Green Tea Lovers Silverback White
After the incredibly disappointing session with the GTL Adams Peak my hopes for exciting examples of silver needles from non-traditional style producers were a bit dampened. Fortunately, this tea corrected my disappointment and left me with some interest in the terroir of new producing regions.
Immediately apparent was the consistency of the dry leaves, with a nice pale golden hue on delightfully fuzzy, even needles of great length, a bit sinuous. The warm gaiwan full of leaves gave a delightful fresh glow of jack fruit, almonds, palomino fino jerez and nips of banana. Again, the aroma was strongest in the first wet leaves, but it was very pleasurable. Flavors opened bright and strong with pulled white sugars, light green olive, and bits of cooked yellow plum. Mostly white sugar, though. Fresh and clean, extra-light and super-bright. A really thirst-quenching summer tea. It leaves me with a dry grass and hot savanna summer feeling.
Okay, so with quality processing techniques, maybe non-traditional producing regions can interpret traditional styles in a way that injects unique regional flavor and character to a new tea. This is one of the exciting elements of our global tea economy*, as long as the production process is carefully monitored and the tea is well-sourced.
* I find actively participating and engaging in any global economy an ethically challenging one, considering the amount of evidence indicating that global capitalism is ravaging our planet and its people. That being said, tea is rather light to ship and many producers of artisanal tea often have the best intentions regarding the earth they work (e.g., Makaibari Tea Estate).
