2013 Bai Mu Dan White Peony Bing (白牡丹餅, Bái Mǔ Dān Bǐng, "White Peony Bing") - White Peony is the middle grade of Fuding white tea, with the first being Silver Needle and the third being Shou Mei. In Fuding, the saying "One year tea, three years medicine, seven years treasure" characterizes the improvement in tea quality as white tea ages. Composed of a mixture of buds and leaves, it ages more slowly than the leafier Shou Mei and produces a tea with a brighter, more complex profile as it matures.
While Shou Mei typically settles into a deep, honey-and-date profile at full maturity, White Peony has a much wider range of potential flavors and fragrances it can exhibit. The increasing popularity of aged white tea both as a delicacy and an investment has led to a scarcity of high quality, aged white tea bings on the market. We were only able to acquire 4 of these particular cakes, and are making them available to West China Tea members only.
This exquisite cake has small, delicate buds and opens with a malty aroma overlaid on top of a body of white muscadine grape and gala apple. The malty flavor fades over the course of several steepings, deepening to a golden raisin with a deep, lingering syrupy quality. The qi is bright, expansive, and golden in character.