Aged since: 2021

Produced in Fuding, China

This tea comes in a compressed into a cake, called a ‘bingcha’ or ‘cha bing’ (‘cake tea’).

‘Shou Mei’, translating literally as ‘longevity eyebrow’, is a grade of white tea, similar to White Peony/Bai Mudan. These gradings refer to the plucking style of tea—whereas Bai Mudan requires a high pluck standard—one bud and one leaf—Shou Mei is plucked almost entirely of open leaf, with only minor buds. It is often picked later in the year from Bai Mudan, and has a thicker flavour.

Browned Shoumei: Called ‘New-Make Shoumei’ (新工艺寿眉), or colloquially ‘browned shoumei’ has only been around since the mid 2000s. Traditional shoumei is produced in the same way as White Peony, where the leaves are dried soon after picking to preserve the green colour and delicate taste. ‘Browned’ shoumei has an extra processing step, where it’s allowed to undergo extended withering to brown the leaf. This is meant to mimic the taste of long-term aged white tea, and gives the tea an extra sweet taste, a bit like some oolongs, such as Oriental Beauty.

Brews a pale, yellowy orange, with an aroma of sweet hay and honey.

The taste is light but rich, and coats the mouth. Sweet clover honey, floral, mellow with woody and grain notes. It lacks the vegetalness of some other white teas, instead a bit richer, with deeper sweet hay, and a slight hint of dried fruit and spice.

This tea is made to be drunk now, and is absolutely delicious as-is! The ‘browning’ step detailed in "About This Tea" gives it a delicious, sweet, honey and spice flavour. However, if one wishes to age it further to see how the flavours might change, the tea should be stored in its paper wrapper in a cool, dry cupboard, with moderate airflow, away from any strong smells. Check back on it in five years!

Opening the Cake: This cake is small and loose enough that it can be split easily by hand. If you plan to drink it all soon, it’s easiest to break it in half from the middle, then break it into small chunks to be stored in a tin or bag. Otherwise, one can break one or two chunks off as you go. Some drinkers will use a letter opener or similar implement to pry off pieces, but we recommend starting with your hands.

Brewing Guide:
Note: Use boiling water! We know the usual recommendation for white teas is about 80°C; this tea really does best with boiling water.

• Remove the plastic wrap. Unwrap rice paper. Break off a piece of the cake roughly the size of a 1/2 tablespoon.
• Drop the piece of tea into a filter of your choice. You can also loosen the piece up with your fingers first for more even brewing.
• It's recommended to do an initial steep with boiling water for five seconds, and discard the water before steeping properly. This 'rinse' helps to open the leaves up for better brewing.

Suggested Steeping:

• Mug: Use roughly a 1/2 Tbsp piece for a regular-sized mug (8oz) in a strainer (or reusable teabag). Pour over boiling water, discard after five seconds (this rinse helps open up the leaves, and wash away any small broken leaves). Using freshly boiled water, steep for two minutes. Second steep, three minutes. Third steep, eight minutes. Steep-time can be adjusted for a larger mug. Add an extra minute to all of the times above if you prefer a stronger cup.
• Teapot: Use a couple larger pieces, proportional to your teapot size. Pour over boiling water, discard after five seconds. Steep at two minutes, serve by pouring through a strainer, but leave the leaves in the teapot. Top up teapot immediately with fresh boiled water and keep steeping. Top up teapot as needed after each cup poured until the tea loses flavour.
• Gaiwan: Use a 1/2 Tbsp chunk of leaf, and adjust steeping time depending on size of the gaiwan (100-120 mL). Rinse with boiling water as above, to help open up the leaves. First, second and third steeps, twenty seconds each. Increase by ten seconds for subsequent steeps.