Right now I've never felt happier or more comfortable in my life. I'm settled in my comfy bed, laptop on, sipping tea, watching Twin Peaks and about to blog - which has become one of the main passion's in my life.
Next to me, I have on one side a Malteasers Easter Egg (kindly brought for me by one of my favourite customers) and on the other I have a simple yet delightful white tea.
That tea is from Baraka Teas and it's a blend called Malawi Peony.
It's fair to say that Baraka Tea's are new to me. I have been very lucky to experience their tea through the really fabulous teatourist tea subscription service. I would highly recommend you check out the teatourist service. Each month I've had a box pop through the letter box and it's filled to bursting with some delicious exotic tea's. They really are a great service and honestly, you get such a wide variety of choice that you can experience tea in all shapes and sizes. I am in love with teatourist!
I always keep my tea's from teatourist stacked neatly in the pantry and this evening wondered what tea I was going to blog about. I fancied something light and my eyes set immediately on Malawi Peony.
On the information card that come with each tea I was interested to note that Baraka tea's use tea that is grown without pesticides. I found that very interesting! Also, this tea is plucked in Africa which is vastly different from where tea normally comes from!
I absolutely love white tea. I find it's delicate and light and perfect, for me anyway, at times like Christmas and Easter when we all are eating a little bit more then we normally would. I find it's delicate lightness a perfect remedy for those times when we've all over indulged a little bit.
This tea comes in huge leaf form. I filled my teabag to bursting point but hardly took any tea from the packet. So big are the leaves, it's really great to look at. I love the dark brown and lush green colour of the leaves. A different and interesting tea to look at! I felt the leaves and they are nicely crisp and are just lovely to the touch.
You may or may not know about brewing white tea. It's a tricky tea that is even more delicate then green tea so you have to be very careful and very precise when preparing this tea. Ideally the perfect temperature for this tea is 80 so I turned the kettle off quite some time before it reached full boil. Pouring hot water onto white tea will scorch the leaves making the tea a hideously bitter mess. And white tea need not be bitter at all. I set the timer on the oven for three minutes - the recommended time for this tea and waited, not very patiently I will admit, to be able to drink this tea.
And oh, how beautiful does this tea look? It brews to a light honey colour. Just delicious!
This tea is tempting in just about every single way!
White tea does have that lovely earthiness that you get with green tea but in a far more subtle way which just adds to the long list of it's charms! And charming this particular tea is.
Firstly, the tea has a very smooth texture. It has that ease to it that makes you want to gulp it down in one hit. I like the slightly nutty element to this tea that is common in white tea. But the flavour of this white peony tea rolls across your tongue in the most delightful of ways.
For all it's lightness this tea has substance. It's delicate and feminine, but not wishy washy. It has depth to it's flavour. You do honestly feel as though you've had a decent cup of tea, yet do not feel weighed down as I can sometimes do with black tea.
There is a gorgeous sweetness to this tea. When you first take a sip of this tea you have that familiar vegetation type taste you get with white and green tea, which I find to be utterly mouthwatering. But beyond that, towards the end of the sip you have this wonderful sweetness come through that works hand in hand with the tea's earthy qualities. The sweetness doesn't feel like you've added sugar to the tea, it's not that type of sweetness, but it feels natural and healthy and the sweet taste just adds that bit of extra interest within the tea.
White Peony provides you with a light, fragrant, delicate tea, that is brilliant to relax to. It's comforting yet different enough to spark your interest. I love also how this tea stays just as lovely as it cools - some white tea's can go bitter and unpleasant as it cools down.
You feel as though it's healthy, too. That you are doing yourself a huge favour, not just by treating yourself to a tasty tea, but by drinking something so natural and fresh that you can only benefit healthy wise from this tea, too.
This is white tea in it's natural, purest form. Perhaps how it should really only be taken. And it really does leave those white tea's you can buy in the supermarket in the shade.
White tea's do take to flavours very well, peach and pomegranate are two flavours that work well with white tea. However, having experienced a very high quality tea such as this, well, I don't believe flavouring is needed. It's perfect as it is.
This tea is just absolutely gorgeous. It makes a lovely change from black and green tea and can easily work it's way into my daily tea drinking life! White tea is under-rated. Severely so. It's the George Harrison of the tea world. When you mention tea you immediately think of a sturdy John Lennon black tea, or a sweet and cheeky Paul McCartney green tea. But beyond those two famous favourites stands white tea. A talented tea that can easily hold it's own but somehow, always get's forgotten. And that is criminal in my opinion.
On the tasting cards it says this tea is perfectly matched with chocolate, which is handy as I do have a easter egg sat here next to me!
I'm really, really impressed with this tea. And if Baraka Tea's collection of other tea's are as lovely as this then us tea drinkers are in for a absolute treat! I really urge you to try this tea if you fancy trying white tea. You won't be disappointed.
I think that the pairing of teatourist and Baraka Tea is just ideal.And I'm so grateful to have been able to try this wonderful tea.
Thank you to Baraka Tea and to teatourist. Without either of you, I would of missed out on a treat of a tea. I'm off now to brew a second cup (the leaves can be infused up to three times!). And I'm sure it's just as good second time round!
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