Tea: White Peony (Pai Mu Tan)
A White Peony Tea from Adagio Teas
| Brand: | Adagio Teas |
| Style: | White Peony Tea |
| Region: | Fujian, China |
| Caffeine: | Caffeinated |
| Loose? | Loose |
| # Ratings: | 5 View All |
| Product page: | White Peony (Pai Mu Tan) |
Reviewer: Alex Zorach
✓ 1448 teas reviewed
✓ 17 of White Peony Tea
✓ 60 of White Tea
✓ 30 of Adagio Teas
✓ 97 from Fujian, China
✓ 381 from China
Review of White Peony (Pai Mu Tan)
September 14th, 2011
| Aroma | Flavor | Value | Total |
| 9 of 10 | 5 of 5 | 5 of 5 | 90 of 100 |
| Superb | Excellent | Outstanding |
Not what I expected, and actually, far exceeding any expectations I had! This is my favorite Pai Mu Tan sampled yet, and is far out ahead of any of the other contenders.
I had this as a sample in a tea sachet. The sachet contains the same tea that is sold as loose-leaf. I will note that the sachet was very large, giving the loosely-packed leaves ample room to expand. The picture Adagio shows suggests a greener character for this tea but I actually found it had a darker character than is typical for this style.
Unusually for Pai Mu Tan, there's a smokiness in this tea. Slightly vegetal, against a background of autumn leaves. Seems fairly strongly caffeinated as well. Some skunky qualities overall, but very pleasant. Clear, but with some bitterness.
Lasts through many infusions. I made longer, stronger infusions than I think I needed to (this tea was stronger than I expected) and I still got three very bold cups. I imagine this tea could have easily brewed 4-5 more normal-strength cups, if using brief infusions.
I also want to note that this is my favorite tea from Adagio that I have sampled yet. Outstanding value for a tea of this quality.
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Comments:
 | Bob Downs wrote: on November 8th, 2011 |
Thank you, too, for this review, Alex. I think I may begin my White Tea explorations with this varietal.
Although, Adagio's Commercial Description confuses me a bit with its suggestion that someone (such as myself) who's beginning their exploration of white tea try their
 | Alex Zorach wrote: on November 11th, 2011 |
Thank you! I'll be curious what you find with this. They may have renamed this tea since we pulled the commercial descriptions, which may explain the confusion!
Another white tea from Adagio that I liked a lot was the Xue Ya, or Snow Buds...it was less typical for a white tea though, being a lot more like a green tea than other white teas -- it is one of those borderline ones that is hard to sample.
I also noticed that your review got truncated...I think there is a bug somewhere in our comment system but I'm having trouble pinpointing it to fix it...so apologies if you encounter it again.
| Bob Downs wrote: on November 11th, 2011 |
I just noticed the truncation, too. No worries.
