I'm trying two more wild origin teas from ITea World, probably the last of that set I'll get to. There is a green version but that's my least favorite kind, and reviewing it tends to boiling down to mentioning a few aspects, beyond some vague talking around quality level.
That tea was from this set:
Chinese Wild Tea Sampler: 5 Flavors for $5 with Free Shipping
Wild White Tea: Plucked wild in Fuding, our Bai Mu Dan white tea features downy silver needles releasing a dewy floral bouquet mingled with sun-ripened fruits and meadow sweetness. Each sip delivers a mellow, soothing creaminess.
Wild Oolong Tea: Hailing from a Wuyi Mountain tea family, our artisan has over 15 years of expertise in handcrafting traditional-style Wuyi Rock Tea and black tea, having learned the art from a young age by apprenticing with family members.
They seem a bit like that, with less to go on there about what the oolong is like.
Looking around that site the white tea lists for $20-some for 40 grams, and the oolong is around $30 for 40 grams (I'm seeing pricing in Thai baht, initially, so the pricing listing isn't exact). $25 and 30 it is, switching that over. I never do really evaluate value later in this post, since that gets speculative anyway, trying to fold together issues related to demand per type, quality level, novelty, and then likely final preference.
Pricing over 50 cents a gram is getting up there, but for some specialty tea range that's still normal. I tend to try to buy teas that are more like 20 to 30 cents a gram, or less, but then I also buy relatively directly from producers. I usually drink sheng pu'er or black tea, with some better oolong and rarer white tea range running a little higher in cost.
I guess the pricing is probably ok, but more direct comparison with similar versions would tell more of that story. Then when you are considering novel wild-origin teas it can be harder to find similar products, of any kind or at any price level.
Review:
white, #1: that's nice. It's smooth, sweet, rich, and distinctive. An unusual and pleasant flavor profile may be the story of this tea. It seems to include a bit of mint, and then warmer depth offsets that, giving it complexity. The mint is like wintergreen mint, or at least the artificial flavor represented as that, very mild in comparison with something like peppermint. One part is vegetal, a little like fennel. It might be easier to break down the rest next round.
oolong: that's catchy too. I'm not noticing a distinct familiar Wuyi Yancha style this fits into, which is probably just as well. The warm tones and good balance seems to relate to this being a bit more oxidized and roasted than a modern lighter style that I'm more familiar with. When it all works this other range can be even nicer. Of course mineral tones are part of it, as a base for the rest. From there it's complex, but hard to really break down. One part may be closest to warm spice, and another range like dark wood. Sweetness might tie to something like toffee.
white, #2: the fennel part picked up most, which works. It shifts to warmer tones, off fresh fennel into fennel seed range a bit. It's harder to notice a mint background note but it still seems to be there. Complexity seems pretty good; it's hard to communicate how that works based only on a couple of flavor descriptions. Part of a warmer base also seems to relate to autumn leaf range. To me that can be expressed differently, as dry, light, sweet tones or instead as wetter, heavier range, relating to fresh dry leaves or wet versions. This is the first case, dry, light, and sweet, and also complex.
oolong #2: this warms and deepens. It includes that one peach-like note that can be distinctive in Dan Cong; interesting seeing that stand out this much in a Wuyi Yancha version. I suppose interpreted differently it's just floral, but to me clearly peach. It's so pronounced that at this round it seems like a pretty good Dan Cong version, which is not a bad range to fall into.
It lacks the rough edge that often adjoins those, the harsh astringency, but in my experience that seems to tie to quality level in Dan Cong, and to some extent probably also to growing elevation. Most likely the connection is a bit incidental, and cheaper higher volume production, low elevation farmed Dan Cong is not processed quite as well, with plants stressed with fertilizer input to get the most out of them, and higher elevation sources are harvest less, and allowed to grow more naturally. All just guesses, of course.
The sweetness carries over as a pleasant aftertaste. It could extend a little longer; as a quality level marker--if taken that way--this suggests that this is upper medium quality range, with room for improvement.
white, #3: creaminess picks up; that's an interesting shift. I hadn't even mentioned it before; I suppose that it had factored in. Trying this a little lighter probably shifts what comes across. I suppose it's worth noting again that I write all this before I see any vendor description; it's interesting that creaminess is mentioned by them and also stands out.
