Appearance Leaf: Combination of bigger leaves and tender buds, the leaves have sparkling silver pekoe on them and the colour of the leaves is deep green

Liquid: Clear and light orange yellow

Taste: Smooth and soft as breeze, refreshing

Fragrance: Obvious pekoe fragrance

Origin: Fuding County, Fujian Province

Harvest: Spring, 2008 (Ming Qian)

 

To brew Bai Mudan Wang, first put dry tea leaves (ratio leaves to water, 1:30) in gaiwan, porcelain or glass teapot, then pour 85 degree boiled water into the teaware. Steeping time for first round can be up to one minute. Steeping time can be prolonged with each subsequent brew. This tea can be brewed for 3 rounds.

 

Local legend tells that white peony tea was originally derived from white peony flower. In Western Han Dynasty, there lived a prefecture chief called Mao Yi. He was honest and upright and could not stand corruption while he was in position. After resigning from his post, Mao took his mother with him to live in seclusion. On the way to forest they smelt an extraordinary fragrance. An old gentleman, whose hairs were all white, pointed to them that the fragrance came from eighteen white peonies besides the Lotus Lake. Mao and his mother loved this fairyland and settled down. Unfortunately, one day Mao’s mother fell to the ground from exhaustion. Mao anxiously searched for solutions. After a while he unwillingly fell asleep at the road side as he simply was too tired. In a dream he met the grey-haired gentlemen they had met before. He suggested a special remedy. The remedy was a mixture of a carp and fresh tea. When he returned home, he excitedly told his mother about his dream. To their astonishment the sick mother had dreamed exactly the same dream. She was also told by the old man that carp and fresh tea would be the solution for her illness. Both mother and son believed firmly that this was a hint from heaven and they set out to fetch the ingredients. By then it winter and the weather was very cold. Mao broke open the ice on a frozen pond and caught a carp. But, where could he find fresh tea in such a harsh winter? When he was about to become desperate all of a sudden a loud sound stroke his ears. And he witnessed how eighteen peonies turned into eighteen immortal tea trees full of young buds. Mao plucked them and returned home quickly, where he prepared the tea. The old mother drank the tea and it rescued her from death. She flew away and became a God of Tea after telling Mao to take good care of these trees. Later a temple named white peony was built in memory of Mao. This tea was thus was called “White Peony Tea”.