Bai Mu Dan 白牡丹2015
Tea Profile
Type: Aged Zhenghe White Tea
Grade: White Peony / Bai Mu Dan 白牡丹
Location: Jinping Village, Zhenghe County, Fujian, China
Harvest Year: 2015
Picking Standard: One bud with two leaves
Processing: Traditional withering and sun-drying
Pressing Date: 2023
Pressing Method: Traditionally stone-pressed
Format: 357 g tea cake
Availability: Limited to 20 cakes in total
The Story of This Tea
This aged White Peony was harvested in 2015 in Jinping Village, Zhenghe County, Fujian, a traditional white tea-producing area with a long history of making distinctive Zhenghe white tea.
The tea follows the classic White Peony picking standard of one tender bud with two leaves. This combination gives Bai Mu Dan its characteristic balance between the delicacy of the bud and the greater body and depth contributed by the mature leaves.
After harvesting, the leaves were processed through traditional withering and sun-drying before being stored loose for natural ageing. The tea remained in loose form for several years, allowing its youthful floral character to gradually settle and deepen.
In 2023, the aged material was traditionally stone-pressed into 357 g cakes. This created a more stable compressed form while allowing the tea to continue its slow transformation over time.
Now more than a decade from harvest, the leaves have visibly darkened and the tea has developed into a mature expression of Zhenghe White Peony. The emphasis is no longer on youthful freshness, but on depth, softness and the integrated character that develops through long-term ageing.
Aroma and Flavour
The liquor is amber-golden, smooth and settled, with a distinctly mature white tea character. Dried herbal aromas appear first, followed by aged floral notes and a gentle woody sweetness.
The texture is soft and rounded, with a calm, substantial mouthfeel. As the leaves continue to open, the flavour becomes increasingly integrated, moving from dried herbs and faded florals toward warmer woody sweetness and deeper aged complexity.
- Aroma: Dried herbs, aged floral notes and subtle sweet wood
- Flavour: Mellow and rounded, with herbal depth, mature floral character and gentle woody sweetness
- Texture: Soft, smooth and settled with a rounded body
- Aftertaste: Long-lasting herbal sweetness with a warm, lingering throat sensation
- Steeping Endurance: Persistent through repeated infusions, developing greater depth as the compressed leaves open
Brewing Guidelines
Gong Fu Style
- Teaware: Porcelain gaiwan, glazed ceramic teapot or suitable clay teapot
- Ratio: 6–7 g per 100 ml water
- Water: 95–100 °C, ideally soft spring water or fresh filtered water
- Infusions: Brief rinse to loosen and awaken the compressed leaves; begin around 10–15 seconds and gradually extend as the cake material opens
Western Style
- Teaware: Porcelain, glass or glazed ceramic teapot
- Ratio: 4–5 g per 250 ml water
- Water: Around 95–100 °C
- Steeping: 3–4 minutes for the first infusion; resteep several times, extending the brewing time with each infusion
Why Choose This Tea
This 2015 Zhenghe White Peony offers a clear example of how Bai Mu Dan changes through long-term ageing. Its traditional one-bud-two-leaf picking standard gives the tea both refinement and sufficient mature leaf material to develop body, depth and complexity over time.
After several years of loose ageing, the tea was stone-pressed in 2023 and has continued to mature in compressed form. The result is a settled and layered aged white tea with dried herbal character, softened florals, woody sweetness and a smooth, enduring liquor.
It can be enjoyed now for its mature and integrated character, or stored further under suitable conditions for continued development.
Only 20 cakes are available in total. Once these cakes are sold, this batch will no longer be available.