I obtained some bagged tea marketed by Triple Leaf Tea, Inc named on the
carton as 'White Tea ~ White Peony Tea'. It's price in the supermarket for
20 bags aroused suspicion: only US$3.30. White peony tea is normally the
most expensive Chinese variety. Granted that this brand is offerring tea
dust, not whole leaf, but so is Republic of Tea (RT) in their Emperor's
White Tea bags, which costs considerably more. It is not even found at the
Triple Leaf Tea (TLT) web site http://www.tripleleaf-tea.com/teas.htm


This tea from TLT is a mixture of dark olive green dust and an estimated 5%
beige cottony looking agglomerations. I know that true white peony does have
a fine gray-white down on its young buds, but I've never seen beige fiber
masses such as this in a teabag before. It certainly does not look a bit
like the white peony dust found in the Emperor's White Tea bags.

When 2 of the TLT bags are steeped in 10 oz water @ 180°F for 10 minutes
(the way I prefer my green/white teas), the result is an *amber* colored
infusion and noticably robust tannin flavor that I'm not accustomed to in
other green/white tea brands. It should't be so dark unless it has undergone
considerable oxidation/fermenation. Both the appearance and flavor of it
seems comparable to that of an Oolong. And I immediately felt almost
nauseous after drinking only about half of the serving. Was that pesticides
or some sort of additive, which caused my reaction?

I've read that there is a type of white tea that is more specificly named
Shou Mei
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_tea
"A fruity furry white tea that is a chaotic mix of tips and upper leaf, it
has a stronger flavor than other white teas, similar to Oolong. It is the
fourth grade of White tea and is plucked later than Bai Mu Dan (Pai Mu Tan)
hence the tea may be darker in color. From Fujian Province and Guanxi
Province in China."

However, Pai Mu Tan translates to 'white peony', whereas Shou Mei translates
to 'Noble, Long Life Eyebrow'.

I'm also aware that April 1st is quite out-of-season for white peony, so any
inventories of it cannot be expected to be fresh. However, it should not be
so oxidized/fermented after only 13 months of normal commercial storage that
its variety is unrecognizable. So evidently it never was white peony to
begin with.

"Knack" > writes:

> I obtained some bagged tea marketed by Triple Leaf Tea, Inc named on the
> carton as 'White Tea ~ White Peony Tea'. It's price in the supermarket for
> 20 bags aroused suspicion: only US$3.30. White peony tea is normally the
> most expensive Chinese variety.

If only! Are you thinking of Silver Needle, maybe? I'm assuming you
mean "most expensive Chinese white tea".

> Granted that this brand is offerring tea dust, not whole leaf, but
> so is Republic of Tea (RT) in their Emperor's White Tea bags, which
> costs considerably more. It is not even found at the Triple Leaf Tea
> (TLT) web site http://www.tripleleaf-tea.com/teas.htm
>
> This tea from TLT is a mixture of dark olive green dust and an
> estimated 5% beige cottony looking agglomerations. I know that true
> white peony does have a fine gray-white down on its young buds, but
> I've never seen beige fiber masses such as this in a teabag
> before. It certainly does not look a bit like the white peony dust
> found in the Emperor's White Tea bags.
>
> When 2 of the TLT bags are steeped in 10 oz water @ 180°F for 10
> minutes (the way I prefer my green/white teas), the result is an
> *amber* colored infusion and noticably robust tannin flavor that I'm
> not accustomed to in other green/white tea brands. It should't be so
> dark unless it has undergone considerable
> oxidation/fermenation. Both the appearance and flavor of it seems
> comparable to that of an Oolong.

You're pushing it pretty hard, even neglecting the fact that the tea
has been chopped fine for use in teabags. I've had White Peony from
good sources that has a near-oolong character.

I think it would be much easier to judge the character of the dry
leaves if you had loose leaf tea. You'd probably get better value for
your money, too.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

It could be one part BaiMudan to whatever parts of filler so they can
make the claim. Or from your description more SowMee than BaiMudan.
SowMee is the end of season dark brown leaf. BaiMudan is midseason 50%
green leaf/white bud. Yinzhen is the first all bud of the season. The
only white tea that is cheap is SowMee. It doesn't make any sense to
me to put any white tea in a bag except maybe SowMee which is so cheap
the bagging would cost more. The grading just doesn't work that way to
make fines/dust. White tea in bags is more marketing than anything
else.

Jim

Knack wrote:
> I obtained some bagged tea marketed by Triple Leaf Tea, Inc named on the
> carton as 'White Tea ~ White Peony Tea'. It's price in the supermarket for
> 20 bags aroused suspicion: only US$3.30. White peony tea is normally the
> most expensive Chinese variety. Granted that this brand is offerring tea
> dust, not whole leaf, but so is Republic of Tea (RT) in their Emperor's
> White Tea bags, which costs considerably more. It is not even found at the
> Triple Leaf Tea (TLT) web site http://www.tripleleaf-tea.com/teas.htm
....snip...

Hi,

I happen to know that Triple Leaf does produce a white tea in bags.
I've seen it at the local Vietnamese market. I'm not a huge fan of
white tea, so I haven't tried it. In regard to price, I did once buy a
box of 100 bags of supposed white peony tea (Royal King brand) for
$2.99. It wasn't awful, provided i didn't steep it for more than 1-2
mins. Not good enough for me to seek out again, though. I'd rather
spend my money on a decent green tea, whether in bulk or bags.

