I think it was around 10 years ago when I got to know the taste of white tea. To be precise, it was a white iced tea, bought from a random supermarket. This was the time I fell in love with it. Before that I most likely didn’t know that this type of tea even exists. As I wrote in my first blog post, tea in general was not my cup of tea and I did not know much about it. Well.. actually I didn’t know anything :)
So what does white tea taste like?I actually remember this first white tea experience as it was yesterday, it had its own really specific taste. Sweet but fresh at the same time. I also remember that when Kristiina told me about growing and making tea in Georgia, it was one of the first things I asked: “will there be any white tea?”
White tea is historically not a typical Georgian tea. When we started to talk about a bud and one leaf that we need to pluck for our white teas, our plucking team was slightly confused because none of them had ever seen or even heard that this is a good canvas for a great tea. But let me say – what comes out of that one bud and a leaf is pure magic.
This tea farming season was kicked off with plucking leaves for white tea in late April. Leaves for white tea are plucked early spring when buds are not fully opened and leaves are immature. This type of tea is not rolled nor oxidized, only slightly withered and dried. (If you get confused about these terms then read this post) As it is made out of the most delicate parts of the tea bush and it is handled the most delicate way, it keeps its refreshing and slightly sweet taste, no bitter notes in it. White tea is definitely for the people who enjoy the smooth sip without a strong kick to your taste buds.
As mentioned before, our season started off with white ones which we named Cold Spring, made by Hannes and Acacia Rain, made by Tomas. Both have their own story and their own specific notes in their tastes and having a nice cup of proper white tea now reminds me why I fell in love with it in the first place. I believe that we still have some white teas available in our showroom, so you can give it a try by yourself.
As my love story with white tea started actually with iced version, so every now and then I make a proper cold brewed white iced tea. If you missed our blog post regarding the brewing methods of iced teas and some great tips on how to make this refreshing beverage read it HERE.
Now I feel like a proper cup of white tea is missing from my day, so this needs to be dealt with...:)
Written by Hanna