I love a good Moonlight White / Yue Guang Bai white tea. Yunnan Sourcing’s Yi Shan Tea Factory 2018 Spring Old Arbor Yue Guang Bai is of unique interest as it has been left to wilt longer producing a darker white tea.
Leaf and Steeping Method
The leaf has a darker malty scent. The compression on this white tea cake was easy to break but you certainly need a tool to assist you.
I used 1 gram of leaf per 20ml of vessel size, gongfu steeped in boiling water. The hot leaf smells like a malty black tea.
Tasting of Yi Shan Tea Factory 2018 Spring Old Arbor Yue Guang Bai White Tea via Yunnan Sourcing
First and Second Infusion: The first infusion, after a rinse, is golden. But you can see in the pitcher it is a bit more orange.
2018 Spring Old Arbor Yue Guang Bai White Tea sips in light in flavor, creamy, minerally, and sweet with a buttery aftertaste that emerges. The texture is thick like drinking fluffy cotton balls.
Third, Fourth, and Fifth Infusion: Each infusion gets stronger and maltier. 2018 Spring Old Arbor Yue Guang Bai White Tea coats the mouth with a thick layer of cream and malt. I am entertained by how each steeping is just a toucher darker.
Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Infusion: This bracket of infusions got tannic and astringent but keeping with the malty creamy flavor of the tea. Each steeping stayed similar in taste but got more astringent, drying the top of my tongue. The later infusions got quite dry and tannic in the later infusions.
Eleventh Infusion: I did an extended infusion of 15 minutes. The final steeping was creamy thick cotton feel with the malty and mineral sweet flavor. 2018 Spring Old Arbor Yue Guang Bai White Tea’s first sips were not dry but slowly got drier in the mouth. Likely you can get a few more infusions with a dedicated teapot or a stove boil.
Thermos and Grandpa Style: I took a 7 gram chunk in a thermos to a knitting social and it was delightful, even after steeping for 4 hours. After that experience, I went in grandpa style, leafing harder at 6 grams for a 280ml vessel. 2018 Spring Old Arbor Yue Guang Bai White Tea’s best application is grandpa style. This tea steeps up as an ultra-thick malty-sweet cream tea. It gets slightly dry but no worse than it was in gongfu style. Again, I would think this is a black tea and not a white by taste alone.
Comments
2018 Spring Old Arbor Yue Guang Bai White is a peculiar Moonlight white and I think many miss out on this tea as it is a black tea drinker tea. Only on appearance, it is a white tea cake, but taste-wise it is close to a black tea with little floral indicators it is a white tea due to the additional wilting.
I am unsure how 2018 Spring Old Arbor Yue Guang Bai White will age. Aged Moonlight whites tend to come out dark and rich, but this tea is already there but also astringent and tannic. Time will tell.
