Mu Dan Wang 牡丹王 2021
Tea Profile
Type: Zhenghe White Tea
Grade: Mu Dan Wang 牡丹王 (Peony King / High-Grade White Peony)
Location: Jinping Village 锦屏村, Zhenghe County, Fujian, China
Harvest Date: Spring 2021
Cultivar: Da Bai Hao 大白毫
Picking Standard: One bud with one to two young leaves, with abundant white down
Processing: Traditional withering and natural sun-drying
Pressing Date: 2023
Pressing Method: Traditionally stone-pressed
Format: 357 g tea cake
The Story of This Tea
Mu Dan Wang 牡丹王, or “Peony King,” represents a particularly refined grade of White Peony. The picking standard places greater emphasis on plump buds and tender young leaves, bringing it closer to the delicacy of Silver Needle while retaining the additional body and structure that make Bai Mu Dan so expressive.
This tea was harvested in spring 2021 from Jinping Village in Zhenghe County, Fujian. The high-elevation mountain environment of Jinping, with frequent mist and clean growing conditions, supports slow leaf development and the naturally aromatic character associated with Zhenghe white tea.
The tea is made from the Da Bai Hao 大白毫 cultivar. Its plump buds carry abundant fine white down, while the accompanying young leaves give the liquor greater body and depth. This balance between bud and leaf is central to the character of Mu Dan Wang, combining delicacy, fragrance and sweetness with a more substantial mouthfeel.
After harvesting in 2021, the leaves were processed through traditional withering and natural sun-drying, then stored for natural ageing. In 2023, the tea was traditionally stone-pressed into 357 g cakes, allowing it to continue developing slowly in compressed form.
The tea now sits between youthful and mature white tea. Its original floral vitality remains clearly present, but several years of ageing have begun to soften and integrate the flavours, creating greater roundness and depth without losing the freshness that defines high-grade Mu Dan Wang.
Aroma and Flavour
The dry leaves retain a pronounced white tea fragrance, with soft florals, gentle honey sweetness and subtle fruit character. Once brewed, the liquor is clear and bright with a silky texture and an elegant balance between freshness and developing maturity.
The early infusions emphasise floral fragrance and the soft, downy character associated with the tea’s abundant buds. As the session progresses, the liquor becomes fuller and sweeter, with honeyed fruit notes emerging beneath the florals. Later infusions become softer and more rounded, leaving a persistent sweetness and a gentle cooling sensation in the throat.
- Aroma: Fresh florals, soft honey, gentle fruit and characteristic white-tea fragrance
- Flavour: Naturally sweet and refined, developing from floral freshness into honeyed fruit and greater depth
- Texture: Silky, soft and increasingly rounded through successive infusions
- Aftertaste: Long-lasting sweetness with a clean, gently cooling throat sensation
- Steeping Endurance: Persistent through repeated infusions, with the profile gradually becoming sweeter and fuller
Brewing Guidelines
Gong Fu Style
- Teaware: Porcelain gaiwan or glazed ceramic teapot
- Ratio: 5–6 g per 100 ml water
- Water: 90–95 °C for a more floral expression, or up to 100 °C for greater body and depth
- Infusions: Brief rinse if desired; begin around 10–15 seconds and gradually extend as the compressed leaves fully open
Western Style
- Teaware: Porcelain or glass teapot
- Ratio: 3–4 g per 250 ml water
- Water: Around 90–95 °C
- Steeping: 3–4 minutes for the first infusion; resteep several times, extending the brewing time with each infusion
Why Choose This Tea
This 2021 Mu Dan Wang offers a particularly interesting stage in the evolution of high-grade Zhenghe white tea. Its fine picking standard, with plump Da Bai Hao buds and only one to two young leaves, gives it the fragrance and delicacy expected from Peony King while retaining greater body than a pure-bud Silver Needle.
Harvested in Jinping Village and aged loose before being stone-pressed in 2023, the tea still carries clear floral freshness while beginning to show the softer texture, deeper sweetness and greater integration that develop with time.
It is already highly enjoyable for those who appreciate refined, floral white tea, while its quality material and compressed format also make it suitable for continued ageing under appropriate storage conditions. Over time, the fresh floral profile may continue to evolve toward deeper honeyed, dried-fruit, herbal and softly woody characteristics.