White Temple Tea – Tea Tin 100 g

White Temple Tea. Copenhagen white tea with candied fruit in a 100-g tin.

White Temple Tea in a 100-g tin is the medium size of A.C. Perch's signature blend: white tea from China with candied pineapple, mango and papaya, packaged in a tin and gift box. No fruit tea, no tea bags, no decorative tin.

White Temple Tea is a flavored white tea from the Copenhagen tea house A.C. Perch's, here as loose leaf in the square 100-g tin. The house offers three sizes for this blend, and they are clearly tiered. The 80-g decorative tin from the Iconics range is intended for trying it out, the round 175-g tin for stocking up. The 100-g tin lies somewhere in between: light grey metal with gold embossing, plus a white box with a grey bow. Opened, it smells of pineapple and orange peel, the leaf underneath is light and interspersed with fruit pieces. This is the size for everyone who already knows the tea and wants to give it as a gift without immediately reaching for the large tin.

Sweetness from the fruit, not from the sugar bowl

White Temple Tea tastes full-bodied and sweet, with pineapple and orange at the forefront, with a soft, round finish without bitterness. In the cup, it stands a light golden yellow, significantly paler than a black tea. The first sip is fruit, only after that does the leaf make its presence known.

Pineapple and orange peel carry the blend. Mango and papaya lay a ripe, tropical depth underneath, blackcurrant and sour cherry add a subtle acidity against it. In the finish, strawberry and apricot remain, short and soft.

The white tea itself holds back. Mao Feng brings body and a delicate hay-like note, Silver Needle a silky texture. The small portion of jasmine tea contributes a floral tone that flashes between the fruits without overpowering them.

The sweetness comes from the candied fruit, and it is an aroma, not a sugar coating. The finished cup contains less than one gram of sugar per 100 ml. However, anyone expecting an unflavored white tea will find this blend too sweet and too fruity. It is built as a composition, not as a terroir tea.

After cooling in the cup, the tea remains drinkable because hardly any tannins steep. A leaf that you forget in the pot does not become bitter here, only cool. This makes the blend grateful for guests who drink slowly.

One heaped teaspoon per cup, six minutes of time

For one cup of White Temple Tea, one heaped teaspoon of leaf is enough for 250 ml of water at 80 °C, steeped for six to seven minutes. That is six grams per liter. Boiling water brings a bitterness to the glass that this blend does not have on its own.

For breakfast, the tea pairs with a croissant and apricot jam, because the orange peel works against the buttery. In the afternoon, it accompanies shortcrust pastry or a tart with mango, without doubling its sweetness. For a dessert of panna cotta with passion fruit, it replaces the dessert wine.

As a cold brew, you add ten grams of leaf to a liter of cold water and place the pot in the refrigerator for eight hours. Strain, serve with a sprig of mint. For an alcohol-free aperitif, brew the tea twice as strong and cool it down. Then pour it one to one with tonic water, plus an orange zest.

The fruit pieces sink when poured and need space. In a narrow tea egg, the leaf remains cramped and gives off little, a wide pot or a large paper filter works better. For everyone who exclusively uses tea bags, the loose tin is less suitable. The same blend is available as pyramid bags.

Good to know: Candied fruit attracts moisture. Close the lid after every removal, and do not store the tin in the refrigerator, otherwise the leaf and fruit will clump together. Dry and at room temperature, the blend keeps well for about a year, the aroma of the fruit fades first after that. It is not caffeine-free. Anyone expecting a caffeine-free infusion late in the evening is better served with an herbal tea.

Royal purveyor since 2002, imitated for years

A.C. Perch's Thehandel has sold tea by weight in Kronprinsensgade since 1835, and White Temple is the signature blend that other Danish tea merchants have imitated for years. The house says so itself, with a certain calm. The recipe has remained, the copies change.

The crown on the tin and box stands for the title Royal Purveyor, which Queen Margrethe II bestowed on the tea house in 2002. It is not given in Denmark, but bestowed and regularly inspected. For a shop that weighs tea from open tins, this is an unusual distinction.

The candied fruit explains why this blend comes off without added sugar. During candying, the fruit pieces lie in sugar syrup for days, whose concentration increases step by step. Water migrates out of the fruit, sugar migrates in, until the piece is shape-stable and shelf-stable. Therefore, it does not fall apart in the hot infusion, but gives off aroma and part of its sugar.

The green portion of the blend is jasmine tea. For this, green tea is layered over several nights with freshly opened jasmine blossoms, until the leaf has absorbed the scent. The blossoms are then removed, their aroma remains in the tea. This scenting is an old method from Fujian, and it is the reason why the blend has a floral line alongside the fruit.

Flavored tea means: real tea leaf as a base, complemented by fruit and aroma. A fruit tea, on the other hand, comes entirely without the tea plant and contains no caffeine. The distinction decides on the steeping temperature and the effect in the evening, therefore a look at the ingredients list is worthwhile.

The size between trying out and stocking up

The 100-g tin is the gift size of this blend: large enough for around sixteen liters of tea, small enough for a box with a bow. That is about 65 cups, so several weeks of daily tea drinking or a quarter of a year on weekends. Also for an office where a pot is made in the morning, the quantity is sensibly sized.

Anyone who wants to have the tea at home reaches for the round 175-g tin, which is the stock size. Anyone who wants to try it first takes the 80-g decorative tin from the Iconics range. The 100-g tin bears no motifs, only lettering and a crown in gold on a light grey background. It is aimed at people who appreciate a sober packaging and want to give tea without decoration.

As a guest gift, it is an alternative to a bottle of wine, especially for hosts who do not drink alcohol. When the tea is finished, the tin remains in use as a container for the next loose leaf.

Once brewed correctly, at eighty degrees and with patience, the question of sugar no longer arises at the tea table.