White Peony (Bai MuDan) White Tea Cake 2017

This white tea cake was picked prior to Grain Rain and pressed into a cake, following the one-bud, two-leaf picking started. The temperature rose just before the picking began, meaning that the trees experienced a surge in growth; as such the leaves accumulated more abundant nutrients and substances, resulting in the fat buds visible throughout this cake. This results in a higher resistance to steeping and a more prolonged and stronger flavor throughout.

After removing the cotton paper wrapping, these plump, pekoe-covered buds can be seen densely packed along both the interior and exterior of the cake. The dry tea carries a faint floral scent to it, and when brewed the leaves slowly stretch out and release their stronger fragrance. The tea liquid itself is apricot-yellow in color, with the pekoe flavor and floral fragrance mixing with the soy-milk sweetness expected of white tea. From the first steep to the last this tea retains a soft, smooth feeling with its thick yet delicate flavor, and after a period of aging on your shelf the character should develop even further.

	Cup Method		Chinese Gongfu Method
	Teacup: 12oz / 355ml		Gaiwan: 3.8oz / 110ml
	203℉ / 95℃		203℉ / 95℃
	5g Tea		5g Tea
	Brewing time: 5 - 8 mins		9 steeps: rinse, 30s, 45s, 60s, 80s, 100s, 120s, 150s, 200s, 250s
			Rinse time is around 5 seconds

Chaitou Shan Tea Garden is located in Fuding, which is known as the hometown of white tea. The plantation is almost always blanketed with fog, providing the perfect conditions for the tea bushes to accumulate a wide variety of microminerals and nutrients. The soil here is rich red and yellow in color, signifying an abundance of important organic material. The tea species mainly grown here is the Fuding Dabaihao variety.

This Bai MuDan cake was produced in Fuding, a famous center of tea production located in northeastern Fujian Province. This area is of the subtropical monsoon climate characteristic of coastal areas, with an average annual temperature of 18.5C and rainfall of around 1661mm.

This cake is made of the leaves of the Fuding Dabaihao plant, called Dahao for short. It is a small tree that propagates asexually.

In 1985, Dahao was certified as a national variety of tea plant. It grows up to 2.8m tall with a thick trunk. The tea from the spring leaves of the bush contains 1.8% amino acids and 28.2% tea polyphenols, which marks it as a high-quality base for making white tea in particular.

Tea has been grown in Fujian for centuries as an ever-important staple of commerce and trade throughout ancient China. Originally, the process of drying the leaves was followed by a variation of hot-air drying and sun-drying, a meticulous step intended to remove excess water from the leaves to ease the preservation process and preserve the tea for sale.