Melon White

Tea: Melon White - 7017
Vendor: Lupicia USA
Price: $13.00 / 50g
Source: Fujian, China
Vendor Description: White tea from Fujian province is scented with succulent and sweet melon.

Leaf: The leaf for this tea is a very interesting white tea. It has the primary appearance of a Bai Mu Dan, but has some silver needle like leaves in it. There are a small handful of yellow blossoms in there and a few of the leaves do not have the silver needle like hairs on them. The appearance of this leaf greatly reminds me of an autumn leaf covered ground. The tea has a very strong and noticeable aroma of cantaloupe.

1st Infusion Parameters: 3g, 185F, 2 minutes

1st Infusion: There is a very unusual aroma to this tea, it has a very strong aroma of cantaloupe, but it is mixed with a warm white tea aroma. The tea itself has a very clear straw yellow hue to it. The front end of the taste is very sweet and reminds me greatly of cantaloupe. There is a much lighter flavor of a white tea on the back end. The two flavors transition into each other quite nicely. The flavor also seemed to change significantly while I was drinking the cup of tea. It was at first very sweet, and then became thicker as I continued drinking the cup.

2nd Infusion Parameters: 185F, 2 minutes

2nd Infusion: Again there was a very warm and sweet aroma to this tea. In this particular infusion though the two aromas were not as distinct from each other, but blended together more into a singular warm tea smell. The hue of the tea darkened into a golden brown color. There were still hints of the uniquely cantaloupe aroma. This infusion still had a good cantaloupe flavor and the balance of the white tea versus the flavoring was still in good balance. There was no detectable bitterness or astringency.

Rating: 7/10

Conclusion: This was a rather tasty white tea, but the price makes this a bit prohibitive. It is rather expensive for a flavored white tea. So far though this is somewhat uniquely the only melon flavored tea that I have run across so far. I did find the tea to be quite pleasant though.