A.S. Why is white tea extract becoming increasingly popular in cosmetics? Why is it called white if it is brown? Why “old man’s eyebrows”, after all, and not nails, for example?
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When the organizer of our tea purchase wrote that Shou Mei was the only tea that she could drink during pregnancy (and I am familiar with severe toxicosis firsthand), I was surprised - it seemed that from the very beginning this tea did not attract me in any way. Well, yes, I read that it is somehow mega-healthy, contains a lot of antioxidants, but I expected something more from the taste. Simply put, I was waiting for the TASTE.
Now for me this is the only tea that I can drink every day, tea without tricks..... Or punctures? He's nothing Not disrupts the harmony of “torture”... Not bitter like sencha Not floats under the ribs with unpleasant sensations like green, Not causes dry throat with its viscosity, like green, Not it’s confusing with tastelessness like rooibos, hay sweetness, earthy flavors like sometimes pu-erh, it doesn’t “crack” when brewed, as is often the case with other teas (i.e. it’s difficult to spoil Shou Mei, it’s difficult to brew it wrong..) In general, there’s a lot of NOT.
From the manufacturer:
White tea from the Fuding region. This tea is produced by small farms in the vicinity of this city. Tea plantations are located on average at an altitude of 800 m above sea level.
THEORY
In short, white tea is prepared with minimal human intervention in the process. Collection-withering-drying naturally. Depending on which parts of the bush are collected, as well as how they are dried, there are several types of white tea. And Show Mei is the simplest and most budget-friendly among them.
Name "old man's eyebrows" refers to the association of the form of tea leaves with the corresponding vegetation - cuttings and “autumn” leaves as they are. There is also a legend on this topic (well, how?), but if I post it here, I will definitely exceed the limit of brews... ugh - quotes.
The raw materials of white tea should ideally really be if not white, then silver. However, some believe that tea is called white due to the whitish edge on the leaves. The manufacturer also thinks so:
The dry leaf is voluminous, large, naturally twisted, with buds covered with white hair, very fragrant. A certain number of cuttings is acceptable.
AAA! I have the WRONG TEA!!!
Not. It's okay, specifically Shou Mei can be brown. From the manufacturer:
Dry leaf aroma magic. I smell dried fruits - especially figs, rotted meadow hay and... tea.
Show Mei is bulk tea. Here's what 100 grams of Shou Mei looks like in size:
BREWING
The manufacturer offers this method
It is brewed using the pouring method, 5-7 g per type flask. Water heated to 80-85 degrees is suitable.
I have hot water, slightly cooled boiling water. And I probably take less tea leaves - a pinch.
The color of the infusion can vary from yellow-peach to amber.
I like the color reference to ivory better:
The tea leaves are quite large when the brew is asleep. Do you even know that a whole leaf and a crushed leaf release extractive substances into the infusion differently? Plus - this factor will tell experts enough about compliance with harvesting technology. That is why the emphasis is placed on the sheet size.
Shou Mei tea is a popular variety of traditional white tea from China. Bushes are grown in only two provinces of the country - Guangxi and Fujian. A characteristic feature of this tea plant is the distinct presence of floral notes at the base, as well as a characteristic aroma.
Experts say that using dry brew and high-quality clean water you can achieve incredible flavor combinations. If you brew a drink with regular tap water, its taste will become bitter.
History of appearance
From this article you will learn:
Experienced fans of the art of tea drinking suggest that this variety of plant first began to be cultivated during the reign of the Chinese Sun Dynasty. As for the actual references, they go deep into the reign of the Mings. As for the mass production and subsequent sale of this wonderful variety, it began only in the 18th century.
An ancient legend concerning the first appearance of a white tea bush has also gained worldwide fame. During the Yao period, a beautiful girl named Lan Wu lived near the small Taimushan mountain range. The young creature in every possible way ran away from the war that unfolded throughout almost the entire country at that time. The girl hid from grief and blood in a small recess of Hong Xue. The beauty was engaged in growing orchids, which she successfully sold to the local population.
Suddenly the area was under attack from a contagious disease - measles, and there was no escape from the disease. One night Lan Wu dreamed of an old monk who told the beauty that a small tea tree grew not far from the mountain. As the stranger claimed, the seeds and leaves of the plant have excellent healing properties and can relieve all kinds of ailments.
The girl dried the leaves of the plant and saved the suffering local population from measles. Lan Wu then taught people how to grow bushes and care for them accordingly. In gratitude, the residents of nearby villages named the lovely creature Mother Taima for her kindness.
