Tea: Season's Pick Shou Mei

A Shou Mei White Tea from Upton Tea Imports

This tea has been retired/discontinued.

Picture of Season's Pick Shou Mei
Brand:Upton Tea Imports
Style:Shou Mei White Tea
Region:Fujian, China
Caffeine:Caffeinated
Loose?Loose
# Ratings:1 View All

Review of Season's Pick Shou Mei

AromaFlavorValueTotal
7 of 104 of 55 of 573 of 100
Very GoodGoodOutstanding

This is one of the naturally sweetest teas I have ever tried, with an aroma of cinnamon, honey, caramel, and autumn leaves. Rich, warm, and very gentle. Absolutely no bitterness whatsoever...just a hint of astringency in the aftertaste.

This is one of 3 of Upton's Shou Mei teas of very similar price and I want to emphasize that this tea barely resembles the other two. The leaves of this are the browest of the three and this one is by far the sweetest and darkest--in fact I would say it is the sweetest and darkest Shou Mei I have ever tried (making it the darkest "white tea" I've ever tried). Also, this tea has a complete absence of the fresh vegetal tones present in the other two.

I'm not a big fan of sweet-tasting teas, but people who love naturally sweet teas would love this one. This is an astonishingly complex tea for how in expensive it is!

The brewing instructions are important; if you use hotter water the result is drinkable but you lose some of the aroma. I find you can steep longer and the aroma becomes stronger, but the tea also acquires more astringency. This tea is usable for multiple infusions, however--more so than typical for Shou Mei. Perhaps this is a function of the fact that it is mostly large, whole leaves and contains fewer smaller particles.

Add your own review

Login or Sign Up to comment on this review.


FacebookTwitterInstagramTumblrPatreon