Quick verdict: A smooth, sweet opening gives way to vegetable soup, medicinal root and tree bark before becoming a quieter floral scene: a white lily, a large leaf and clean pond water. Ten infusions carry the tasting from developing body and bitterness to lingering sweetness, sunset, stillness and silence.
Fuding benchmark · Part 4 of 4. Previous: Gong Mei · Series index and brewing comparison.
In this review: Tea & Brewing Parameters · Dry Leaf · Warm Gaiwan · Wet Leaf & Liquor · Infusions · Final Wet Leaves · Tasting Scorecard · Closing Reflection
Tea & Brewing Parameters
| Tea | Shou Mei 寿眉 · White tea |
| Brand / product | 梅伯珍 初见 · 寿眉 — Mei Bo Zhen “First Encounter” Shou Mei |
| Origin on label | Fuding, Ningde, Fujian, China · 福建省宁德市福鼎市 |
| Raw material on label | Fresh leaves of Fuding Da Bai and Da Hao tea plants · 福鼎大白、大毫茶鲜叶 |
| Grade on label | Grade 1 · 一级 |
| Raw-material year | 2025 |
| Production date on packaging | 10 April 2026 (2026/04/10) |
| Producer on label | 福鼎市梅伯珍茶业有限公司 |
| Standard on label | GB/T 22291 |
| Pack size | 10 g: two 5 g sachets |
| Leaf used | 4.9 g |
| Teaware | Approximately 120 ml gaiwan |
| Water | Volvic Natural Mineral Water |
| Temperature | 95°C throughout |
| Rinse | None |
| Infusions | 10 |
| Steeping sequence | 20, 20, 25, 25, 25, 25, 25, 35, 45 and 60 seconds |
The raw-material year and production date are recorded separately, as printed on the packaging. One 5 g sachet yielded an actual weighed dose of 4.9 g. This is the fourth tasting in my Mei Bo Zhen Fuding white-tea benchmark. Comparisons with Yin Zhen and Gong Mei describe my particular tasting sessions. The package, leaf and liquor photographs below are from this session.
Dry Leaf
Aroma: Minty and fruity.
The dry material consists of large leaves and substantial stems, with mixed olive, grey-green and darker brown-green colouring. Some younger material carries visible fine hairs. The leaves are loose and bulky.
Warm Gaiwan
Lid: Mint leaves and chrysanthemum.
Cup: Peach and orchid.
Wet Leaf & Liquor
After the first infusion, the lid smells vegetal and of orchid. The cup is more vegetal than fruity, similar to Gong Mei. The first liquor is light gold; it becomes darker in infusion 2 as the medicinal, vegetable-root character begins to emerge.
Infusions
Infusion 1 — A Smooth, Sweet Opening
95°C · 20 seconds
Smooth and sweet, with no noticeable bitterness and some Yin Zhen characteristics. The liquor is light gold. The lid carries vegetal and orchid aromas, while the cup is more vegetal than fruity, reminding me of Gong Mei.
Infusion 2 — Vegetable Root
95°C · 20 seconds
Darker, with some vegetal character coming out. A medicinal, vegetable-root quality begins to express itself.
Infusion 3 — Vegetable Soup and More Body
95°C · 25 seconds
Stronger than infusion 2, with more body. Very similar to the Gong Mei vegetable soup, though the white-tea accent is more noticeable.
Infusion 4 — Tree Bark and Medicinal Root
95°C · 25 seconds
A little sweeter, with less vegetation. There is some tree-bark and medicinal-root flavour. A coating settles along the sides of the tongue, followed by a moderately bitter aftertaste.
Infusion 5 — A White Lily on a Large Leaf
95°C · 25 seconds
A similar taste, slightly lighter than infusion 4.
Imagery: A white lily on a large leaf in a clean pond. The flavour tastes like breathing in the air of all these together.
Infusion 6 — A Droplet and Ripples
95°C · 25 seconds
Imagery: The scent of the flower comes first: the core, then the petals, then the stalk. Then comes the light flavour of the large leaf, followed by clean water, the minerality from Volvic, and the ever-so-slight bitterness of the whole scene as an aftertaste.
The waters are perfectly still. Then a droplet falls from the petal, and the ripples extend throughout the pond.
Infusion 7 — Sweet Fragrance at Sunset
95°C · 25 seconds
Most flavours fade except the sweetness. Again, very similar to the later infusions of many teas.
