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Michael Plant

Space 10/24/06

> This is a pre QingMing white tea although only identified as pre
> QingMing Fujian. The leaf look and feel reminds me of BaiMuDan (which
> is post QingMing with the rains) but with more immature smaller Yinzhen
> bud and less green leaf. It feels lighter than even the anemic
> BaiMuDan. It soaks from the surface. I say 'parched' in the sense
> there is no sense of any moisture content and in the taste because of
> lack of soil nutrients ie it is more aroma than finish. In my
> ignorance I was expecting green spring sprout from any pre QingMing
> tea. I was lucky the clerk stuffed a bag because none on the shelf and
> she wasn't sure of the amount. So I forgive her for asking me to wait
> two or three minutes.
>
> Jim

Thanks, Jim. I understand your meaning better now.
I want to say that with these white teas, you get your
first little bud as Yin Zhen, the bud and the next
leaf or two as Bai Mu Dan, and the older leaves
further upstem as Shu Mei (Mee?). Thus, the really
delicate tea will be the first, a more robust but
still subtle tea will be the second, and a rougher
one, the third. I haven't had a decent Bai Mu Dan
that I'd call enemic, but it's nothing but a matter
of taste.

People seem challenged by Yin Zhen in that they
expect a robust tea. This is a gentle, delicate tea
whose style is like a lovely spring breeze. It should
be hardly ever stronger than that. That's my opinion.

Michael