Tea Time: Nepal White Peony

I just received some new tea from what-cha.com  I ordered a number of mystery teas which all came today.  Eleven different tea's in all.  This blog will probably house all my thoughts of tea.. and dance and maybe other things as well.  Something like a not so private journal.  It's sure been awhile.  Let's see how long I can keep it up.

The tea arrived with such a friendly, personalized note!

Alistair is such a cool name!

The many teas!

The first tea I am trying is the Nepal White Peony.

Upon first opening the package I find that the tea has much tea dust and a very fragrant smell like that of honey-tinged citrus mixed with freshly cut grass and hay: a very smooth smell.  

The tea is mostly broken leaf and stem.

Such a succinct label.

I steeped it for about minute each time, the first two times at 90°C and one final time at 100°C.

Messy table!

I almost forgot about those coasters.

Brewbrewbrewbrew

The liquor was thick and smelled much like it did when dry.  The same honey and citrus mixed with a summers day in the country.  The first two steepings completely lacked any astringent properties and went down like a Milk chocolate bar with orange bits that had been liquefied and its essence and flavor extracted.  The third steeping was the same only with some slightly bitter notes, it was like the dark chocolate version.

While I only steeped this tea 3 times, it seems to have the potential to be steeped at least twice more.  Perhaps next time I drink this tea I will update this post.

For future steepings I would either steep at 90°C longer, maybe 2 minutes, or maybe 30-60 seconds at boiling.  I think I prefer it with the bitter notes.
I would also try pairing this tea with chocolate or perhaps a croissant.

Rating:
4/5 Dark chocolate bars good with an extra .5 summers day for good measure

Highly Recommended.