Features
When producing Shou Mei tea, it is customary to use only young and tender leaves. Specialists harvest only a small bud and one of the top leaves from the residual plants of Bai Hao Yin Zhen, which belong to category 4. The fruits are traditionally harvested from April to June. Hand-picked tea has no damaged leaves. But with the mechanical harvesting method, many leaves simply break.
Taste
Shou Mei tea has a concentrated and rather unusual taste, even when compared with all other white teas. The drink has a unique smell of dry leaves, which in essence has much in common with fading leaves. Traditionally, tea has a lot in common with , as it has a distinct floral and accent. After drinking Shou Mei tea, a sweet aftertaste lingers in your mouth.
Useful properties
Experts agree: most of the beneficial properties of this tea are directly related to the brewing technology. Note that each leaf of the future drink is pre-withered and then slightly dried in the sun, while the leaves are periodically brought into the shade. The tea is not rolled, unlike other varieties.
- Activates cholesterol metabolism.
- Has antiviral and antimicrobial activity.
- An excellent preventative against caries.
- Rejuvenate skin cells.
- The ingredients destroy dangerous free radicals.
- Normalizes the functioning of the body.
- Prevents the development of cancer.
Since the ingredients of tea are not thermally processed in any way, a large amount of mineral components, substances, etc. are retained in it.
Brewing Shou Mei tea is extremely simple, and each final result of the preparation will differ significantly. An extremely important condition is the availability of clean and soft water.
For every 150 ml of water, take an average of 6-7 g of tea leaves. It is poured and infused for 2-3 minutes.
There are no contraindications to drinking Shou Mei tea. This is an absolutely safe and environmentally friendly drink.
Today, Shou Mei is incredibly popular, and its extracts are included in cosmetic creams. Scientists have proven that white tea is the optimal choice in the treatment of cancer. It is very important to use the drink as an adjunct to drug therapy.
Share your favorite tea recipe with the readers of our site!
QS 3509 1401 1978
It’s been a while since I’ve had a tasting of not just good tea, but one that’s just “Wow-Wow!” And here you are, in the midst of the gray, dank Siberian autumn, a small ray of summer warmth.
So, today I have white tea for tasting. But not just white tea, but compressed tea in the form of tuo-cha. I ordered this tea by accident in order to “raise” the total amount of purchases in the store to the required amount and get a discount. And, as often happens, a random purchase turns out to be a very interesting surprise.
I ordered four different teas from this store. The seller included an awl for Puers in the parcel as a gift. I would like to note that peeling off pieces of Pu-erh with an awl is much more interesting.
One of the teas in the order was Shou Mei, White Tea. I think many people know what regular white tea is. A little less know what Ya Bao pu-erh buds are. I had this tea in my review and I liked it. But what is Shou Mei white tea Pu-erh is something I, frankly, have never heard of before. Let's go from the beginning.
Shou Mei or Old Man's Eyebrow tea is a Chinese variety of white tea. It grows mainly in two provinces - Fujian and Guangxi.
I will not quote the legend of eyebrows thrown into the ground and others associated with this tea. It seems that in China, no matter what you throw into the ground, tea will definitely grow, and the very best tea, of the highest grade.
Yes, in fact, these are exactly the bushes from which Silver Needles tea (Bai Hao Yin Zhen) is made. And Bai Mu Dan, also known as “White Peony,” is also made from the leaves of these bushes. We collected the buds, then the buds with the first leaf, then the bud and the first two leaves, and we get the most expensive and elite teas in China. But the bush continues to grow, the leaves open. And finally, buds with two leaves, collected from wild varieties, result in Shou Mei and Gong Mei, which are distinguished by a greater degree of fermentation and a darker appearance of the finished product (sometimes without any white tint at all). That is, on the one hand, Shoumei is a simple variety. But on the other hand, it can fully be called the oldest tea on earth. It can be bought in bulk, in the form of a dry leaf. Or you can lightly ferment it and compress it into Pu-erh a year after collection. What will happen to them? The result will be a completely unusual tea! This is exactly what I am holding in my hands right now.
