White Rhino

A white tea that brews and tastes like a black tea? Yep, it would seem so! Quite tasty, full body, definite notes of honey, sweet potato, caramel, and a malty finish. It sort of has it’s foot in between a white and a black tea which can be a little distracting, but a good cup none the less. I’m impressed by the depth of the flavor, it persists well after the sip. Mouthfeel is nice and smooth, more so than the average black tea. Overall quite nice!

Sipdown! my virtual cupboard finally reflects my real one, and I desperatly need to drink down some of this tea before I place any more orders. This is feeling really out of control, and I really do want to be able to give the teas I’ve been given the attention they deserve.

This tea came to me from teamore—thank you! I had enough for one sample, which was all I needed, I think. It is true that it smells very much like a black once it’s brewed—I got a bit of henna in the smell (don’t ask why) and was pretty excited by the fact that it smelled fairly potent. I didn’t add anything to it, because although it smelled like a black I still treated it as I would most whites. The comparisons to a darjeeling seem apt to me, and I almost get a sharp lime-type note at the end of each sip. This becomes less pronounced as the tea cools. All in all, a good white tea, but that after-note made it so that I couldn’t really get into it. I can see why it’s really popular though, and am appreciative of the chance to try it.

Thanks again, teamore!

Sipdown! I still like this one. It doesn’t taste green at all, like many whites do (to me).

Courtney had been raving about this Butiki offering so she sent me a sample to try since I plan to make an order sometime soon.

So if I understand correctly, the deal with this tea is that it’s supposed to be a straight white tea which would appeal to those who are normally not fans of white tea, because it’s richer in flavour and possessing taste qualities similar to those of a good straight black.

I would agree it definitely has more flavour than your typical plain white tea (heheh), because it tastes maltier rather than light and mildly fruity-ish, which is how I’ve found most whites I’ve tried.

I wouldn’t say this has as much flavour as a black tea, but it was very good. It seemed a bit fruity to me, but also bready and I think I could taste a honey note in there, maybe raisins too? But no cocoa or caramel or anything like that. Possibly slightly floral? Ohhhh I still don’t really know what I’m talking about.

So far I steeped twice and both were flavorful.

I’m not entirely sure I NEED to include this one with my next order, because at the end of the day it’s still a white tea and I really want to try some Assam and the Black Lotus tea, so if I’m going to cut one for now this would probably be it.

I am sure we will meet again in the future…thanks for sharing one of your favorites, Courtney!

Sipdown!! (177)

Thank you Kat_Maria for the opportunity to try this tea. I am not usually one for straight teas but people view this one so positively (I am looking at you, Courtney) that I was interested to see what the hype was all about.

Now that I am tasting it, I can see why people enjoy the tea. It is malty and oh-so-full-of-flavor with delicious notes of honey sweetness. Plus, it is a white tea that can be steeped in boiling water so who doesn’t love that?

This is a good example of why the world of tea is such an awesome one. This is nothing like what you think of when you imagine a white—it lives in this magical, Venn Diagram overlap sweet spot where it has elements of black tea, white tea, oolong tea, just…remarkable. A white tea with the spunky, almost smoldering but clean character of an Indian black (think second flush Darjeeling, with nuttiness)! But the body and tang of a good white (and the hay too)! And the softness and enchanting aroma of an oolong! From Kenya(I love Harney’s Kangaita OP and have been so impressed with Justea’s Kenyan Black, but generally a tea noob would associate Kenya with CTC blacks still, I reckon)! Tea never ceases to surprise me.

As Sil notes, this would make an excellent addition to one’s afternoon tea rotation, a nice option when you’re in the mood for a sparkly light Darjeeling but also a little restless, in want of something different, special.

From the queue

A white tea that should be steeped with boiling water? WHAT????!?!? O.o Courtney shared this with me and these are not her instructions. These are Butiki’s instructions. There seem to be a general concensus on Steepster that Stacey knows what she’s doing, so… okay, I steeped it in boiling water, although it was very nearly physically painful to do so. It was certainly mentally painful. It goes against everything I’ve ever learned about tea and it just felt so wrong! Not wrong as in ‘oh dear, I shouldn’t do this’ but wrong as in ‘SELF! STOP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! STAAAAHP!!!’ In spite of so many people following these intructions with great success I’m still very worried that I’m about to have a very big cup of bitterness.

It smells like a black tea and it has the colour of a black tea. How certain are we that this is actually really white? I don’t even understand the mechanisms behind this. How can a white tea behave like a black?

The aroma is mild, but it still smells like a black tea. A very high-grown one like a high-grown Ceylon, maybe. Not Darjeeling, I don’t think, it’s not grassy enough for that, but it’s got that floral touch. It’s also remarkably fruity. Something along the lines of apricots, I think. Quite sweet. OOOH! You know what it reminds me of? It reminds me of one of those oolongs with leafhoppers! Has this one had leafhoppers?

Okay, the flavour. Still not convinced that this is going to be a pleasant experience, I have to say.

It’s not bitter. HOW IS THIS NOT BITTER??? O.o I don’t get this tea. I simply do not understand one iota of it. Why is it behaving like this?

It’s actually quite sweet. Fruity-sweet again, like the aroma, bringing me back to thoughts of apricots. It’s got a fair bit of a floral touch as well, and I’m not too keen on that, but for me it’s mostly about the apricots with this tea. As it cools the floral tones get stronger, though, and I like it less.

It doesn’t taste like any white tea I’ve ever had before. If I was served a cup of this without being told what it was, I’d have guessed a high-grown Ceylon with natural notes of stone fruits (or possibly very lightly flavoured). I certainly wouldn’t have belived it was a white tea. Conundrum in a cup.

Yum. Now this is more like it. This tea smells like bread, honey, flowers, and fruit to me. The tea liquor has some nice body to it without being tannic or drying (I’m looking at you Thé Blanc Sacré). It has a beautiful creamy mouthfeel. This is definitely something I would restock.

I smell hay, milk and some kind of apricot jam in this tea. Mmm.. I can’t wait to see how this tea tastes if I can detect so many different layers with my nose!

Sipping… I’m pleased to taste the apricot and hay first. I also find a little bit of orange that fades into a light astringency and tingling sensation on the tongue. The finish is smooth, almost minty, and light. This is a very refreshing cup that has more elements than I’ve ever tasted in a plain white tea before. It’s not my most favorite cup of white tea, but for an unflavored cup, it’s certainly lovely.

This white tea is sweeter and maltier than any other I’ve tried. I didn’t know white tea could taste like this.