Our White Peony (Bai Mu Dan) is the earliest harvest of this grade of white tea and possesses a very smooth and fruity flavor with a rich floral aroma. A highly popular and affordable everyday white tea made with both buds and leaves of Fuding Da Bai cultivar. More
Our White Peony (Bai Mu Dan) is the earliest harvest of this grade of white tea and possesses a very smooth and fruity flavor with a rich floral aroma. A highly popular and affordable everyday white tea made with both buds and leaves of Fuding Da Bai cultivar.
Usually, buds used for Bai Mu Dan are more mature than those used in Bai Hao Yin Zhen (Silver Needle). This tea was first made in 1922 in Jian Yang in Fujian located at a higher altitude than the neighboring Fuding. Perfect picking style is when the leaf is only as long as the bud. This makes a very thick and sweet Bai Mu Dan.
Bai Mu Dan or “White Peony” is named for the shape of its leaves. Its one bud and two leave plucking standard is left in its natural shape without the kneading and shaping usually involved in making a green tea. As other white teas, Bai Mu Dan undergoes a slow drying process which can take as long as thirty hours to complete. Unlike Silver Needle, the raw leaves of Bai Mu Dan are heaped into a short pile for this drying process. The withered leaves are roasted dry at a low temperature, sometimes with charcoal though more often using electricity. Good Bai Mu Dan yields many apricot colored infusions with a rich flavor that is noticeably fruitier than Silver Needle.
What Exactly Is Aged White Tea - Lao Bai Cha 老白茶?
White tea (白茶 báichá) is one of China’s traditional six major types of tea. Its main production areas are in Fujian, particularly the counties of Fuding (福鼎), Zhenghe (政和), Jianyang (建阳), and Songxi (松溪). Because of its unique processing — no pan-firing and no rolling — the finished leaves are covered in fine white hairs, with a silver-white to gray-green appearance, hence the name “white tea”. White tea is a lightly fermented tea. Compared with other teas, its unique method preserves a large amount of beneficial compounds in the fresh leaves — tea polyphenols, theanine, flavonoids, caffeine, and soluble sugars. These contribute to its distinct flavor and notable health benefits.
Shoumei 寿眉 vs. Gongmei 贡眉
According to The Great Dictionary of Chinese Tea (中国茶叶大辞典), “Shoumei is Gongmei. Gongmei is white tea produced in Jianyang 建阳, Jian’ou 建瓯, Pucheng 浦城 and other places. Its processing is basically the same as White Peony 白牡丹, but the raw material is leaves from the sexually propagated group variety of tea tree known as ‘cài chá 菜茶’. It is made from one bud with two or three leaves, processed through withering and drying. The finished tea has prominent fuzzy buds, greenish color, orange-yellow liquor, mellow refreshing taste, and pure fragrance. It is mainly sold in Hong Kong and Macau”.
Fuding White Tea 福鼎白茶 - The Elegance of Simplicity
High in the mist-veiled mountains of Fuding 福鼎 in northern Fujian, tea bushes stretch across terraces bathed in gentle sunlight. The morning dew still clings to their tender buds, their downy hairs shimmering like silver threads. Villagers gather the leaves with practiced hands, spreading them out beneath the open sky to wither naturally. The air fills with the soft fragrance of herbs, flowers, and honey — the first whispers of what will become Fuding White Tea, a drink celebrated for its purity, elegance, and remarkable ability to transform with age. Fuding White Tea is a paradox: born of simplicity yet layered with richness; a daily drink for villagers yet a prized treasure for collectors.
