White Peony vs Shou Mei
The middle and bottom of the white-tea grade ladder. The counter-intuitive part is that the cheaper grade is generally the better one to age.
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What is being compared
Why these get confused
Grade order implies quality order, and for ageing it inverts. Buyers routinely age the expensive grade and drink the cheap one.
Point by point
| Aspect | Bai Mudan | Shou Mei |
|---|---|---|
| What is picked | Bud with one or two young leaves. | Larger, more mature leaf, later in the season. |
| Fresh flavour | Sweet, floral and clean. | Thinner and more hay-like, noticeably less refined. |
| Price | Several times Shou Mei. | The cheapest white grade. |
| Ageing | Ages well. | Ages better — the mature leaf carries more of what ageing acts on. |
| Aged flavour | Honey and dried apricot. | Dried date, camphor and a thick medicinal sweetness. |
| What to do with it | Buy it to drink. | Buy it to keep. |
The short answer
Drink Bai Mudan fresh and age Shou Mei. It is one of the few places in tea where the cheap grade is the right one to keep.
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