This tea, I knew, was said to look like little flowers, but I wasn't prepared for the simple beauty which greeted me when I opened this Harney & Sons sample. The tea flowers were so pretty, I first had the thought I'd like to stitch them to something rather than drink them, but that might not be such a swell idea!
Even a single flower is just lovely, don't you think? I had to do some guesswork when measuring these since they didn't fill the teaspoon as obviously as normal tea leaves would.
Here are the notes I took on this tea. In case you double-click and they're still too small to read, they're printed below. (And I'll be typing them each week instead of scanning, since a font is easier on the eyes than handwriting.)Name of tea: Bai Mei (White Eyebrow)
Category: White Tea
Purveyor: Harney & Sons
When purchased: December 2008
Dry leaf appearance: Gray-green leaves are stitched into beautiful small flowers - lacelike, almost
Wet leaf appearance: Soft celadon green flowers - retained their shape just fine
Steeping temperature and time: 2-1/2 minutes, 175º
Scent: At first, just a slight grassy scent - but then a note of something fruity. Very nice!
Color: Light golden yellow
Flavor: Pleasant white tea taste - seemed to have a bit more body than the Silver Needle tea
Additional notes: The aesthetic pleasure of this tea was amazing. I am so easily swayed by "pretty." But it did have a nice taste.
My sheets for the tea tasting notes, by the way, were a "design gift" from my friend Deberah, who has kindly agreed to share them with those of you who are interested in keeping a notebook of teas you've tried this year. You can download them by going here (for the sheet on loose leaf teas) and here (for a list for keeping up with tea bag teas you've tried).
Next week's tea: Ceylon Silver Tips
And coming Monday: Tea With Friends meets some rock stars of the design world at a trade show. Anyone know a famous designer of beautiful stationery, fabric and lifestyle goods named Anna? Or a party planner to the stars named Colin? Stay tuned ...
This Tea is so pretty!
ReplyDeleteI'm so sick that I missed the opportunity to attend this show at the Mart!!!!
NO WAY! Did you meet Anna Griffin? AND COLIN COWIE???!!! I love Anna Griffin products (have purchased many) and Colin Cowie - well, he's the King of Design, especially weddings. Can't wait to hear about it. And by the way, what a great post and how nice of you and your friend to share those downloads. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThat really is a pretty tea. Thanks for the great review and tasting notes. How fun to go to the trade show. Looking forward to hearing all about it.
ReplyDeleteExcellent tea tasting notes and photography!
ReplyDeleteLoved reading your review and seeing the pictures of the Bai Mai tea. I hadn't seen that. They look labor intensive, but would love to try them.
ReplyDelete