Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

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This tea is made of contractions. Lovely, lovely contradictions. It’s both mild and brash. Untamed and civilized. Light yet strong.

The leaves are big and twisty and unruly with the typical white tea fluffiness. Darker than I expected. They’ve got a sweet, hay-like aroma, similar to other white teas.

Brewed up, it’s a pale yellow color. And the flavor is very strong for a white tea. Very bold. But it’s still a white tea, so while strong and bold, it’s still delicate and light. It’s a hay flavor, with some fruit overtones. Other tasters mention citrus or melon tones which I don’t really get. I do get a generic fruity flowery bright tone. But, it’s lovely. This is my perfect type of white tea I like stronger flavored teas, and this has the best of both worlds. White tea flavor turned up to 11.

This may be for you if: you think white tea is interesting, but too wussy for your tastes

You can purchase the Ye Sheng Wild White Tea directly from the Canton Tea Co. website.

The aromas of this white tea’s dry leaves are quite sweet and grassy. Fuzzy, short, white twists intermix with small green leaves for an enjoyable looking tea.  Canton Tea Co’s packaging suggests using 2 teaspoons of leaf per cup of water and infusing the tea for 2-3 minutes. Accordingly, 2 teaspoons of the tiny leaves went into my cup for a little over 2 minutes. The resulting aroma of this tea was somewhat different than the dry leaves suggested.

My cup of tea still maintained its grassy aromas, yet felt deeper and stronger with a light, roasted smell. I was further surprised when, upon tasting it for the first time, the flavour burst in my mouth, both sweet and fruity and without a lot of the formerly smelled grassiness. Impressed by the full flavour, I continue drinking.

This is one complex white tea…the flavour is not, in any way, straightforward. Slightly reminiscent of half a dozen different white teas, this is a must-try for white tea lovers. On my personal enjoyment scale, I would give it a 91/100.

You can purchase the Ye Sheng Wild White Tea directly from the Canton Tea Co. website.

Interesting name for this tea. I don’t know the reasons behind such a name, but I’ll take a stab at it. First of all, it is a white silver needle tea flavoured with Jasmine, so possibly this is where the “white” came from.

When we hear of tiger, we think of something that is fierce, strong, powerful; East Pacific’s White Tiger is none of these things, at least not at first; indeed the word “white” in front may bring ideas of calmness, clean, mellow, and softness. The jasmine flavour is natural tasting, not artificial. It is very fresh, things I would find synonymous with the word “white.”

Or perhaps the moniker “White Tiger” has more to do with the physical description of the tea – “white” or clear infusion, white pekoe on dark green buds creating a white tiger stripe-like image. It is a fitting name. Like a tiger waiting to pounce, the jasmine flavour does not come out straight away, but once it comes out, the taste lingers, and seems to get increasingly more intense. The jasmine flavour is not as “fierce” or “strong” as a lot of the jasmine teas available today that are just in-your-face overpowering but rather is a “white” :”fierce,” a tempered fierceness if that makes any sense. I like and prefer this to the former jasmines.

I steeped it according to the instructions on the website at a temperature of 175F for 1-2 minutes. I think they have these directions spot on as you get to taste the tea right at the moment where there is a pause if you will and then the jasmine flavour emerges out of the leaf and lingers sweetly in your mouth thereafter as it intensifies. For those of you looking for something different in the way of Jasmines, I would definitely recommend this. If steeped correctly it will taste unlike any other Jasmine you’ve ever tasted.

You can purchase the White Tiger directly from the East Pacific Tea Co website.

First let me say that I have an affinity to almonds. Love them especially hot almond milk tea. Roasted almond just sounds that much better. Not too sure about the red rooibos as I’ve only had rooibos a handful of times.

Remember my review on Shanti Tea’s Cherry Sencha and how I said that Cherry scents always remind me of Cherry Children’s Tylenol? Well, this tea’s dry leaf smelled even more potent than that and I felt a little dizzy. It reminded me of my aversion to Cherry scents.

