I have an on-again, off-again relationship with Bai Hao (a.k.a. Dong Fang Mei Ren, Oriental Beauty). Most of these teas have a generic sweet, fruity taste and get boring quickly, but every so often I stumble on a really good one.
Camellia Sinensis is having a 15% off sale and has two grades of competition Bai Hao available. I've been curious about these teas for a while, though the high price has always deterred me. However, this would be a good chance to try competition Bai Hao without having to buy a large amount of it from a Taiwanese seller.
I'd be getting only 10 g of these teas, so I'd appreciate suggestions on how to make the most of them. Also, is anyone interested in competition Bai Hao if I like it and decide to source it in Taiwan?
Hints for brewing competition grade Bai Hao
Competition just means it is presented in a style to fit the rules and matches the profile the judges prefer. Not per se an indication to being good teas. If they'd won, the price would certainly not be suitable/economic to resell afterwards...
My experience with these teas is that low to upper-mid-grade taste are quite boring/awful and only the top-tier(unaffordable) is tasting nice. Most expensive I had tried was 20$(US) per one tea session the owner brewed, so about 8g. Was it worth it? No. But now at least I know what it's like.
Aged Baihao is better in my view. After a few decades the profile becomes – literally, more mature.
My experience with these teas is that low to upper-mid-grade taste are quite boring/awful and only the top-tier(unaffordable) is tasting nice. Most expensive I had tried was 20$(US) per one tea session the owner brewed, so about 8g. Was it worth it? No. But now at least I know what it's like.
Aged Baihao is better in my view. After a few decades the profile becomes – literally, more mature.
I read your comment too late. I have some competition Bai Hao coming in the mail and will report back. I'm surprised they used 8 g of this tea for one session. Did they use a big pot? I was hoping to get two or three sessions out of my 10 g bag.Bok wrote: ↑Thu Feb 05, 2026 12:50 amCompetition just means it is presented in a style to fit the rules and matches the profile the judges prefer. Not per se an indication to being good teas. If they'd won, the price would certainly not be suitable/economic to resell afterwards...
My experience with these teas is that low to upper-mid-grade taste are quite boring/awful and only the top-tier(unaffordable) is tasting nice. Most expensive I had tried was 20$(US) per one tea session the owner brewed, so about 8g. Was it worth it? No. But now at least I know what it's like.
Aged Baihao is better in my view. After a few decades the profile becomes – literally, more mature.
I saw aged Bai Hao from Té Company a while back, but sadly, they don't ship to Canada. I'll keep an eye out for it elsewhere.
Dong Fang Mei Ren, Oriental Beauty is often recommended to drink them fresh like hong cha for the fragrance and sweetness, and the brewing temperature is around 90 c. Since the price skyrocketed and the quality is all over the place, I only drink my stash sparingly.
@Bok It's interesting to hear people have been aging them now. The stash I have been drinking has been aged in the West. The color remained dark like hong cha but the taste has a trace of Baihao Yinzhen. It feels my tea is slowly decreasing its sweetness and slowly regaining the greenness.
@Bok It's interesting to hear people have been aging them now. The stash I have been drinking has been aged in the West. The color remained dark like hong cha but the taste has a trace of Baihao Yinzhen. It feels my tea is slowly decreasing its sweetness and slowly regaining the greenness.
I had a brainwave and looked at Hojo's website for brewing recommendations. For his regular Bai Hao, he suggests 6 g in a 200 ml pot using 175F water for 55 seconds. Further down, he recommends a first brew of 2 minutes followed by 1 minute, which is a bit confusing. For his spring Bai Hao, he suggests 4 g in a 200 ml pot using 160F water for 55 seconds. I have tiny 15 g samples of both of these teas that I forgot about. I suspect I didn't want to risk messing them up.
Today I had a session of Longtan Jin Xuan Bai Hao from TheTea (4 g/85 ml/190F/45, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90, 120, 240, etc.). There were some nice muscatel, citrus, and honey flavours, and I even got a peachy aftertaste from one of the longer steeps. There was a touch of astringency, but it wasn't that offputting. I paid about $0.50/g for this tea. For something made from Jin Xuan, it was pretty good. I remember buying Emei and Miaoli Bai Hao from TheTea a while ago, though I'm not sure if I have any left. I also have a box of competition grade Bai Hao from Wang Family Tea and some "aged" Bai Hao from Taiwan Tea Crafts somewhere. However, I bought in such small quantities that it will be hard to experiment with steeping parameters. That's the danger of buying samples.
Today I had a session of Longtan Jin Xuan Bai Hao from TheTea (4 g/85 ml/190F/45, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90, 120, 240, etc.). There were some nice muscatel, citrus, and honey flavours, and I even got a peachy aftertaste from one of the longer steeps. There was a touch of astringency, but it wasn't that offputting. I paid about $0.50/g for this tea. For something made from Jin Xuan, it was pretty good. I remember buying Emei and Miaoli Bai Hao from TheTea a while ago, though I'm not sure if I have any left. I also have a box of competition grade Bai Hao from Wang Family Tea and some "aged" Bai Hao from Taiwan Tea Crafts somewhere. However, I bought in such small quantities that it will be hard to experiment with steeping parameters. That's the danger of buying samples.
What is your steeping time when you use that amount of tea? Now I'm curious about trying it this way. I'm regretting not getting 20 g of the cheaper competition Bai Hao.
