Bitaco Colombian Special White

Description

Bitaco Special White comes from an organic tea plantation located high up in the West Andes north-west of Cali. While Colombia is well-known for its coffee production, tea is still quite a novel crop to be harvested here. This Bitaco Special White is made as a white tea and is a recently introduced new tea from Bitaco. This tea features a balanced yet complex taste that makes us think of aged white teas as well as white teas that have a higher degree of oxidation on the leaves. This particular batch was picked and processed in February 2024.

This Colombian white tea is grown near the town of La Cumbre, situated high up in the West Andes. The altitude of the tea plantation is between 1,800 and 2,050 metres, making the growing conditions perfect for high grade tea. The prevalent weather, consistent rainfall, rich soil and mountainous slopes all combine to make a perfect but unique terroir. The area is also remote and surrounded by unspoilt natural terrain. The plantation is certified as organic under USDA, EU and Colombian regulations.

Bitaco Tea Estate is run by Agricola Himalayas S.A. and they have extensive social responsibility programmes run in the area. These focus especially on education of children in the local area but also provide extensive support for other rural projects.

It is a newly developed tea following extensive experimentation. A less expensive everyday white tea is also produced, but we think that this ‘Special’ version displays layered complexity that is not found in the other version. It is definitely fascinating to see the development of new tea types from the same producer and how gathered knowledge and knowhow works to not only increase the quality every year but also to enable them to introduce new tea types such as this Bicato Special White.

This tea consists of larger leaves with varied coloration. Especially once brewed, the higher oxidation of the leaves becomes more prominent. It has a bright lightly amber liquor with a lovely fruity aroma. The complex flavours are extremely well balanced with notes of fruits and wood and plenty of sweetness. It has a lasting aftertaste that is quite comforting in nature. The sweetness carries through the overall flavour, nicely balancing with the more drying woody notes. This is a really delightful tea and will appeal to fans of bolder white teas or indeed aged white teas.

We suggest brewing parameters of 80°C for 2-3 minutes according to your taste, brewing 2 or more times. Why not try using higher temperature and shorter infusion time, especially if brewing this gong fu style!

This Bitaco Colombian Special White tea was first featured in our April 2024 Curious Tea Subscription Boxes.