Temenos | Bada White Tea Mini

Tea: Temenos | Bada White Tea Type: Arbor White (乔木白茶) Producer: Yan Sandan Harvest: April 2026 Location: Zhanglang Village, Bada Mountain, Xishuangbanna Tasting Notes: Honey, Cantaloupe, Cream, Berries, Lily Flowers This year, as we were all down in the Bada mountain hiking, eating, and drinking tea with San Dan, Alex, Xiaoyan, and Derek all sat down for a few long afternoons sampling different white teas from different parts of the mountain, tea produced from different aged trees, and we all talked about what flavors we preferred. Through those protracted tea sessions, we came out with this pick of spring tea from a higher elevation plot a little deeper in the mountains than the tea we carried in its loose form last year. When the leaves are placed in the warmed gaiwan, we get berry fragrances sweet with a healthy mix of florals. These fragrances become sweeter when brewed giving off fresh melon aromas. These fragrances will change with age, but we appreciated the bright notes in this young leaf material, and enjoy drinking it now. The brew is a bright gold that tastes like watered honey. The floral notes come across very clearly in the brew. There is a slight mentholating sensation in the tongue after a few infusions. There is a delicate creaminess that carries on through the sessions with the melon notes remaining the dominant fruit fragrance. This tea will get more complex and spicy as the tea ages in the fashion of Yunnan whites. Bada Mountain, a bastion of Bulang and Hanni culture for thousands of years. With a pristine natural environment, thickly rooted small tree; tall and towering Gushu, groves of sheltered Dashu, this mountain has some gently powerful tea. Coming from these Dashu, this white tea was produced by Bulang local Yan Sandan. It is somewhere in pick size between Baimudan and Gongmei, and the surviving greenness in the final product is a testament to Yan's skill in an area where jet-black Yueguangbai is not uncommon. The complexity of this tea makes Gongfu style an obvious first choice, but this is also a tea that stands up well in conventional / grandpa brewing.