The original White tea made from the indigenous small leaf Xiao Cai variety. Creamy, floral and nutty with a distinct petrichor minerality.
The first-ever White tea was made from the heirloom, seed-grown small leaf cultivars growing in Fuding (possibly originally from Mount Taimu). For nearly 200 years, this plant defined the taste of White tea.
In the 1960's the municipal government in Fujian changed everything by introducing the Da Bai variety - a bigger leaf cultivar with huge buds and better yield for making Bai Hao Yin Zhen (bud tea). These plants were mostly propagated asexually to maintain consistent genetics.
In the 1970's, the Da Bai cultivar was developed to create the Da Hao cultivar, which was more resistant to cold weather and these two varieties almost univerally took over in the area. Practically all of the White tea that any of us have tasted come from versions of these big-leaf cultivar genetics.
When I visited Fujian in 2019, I tried to hunt down the Xiao Cai variety, which is still being kept in some regions, and I tasted one for the first time - it was noticeably more complex, sweet and had more longevity.
However, this small-leaf variety is still extremely hard to find on the market, and it has taken us a further 6 years to source one that we love.
Interestingly, it seems that the Municipal government has also started to focus their attention back onto these small-leaf indigenous cultivars.
In recent years, the naming standards for White tea have changed so that one grade is specifically reserved for any White tea made from the small-leaf cultivars - Gong Mei.
I know that many of you will be looking a bit quizzical. 'Isn't Gong Mei a name already used to describe a White tea?'
Yes, but that's changed, so here are the new standards:
- Yin Zhen - Buds of the big leaf varieties
- Mu Dan - Buds and leaves of the big leaf varieties
- Shou Mei - Mostly leaves of the big leaf varieties
- Gong Mei - Any White tea made from the small-leaf varieties
So this tea is officially a Gong Mei (even though it looks like the fine pickings that we would normally call a Bai Mu Dan).
It has been aged since 2021 in the Zhe Rong area of Fujian to add even more richness and complexity to the tea.
The experience of this tea is, at first glance, not so different from it big-leaf cultivar cousins but focus attention and the unique nature of this tea emerges.
On the nose there is a balanced bouquet of sweet flowers, creams and marzipans - similar to the Da Hao Whites, but there is an added fruity zing of blackcurrant and elderflower. I also pick up a uniquley fresh mineral note like petrichor, chalk and laundry.
The mouth texture is soft, oily and supple as you would expect from a White but with an added briskness and brightness that comes from the cultivar.
Like all great White teas, teasing out the unique complexities of 'Lost Origin White' demands attention.
There is a rounded, deep and rich quality to the taste - spiced caramel biscuits which merge indulgently with whipped cream and milky raw nuts. But the cream has been spiked with a drop of Orange Blossom water to give the tea a bright floral bridge to the stony jasmine, lotus and gardenia.
Living up to its cultivar name Xiao Cai (little veggie), there are some green notes like sweet raw peas and dill syrup. These merge with the creams to leave the mouth with a creamy pear softness and a tantalizingly brief twang of gooseberries.
The finish waves the flag for the small-leaf culltivar with a mineral quench which leads to a humming icing sugar juicines which becomes sweeter and sweeter with every infusion.
Lost Origin White is a tribute to the origins of White tea and it is a joy to see the heirloom cultivars being celebrated and ressurected for tea lovers - this is your chance to tray the original taste of White!
