Every year we search far and wide to find an aged White tea which deserves to be crowned 'Jade Star'. We know that this is a much-loved series of tea cakes and so we taste many samples until we find a tea which knocks our socks off!
There are more and more aged White teas out there, especially from 2011 onwards, but often they may have a great aroma without enough body, length and taste in the cup. Our home is filled with 'Jade Star' contenders which were not quite good enough.
When we first tasted this tea we were mesmerised and knew that we had found our Jade Star. Aged since 2004 (!) in relatively airtight containers, the tea has been allowed to very slowly ferment into an ambrosial nectar. It has those honey and plummy notes that you would expect from an aged White (like many others), however, it is the bright, fresh and juicy notes which impressed us as well as its long taste and textured mouthfeel.
For those of you wondering about the tea drunken effects, this Jade Star does not disappoint at all. It has a really warming, stoned and happy feeling, perfect for solo or social drinking.
We strongly advise brewing this Jade Star using the Chaozhou method of breaking 10% of your leaves. This creates the perfect balance of textures in our opinion so please give it a try. You can, of course, boil the leaves at the end of the session as is described at the end of this video for its predecessor Jade Star II.
(skip to 22:25 for boiling tea leaves)
