61 Tasting Notes

80
drank 2009 Jingmai by white2tea
61 tasting notes

4.5g, 90ml and then transferred to 110 ml(I know….that’s diluted but that’s the smallest pot I’ve got.) for the later steeps for heat retention purposes. 100C.

Dry leaf smells extremely enticing, I have trouble expressing how or why but it just was.

The tea itself tastes like…licking bitter tree bark. Very strong woody flavors until very late steeps. There’s some astringency making itself present BUT it isn’t drying astringency. Its the kind of astringency that makes you salivate which was a good experience. Finally I see what people mean about that.

I’m doing some late power steeps in a pot instead of thin porcelain gaiwan, and it is more syrupy and like tree sap, with finally some sweetness. Just took some time to find it…

The qi on this was also very calming and nice. A pleasant tea.

Flavors: Oak

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drank 2015 Pin by white2tea
61 tasting notes

5.5g in 100ml, 100C.
Early steeps were really thick and syrupy and really pleasant in texture. Doesn’t even roll around the mouth easily because of how thick it is. Immediately had my hair standing on end
There’s some up-front bitterness moving forward and immediate stone fruit huigan, really nice. But…astringency started to set in…
By mid steeps this was really dry and bitter but in an unpleasant way to me. This “formaldehyde” note to me I’m tasting here I’m being told is young “Lincang” character.
Despite that, sticky and pleasant in the mouth. And the qi feels like a tight headband around my head but not in the “tension headache” way.

All in all, I’m actually leaving this one without a score. It is clearly good(dare I say great?) tea, at an affordable price. But, its not something that I want to drink right now, because that formaldehyde note makes me think too much of anatomy lab, and astringency is too high, for my weenie mouth. Pick it up if Lincang is for you!

Flavors: Astringent, Bitter, Thick

kevdog19

Energy tea, no doubt. Still drinkable too for most.

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70

4.5g in 80ml, 100C.
The lid is like sour-sweet plums (in that order), quite an appealing smell. The dry leaf smells great too. In early steeps the tea has an unique musty honey note, like honey that has been sitting at the back of the cabinet for a long long time. The energy from this tea sits mostly behind my sinuses and a little at the back of my head which was pleasant.
Unfortunately, the taste beyond that is sort of…not there. Like weird mineral water

:(

Flavors: Pleasantly Sour, Plum, Sweet

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44

4.5g in 90mL porcelain, 100C.
Idk I’m just gonna cut straight to the chase—was real gross. Weird sour note kind of presided over everything and made for an all around unpleasant experience.

Flavors: Sour

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90
drank 2016 We Go High by white2tea
61 tasting notes

Reviewing from the Sheng TTB Round #3, first up on reviews because I was so excited.
4.5g in 90mL gaiwan, 100C
Rinse was very light, and trending extremely sweet
Steep 1: the lid was extremely sweet. There is some very slight bitterness but more than anything else this is an extremely nourishing broth. All of this was on the first sip…by the time that I BEGAN to sip the second sip, I got chills and the hairs on my head stood up and felt like I had a head massager thing which is an eerily similar experience that Oolongowl reported…whew this is going to be a banger.
Steep 2: the texture is slick, but not bitter or astringent. Just pleasantly sweet. I’m sweating and lightheaded already wowww
Steep 3: Primarily sugarcane up first in front, followed by bitterness on the finish and some dry astringency afterwards up front but it isn’t bad at all I actually kind of enjoyed it. And there’s a sugarcane huigan in the back aplenty. I was waiting on some more water in the kitchen and was just pacing around dizzy. This is sitting right up tight in my chest and just under my scalp, with a very noticable energizing feeling. WHEW this is some good feels
By steep 6: there’s more bitterness, and a heavy texture but unfortunately I think this is on its way out….
By steep 8: there’s some brief floral notes up towards the top of my mouth but this doesn’t last long. Instead this is just CRAZY SWEET. After the 10th steep I think this was all done…not able to taste much besides leaf juice, and the texture is flat.
I wish it had lasted longer, this is awesomely sweet and some real fast qi which doesn’t fuck you up for long but its pretty great while it lasts. Totally considering getting this…

Flavors: Bitter, Sugarcane

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79
drank 2016 Diving Duck by white2tea
61 tasting notes

5.5g, 100mL at 100C.

Didn’t take particularly careful notes here, but the texture and sweet taste are the highlights of this tea. It’s got enough body to hold up on its own, and has the texture of like slightly unset jello but not in a bad way: just a little bit thick. Astringent at about Steep 3 but that clears rapidly. Really nice apricot huigan in the back of my throat, extremely sweet. Unfortunately, not a lot of qi or bodyfeel which I’m realizing I value a lot in sheng. At the price point this is a great daily drinker for those of you who prefer a sweeter profile tea that isn’t weak.

Flavors: Apricot, Grass, Sweet

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83
drank 2016 Teadontlie by white2tea
61 tasting notes

6g in 100mL, 90-100C.
Thanks to oolongowl :)
Starts off delightfully light, floral, and fruity as promised. As the leaves actually open up on the second steep, these flavors intensify, and by steep 3 or 4 I’m getting some head fuzziness and…I stopped taking notes. The bodyfeel from this was quite pleasant, not a “knock you out” tea, but still really a nice head-fuzz feeling. By mid to late steeps though, it was a crazy wall of astringency/dryness, like I had a sore throat and also hadn’t had water in like a day. Regardless, the tea had a great texture and body feel continuing, and once you push past the astringency this tea turns almost like sickly sweet tropical fruits with no astringency in sight. I’m considering beenging this once it sits in Paul’s storage longer…keeping a close eye on stock levels. Would be an instant-beeng and much higher rated for me personally if the astringency were toned down a hair without losing texture as I suspect bringing down to 90C would do…but I’ll give it a go anyways. FYI Paul’s description is right on point though, this astringency should hopefully calm down with age.

Update: astringency be damned, as much as I hate it and makes me miserable…I’m craving this even just a day later…

Flavors: Astringent, Floral, Fruity, Pineapple

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drank 2017 Big O by white2tea
61 tasting notes

First ever chenpi shou, so I can’t evaluate relative to others, but this is good stuff. Leafing 1:15 was still a little light on the shou taste, I’d recommend slightly harder since the strength of the tea is cut by the chenpi. Not quite ready to beeng this yet, but when I have more storage space.

Flavors: Orange Blossom

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MD-PhD Student, new to gongfu brewing and serious tea tasting but excited to learn. My favorite kinds of tea are oolongs and both Chinese & Japanese greens.
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