White Peony King cake tasting
It is Spring now…and as you can see, the cherry blossom is out now that the sun is shining.
I was lucky enough to find myself some time to do a tasting on the White Peony King cake which I purchased last year.
Upon opening the protective packaging and plastic wrap around the cake, the aroma of sweet hay hit me and made me think of the hay shed back home in New Zealand on the farm when we had to stack the hay. It’s not a mustiness either, it is pure sweetness.
Unwrapped, the initial appearance of the cake is that it is full of fine white, furry tea buds. The top layer of tea is not as compressed as I have seen on other cakes, and comes off easily and without breaking of the leaves. This is good if you are into keeping appearance.
I took enough off (perhaps 5 grams) to fill my teapot. I chose a Yixing teapot which is thin walled so that the tea didn’t get too hot when infusing.
I used water that had just started to boil as I wasn’t sure if fully boiled water may have been too hot for the leaves. Once in a teapot, it was like using a blend of Yin Zhen Bao Hao Silver needles and Bai Mu Dan white tea.
I warmed the teapot and cup but didn’t feel the need to rinse the leaves as they looked pretty clean.
I allowed the first steeping to be around 30 seconds and as you can see from the poured cup, its a bright yellow-orange. The aroma from the cup reinforced the sweet hay and the first sip was a hit to the tastebuds! After finishing the first cup, a cooling sensation in my mouth followed. Kind of like I had eaten a mint or something, and when you inhale, it is cool air.
The second and third cups were deeper orange in colour, and a fruity note came in after the hay, followed by the cooling sensation
I really enjoyed this tea and can tell you that I have three whole cakes available for sale, along with 3 x 50 grams pouches.