Imagery: The ripples extend and slowly fade. The sweet fragrance from the flower is carried in the air. The sky is light orange at sunset. A very still and peaceful scene.
Infusion 8 — A Brief Vegetal Return
95°C · 35 seconds
The first sip strangely brings me back to infusion 2, with some vegetal character expressing itself. Thereafter, the same sweetness from the previous infusion returns.
Infusion 9 — Stillness and Silence
95°C · 45 seconds
A blander version of infusion 6.
Imagery: The sun slowly disappears, and there is stillness, and silence.
Infusion 10 — The Final Fade
95°C · 60 seconds
A blander version of infusion 9. I end the session here, at ten infusions.
Final Wet Leaves
Vegetal and slightly minty. The leaves are supple and thicker than the other white teas in this series. The opened leaf material shows broad leaves and stems in olive-green and brown tones.
Tasting Scorecard — Descriptive Assessment
No numerical ratings were assigned during this session. As in the preceding reviews, this scorecard records the observed qualities without inventing an overall score.
| Attribute | Session notes |
| Dry leaf aroma | Minty and fruity. |
| Warm gaiwan aroma | Mint leaves and chrysanthemum on the lid; peach and orchid in the cup. |
| Wet / spent leaf aroma | Vegetal and orchid after the first infusion; final leaves vegetal and slightly minty. |
| Floral | Chrysanthemum and orchid in the warm gaiwan; white-lily imagery in the middle infusions, with sweet floral fragrance lingering in infusion 7. |
| Vegetal / herbaceous | Vegetal opening aromas; medicinal vegetable root in infusion 2; Gong Mei-like vegetable soup in infusion 3; large-leaf character in the pond imagery. Briefly returns in infusion 8. |
| Fruit | Fruity dry-leaf aroma and peach in the warm cup. No specific fruit flavour recorded in the liquor. |
| Sweetness | Smooth, sweet opening; a little sweeter in infusion 4; dominant as other flavours fade in infusion 7 and continuing after the first sip of infusion 8. |
| Bitterness | None noticeable in infusion 1; moderately bitter aftertaste in infusion 4; ever-so-slight bitterness in the imagery of infusion 6. |
| Astringency | Not separately assessed. The recorded tongue coating is not automatically treated as astringency. |
| Body / texture | Smooth at the opening; greater body in infusion 3; coating along the sides of the tongue in infusion 4. |
| Woody / root-like | Medicinal vegetable root in infusion 2, then tree bark and medicinal root in infusion 4. |
| Minerality | In infusion 6, perceived as the minerality of the Volvic within the clean-water imagery. |
| Aftertaste | Moderately bitter in infusion 4; ever-so-slight bitterness in infusion 6; sweetness remains as the later infusions fade. |
| Longevity | Ten infusions. Slightly lighter in infusion 5; most flavours fade by infusion 7; brief vegetal return in infusion 8; progressively blander in infusions 9–10. |
| Spent leaf texture | Supple and thicker than the other white teas in this series. |
| Defining imagery | White lily and large leaf in a clean pond → a droplet and spreading ripples → floral fragrance and an orange sunset → stillness and silence. |
Closing Reflection
This Shou Mei begins with a familiar contrast: aromas that remind me of Gong Mei, alongside a smooth, sweet liquor with some Yin Zhen characteristics. Vegetable soup and root-like flavours grow clearer as the body develops. Tree bark, medicinal root and a moderately bitter aftertaste follow.
What stays with me most is the quieter sequence that begins in infusion 5. A white lily rests on a large leaf in a clean pond. In the next infusion, the sensations arrive in order: flower, leaf, clean water, minerality and a trace of bitterness. A droplet falls, and ripples spread. As the flavours fade, sweetness becomes the flower’s fragrance carried through the air beneath a light-orange sky. Finally, the sun disappears. There is stillness, and silence.
Brewing Recommendation
To repeat this session, use 4.9 g (approximately one 5 g sachet) in a roughly 120 ml gaiwan with Volvic Natural Mineral Water, 95°C water and no rinse. Start with two 20-second infusions, then use 25 seconds for infusions 3–7. Extend to 35, 45 and 60 seconds for the final three. By the tenth infusion the tea has faded further, making this a natural stopping point.
Return to the four-tea series · Read the Gong Mei review · How to read the scorecards
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