2020 Foresight (眼光, Yǎn Guāng, "Light Of The Eye") - is a pressed cake of 2020 aged white tea by master Li Yanmei of Fuding, Fujian. We named it Foresight in reference to its sister tea, a now-extinct 2020 tea from the same harvest but of a different grade that we called Hindsight, a reference to its vintage.
- Báiháo Yín Zhēn (白毫银针, “white hair silver needle"), often just called Silver Needle, which is made entirely from downy early-spring leaf buds and is the highest grade.
- Bái Mǔ Dān (白牡丹, “white peony"), the middle grade made from both mature leaves and immature buds.
- Shòu Méi (寿眉, “longevity eyebrow"), made mostly from the fully mature leaves of late spring with a low proportion of leaf buds.
This 360 gram cake is composed mostly of leaves with a lower proportion of leaf buds. Fuding white teas are traditionally aged after harvest and deepen in flavor and fragrance as they mature. Of the three grades, Shòu Méi ages the most quickly, achieving a rich honey and date fragrance, robust mellow flavor, and reddish gold soup.
At nearly seven years old, this cake is exceptionally sweet with notes that ranges from honey to golden syrup, and a distinctive fruitiness that is evocative of the strawberry portion of freeze-dried neopolitan "astronaut" ice cream.