Anyway with regards to the taste, I think I must have some kind of allergy to rooibos or something because after every sip I got a headache. It was getting to the point that I just did not want to drink anymore. That combined with the heady, dizzying aroma did not make it a good experience. It felt like a mini hangover. It must just be me because my co-worker liked it and did not experience the dizziness or headache I did. I’m sorry I don’t think I can offer a fair review for this. Well, at least I now know that I must stay away from rooibos. Imagine that, me being allergic to a tea…well technically rooibos isn’t a tea, but you know what I mean. It just puts a damper on things.

I have read the reviews on this tea and they all seem favourable What I can say is rooibos and almond are both quite potent and the combination makes it very rich and bold. There is no subtlety here, packed full of flavour. As it cooled the taste started to develop a sort of minty taste. I tried to drink as much as I can for this review. It is right for some but I can’t take it. I have another East Pacific Tea I have to review (White Jasmine) and I am looking forward to that. Onwards and upwards as they say…

You can purchase the Roasted Almond directly from the East Pacific Tea Co website.

Canton Tea recently asked if we could review their Special Puerh, produced for them a small artisan farm in Yunnan Province. They state that it is made from big leaf maocha is from the Big Tree, Arbor varietal, and consists of Grade 6 leaves and above, with some small buds.

I approached this in their suggested manner, using 4g of leaf, 95C water, doing multiple steeps, starting at 20 seconds per steep. The dry leaf appears to be tightly compressed, consisting of mostly dark leaves, with a smattering of light silver-needle like buds here and there. There seems to be a higher than usual proportion of leaf to stem ratio, favouring the leaf side.

The scent of the dry leaf is earthy, but raw. A definite scent of dried hay, or drying grass on the lawn. I can also detect a slight fruity sweetness, like ripening peaches.

1st steep – just a quick rinse.

2nd steep – 20 seconds. The scent of the leaf on the lid of the pot is wet hay, and the color of the liquor is a rich golden yellow – on the lighter side, not dark at all. The scent is raw, and already triggering a drooling response The taste is very light, and a bit flat. In the mouth it is cooling and fresh, sliding off the tongue, not coating it. The most interesting characteristic is the cooling sensation – telling me that it is a high-mountain Puerh.

3rd steep – 20 seconds. The scent is much sharper, with deeper tones. I think this is giving us a hint of what we will see in 3-4 years as it ages, with a sweetness coming out to play. The astringency is starting to show up – but still playing a background role.

4th steep – 20 seconds. The liquor is still the color of golden nectar, but starting to turn slightly cloudy. It seems to have a bit less flavour than the 3rd steep, but otherwise still the same characteristics.

5th steep – 1 minute. I decided to up the steeping time, as it seemed to be getting close to washed out. At 1 minute for the steep, the color is a bit lighter, but the astringency is starting to come out. I can feel it on the sides of the tongue, and a slight tingling in the middle of my tongue. The flavours are still sweet, slightly fruity, and cooling in the mouth. A very clean taste.

6th steep – 1 minute. Now this is what I was waiting for. All of a sudden, the flavour has become very complex, and strong, with a biting feeling in the back of the throat. My tongue is definitely tingling now, and the sweetness has reached an almost candy flavour. It is not as cooling, but there is more depth and character to it now. This is how I envision it in 7 to 8 years from now. This is the steep that I would like to freeze it on – really loving it right here!

7th steep – 1 minute. Back to about where the 5th was. Lighter flavour, sweetness, but definitely starting to feel a bit washed out.

You could probably continue on and easily get another 4-5 steeps out of this before you entirely lose the flavours. As a first year raw puerh – I would say that this is probably going to age very well, the flavours are beautiful and cool, like a high-mountain spring running through a peach orchard. As it ages and gains complexity, it will only get better, I am sure!

As always, Canton Tea never fails to impress. Whether you want to enjoy it young, or let it age and enjoy it later, this beeng cha will not disappoint!

You can purchase the 2011 Canton Tea Co Special Puerh directly from the Canton Tea Co. website.