If you've got only 10 grams available, I'd just split it into two 5 gram sessions in a ~100 ml gaiwan/pot and brew it like hong cha or oolong. I never time my steeps, but I'd start with 20-30 seconds and extend as needed. I usually use water that's as close to boiling as possible, but possibly this one needs something cooler (and accordingly, more time at that lower temperature). Never had this tea myself, though.
If it's good enough, it will handle whatever you usually do.
If it's good enough, it will handle whatever you usually do.
175F (79C) sounds kind of tepid, I would expect that to taste pretty bland to me. I use boiling water for most teas, but for OB rolling boil can kill the aromatics, so there is some middle ground to find, perhaps 90C as mentioned...
I've been enjoying standard and even entry level grades from hoshiuantea
I agree, 175F seems low to me. Recommendations for Bai Hao are all over the place. I used to steep Bai Hao around 190F/195F for 30/20/30/45/60 seconds, but that may be too hot and too short. I'm trying to optimize my parameters before playing with teas that cost several dollars per gram..m. wrote: ↑Fri Feb 06, 2026 1:06 pm175F (79C) sounds kind of tepid, I would expect that to taste pretty bland to me. I use boiling water for most teas, but for OB rolling boil can kill the aromatics, so there is some middle ground to find, perhaps 90C as mentioned...
I've been enjoying standard and even entry level grades from hoshiuantea
I checked out the vendor you mentioned. It appears that the producer, Hsu Yao Liang, also produced the two competition Bai Hao listed by Camellia Sinensis, as well as their quite good regular Bai Hao. I have no idea how the grades on their site compare to what CS is sourcing. They're also carrying winter Bai Hao, which I didn't know was a thing. I thought this tea was made in summer and ocasionally in spring. Prices for lower grades are surprisingly affordable.
Funny that it's the producer that CS sources from, I guess there's only a limited number of them.
I'm just drinking 2023 winter 4 star Chin Shin Dapan, kind of their bottom line: it's clearly missing lot of the nice aromatics on the palate that make OB special, but i'm entirely happy with it as a casual tea that doesn't need a special treatment or mindset.
I'm just drinking 2023 winter 4 star Chin Shin Dapan, kind of their bottom line: it's clearly missing lot of the nice aromatics on the palate that make OB special, but i'm entirely happy with it as a casual tea that doesn't need a special treatment or mindset.
Based on my limited understanding, the teas I bought were from the Hsinchu County competition, which judges teas from Emei and Beipu. There's also a separate competition for Miaoli County Bai Hao. These areas are small and it makes sense that there would be a limited number of producers. Even fewer would think it worthwhile to sell online to the Western market since these teas sell for high prices in Taiwan. Camellia Sinensis has carried teas from this producer for a while. I'm not sure how long the website has been up or whether it carries the same teas as CS..m. wrote: ↑Sat Feb 07, 2026 6:00 amFunny that it's the producer that CS sources from, I guess there's only a limited number of them.
I'm just drinking 2023 winter 4 star Chin Shin Dapan, kind of their bottom line: it's clearly missing lot of the nice aromatics on the palate that make OB special, but i'm entirely happy with it as a casual tea that doesn't need a special treatment or mindset.
Have you tried any of their black teas?
Their page has been around since 2020 according to the waybackmachine, but the english is new.
This is what I've tried:
- Spring YanXiang Black, 2024: OB inspired hongcha, simple, very enjoyable with honey notes, drunk through a can of it fast
- Autumn Farmers Drink OB (a.k.a. Entry-level OB), 2024: great price/quality ratio was really happy with it
- 4 star winter Chin Shin Dapan OB, 2023: it's nice and good, but would go up a grade next time
- 6 Star winter Chin Shin Dapan OB, 2020: for me this was an excellent OB. No idea what lies above it in the premium grades, they're not my game
- Ruby Black, 2024: OK, but wouldn't buy again. In general I feel that TRES18 needs to be a high quality, otherwise it is a bit too heavy Assam-like for my taste
- Sour Orange tea, 10 year old: A tea that very few vendors carry. Unfortunately they've smashed it with a hammer to break it into small nuggets, creating huge amount of fine dust. It's fine for a large pot steeping which allows it to settle down, but I'd much more prefer to get it in a whole piece or in big chunks. The price is unbeatable though (it's a 300g can!), and I love the taste of it.
This is what I've tried:
- Spring YanXiang Black, 2024: OB inspired hongcha, simple, very enjoyable with honey notes, drunk through a can of it fast
- Autumn Farmers Drink OB (a.k.a. Entry-level OB), 2024: great price/quality ratio was really happy with it
- 4 star winter Chin Shin Dapan OB, 2023: it's nice and good, but would go up a grade next time
- 6 Star winter Chin Shin Dapan OB, 2020: for me this was an excellent OB. No idea what lies above it in the premium grades, they're not my game
- Ruby Black, 2024: OK, but wouldn't buy again. In general I feel that TRES18 needs to be a high quality, otherwise it is a bit too heavy Assam-like for my taste
- Sour Orange tea, 10 year old: A tea that very few vendors carry. Unfortunately they've smashed it with a hammer to break it into small nuggets, creating huge amount of fine dust. It's fine for a large pot steeping which allows it to settle down, but I'd much more prefer to get it in a whole piece or in big chunks. The price is unbeatable though (it's a 300g can!), and I love the taste of it.
I don't use timers. Mostly it's longer first brew(no rinse) and "fast" flushes for the 2nd and subsequent brews, longer later, depending on how it evolves.
Always proper hot water. If it can't take it, it's usually the lower quality kinds.