Wild-grown White Peony scented by hand with blue lotus (blue water lily) blossoms, using the traditional cold-scenting method. Cold scenting does very little harm to the tea, so it barely affects how the tea continues to age. Currently sold out at the source.
The story: the studio first developed blue lotus white tea in 2019. Ten jin of tea took nearly 100 jin of fresh flowers and about 20 days of work. The tea maker wasn't satisfied: he had hoped to capture the fresh lotus's "fragrance that grows purer with distance," but once brewed it tasted of dried lotus, powdery and soft with some sweetness, unlike the fresh flower. So he sold it at the price of plain tea and absorbed the development cost. Then a loyal customer, a devoted lover of blue lotus, bought up his whole stock. A year later, tasting her stored tea, he was delighted, and the phrase "graceful, a lotus blooming with every step" came to mind. Lotus has its own nature: the dried flower is meant to smell different from the fresh one, powdery and soft yet crisp, with a lofty purity all its own. As tea lovers like to say, tea that's been rested tastes better.
Symbolism: in ancient Egypt, the blue lotus symbolized purity and beauty. Young lovers exchanged it as a token of love and betrothal, and it was celebrated as a symbol of life, endlessly renewing.
Base tea: 2018 spring wild White Peony with abundant buds, near first grade, of the Huacha No. 1 (Fuding Da Bai Cha) cultivar. It has been tested for pesticide residue. (The 2019 batch used a 2018 wild Huacha No. 1 "Peony King.")
Tasting notes (Sept 2024):
Dry leaf: beautiful petals and a pronounced dried-lotus fragrance. Please note this is not the scent of fresh lotus.
Liquor: soft and sweet, with a rock-sugar sweetness. The powdery, soft lotus fragrance adds further sweetness. The floral note is refined rather than showy, with a crisp, lofty quality, and it is even fresher as the tea cools. Huacha No. 1 gives a fine, soft, lasting liquor, and the 2018 wild base is gentle, rich in substance and rewarding to savor.
Brewing: 5g (with a few dried petals) in a 150ml gaiwan, purified water at 95°C (203°F), 3–10 seconds per steep.
Packing: 50g tins. 100g = two tins; 500g (1 jin) = ten tins.
Storage: room temperature, sealed, dry, clean and cool.
Shipping: Each order is prepared for you after purchase and ships within 1–2 weeks.
Wild-grown White Peony scented by hand with blue lotus (blue water lily) blossoms, using the traditional cold-scenting method. Cold scenting does very little harm to the tea, so it barely affects how the tea continues to age. Currently sold out at the source.
The story: the studio first developed blue lotus white tea in 2019. Ten jin of tea took nearly 100 jin of fresh flowers and about 20 days of work. The tea maker wasn't satisfied: he had hoped to capture the fresh lotus's "fragrance that grows purer with distance," but once brewed it tasted of dried lotus, powdery and soft with some sweetness, unlike the fresh flower. So he sold it at the price of plain tea and absorbed the development cost. Then a loyal customer, a devoted lover of blue lotus, bought up his whole stock. A year later, tasting her stored tea, he was delighted, and the phrase "graceful, a lotus blooming with every step" came to mind. Lotus has its own nature: the dried flower is meant to smell different from the fresh one, powdery and soft yet crisp, with a lofty purity all its own. As tea lovers like to say, tea that's been rested tastes better.
Symbolism: in ancient Egypt, the blue lotus symbolized purity and beauty. Young lovers exchanged it as a token of love and betrothal, and it was celebrated as a symbol of life, endlessly renewing.
Base tea: 2018 spring wild White Peony with abundant buds, near first grade, of the Huacha No. 1 (Fuding Da Bai Cha) cultivar. It has been tested for pesticide residue. (The 2019 batch used a 2018 wild Huacha No. 1 "Peony King.")
Tasting notes (Sept 2024):
Dry leaf: beautiful petals and a pronounced dried-lotus fragrance. Please note this is not the scent of fresh lotus.
Liquor: soft and sweet, with a rock-sugar sweetness. The powdery, soft lotus fragrance adds further sweetness. The floral note is refined rather than showy, with a crisp, lofty quality, and it is even fresher as the tea cools. Huacha No. 1 gives a fine, soft, lasting liquor, and the 2018 wild base is gentle, rich in substance and rewarding to savor.
Brewing: 5g (with a few dried petals) in a 150ml gaiwan, purified water at 95°C (203°F), 3–10 seconds per steep.
Packing: 50g tins. 100g = two tins; 500g (1 jin) = ten tins.
Storage: room temperature, sealed, dry, clean and cool.
Shipping: Each order is prepared for you after purchase and ships within 1–2 weeks.
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