Why has Fuding white Tea become so popular in recent years? Some say that the highest realm of White Tea is its “liveliness,” awakening your entire being when you drink it. It doesn't just pass through your mouth, but permeates your entire body, stirring your soul.

Therefore, when drinking white tea, not only should you savor its taste, but also appreciate its aroma. The correct method is crucial!

01

Understanding the Aroma

In general, Fuding white tea has a rich and fragrant aroma. However, if the processing steps are properly executed or the tea is well-stored, it can have a pure and intense scent as well.

The downy fragrance is an important criterion for evaluating high-grade white teas like Silver Needle and premium White Peony, and should be prominent. They have a notable young fragrance due to their early picking and tenderness.

1. The “Aroma” of Silver Needle

A well-aged, clean-stored, and high-quality Silver Needle has a refined style and lingering aftertaste. Its aroma is elegant, varied, and persistent, with a clean and sweet taste, continuous sweetness in the mouth, and long-lasting salivation. There is also a throat resonance.

2. The “Aroma” of White Peony

The aroma is prominent, a mix of rich floral and downy fragrances; the tea broth is fresh and sweet, bringing a cooling sensation, generally well-balanced and durable. This is a rare style of white tea with excellent aroma and flavor.

3. The “Aroma” of Gongmei and Shoumei

Gongmei and Shoumei types of white tea are characterized by a strong and concentrated aroma. High-quality Gongmei has prominent downy tips, a verdant color, orange-yellow or deep yellow broth, even, soft, and bright leaves, and red main veins visible when held up to light. The taste is mellow and refreshing, with a fresh and pure aroma.

Properly stored aged white teas also have such aromas, but they lack the freshness of new tea, instead having a richer and more mature scent.

If the natural withering process of white tea encounters low relative humidity, the fresh leaves dry too quickly, leading to insufficient withering time and a grassy smell. If it rains, the relative humidity increases, making it difficult for the fresh leaves to dry, causing slight fermentation and a fermentative smell. Overlong withering times can lead to mold.

High temperatures and prolonged baking can produce a smoky aroma. During storage, if the tea is not sufficiently dry, it can develop a musty or stale smell.

The aroma of white tea should be the natural fragrance of the tea itself, without off-flavors such as smokiness, staleness, or grassiness. Off-flavors can be faint, allowing the tea's aroma to still be detected, or dominant.

Good white tea has a natural and comfortable aroma that isn't pungent, has a strong diffusion, is fresh and pure, with a lasting aroma, and some may have a brief throat resonance.

02

Evaluating the Flavor

Many people who drink aged white tea fall into a misconception, thinking that a tea that smells very fragrant must be good quality. This is not always the case.

The aroma of good tea is not the same as ordinary tea—it's neither too strong nor too weak, not just superficial but deeply integrated. Even after swallowing, the aroma lingers.

The five levels of white tea's aroma: floating aroma on water, aroma in water, aroma contained in water, aroma generated from water, and aroma as water.

1. Floating Aroma on Water

The most basic level of aroma, where the tea's aroma is superficial and floats on the surface. The characteristic is that the air and the lid of the tea cup smell very fragrant, but the aroma is poor when tasted.

2. Aroma in Water

This is slightly better than the previous level. Most of the aroma dissipates, while a small part is incorporated into the tea broth. The experience is that the tea smells and tastes fragrant, though not as strongly as when smelled.

3. Aroma Contained in Water

Reaching this third level indicates a high-quality tea. A small part of the aroma dissipates, while most is incorporated into the tea broth, sinking within. Some of the aroma is released from the mouth, and some from the throat.

To experience this aroma, take a sip of tea and hold your breath, then after swallowing, close your mouth and exhale slowly through your nose, paying attention to the source of the aroma.

4. Aroma Generated from Water

Excellent tea aroma—aroma generated from water. The integration of the aroma and the tea broth is excellent. It barely smells fragrant, but after drinking, the aroma slowly returns from deep within the throat, lasting for a long time. This type of tea usually has a smooth and creamy broth.

5. Aroma as Water

The top-tier tea aroma—aroma as water. This type of tea must be made from high-quality raw materials and processed excellently. The aroma is rich and abundant but not cloying, completely fused with the tea broth. Wherever the tea broth goes, the aroma follows, creating a wonderful feeling of “aroma as broth, broth as aroma.”

03

Tasting the Aroma

Tasting the aroma is a critical step in evaluating Fuding white tea. Poorly processed inferior white teas often have off-flavors such as smoke, miscellaneous, or moldy smells, which are not normal for white tea.

We can preliminarily determine whether our white tea is of poor quality through the correct method of tasting the aroma.

Since tasting the aroma is so important, how should we taste the aroma of white tea?

Fuding white tea has a rich aroma, with typical fragrances including downy, rice, floral, medicinal, jujube, and reed leaf aromas. To learn how to taste the aroma, let's start with the dry tea aroma.

Let's use Silver Needle as an example.

Whether using a Gaiwan or a purple clay pot to brew white tea, we need to warm the utensils first. After warming the utensils, take advantage of the remaining heat and pour the prepared dry tea into the pot, cover it, and gently shake it a few times. Heat it for a moment with the residual warmth of the pot, and then uncover it to smell the characteristic downy aroma of Silver Needle.

Do not linger at this point; continue brewing while the pot is still warm. After brewing, cover it and begin smelling the aroma on the lid.

After pouring out the tea, uncover the pot. At this moment, the aroma is the strongest. Good white tea can have aromas of downy and banana leaf, among others. No matter what kind of aroma it is, it will adhere to the lid.

When tasting the aroma, place the lid below your nose, inhale twice continuously, then move the lid away and exhale slowly. This way, you can experience the aroma of the white tea.

Next, feel the aroma in the tea broth. When tasting the tea, we should learn to sip it. Take a sip of the tea broth and let it roll around in your mouth to naturally taste the aroma.

Many tea enthusiasts don't understand why we should sip the tea. Sipping creates a small airflow in the mouth, which rapidly atomizes the tea broth, allowing more taste buds to absorb it. The aroma is amplified, and the tea's aroma becomes more prominent.

The tea we drink at this point will be very fragrant. Without sipping, the aroma of