2025 The First Spring Peony King （Top Shelf）

Tea: 2025 The First Spring Peony King

Origin: Gangtou, Panxi, Fuding
Year: 2025
Characteristics: Grass, cucumber, almond, floral, earthy

Notes: This Fuding white tea is the first-picked peony harvested before the Qingming Festival. Locals call it Premium White Peony, commonly known as Peony King, indicating it’s the earliest-picked and highest-grade white peony.

Tasting Notes:
At the beginning, the new tea brewed with boiling water releases a grassy aroma typical of herbal tea leaves. Many find the first infusion peculiar, but it’s called "awakening the tea"—similar to decanting wine—to rouse the dormant leaves. You can choose to drink or skip the first infusion.

As brewing continues, the grassy note gradually fades but reappears in a unique vegetable-fruit scent, which we find akin to the freshness of cucumber.

In the fourth infusion, I detected a nutty aroma like raw almonds, stimulating the whole mouth with a  sweet flavor. My wife thought it resembled the sweetness of honeysuckle, with an immediate aftertaste.

From the fifth to seventh infusions the flavor remained stable, dominated by natural sweetness with a distinct earthy aroma, making it increasingly enjoyable…

Brewing Times Reference: >12 infusions

Brewing Tips:
For the first three infusions, use boiling water and pour clockwise along the inner wall of a gaiwan (lidded bowl) with a low pour. Steep for 7, 8, and 9 seconds respectively. For subsequent infusions, add 2–3 seconds to the steeping time according to your taste. Avoid over-steeping!