Space Cowboy wrote:
> It could be one part BaiMudan to whatever parts of filler so they can
> make the claim. Or from your description more SowMee than BaiMudan.
> SowMee is the end of season dark brown leaf. BaiMudan is midseason 50%
> green leaf/white bud. Yinzhen is the first all bud of the season. The
> only white tea that is cheap is SowMee. It doesn't make any sense to
> me to put any white tea in a bag except maybe SowMee which is so cheap
> the bagging would cost more. The grading just doesn't work that way to
> make fines/dust. White tea in bags is more marketing than anything
> else.
>
> Jim
>
> Knack wrote:
> > I obtained some bagged tea marketed by Triple Leaf Tea, Inc named on the
> > carton as 'White Tea ~ White Peony Tea'. It's price in the supermarket for
> > 20 bags aroused suspicion: only US$3.30. White peony tea is normally the
> > most expensive Chinese variety. Granted that this brand is offerring tea
> > dust, not whole leaf, but so is Republic of Tea (RT) in their Emperor's
> > White Tea bags, which costs considerably more. It is not even found at the
> > Triple Leaf Tea (TLT) web site http://www.tripleleaf-tea.com/teas.htm
> ...snip...

If any white tea was sold as small grade I could see fines/dust as a by
product for teabags. Since it isn't you get what you pay for. I
bought some puer tea bags once which was 50% cork. You could believe
the claim on the box for multiple infusions because it would never get
water logged and sink. I'm not even curious to buy cheap white tea
bags in Chinatown. However if I was sure it was midseason 100% White
Peony I'd load up.

Jim

ah2323 wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I happen to know that Triple Leaf does produce a white tea in bags.
> I've seen it at the local Vietnamese market. I'm not a huge fan of
> white tea, so I haven't tried it. In regard to price, I did once buy a
> box of 100 bags of supposed white peony tea (Royal King brand) for
> $2.99. It wasn't awful, provided i didn't steep it for more than 1-2
> mins. Not good enough for me to seek out again, though. I'd rather
> spend my money on a decent green tea, whether in bulk or bags.
>
> Space Cowboy wrote:
> > It could be one part BaiMudan to whatever parts of filler so they can
> > make the claim. Or from your description more SowMee than BaiMudan.
> > SowMee is the end of season dark brown leaf.

Space Cowboy:

Cork? Really? That is shocking, and--I think--illegal under the
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (1938). Is there any way to know
whether what you are getting is actually tea at all?


Space Cowboy wrote:
> If any white tea was sold as small grade I could see fines/dust as a by
> product for teabags. Since it isn't you get what you pay for. I
> bought some puer tea bags once which was 50% cork. You could believe
> the claim on the box for multiple infusions because it would never get
> water logged and sink. I'm not even curious to buy cheap white tea
> bags in Chinatown. However if I was sure it was midseason 100% White
> Peony I'd load up.
>
> Jim
>

I double checked the puer teabag in question. It is a Taiwan brand and
either 50% cork or 50% chrysthanthemum flower. It still could be used
as a liferaft.

Jim

ah2323 wrote:
> Space Cowboy:
>
> Cork? Really? That is shocking, and--I think--illegal under the
> Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (1938). Is there any way to know
> whether what you are getting is actually tea at all?
>
>
> Space Cowboy wrote:
> > I bought some puer tea bags once which was 50% cork.

"Space Cowboy" > writes:

> [...mysterious teabag contents...]
> I double checked the puer teabag in question. It is a Taiwan brand and
> either 50% cork or 50% chrysthanthemum flower. It still could be used
> as a liferaft.

Somehow I always pictured you as bigger than that. Or is it a *huge*
teabag?

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

It *says* that? Or is this an educated guess?



Space Cowboy wrote:
> I double checked the puer teabag in question. It is a Taiwan brand and
> either 50% cork or 50% chrysthanthemum flower. It still could be used
> as a liferaft.
>
> Jim
>
>

BTW, I have had bagged Pu erh before. It wasn't as good as even
inferior whole leaf, but it did taste *like* Pu Erh, and it didn't
display any particular buoyancy. The only tea-like product I've ever
had behave that way was a certain well-known brand of Rooibus (sp?).

It was an educated guess when I double checked the teabag. I just
checked the box. It says Chrysthanthemum Flower Puerh Tea in Chinese.
It is common to drink the two together. Maybe the flower is more
buoyant than the tea.

Jim

ah2323 wrote:
> It *says* that? Or is this an educated guess?
>
>
>
> Space Cowboy wrote:
> > I double checked the puer teabag in question. It is a Taiwan brand and
> > either 50% cork or 50% chrysthanthemum flower. It still could be used
> > as a liferaft.
> >
> > Jim

Actually, I think I've tried it before, although I don't remember it
floating. Not great, but at .79 for a box of 20, could have been much,
much worse.


Space Cowboy wrote:
> It was an educated guess when I double checked the teabag. I just
> checked the box. It says Chrysthanthemum Flower Puerh Tea in Chinese.
> It is common to drink the two together. Maybe the flower is more
> buoyant than the tea.
>
> Jim
>
> ah2323 wrote:
> > It *says* that? Or is this an educated guess?
> >
> >
> >
> > Space Cowboy wrote:
> > > I double checked the puer teabag in question. It is a Taiwan brand and
> > > either 50% cork or 50% chrysthanthemum flower. It still could be used
> > > as a liferaft.
> > >
> > > Jim