It's cool when the host of an AirBnB leaves a variety of teas, and even cooler when one is a new tea for me to try.

Unfortunately, even for white tea, this was underwhelming overall. The dry-bag aroma may have been the best part: mild, but somewhat floral, yet distinctively tea-dominant, as if this would be a deliciously complex white tea. Floral tones to a white tea make some sense, as they may not overpower the tea.

The liquid itself didn't live up to the promise, however. The flavor was mild as one would expect with white tea, but surprisingly bitter, even on short steeps of around 2–3 minutes, and weirdly, a little rusty or metallic (and this is not the water, either). A faintly sweet, floral aspect (think carnation more than common tea flowers like rose, lavender or jasmine) creeps back out in the aftertaste. The wet bag has no particular aroma, so whatever this tea has, and it ain't much, it surrenders in the first couple minutes of steeping.

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