Bai Mudan / White Peony - Fujian

白牡丹 (Bái mǔdān) White Peony

White Peony, or Bai Mudan, is picked by using the terminal bud and two immediate young leaves.  Bai Mudan is the second grade of white tea made, after Yinzhen (silver needle) and before Gongmei ( Tribute Eyebrow) and Shoumei (Longevity Eyebrow), plucked according to the san bai standard. The leaves traditionally sun withered, to keep the tea as close to the natural state as possible. Naturally, a bit of oxidation occurs in the leaf, which gives the liquor of this tea a lightly toasty honeyed hay taste. The leaves are then baked to dry for packing. The handling of the leaves is gentle and non-intrusive throughout the process to avoid breakage of the cellular structure and unintended further oxidation. We use this tea as the base for all our flavoured white teas, because the taste is light and sweet and the leaf appearance is elegant.

literally "Three White": the plucking standard for Bai mudan, with equal amounts of bud, first leaf, and second leaf, each “white” due to Mao zhuang ti 毛状体, Trichomes: tiny, usually white “hairs” found on young leaves and buds, leading to a thick texture in tea liquor.