Purple Rose - Song Tea — THE RAMEN GUIDE

Notes of rose, bitter melon, and burdock.

Visual Notes

One of the things that I like about white teas is that you can easily see the tea leaf in different stages in its growth. Something like a Silver Needle is the very first bud of the tea bush, where as something like this Purple Rose has very clear and distinct tea leaves visible. I think it is cool to see that, in fact, tea is simply leaf water. The leaves present are medium small, and take on an emerald green color, with a red stem. Each leaf seems to have a white coating on top, kind of like a dusted finish. Many of the tea leaves are similar in shape and size, and there is very little tea dust or small particles. However, are some stems present that haven’t been filtered out. The tea brews to a yellow dandelion color, and is very clear with zero particles or fogginess.

Scent Notes

The scent of this tea is very characteristic of a white tea. It gives off notes of freshly cut flowers, and some sweeter floral notes. There is a slight green note, similar to other white tea, which reminds me of the baby bud of the tea leaf. The hot leaf gives off a more vegetal scent, more akin to fresh cut bushes, while also having notes of licorice.

Tasting Notes

The first few sips have a milky like creaminess to it. Not as heavy as a cream, but more milky in texture than thin. The taste is the most strongly present on the middle and sides of the tongue. I think it has a very well balanced flavor among white teas. I am picking up notes of rose, and a feint creaminess. The flavor profile is mostly floral, with no noticeable bitter or vegetal notes. There is a very slight dryness on the edges of the tongue with astringency, and a feint floral like finish on the out breath.
The second infusion is a bit more golden orange in color. The scent is less strong than before, but it is still floral and green like before. The tea leaf gives off a certain spiced herbaceousness that I cant pinpoint. The first sips of the second infusion come across as more bitter, with bitter notes that spread across the tongue straight from the tip to the back center. The taste is less strongly floral, picking up some more vegetal and bitter notes, that you feel in the nose. There are undertones that remind me of light bitter melon. There is a significant uptick in astringency in this infusion compared to the first, and you can feel these astringent notes on the finish, leaving a dry feeling in your mouth and noses.
This infusion has the warming qualities of a warm glass of milk, but not the creamy sweetness. The texture has thinned out since the first infusion. By this infusion, my palate has started to adjust to the increase in bitterness as I come to appreciate some of the other masked flavors. I do think that this tea has a good amount of complexity to its flavor profile. It’s the type of tea where it has flavor to it, and you’d try to search for a comparison, but the closest comparison is that of other white teas. I do appreciate the smooth consistency to the infusion, as it is not clouded by small tea particles. The astringency has built up and coats the majority of the tongue. The finish has lost its distinct rose sweetness, but still maintains a white tea floral touch.
By now, most of the scent has departed from the tea and tea leaf. It does still maintain a saturated bronze orange tint. It is noticeable that the flavor profile has changed over time as well. The initial taste is what can best be described as a flowery leafiness, where as before the initial taste was more similar to a flower rose flower petal. That is to say, the taste is more green and vegetal now than it is floral. There is a moment of appreciable complexity to the flavor as it moves across the tongue, before it reveals it’s bitterness. This is an interesting development from the more forward bitterness of the previous two infusions. The intensity of all flavors has mellowed off, including the sharp bitter astringency. It is clear that this tea is on the tail end on what it has to give.
I was right when I stated that the tea is on its last legs. This infusion very clearly tastes like a tea that has given all it has. I don’t think I would recommend pushing this tea to five infusion, as there are not many appreciable qualities at this point. The bitterness is increasingly dry, with very little sweetness left to the flavor. All of the aromatic notes to the scent are gone as well.

Rating: 4/5

There are many fascinating things that I like about this tea, and don’t like about this tea. To jump right into it, the first infusion was fanatic and easily 5/5 material for me. I also really like the unique care given to this tea and its creation, as detailed in the tea seller’s description. However, this tea loses points for its immediate and steep drop off and change in flavor by the second infusion. While I do agree with the tasting notes, I disagree with the tea’s ability to provide a consistent sweetness without bitterness, as it loses its sweetness and picks up bitterness very quick. This is my main issue with the tea, and why I have ultimately decided to rate it a 4/5. The teas life span to provide faithful infusions lasted only one infusion, which even for a white tea is short, let alone one of this high production quality.

Tea Seller’s Description

Notes of verbena leaf, rose, and burdock.

White tea from Fujian, China・April 2019・紫玫瑰・Organic

This white tea is unique to Song, custom crafted using a new oolong cultivar from Wuyi Shan called zi meigui (Purple Rose). It is one of several varieties grown on a newly developed organic garden located in northeastern Fujian Province. Since 2013, we’ve been collaborating with this garden to develop teas that apply traditional crafting methods to new tea varieties.

The cultivar itself is fewer than ten years old. A hybrid of two lesser-known Wuyi cultivars: zi hongpao and jin meigui - it is rarely seen even as an oolong. The leaves are forest green, with long thin stalks tinged with purple.

After harvesting, the leaves are transferred indoors and placed on trays under constant air flow for 30 hours. This slow dehydration allows the tea leaves time to oxidize gently as they dry. The process produces a round sweetness, and accentuates the leaves' innate floral qualities.

The finished tea is wonderfully aromatic, crisp, and sweet, with notes of verbena leaf, rose, and burdock.

Brew: 5 grams・150 ml・205° F・1 min

High temperatures work best to intensify the aromatic quality of tea. Purple Rose takes well to this approach, as it delivers both sweetness and fragrance without bitterness even at the high temperatures we prescribe.

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