The tea has the shape of a hemisphere and is pressed into the shape of tuo cha. The tea is packed in paper packaging. Additionally covered with heat-shrinkable polyethylene film. The weight of the tea in the package is 101 grams. Factory-made tea. Assembled in 2014, formed in 2015, and purchased by me in 2016. The appearance of the unpacked tea is dark, torn leaves, with petioles of varying lengths. In some places, apical buds with silvery fluff are visible, but have already changed color. It seems like nothing remarkable, but WHAT THE SMELL OF THIS TEA!!! This is just something incredible. The smell is very dense, one might even say heavy, but it is the smell of summer. The honey, floral aroma is reminiscent of the smell of a poppy field in its effect (but not poppies, as such). I want to immerse myself in this aroma and lose my head.
But, however, I won’t lose my head, but move on to trying this tea. Using a gift awl, I peel off a piece of tea quite easily. The layers of tea are easily removed. The tea leaf is chocolate brown in color. As I wrote above, tea contains tea cuttings, this is a must for tea. There are a small number of buds. Judging by its appearance, the tea is already fermented.
Naturally, I tried to prepare this tea in different ways, and it’s surprising, but tea forgives everything. Or rather, regardless of the preparation method, this tea cannot be spoiled.
I brewed it in the tradition of white tea, with water at a not very high temperature. Tasty. I tried cooking it in batches. In principle, it’s also not bad, although I like it less. Somewhere I read the best test for testing Shen Pu'er. Its essence is as follows: Pour tea, rinse it with hot water, pour boiling water over it, and forget about it in the kettle for 20 minutes. If the resulting tea can be drunk after this, you have good Shen. And if the tea is delicious, you are incredibly lucky.
This tea withstood even this test. And it held up very well. But the optimal temperature for preparing this tea is 90-95 degrees. This can be read on the seller's page. Now I will try to describe the taste of the tea.
So, the prepared tea retains the aroma of dry tea, sweet, honeyed, floral, and dense. The taste of the tea matches the aroma - with a wide range of floral shades, sweetish and very characteristic. This is not the earthy taste of Shu Pu'er. This is not the taste of prunes and Shen Puer grass. This is its own special, characteristic, quite recognizable, but at the same time subtle taste. The color of the infusion is light orange, with a gradual intensification of color with prolonged infusion. There is no astringency and bitterness inherent in other types of tea in this tea, even if it sits until it cools completely.
In general, the tea is very unusual and very tasty.
The sleeping leaf of such tea, of course, cannot be ideal, since the tea was fermented in heaps. Leaf color is dark brown-green. The branches are clearly visible. Even spilled several times, the leaf still gives off its characteristic aroma.
Overall, this tea amazed me. Perhaps, since I tried this type of tea for the first time, this is the reason for my almost puppy-like delight. On the other hand, I already have another Shou Mei pressed tea pancake on the way, which I will definitely compare this one to. But for now - if you have the opportunity to purchase this tea - try it, I think you won’t regret it.
The only negative is the price. I was just incredibly lucky - I got this tea for less than 300 rubles per pack. But over the past month the price of this tea has doubled. And this is an unjustified price for this tea. So follow the news and catch the sale.
I think this is a very good option for a New Year's gift for sophisticated tea lovers..
UPD. Forgot to add. The taste of this tea is reminiscent of the taste of unsmoked Lapsang Souchong, described a little earlier. And I had a suspicion that Lapsang Souchong is made from this tea by fermenting and roasting it.
And the second good news is that as soon as I had time to write a review and send a link to it to the seller, the seller immediately reduced the price from almost 600 rubles, which had been kept for a month, to almost the same price, about 300 rubles. So hurry up to buy good tea for good money.
Tea rating
This tea will appeal to most buyers. Its appearance, taste and other characteristics, for the most part, coincide with what they should be.
Article: 01107
View:
500 g
Description
Taste
How to brew
Article: 01107
View:
500 g
Description
White tea from the Fuding region, produced by small farms in the vicinity of this city. Tea plantations are located on average at an altitude of 800 m above sea level.
The dry leaf is voluminous, large, naturally twisted, with buds covered with white fluff, very fragrant. A certain number of cuttings is acceptable.
The aroma of the dry leaf is intense, rich in bright honey notes and sweetness.
This white tea gets better with age.
Taste
The infusion is ivory-colored, transparent, light, with an unusual aroma of tropical flowers. The taste is pleasant, harmonious, without bitterness, with a barely noticeable lime sourness.
How to brew
Brew at a temperature of 80-85 °C, 2 teaspoons per 450 ml teapot, for 1-3 minutes. For the pouring method - 8 grams of tea leaves per gaiwan or tipod flask, for 5-15 seconds.
