2020 Sun-Dried White Peony — Fuding Guanyang · 350g Cake
This is a 2020 spring White Peony from Xitou village, Guanyang Town in Fuding. The material is Fuding Dahao cultivar, withered outdoors under direct sun in the traditional manner. After roughly a year of loose-leaf aging, it was pressed into this 350g cake in 2021.
White Peony sits above Shou Mei in the grade hierarchy — finer leaf, more bud content, a more delicate base to start from. That matters when you're talking about aging, because the transformation has different things to work with. Five years in, this tea is at an early-to-mid stage: the fresh, grassy notes of a new white tea are gone, the sweetness has deepened and settled, and the date character that defines well-aged Fuding white tea is clearly present. It hasn't yet reached the heavier, more complex medicinal depth of a longer-aged tea — and it doesn't claim to. What it offers is a tea that's genuinely pleasant to drink now, with some development still ahead if you're inclined to hold any back.
The sun-dried processing contributes body and warmth from the start. Sun-withered teas tend to oxidize a little further during processing than indoor-withered ones, which pushes the flavor profile toward richness rather than delicacy. Combined with five years of aging, the result is a cup that's fuller and sweeter than you might expect from a five-year-old White Peony.
One thing worth noting: the first steep pours a pale golden yellow, then shifts noticeably to a deeper reddish amber from the second steep onward. It's a visible marker of where this tea sits in its aging — the early transformation is there, but it hasn't fully committed to the deep red of a long-aged tea. Both colors are accurate; neither is a defect.
The tea meets Chinese national food safety standards (GB). There is no organic certification.
At a Glance
| Tea type |
Aged White Peony (白牡丹), compressed cake |
| Harvest |
Spring 2020 |
| Origin |
Xitou, Guanyang Town, Fuding, Fujian |
| Producer |
Liufeng Tea · Yunwu Tea Factory |
| Cultivar |
Fuding Dahao |
| Process |
Sun-dried withering; pressed 2021 |
| Net weight |
350g per cake |
| Liquor |
Pale golden (first steep) → deep reddish amber |
| Flavor |
Dried date, sweet, smooth |
| Aging stage |
Early to mid |
| Certification |
China national standard (GB) / food safety |
Brewing
Gongfu (recommended): Break off approximately 5g with a tea pick and brew in a gaiwan or small teapot (around 110ml). Water at 95 °C. A quick rinse before the first steep helps loosen the compressed leaf. First steep 20–30 seconds, extend by 10–15 seconds each round. Expect 10 or more rounds.
Grandpa / long steep: About 2–3g in a mug or thermos at 95 °C. Drink as it steeps and refill when the cup is about a third full. The sweetness holds up well in a long steep without turning bitter.
Western / pot: Around 3–5g per 300–400ml, 95 °C, 3–4 minutes. Straightforward and easy.
Available Sizes
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30g Sample — roughly six gongfu sessions. A sensible starting point before committing to a full cake.
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Single Cake (350g) — the standard option. Store in a dry, odor-free space at room temperature, away from direct sunlight. The cake will continue to develop slowly in storage.
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Tong — 7 Cakes (2.45kg) — the most economical option. If you drink White Peony regularly and want to watch how it changes over the next few years, buying a tong and opening cakes periodically is one of the more rewarding ways to engage with aged white tea.
If you're comparing across the range: In terms of age, this sits below the 2018 Shou Mei cake and further still below our 2014 products. But the grade difference matters as much as the vintage. White Peony starts from a finer leaf than Shou Mei, which means the character is cleaner and a little lighter even at the same age. If you want more body and more steeps, the Shou Mei is the direction to go. If you want something more refined at a similar price point, this is it.
