Sister Ai’s 2019 Ancient Tree White Tea Mini-Bricks

What is White Tea?

White tea is young tea that is harvested, sun-dried, and minimally processed.

White tea ages naturally, adding depth and flavor. It pairs a light, easy-drinking sweetness with herbal undertones, creating a rich experience enjoyable all year round.

THE TEA

Each bag contains 7 x 8g Mini-Bricks

Sister Ai, our tea farmer partner in Yunnan, has provided us with “everyday” versions of her high end teas before. Of course, it’s only an “everyday” thing to drink Ancient Tree white tea when you’re a tea farmer!

These 2019 white tea leaves are made in the Yunnan style, without separating leaves and buds. They have a fruity, bright scent with sweet, clean tea liquor that gets darker and more herbal as the tea progresses.

While these teas are not as aged as some other white teas on the site, they have a crisp, clean character that makes them super drinkable.

JESSE'S REVIEW 

Just as we have done for Sister Ai’s raw pu’er and red teas, this is our “everyday” version of her ancient tree white tea. By getting leaves 4 years aged, these mini-bricks are a good mix of quality ingredients but are not so aged we can’t afford to put them in our subscription box.

Another (small) innovation - Sister Ai was able to press these mini-bricks with a small crease in the middle so they can easily be broken in half. A full mini-brick is 8g and I recommend it for people with plenty of tea, or who are hosting at least one guest. But if you’re having a solo tea session, and don’t mind steeping the leaves a bit longer, you can have a great session with half a brick, doubling the number of tea sessions per pag.

VALUE AND QUALITY

Jesse's Teahouse started because Jesse realized the quality and value of the tea directly from the Beijing Tea Market was so much higher than what could be easily found in the States -- and around the world.

Nowadays, Jesse travels back and forth to Asia, looking for great teas and making educational video content on Chinese tea culture. He partners with tea farmers directly, as well as with his friends’ small tea shops.

They send their best teas to him, and he sends them to you. That's it!

NOT JUST TEA, TEA CULTURE

Jesse believes the key to making good tea is to help his Chinese tea friends share not just their best teas, but the best ways to make the teas.

That's why each box comes also comes with an info card that tells you:

• Tea Origin

• Steep Temperature

• Steep Time

• Directions for both teapot steeping and gaiwan steeping

All Jesse’s Teahouse Tea Friends (that’s you now!) also get access to private YouTube videos where Jesse and his Chinese tea friends show you how to make the teas and explain the tea-making process. 

The links are on QR codes on the back of the info card included in the tea box.

Don't Forget Your Tea Pets!

In Chinese Gongfu Tea Tradition, Tea Pets accompany you at teatime and you "raise" them by feeding them tea! Check out the tea pets at the bottom of this page.