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Thai Wang Put Tan white left, Huang Shan right |
An online contact has been describing positive experiences in exploring Chinese teas for awhile, Dylan Conroy, of the small online vending outlet, The Sweetest Dew. This post is mostly a tea review, but to me that backstory is also interesting, so let's go into that first.
He explores culture and tea, which he sells, but the balance seems to relate more to exploration than profit. That's not completely unheard of.
We have been discussing Qimen; that has been his previous main focus, in another area. His "About Me" sales site section probably explains it better than my memory of earlier discussion:
"Some call him the Qimen Jesus, some others "the maofeng guy", but he prefers Dylan. Yup, simple ol' Dylan from Brooklyn...
I studied Mao Feng in Huang Shan, Yan Cha in Wuyi Shan and now Bi Luo Chun in Suzhou. This focused approach to finding teas not only allows me to find the best teas of each category, but to gain a deep understanding of the tea as I do...
The Sweetest Dew is not just a way to sell tea, it's a record of my journey in tea, in China and in Life.
This white tea is made with the traditional Mao Feng cultivar. It is subtle and but still has the vegetal nuttiness of a Mao Feng Green tea. The body is soft and fuzzy showing that the drying was done very well. This tea is honestly on par with Fu Ding Shou Meis.
This is a new tea so we don't know how the flavors will develop as it ages. You can be one of the first to try it.
It lists for 913 baht for 50 grams, a bit under $30 (there must be a way to change that listed currency). That's a bit for white tea, but if it's exceptional that's still fair, and since I'm writing this after trying it I can confirm that it definitely is unique and very positive. Dylan is helping a friend / local contact by selling her tea as well, with her story on a different page:
Hello! I am Jing, a post-80s generation, and my current job is to share the good tea from my hometown. I was born in a mountain village in She County, Huangshan, Anhui. My hometown is a very beautiful place, with a forest coverage rate of 80%, and the environment and soil are both beautiful. It is very suitable for the growth of tea trees. My family also has several acres of tea mountains. I have grown up smelling the fragrance of tea and drinking tea in tea mountains and tea factories since I was a child, so I have a strong affection for tea...
The subtle taste and aroma of the tea leaves in each tea mountain are different. I like to use a cup of tea to feel the charm of a mountain. If you also like to drink tea, then taste the fresh fragrance of the vegetation thousands of miles away from my tea.
That sounds nice, that area, background, and perspective.
On with describing the tea then, along with a Thai white version that my friend Huyen shared with me a couple of weeks ago while visiting from Vietnam. It's from the Wang Put Than plantation, one of the main half dozen producers, maybe, or else maybe I just keep hearing about them even though they're not that, in relation to production volume. They market themselves as a producer who also emphasizes tea tourism, visiting their plantation, and maybe they do that well enough that their name keeps coming up.
Review:
Thai Wang Put Tan shou mei (2021): subtle; that can happen. I gave this a 20 second or so infusion time but it's not a lot of leaf, maybe only 4 grams or so. I'll bump timing next round. These teas can't really overbrew, for sure.
It's hard to isolate much more for flavors or character; not all that much is coming through just yet. It seems pleasant, sweet, creamy, with rich flavors, maybe including a touch of caramel or toffee. What does come across is nice, this just needs to be brewed stronger.
Huang Shan Mao Feng material Chinese white: that offers a little more. A light vegetal range gives it some intensity, just not much yet, combined with sweet floral tones. A bit of spice joins the rest, in the general cinnamon range. The vegetal range isn't heavy, like celery or green bean or the like, more a scent of fresh tree leaves in the spring.
Wang Put Tan, round 2: an interesting range of flavors pick up. A creaminess comes across, but that's not a main flavor. There is cinnamon spice in this too, but it's also more a supporting aspect. That flavor that stands out is probably really a set. One main part is along the line of root beer, that root spice input. Sweetness does take on a pleasant character, like light toffee.
It's evident from the leaf color that this is considerably more oxidized, and that comes out in that slight warm tone. It's all fairly subtle still, even for the 50 or so second infusion time, but it's quite pleasant.
Huang Shan white: now this really hits, not so different than last round but at double the intensity. That same list kind of works: sweetness, vague fresh floral range, some degree of vegetal input, but a light and pleasant version of that, maybe towards fennel, sweet, light, and fresh. There isn't a heavy spice input but a touch of cinnamon balances the rest, or that really could be a different spice input that only reminds me of cinnamon, that is somewhat similar.