It still works to describe this as like fennel with a hint of mint, with warmer but sweet complexity along the line of autumn leaf. It's transitioning though; within a round or two a different description will probably work better.
oolong: still pretty close to a Mi Lan Xiang Dan Cong that happens to taste a lot like peach, with some supporting floral range and warm tones. It's fairly clean too, with good sweetness; all the other aspects indicate this is a little better than just "upper medium quality level." Maybe not some elevated "best of the best range," but then it's not even matching a standard type that its origin relates to anyway.
This reminds me of one of Cindy's Wuyishan origin teas, from Wuyi Origin, tasting a lot like peach one year, when it normally might've included that but certainly didn't typically include such a pronounced aspect. Terroir inputs can vary some year to year, and of course by narrow location.
I looked at the vendor page for more description, since there wasn't much flavor breakdown in that initial sampler-summary version:
...tea exhibits a rich floral and fruity aroma that infuses the water. Upon sipping, the floral and fruity notes rise, filling the nose with their fragrance.The flavor is robust and refreshing, with a pronounced sweetness that stimulates the salivary glands and leaves a clear, crisp aftertaste. The enduring sweetness provides a lingering, delightful aftertaste that is truly memorable.
Heavy on marketing spin but that actually kind of works. They might've mentioned peach.
white, #4: there is another shift; that creaminess has edged towards creamsicle, which I guess relates to citrus picking up a little. This will probably eventually transition to warmer tones, or at least heavier vegetal range, but I'll probably leave off taking notes here. 8 infusions is a lot for my patience, and the short quiet window on a Saturday morning for tasting will end before too long.
This tea exceeded my expectations; I expected some positive character from it, but it's normal for a lot of white tea range to come across as much thinner, and more limited, not as complex or intense. Beyond including that the flavor set is interesting, integrated, and positive. I've not mentioned much for feel structure but it's not thin either. Aftertaste expression is there but limited, which I don't see as that much of a limitation; it can vary in different tea versions.
oolong: not that much transition, maybe just a slight shift in earlier aspects balance. Dominant warm peach flavor works especially well for me, so that's fine.
This is definitely a tea that a Dan Cong lover could appreciate, even they had adjusted to expect higher quality range. Feel range is pretty good; it could be a little thicker, but it's fine. Aftertaste is positive; it trails on afterwards nicely. Complexity is good; warm toffee range fills in depth beyond the peach and supporting floral range.
There's not that much mineral base, as lots of Wuyi Yancha oolongs go; I suppose that could be interpreted as a limitation. Really it not being fully type-typical is either a main weakness or else a good thing, since the range expressed is so nice. Someone splitting hairs could say that the feel structure not being full enough is a limitation, since it's not well-balanced by that input, but to me that's not really even a flaw in this, never mind a significant one. It's quite good, and the "wild origin" description leads me to expect something a little off the standard range. More natural growing conditions can often lend to novel flavor inputs entering in, as has occurred with both these teas.
These seem particularly well made. Starting with good material is one thing, but teas need to be processed skillfully to bring out a well-balanced character. There's a synchronicity that comes with all of it coming together in an amazing way, how the best of the best standard versions come across, and I'm not saying that these are there, because they're quite good but not that fantastic. There are essentially no flaws to point out in either though, just a limitation here or there, an aspect range that could be dialed up a little.
For the white tea that comes with the general style; it usually doesn't match the complexity, intensity, and full feel and aftertaste expression of many other tea types. For that tea it being so positive, complex, novel, and pleasant to experience is enough.
The Wuyi Yancha could pass for pretty good Mi Lan Xiang Dan Cong, even with oxidation and roast level appropriate for that, better than most tend to be, which to me is generally a good thing, just maybe a little unusual related to the trueness to type theme.
Not from this tasting, instead from drinking some random sheng pu'er yesterday, I wanted to mention something relating to this teaware. You don't need to spend much to use functional, pleasant teaware. I buy these 100 ml, plain, white gaiwans in a Chinatown shop, selling there for around $3, but $10 might be more typical from other sources. These cups I buy at a Japanese ceramics outlet shop, for around $1 each. It's like the Ross Dress for Less theme, I think; they sell extra versions from large batch local production.
Then I use two so that I can pour the tea from one to the other to cool it. I tend to use an extra to re-hydrate some goji berries every morning, eating those as a supplement. I think it's a good source of beta carotene, what vitamin A is derived from, and supposedly it contains anti-aging related compounds. I'm not really endorsing that, just explaining why my daily tea setup uses three cups.
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