"Nigel" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> On Sep 17, 10:58 pm, Charles Dawson > wrote:
>> I visited the Sakuma Brother's Farms tea fields this weekend and it was
>> slightly disappointing.
>
>> Still, it was a treat to see actual
>> tea bushes grown commercially in person.
>>
>> They were sold out of their green but they did have some packages of
>> white left from their first harvest. As promised the leaves were only
>> FOP and OP, but they were neither rolled nor twisted, and there was
>> little white-tea fuzz present anywhere. They were packaged horribly --
>> in clear plastic bags, folded over and "sealed" only with a
>> computer-printed label. I can only imagine that they'll see lots of
>> light, heat, and moisture damage and it will go stale quickly.
>
> To achieve success in agro tourism you must match or exceed
> expectations - this often causes a packaging dilemma for the specialty
> producer: does my target audience want an understated eco friendly
> approach or a svelt up market pack for its $135 per lb product?
> Unless Richard Sakuma's clientele has changed in the five years since
> I visited the farm I would think they are looking for "farm shop
> simple". Which is not to say that the simplicity should not meet the
> functional requirements of excluding ingress of moisture, light and
> taint and egress of tea aroma.
>
>
>> The resulting brew was different than expected -- almost no tea flavor
>> but a very present fruity tone that was somewhere between dried apple
>> and strawberry. We're not sure if they were just not careful about aroma
>> contamination during processing or if the tea bushes themselves picked
>> up some aroma from the immediately-adjacent berry fields.
>
> The fruit flavor of this new origin tea really is interesting as i)
> it's not a taste I have ever found in China Whites, nor Ceylon, yet b)
> it's a taste we get in some African whites - though not our Malawi
> White Teas (these have a delicate floral aroma and taste - a little
> like wild rose) but we certainly do get the fragarant apple aroma in
> our Pearl rolled Malawi teas (there isn't a category for these teas
> yet - they are hand rolled white teas but whites cannot by definition
> be rolled, not green teaa as the enzymes are not zapped, not black
> teas as there is no oxidation - closest I can get so far to a
> definition (by taste and form) is a White Oolong but that's sure to
> upset the purists. I have also found this distinct fruit aroma in the
> Kenya whites (unrolled) that I have tasted - but not in them the
> floral notes of the Malawi's. We also find cedar wood and wintergreen
> in a few of the Malawi Whites - there are more than 30 cultivars to
> try all with different nuances. These are teas looking for a home.
>
>>
>> At $8.95 for 1.1 oz (about $135 per pound) it's not unreasonable for a
>> high-quality tea (and certainly not for fresh tea), but I'm not sure the
>> flavor quite qualifies as truly high-quality.
>>
> Washington State grown tea is rare - and rarity sets its own price -
> our special Antlers d'Amour which are the tender velvety stems of the
> finest flush - yes, White Tea tea just made from only the the juicy
> stems with the leaves and buds removed(!) are selling retail in the
> USA at $12 per half oz ($384 per lb) - but to my certain knowledge
> this product (which concentrates the aroma in the stem and the
> superfluous bud and leaves would just dilute the effect) is unique in
> the tea world.
>
> Nigel at Teacraft
>

Hey Nigel, who is carrying all these African white teas, any idea? I was
going to check Nothing But Tea but wondered if you knew of any others.
Thanks.

Melinda