These are so different that it's odd asking which is better, but why not go there. Preference would dictate that kind of judgment, or someone could ask a different question, which seems like a higher quality version within the style it's made in. Perhaps for both this Chinese tea edges out the other Thai version. The higher intensity is more pleasant, and additional complexity, and more novel flavor aspect set. I can try to isolate feel and aftertaste more in a next round, since these also tie in to overall effect and to quality level.
The Thai tea is still nice, just not quite as complex, intense, and interesting as the other. This Chinese version bridging so much varying flavor aspect range is really novel, and it all integrates well.
Wang Put Tan, #3: creaminess stands out again; that part is pleasant. Warm flavor tones are also nice. Intensity is a limitation though; even for using a 45-50 second infusion time this doesn't taste like all that much. What is there, a bit of toffee, a hint of spice, and maybe some other warm tone adding context, is fine, it's good. Feel is fine, just not thick or pronounced.
Huang Shan white: vegetal range shifts, the green leaf effect. It still tastes a little like fennel, but a faint edge picks up. It would be bitterness if it was much stronger, so it's really not that, as we tend to typically perceive flavors, even if it is actually that. It's like the scent of a dried oak or maple leaf, which are of course things we tend to not actually eat or taste. It's quite good. There is still the rest there, some limited spice, good sweetness, non-distinct floral range. Both of these aren't full in feel like oolongs more often are but not thin either. Overall balance is good.
Conclusions / later rounds:
I tried both for a few more rounds, brewing a couple more quite strong. The Thai version stayed remarkably similar, not changing much at all. The Chinese white was quite positive for a couple of more infusions, and picked up a woody aspect note that wasn't really negative, it balanced ok with the rest.
I am evaluating the Huang Shan version much more positively here in the aspects list description, and the quality just seemed that much better. And novelty; this was a style experiment, it seemed, trying out making white tea from green tea producing material, and to me it went well. Probably this Chinese tea is selling for at least twice the cost of the Thai version (although I didn't see a sales listing for it), and for the most part that would seem fair to me, it really is a bit different.
What about commentary on that broad divide in oxidation level, or probably earlier aging input, or later aging potential? The Chinese version was probably made in a much lighter style, not allowed to oxidize much at all during processing. It suited the material; the outcome was quite positive. Probably the opposite was true for the Thai tea, and they let it wither for a good bit longer, to draw out an oxidation input. I liked that tea too, which does seem to be within the general range of shou mei, so maybe both decisions were appropriate.
I doubt that the three years of prior aging (the 2021 origin date for the Thai tea) had caused all or even most of that oxidation level difference. Teas can age pretty fast in Thailand, in a hot and humid place, but I'd guess they made it to intentionally have a running start on browning, and changing to warmer toned character. Once tea versions pick up a touch of cinnamon, as that had, that seems really nice.
The minor differences in intensity and complexity were something else; I would guess that material quality factored in, that the producer who made the Chinese white was starting with better leaf material. And it seems that quite simple processing led to a positive result.
Aging either wouldn't seem to make sense, for two different reasons. The Thai tea lacks intensity, and aging typically swaps out early intensity and fresh flavors for more warmth and depth. The Huang Shan version is very pleasant bright and fresh like that; it would seem a shame to give that up.
I like white teas, even though in the past I've been critical of versions that lack flavor intensity and complexity. If the bit that's there is positive you can always push the tea, brew it hot, and for a bit longer, or bump proportion, and if there just isn't much to offer even that won't work. The Thai version was good, and the other didn't need to be stretched.
It would be nice if I could push a step further, and compare both of these to the same material being produced as different styles, as Jing mentioned in her intro part that I cited. I've tried Mao Feng green tea but I'm definitely not the right person for that.
It's interesting looking back on that section and seeing the claim that this white tea is on par with Fuding shou mei versions. It's a good bit better than most of the standard commercial versions I've tried, but really it would need to be evaluated against a higher tier version range, not what ends up being pressed and sold as cakes that cost very little, the white tea equivalent of factory pu'er (which can be ok; I don't mean that as a slur). It's good, but I'm not familiar with how it would compare to well above average quality versions, since I'm not familiar with boutique production Fuding shou mei.
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