Kenya White Rhino Matcha

The Rhino (as I've come to call her) is a Kenya grown white tea that has been powdered like matcha. The powder...

...which looks like this...

...has a very nice, heady, fresh, white tea aroma. I tasted a tiny bit with my finger and it was very bitter.

I used a small, level, half teaspoon, of powder (about what I wound use when I whip myself a bowl of regular matcha) and about 4 ounces of 180° water. I'm certainly not a skilled matcha whipper, but I gave it my best, and the result looked and smelled pleasant.

Ick... way too bitter... like badly over steeped yinzhen (銀針) (silver needle white tea) (think 30 minutes, with boiling water and too much leaf). It was undrinkable and just two sips made me feel shaky.

I cut the amount of tea powder down to about 1/8 flat teaspoon (almost like a "finger nail" amount") and tried again with 160° water. Ah... much better flavor for me. It was a bit too weak and watery but I think that an experienced matcha whipper could probably coax out a little more body and sweetness.

If you've ever had a decent Indian or African white tea you can sort of guess at the flavor profile. I really struggled to put my taste perception into words with this tea so I'm just going to stick with "malty and grassy."

I didn't love the Rhino, nor the shaky, "not-mellow-buzz" that she left me with... but I did find her to be a very interesting and worthwhile beverage. Has anybody else ever tried any powdered white teas?

Taken from http://www.blackdragonteabar.blogspot.com/