Bai Mu Dan – Tea and Legends

A world-famous white tea, sweet and delicate, with a fascinating and perhaps little-known legend to tell its mythical origins: we are talking about the Chinese tea Bai Mu Dan, which literally means “White Peony. “ Let’s find out why!

Bai Mu Dan: the legend of the lake

Legend has it that a young officer, tired of government corruption, decided to leave the army and leave together with his mother.

One day, while the two were traveling, the boy was surprised by an extraordinary fragrance that suddenly filled the air. He stopped and asked a local elder for an explanation: the elder told him that, not far away, there was a small lake that had at its center 18 large, fragrant peony flowers.

The boy and his mother then reached the lake and decided to settle in that wonderful and enchanted place. Some time later, however, the young man’s mother fell ill: he set out desperately in search of medicinal plants that could heal her, but there was nothing in that place except the peonies that towered in the center of the lake.

Tired and disappointed, he slumped at the foot of a tree and dozed off. But lo and behold, an elderly figure appeared to him in his sleep and gave him very specific orders: the boy was to cook a carp in broth using a new tea that he had never drunk before. This tea and fish broth, with magical properties, would heal his mother. Upon awakening, he returned home and, to his surprise, learned that his mother had also had the same dream.

He then fished a carp out of the lake and began to think about how to find the tea the elderly man mentioned in his dream. While he was engrossed in these thoughts, thunder suddenly ripped through the air and the 18 peonies in the lake turned into tea plants. The plants were covered with soft, downy white hair, a candid reminder of their former status as peonies.The man gathered their leaves, brewed a tea that tasted incredible, and cooked carp in it. When his mother ate the miraculous soup, she not only healed but even became an immortal, semi-divine creature.

She asked her son to take care of those extraordinary plants that had saved her life and yielded such delicious tea. Then she abandoned her mortal remains and became the legendary patroness of that place-that is how, from 18 magical white peonies, Bai Mu Dan tea was born.

Bai Mu Dan: characteristics and tasting notes

The production of white tea is extremely simple in its steps: it is the one that requires the least processing by humans compared to all other categories of tea and, by virtue of this very fact, has led white tea to be jokingly dubbed “lazy people’s tea.”

It is a naturally oxidized tea, the processing steps of which involve harvesting, partially withering outdoors and partially indoors (with controlled humidity and temperature), and final drying.

Bai Mu Dan originates in Fuding, Fujian, and is harvested and produced in late spring from plants of the Da Bai cultivar.

How does this extraordinary white tea taste and aroma? As we tell you in our in-depth article dedicated to the two most famous Chinese white teas (Bai Mu Dan and Bai Hao Yin Zhen), it is a tea with sweet and floral notes, with hints of honey and sometimes apricot. In the more prized Bai Mu Dan, which contain a high number of buds and have very low leaf oxidation, you will be able to find a very fresh taste with some hints of hay.

You can find our Organic Bai Mu Dan in our online store!