Premodern Peony, deep oxidation white tea, 40 g
US$16.7
政和原生菜茶、古方貢眉
Zhenghe Old Style White Tea:
Before there were the Dai Bai cultivars for the modern White Peony, it had first been indigenous Cai Cha for producing white teas in Fujian. A lesser looking tea plant but capable of a deeper and rounder taste profile, such sexually propagated tea bushes still exist today. Presenting Tea Hong’s very own Premodern Peony — patiently processed like it used to be a century ago, and matured to our tea master’s personal liking. All the wholesomeness of white tea with a fine taste that you can keep drinking throughout the day.
Net weight: 40 g (1.4 oz) in wide kraft-alu pack
In stock
Taste profile
Nose: An herbal nose with a distinct earthy overtone and a deep, sweet wood accent. Palate: Clear, maple syrup colour infusion. Bright impression. Fullest body as a white tea with the sharpness of a fresh roasted green tea and the maltiness of a black tea. Resonates with a persistent yet light umami. Deep sweet wood accents intermediated by the slight bites of a neutral astringency. Finish: Long, sweet and malty aftertaste.
Infusion tips
Prepare as if it were a whole leaf black tea using the conventional method. If the gongfu approach is preferred, infuse as if it were a Wuyi oolong but use slightly more leaves and very slightly more time. Optimum infusion temperature 95°C.
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Additional information
| Shipping Weight | 90 g |
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| Dimensions | 18 × 9 × 5 cm |
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2 reviews for Premodern Peony, deep oxidation white tea, 40 g
Premodern Peony, deep oxidation white tea, 40 g
Honey Orchid, Phoenix dancong oolong, 40 g
Fenghuang | Phoenix, Floral Aromas, Fuller Bodies, Neutral Energy, Oolongs, Tea鳳凰單樅、烏崠蜜蘭香
Milan Xiang Dancong:
The fine mastery that produces Tea Hong’s Honey Orchid has to be coupled with select first flush harvests from high grown tea bushes in order to deliver the kind of quality only a restricted circle of tea aficionados have known and kept to their secret. The overall production volume for such quality in the whole Phoenix region is only a few thousand kilos after all. Most will go to local elites, and the rest to the few hardcore Phoenix oolong fans that are also tea merchants, like us. This tea is also available in a small portion as a part of Tea Taster’s Box: Nine Oolong Samplers.
Net weight: 40 g (1.4 oz) in Kraft-alu pack 
Black Leaf Special, Phoenix dancong oolong, 40 g
Cool Energy, Fenghuang | Phoenix, Floral Aromas, Fuller Bodies, Oolongs, Tea鳳凰單欉 上品大烏葉
Fenghuang Da Wuye:
If classic Phoenix oolongs are too sweet, and bouquet ones too florally aromatic for you, Tea Hong’s Black Leaf Special maybe your cup of tea. It is produced from a new cultivar developed for maltiness and complexity in taste. A very different oolong from the rest. Our special selection is harvested from higher altitudes near the oolong mecca that is Wudong.
Net weight: 40 g (1.4 oz) in Kraft-alu pack 
Tieguanyin Floral, bouquet oolong, 80 g
Cold Energy, Floral Aromas, Milder Tastes, Minnan/ Mindong, Fujian, Oolongs, Tea花香滿樓 頭春金觀音
A very fragrant Jin Guanyin
While some people like their Tieguanyin subtle and long like it used to be traditionally, some others want it to be more floral. So we give you Tieguanyin Floral, a very bouquet version of this popular oolong. The cultivar is Jin Guanyin ( aka Golden Tieguanyin ), a child between the traditional Tieguanyin plant and a relatively newer bleed, Huangjin Gui *. While the latter is widely used as a substitute for the genuine Tieguanyin for its pleasing nose, it lacks the body and length of the real thing. The resultant hybrid, however, has the best of both parents. The terroir is in Xianghua, a mountainous area in the Anxi county in the subtropical southern part of Fujian, where the best Tieguanyin is produced. This tea is also available in a small portion as a part of Tea Taster’s Box: Nine Oolong Samplers.
Net weight: 80 g (2.8 oz) in Kraft-alu pack 
Silver Needle Supreme, traditional white tea, 40 g
Cool Energy, Lighter Aromas, Milder Tastes, Minnan/ Mindong, Fujian, Tea, White teas福鼎 明前 高山白毫銀針
Genuine Baihao Yinzhen:
The first ever modern white tea, Silver Needle that came about in late 18th century withstands time as still the highest quality in the category. Produced in the origin of Fuding with the original pedigree cultivar Fuding Daibai, Tea Hong’s Silver Needle Supreme is a high altitude first flush that distinguishes itself with a subtle yet the most joyful aroma and flavors amongst its peers. The finest and purest of this variety.
Net weight: 40 g (1.4 oz) in Kraft-alu pack
It’s earthy and it’s funky, but it’s surprisingly deep and layered, with sweet and smooth flavors that feel fully-alive and contrast perfectly against a backdrop of deep oxidation and slow fermentation notes.
This is a very complex tea, not only because of how much it changes between the initial whiff of the dry leaf to the flavors and sensations in the aftertaste, but also because of how much it changes when it is left to cool in a cup for an hour or two. It brews up well Western-style but is also complex enough to brew up like yancha.
If you’re familiar with aged white teas, you’ll find the usual suspects here: forest floor, sweet woods, malt, leather, hay/straw, oak, dark chocolate, and fermented fruits.
It’s the intensity and clarity of the fermented fruit notes that really stand out to me: figs, plums, apricots, all smashed up and left to ferment in the heat of a hot summer day, with some boozy and yeasty undertones coming through along with a seductively smooth sweetness. When left to cool for about 30-60 minutes, these notes strangely become more and more reminiscent of fresh figs, fresh plums, and fresh apricots. Maybe it’s just me though.
At this point, I’ve had about 15-20 or so different aged white teas from various vendors which are around the same age as Premodern Peony (one was 7 years older now that I look at it), but this one stands out to me for its depth of flavor and the intensity of the fermented fruit notes.
… it’s also about half the cost per gram of those others, which puts it right into the “no-brainer” category for me.
Premodern Peony is a must-try for anybody who likes aged white teas.
My first order has arrived. The first tea I tried was this Peony. Hence my first review.
This tea is a revelation. I’ve prepared commercial-grade white peony from a local teas shop, as well as other Chinese whites, and they tend to pleasant but one-dimensional; that familiar woody taste, but not much more. This peony has a full, round, complex flavour, as described above, making it much more interesting than the common whites. I can never go back to “modern” peonies now, let alone post-modern ones 🙂
2g/100ml/90°C/1,5min is a good starting point, with first a quick hot rinse, as I learned elsewhere on this site.
“Post-modern” White Peonies! 😀 Thank you for a good laugh! You should write more here!
Thank you for sharing the taste experience. Happy that this good tea has found an audience in you!