It has been a while since I posted but I am back with some new tea posts. Starting with one I am really excited about. I mentioned Adagio Masters Bai Hao Yin Zhen when I reviewed Fujian Silver Needle last year. Harvested in April 2020 from the Fuding area of China, Adagio Masters Bai Hao Yin Zhen has fuzzy plump buds and is limited to 6cm buds from 5-10 year old trees. After harvesting the buds go through a special withering process until about 90% of the moisture is gone before roasting at around 60°C for two hours.
It is the only white tea currently available from Adagio Masters. This is a pricier tea, a sample is $11 or get 1.5oz for $34US for the recent harvest but they still have some of last year’s harvest too. But this is a limited harvest and well worth the price. Shipping is through DHL but I find they usually pass it off to Canada Post for local delivery. If that is a bit out of your price range, the regular Adagio site has a great Silver Needle for around half the price.
I love that the Adagio Masters tells you more about the teas than most companies. It includes the harvest month, a bit about the farmers, information about the tea and more. The farmer, Zhang Xiao Han, recommends brewing it in a glass cup to see the beautiful fuzzy needles dancing in the water.
Adagio Masters Bai Hao Yin Zhen Review
You can get three steeps from Adagio Masters Bai Hao Yin Zhen. Even the first steep is light in colour (a lot of the colour in my photo comes from the mug). It has a delicious crisp fresh taste without any bitter aftertaste. Quite spa like in flavour with mineral, cucumber and melon notes. Complex but very light and balanced.
The second steep was lighter and a touch sweeter with more melon flavour and more muted mineral notes. The third steep was very light and I would probably stop at the second. Do watch the temperature as it is a very delicate tea.
I have been really good about my sipdown but I am very tempted to buy a bag of Adagio Masters Bai Hao Yin Zhen as a treat.
This sounds good. I have been drinking Jasmine and White tea from the Chinese market – I just love these sort of teas 😀