Green Tea Forum

Guest · Posted: Nov 19, 2005 6:36 am Post subject: Questions on white tea, please help!

Hi, I received my white tea yesterday, and I'm wondering two things:

1. Do I follow the directions on the package, or on the paper that was packed with it? The package says 155F for 4-5 minutes, and the paper says 133F for 3-4 minutes (if I remember correctly, as I'm using the library's computer, and don't have it in front of me). I also noticed that different tea sites claim other brewing temps (175F, & one place said 190F!). Please advise.

2. I ended up following the directions on the package, and I'm wondering if my tea tastes right---it had the pale mandarin color that was described, and it tasted like a sweeter green tea, with little astringency. Is that what it's supposed to taste like? Thanks!

Kevangogh · Forum God Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 916 Location: Japan

Hi,

Sorry for the confusion there. I brew mine like gyokuro in that i first pre-heat the cups and teapot, then brew around 130 degrees. I brew it a little longer than gyokuro though, usually 3-5 minutes.

Your description on the taste seems correct to me. It's a completely different animal than green tea. Very light pink-orange, unusual nutty flavor. I like it well enough, but personally I prefer green tea over it.

ttk2a · Guest

I just made my first cup of white tea and I have to say Im not that crazy about it. Its not bad but its not like I expected. It almost has no taste, although its a nice pale orange its just not green tea. However the Green Tea S200 - Kabusecha is just as good as I expected.

Kevangogh · Forum God Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 916 Location: Japan

Yeah, it's a completely different animal. I do like the aroma, but it's not really anything like green tea. This batch that I have now is pretty high quality stuff too. I have best luck making it just like gyokuro, using a lot of leaves and low temperature. I'm not going to carry it again, however. It was a major pain to get it through quarantine.