2/5
Dec. 9th, 2018

An exorbitantly-priced tea that didn't deliver the quality I demand in this price range, and in the end, wasn't that enjoyable to drink. This is the first white tea I have ever tried that was produced in any region of northeast India other than Darjeeling. I remain open minded, but this experience was a let-down. Thin-...

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Picture of Yunnan Silver Needles

Yunnan Silver Needles from Passenger Coffee

Style: Silver Needle – Region: Yunnan, China

96 / 100 Aroma: 9/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 4/5
Nov. 7th, 2017

This tea was served at Copper Cup coffee shop in Lancaster, PA. Prior to that, I hadn't even heard of Passenger Coffee, and this tea really blew me away; I thought it exceptional.

I tend not to like silver needle white teas because they're often a bit too subtle (or, put less diplomatically, bland or weak) for me, ...

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Picture of Mutan White

Mutan White from Harney and Sons

Style: White Peony Tea – Region: Fu'an, Fujian, China

84 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
Jun. 20th, 2017

I thought this was an above-average white peony or bai mu dan.

Dry leaf smells different from any other White Peony tea I've tried, notes of candied citrus peel, a sort of bittersweet smell, a slight pungency, almost hinting at camphor. I'm intrigued, and eager to try this to see what kind of cup this leaf produces...

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Picture of Okayti White

Okayti White from Harney and Sons

Style: Darjeeling White Tea – Region: Darjeeling, India

88 / 100 Aroma: 9/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
Jun. 8th, 2017

I liked this one a lot, much more than typical for white teas.

I normally don't like tippy white teas, but I was super impressed by what may be this same exact same tea, or at least a similar one, sold by Golden Tips Tea. Unfortunately, this tea is no longer in stock at either company! It is worth waiting for this...

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Picture of Ceylon Gold

Ceylon Gold from teakruthi

Style: White Tea – Region: Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka

89 / 100 Aroma: 9/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
Mar. 8th, 2017

I am normally not a huge fan of tippy, lighter-colored white teas like this, but I thought this was pretty exceptional and was one of my favorite lighter white teas that I've ever tried. It isn't exactly a silver needle, but I compared it as one, it would be the second-favorite one I've ever tried.

The dry leaf is ...

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Picture of Winter Mountain White Tea

Winter Mountain White Tea from Health & Tea

Style: White Tea – Region: Taiwan / Formosa

80 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
Feb. 2nd, 2017

Wow, this is probably the least-processed tea I have ever seen; it looks like you just plucked leaves and buds right off a tea bush and dried them and popped them in a bag.

The dry leaf has a pleasant smell; it smells a little bit like generic dried leaves from the garden, but there's also a pleasant floral scent mo...

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Picture of Frontier Organic White Peony

Frontier Organic White Peony from Frontier

Style: White Peony Tea – Region: ?????

47 / 100 Aroma: 5/10 Flavor: 2/5 Value: 2/5
Jan. 17th, 2017

I was not impressed with this one. I'm not sure if it was the low quality of tea though, or if it was simply not very fresh at the store where it was sold. I wish Frontier had more of a mechanism in place for ensuring freshness in the bulk tea kiosks they have in natural food stores, because I sometimes have a proble...

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Picture of Fuding White Tea Cake

Fuding White Tea Cake from Upton Tea Imports

Style: White Peony Tea – Region: Fuding, Fujian, China

73 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 3/5
Jan. 9th, 2017

I tried this together with Upton's ZW42. I actually liked this one a lot, and not the other.

Brews up a dark, full-bodied cup that, like the other compressed white tea cake, is rather bitter. I find the bitterness more blunt though, whereas ZW42 has a sharp bitterness.

The aroma is strange and hard to describe....

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Picture of White Tea Cake

White Tea Cake from Upton Tea Imports

Style: White Tea – Region: China

60 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 2/5
Jan. 9th, 2017

This was the first of two compressed white tea cakes from Upton that I sampled. It was interesting but I'm not sure I'd want to drink this tea regularly. This was a strong tea, unpleasantly sharp but also thin-bodied, and I think I may have brewed it too strongly, wanting a fuller-bodied tea, but by the time I had fi...

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White Peony from Simply Good Tea

Style: White Peony Tea – Region: China

33 / 100 Aroma: 2/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 1/5
Dec. 7th, 2015

This is a late review that I somehow forgot to post; the company is now closed, and the tea wasn't my favorite, but why not share?

Another dud, the second one in a batch of teas that I've otherwise thought offered solid quality and excellent value.

The dry leaf looks unusually wiry for a white peony or bai mu dan...

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Picture of Okayti Silver Needle Darjeeling White Tea Second Flush

Okayti Silver Needle Darjeeling White Tea Second Flush from Golden Tips

Style: Silver Needle – Region: Darjeeling, India

93 / 100 Aroma: 9/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5
Nov. 16th, 2015

I thought this an exceptional tea, probably the best white tea I've ever sampled.

Another lost review that I somehow missed posting.

The leaf of this tea is wonderfully fragrant, with an aroma completely distinct from both Chinese silver needle teas, and the very different variants of them I've tried from Africa ...

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Picture of Silver Needle White Tea

Silver Needle White Tea from Simply Good Tea

Style: Silver Needle – Region: Fujian, China

77 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 5/5
Feb. 17th, 2015

I tend not to like Silver Needle teas, but I found this one more interesting than most. It was my favorite silver needle yet from China (I strongly prefer the African-grown versions).

Dry leaf is mildly aromatic, and upon brewing, the cup initially smells like a typical silver needle of good quality, with the typic...

