Snowbud Revisit

I'll quote someone from the Tea chat uhm ... chat tonight when I asked if anyone had suggestions for better brewing. Emphasis mine.

# Eastree - I was wondering if someone had found better results
# Eastree - the snowbud is good. I won't dispute that. I just don't feel I'm taking it to its full potential somehow xD
# Andy - yeah
# Eastree - I don't know what it is I'm expecting though
# Andy - for most of my life as a green tea drinker, i never brewed tea to it's full potential
# Eastree - i think if anything, it's because Adagio calls this a white tea
# Andy - MarshalN says it's a green
# Andy - Rishi says it combines white tea and green tea processing
# Eastree - It seems more like a green than a white
# Andy - yeah
# Eastree - But Rishi seems correct. It's kind of at that crossover point
# Andy - yeah

As you see, I'm not the only one with that opinion. That's somewhat comforting. This time however, I approached thinking a little differently. I thought more 'green' tonight, than expecting what I had come to know from a white tea. Rishi has a brief yet thorough explanation:

Organic Snow Buds (Xue Ya) is considered a new type of white tea that was developed in the 1980’s using authentic Fujian white tea bushes according to a special process that involves nuances of white tea and green tea production. Its clear infusion offers a fresh green flavor and aroma of roasted chestnut.

I hate to admit it, but Adagio's explanation of the tea is a little misleading. Treating Snowbud like it is the epitome of white teas, while it has a touch of green processing, just seems a bit off. I think this is where my hopes for white tea flavor went awry. But I did learn a little today, especially after the help in chat led me to a little research.

I still had four infusions. all were a full pot, unlike number four last night. But this time, I heated the water just a little more, and infused for seven minutes. That seriously helped the tea. the first two infusions were 120ºF - 125ºF. Three and four were 185º and 190º, respectively. The grassiness backed off a good bit. The tea had more of a presence. There was still that underlying flavor that was still hard to pin down. Perhaps it was the 'chestnut' described by Rishi. Either way, it gives this tea a charm.

I did very much enjoy this tea more tonight than last night. I may not add it to a frequent repurchase list, but I will certainly revisit this tea every so often.