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Picture of Silver Needle White Tea

Silver Needle White Tea from Arbor Teas

Style: Silver Needle – Region: Fujian, China

60 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 2/5
Feb. 17th, 2015

A very typical silver needle, enjoyable, good quality, and true to the style, but this is a style of tea I'm not a huge fan of, especially given its high price.

Brewed 3 minutes as recommended, this was too weak for me. I preferred a single, long infusion of about 12-15 minutes.

Very low in astringency, leading ...

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Picture of White Peony

White Peony from Octavia Tea

Style: White Peony Tea – Region: Fujian, China

90 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5
Jan. 6th, 2015

Excellent! Another sample served at Velvet Sky Bakery.

The leaf was rather broken, but this may have been due to being packed in the small sample container: this is a very fragile, large-leafed tea.

Brews up a clear, light-colored cup that is on the delicate side for a white peony. Aroma is floral, with notes o...

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Picture of Fuding Shou Mei White Tea Cake 2013

Fuding Shou Mei White Tea Cake 2013 from TeaVivre

Style: Shou Mei White Tea – Region: Fuding, Fujian, China

90 / 100 Aroma: 9/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5
Aug. 29th, 2014

I loved this. I love Shou Mei, and this was the first example of it I tried in compressed form. It was definitely one of the best samples of Shou mei that I've tried.

The dry leaf of this cake has a moderate smell of dried fruit, with a hint of fermenting fruit in there. It's not the most aromatic of TeaVivre's t...

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Picture of White Peony Tea (Bai MuDan)

White Peony Tea (Bai MuDan) from TeaVivre

Style: White Peony Tea – Region: Fuding, Fujian, China

90 / 100 Aroma: 10/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 5/5
Aug. 12th, 2014

A top-notch white peony tea that I found a bit tricky to brew: aromatically complex, but easy to oversteep. If considering the aroma alone, this would be among my favorite white teas ever, but the experience of drinking it was slightly less than top-notch, I'd say only solidly good, not excellent.

The dry leaf is i...

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Picture of Snow Buds Green Tea

Snow Buds Green Tea from Arbor Teas

Style: Snow Buds – Region: Fujian, China

77 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
May. 12th, 2014

A delightful, light tea that tastes to me more like a delicate green tea than a white tea. I've tried two other snow buds or Xue Ya teas, and I think this is a prime example of this style.

Dry leaf is coarse and hairy, silvery.

Brews fairly slowly, as I'd expect for an intact, whole-leafed tea. I steeped for th...

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Picture of White Tea

White Tea from Twinpeak Tea

Style: White Tea – Region: China

33 / 100 Aroma: 3/10 Flavor: 2/5 Value: 1/5
Apr. 1st, 2014

Thank you Dewey for sharing this one with me, alongside two excellent loose-leaf teas which I have yet to review.

I thought this one was pretty bad.

Dry tea bag smells slightly toasty. The leaf inside the bag is a light green color, lighter than most shou mei white tea.

Upon brewing, smells much more vegetal....

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Picture of Silver Needle

Silver Needle from Octavia Tea

Style: Silver Needle – Region: ?????

63 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 3/5
Feb. 12th, 2014

To be fair, I'm not a huge fan of silver needle white tea, so this wasn't among my all-time favorite teas, but but I thought this was a good example of this style, and very enjoyable to drink. Served in Velvet Sky Bakery in Jenkintown--an ongoing thank-you to Velvet Sky for ordering numerous small samples to allow me ...

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Picture of Premium Peony White Tea (100% Organic)

Premium Peony White Tea (100% Organic) from Prince of Peace

Style: White Peony Tea – Region: Fujian, China

53 / 100 Aroma: 3/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 4/5
Dec. 30th, 2013

A pleasant, full-bodied tea, but aromatically weak and not very interesting. Not as aromatic as Ten Ren's white tea, which remains my favorite white tea from a tea bag. Smells very mild, mostly of caramel, very faintly floral.

Flavor is subdued: not very bitter. Just the right amount of astringency: smooth, even ...

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Picture of White Night

White Night from Mandala Tea

Style: White Tea – Region: Simao, Yunnan, China

83 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
Dec. 29th, 2013

This was among the most interesting of the white teas I've tried, although more familiar and similar to typical white teas than moonlight white. E. Alex Gerster called this tea "sturdy" and I like that; I also want to thank him for providing me with this sample.

Dry leaf has a peculiar aroma, like caramel and overr...

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Picture of Organic Silver Needle White Tea

Organic Silver Needle White Tea from Wegmans

Style: Silver Needle – Region: China

53 / 100 Aroma: 5/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 3/5
Sep. 13th, 2013

I'm not a huge fan of silver needle; I thought this was above average for its type but I would still strongly prefer other teas, even other white teas, both because of price and characteristics of the cup.

Dry leaf, consisting exclusively of whole, intact tips, has a melony aroma with a slight hint of caramel, but i...

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Picture of Bai Mu Dan White Tea

Bai Mu Dan White Tea from Arbor Teas

Style: White Peony Tea – Region: Fujian, China

93 / 100 Aroma: 9/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5
Jun. 7th, 2013

This may be tied with TeaVivre for my favorite white peony--yet the two teas are like day and night. TeaVivre's is so light, and I found this to be rich, full-bodied, and dark. Pleasing and unusually strong for a white tea.

Broken leaf has a highly heterogeneous appearance, with small whole leaves, large broken pi...

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Picture of Shoumei White Tea

Shoumei White Tea from Foojoy

Style: Shou Mei White Tea – Region: China

67 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 5/5
May. 28th, 2013

I love shou mei, a darker white tea, and I love Foojoy, so I was expecting to like this one, and I did. It's remarkably high quality for such an inexpensive tea bag. The only shou mei I've tried in tea bags.

This tea is surprisingly pungent, with the characteristic aroma of autumn leaves, and a hint of spice and p...

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