white2tea

Super dark brew, looks fantastic. I don’t get much of the molasses flavor on the front but the mouthfeel of the tea is sticky. While it doesn’t specifically remind me of gingerbread (or any other Christmas spice), there is an undertone of baked bread. For the price, this is an great shou, just don’t expect a super gingerbread-y flavor.

Grandpa Style!

A change in weather as we slide into Autumn means some serious shou pu’erh cravings, so today I’m brewing up a 2023 Lumber Mini to answer some of those cravings. Maybe it’s in part because I drank this grandpa-style, but I found this to be especially thick, woody, and veeeerrryyy camphor heavy. In a good way. Really, kind of the epitome of a dark and forest-tasting ripe pu’erh and just so deeply perfect for this change in seasons.

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C_iqOcYOxCt/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V8ZgfSR_DI

As I took in the dry leaves, the first thing that hit me was the intense burnt wood aroma. Every steep releases that same smoky goodness, but in the best possible way.

At first, the smokiness is strong and bold, but as the tea steeps, it begins to mellow out, revealing subtle hints of pear and a fresh, crisp finish. It’s really an interesting experience, with each steep bringing a new flavor transformation.

Over the last two days, I’ve been really testing the limits of just how long I can stretch out this sheng pu’er mini when brewed grandpa style. It turns out that it can really take a lot!! Very soft yet thick mouthfeel, which is something I remember pretty clearly from the original 2017 production, too. It’s soothing yet syrupy with subtle notes of sugar cane, moss, freshly trimmed grass, and just a bit of a fruity and alcoholic element of limoncello. It’s really quite approachable with the sort of quiet yet powerful profile that builds into something very impactful so slowly yet steadily that you almost miss that it’s happened. Almost.

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/C-8bxTpym3w/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFICGxCFASY

Gongfu!

The rain today has been absolutely relentless and, to be honest, the lack of natural sunlight left me feeling rather unmotivated to steep anything up for most of the day. I finally mustered up the motivation to try this poetically named tea out, and I thought the overall profile of the first three or so steeps post-rinse actually worked quite well with the atmospheric white noise of the rain forcefully pattering just beyond the window. Bright, sweet and a little bit grassy – like dandelion greens, hemp, or that “chlorophyll smell” from freshly trimmed lawn. Also, a light green melon note like just under ripe honeydew or when you get the white part of the melon right before the pith/rind. Fresh and almost “bouncy”.

I didn’t quite finish off the session, though. As much as this was very enjoyable and working super well in conjunction with the rain, I just got the sense that it would be so much better if I finished it off after the storm has passed, especially as the petrichor hits its peak and you’releft bathing in silence and all the fresh, cooling smells of nature. I mean, that’s basically the gist of this tea’s name, isn’t it!? And it really is so perfectly spot on not just in taste but in the feeling that it’s ended up evoking for me. I have no doubt that even without the current downpour that drinking this tea would be drawing these same comparisons for me. Maybe this is premature of me, but I’m calling that this just might be my favourite sheng that I’ve tried so far from this spring’s productions…

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C-dz24NOfj0/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebECDsnUtcc

Gongfu!

I’m trying out a new tea and cheese pairing with this smoked sheng pu’erh and some Saint Agur blue cheese!! I’m a huge fan of both blue cheese and smoked teas, and combining the former with a robustly smoky Lapsang Souchong is a pairing I’m quite intimately familiar with and deeply fond of. So, with that in mind, I wanted to see what this polarizing cheese would he like when tried with a different sort of smoked tea.

Honestly, this was so good! I mean, you 100% have to love both strong smoky tobacco-like flavours and the funk of blue cheese already because I definitely don’t think this was transformative in a way that would win over a skeptic of either flavour. But the intense flavours of both tea and cheese were able to hold up to one another, with neither eclipsing the other. The Saint Agar is a double cream cheese, so the very high fat content actually did soften a lot of the rougher, more astringent edges of the sheng pu’erh without smothering the smoke and interestingly the duo both came off as much sweeter and slightly fruity in the finish and aftertaste – and that was unexpected but really lovely. It worked really well with the notes of oak and anise that also come through in this greener, smoky raw pu’erh.

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C-Yfb-OOxX/?imgindex=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Yvr0cKeooc

I brewed this earlier this afternoon before finally seeing Deadpool and Wolverine. I wanted to dip into a tea at the top of the recently rotated puerh collection. I noticed that the 2020 Umbrella was on the top of the pile and I wanted to see where the tea was at in its storage life cycle. Opening the bag, I noticed floral and mineral notes on the nose. The tea itself tasted of minerals, mushrooms, and reminded me of black tea (I can’t quite explain why, but there’s something there that made me write it down). It seems like ages since 2020, but it’s closer than I remember. 2020-2023 is an era in itself, where so much happened in such a small amount of time.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C-VJ1YFuXs_/?img_index=6

Gongfu Sipdown (2630)!

This tea was kindly added to a previous order as a free sample. Even though I do tend to really favour roasted teas, in the past, I’ve struggled with W2T’s roasted raw pu’erh so this isn’t a tea I probably would have ever ordered for myself. However, y’all know I LOVE anything weird and experimental, so I was still excited to see it added as a freebie.

This tea steeps quite intensely pretty straight out of the gate. Those heavy roast and charcoal notes are very in your face and accompanied by a lot of woody bitterness as well. I tasted log smoke, charred walnut, chicory root and a TON of agarwood with a slightly sweeter and coating finish and aftertaste that was like a mix of ginseng and licorice roots. It did soften up a bit after the third or fourth steep, allowing a bit more of an enjoyable plum-like fruitiness to come through, but overall I have to say that this tea was unfortunately just not really my jam…

All that said, I’m still glad I got to experience it in a low commitment kind of way, and I would still probably encourage others to try it. It’s one of the most unique experiences I’ve had with sheng pu’erh in a long time!!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C-LGDpiOG0l/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-LI98Q-rsg

Gongfu Sipdown (2637)!

This mini was added as a freebie in my last order!! This production reminds me a lot of W2T’s original version of this tea; thick and syrupy leaning liquor in terms of mouthfeel and a more soft, approachable vegetal taste profile. Still has that same green bell pepper note, but undercut by mellow peach skins and a more fresh, crisp note of romaine lettuce. A little artichoke, too. Not my usual vibe when it comes to raw pu’erh, but neither were the productions from previous years, and they still ended up finding a place within my pumidor. Maybe it’s my soft spot for huangpian and how incredibly budget friendly it tends to be…

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C95N5K3u_Jo/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqKybYscXC8

Gongfu!

Earlier this week, I got some tea mail with my most recent white2tea order! I mostly just got a bunch of dragonball samples of some of the new teas, but I did sneak in some of the loose version of W2T’s new Silver Fox white tea. I’m letting everything else in the order settle for a moment, but I couldn’t resist brewing something new up so today I enjoyed a short little park session with some juuuusstt ripe yellow plums. The plums proved to be a little too sweet for the tea so they mostly ended up being a post-session snack, but this bud heavy tea was pretty solid!! Soft, smooth and ever-so-slightly creamy mouthfeel with the faintest hint of pleasant astringency on the backend of the sip. Maybe it’s the design on the teacup subtly influencing me, but I also couldn’t help but think of the tea buds as looking like fuzzy like crab legs.

Taste wise, this is a delicate tea, but it has so many of the tasting notes I deeply enjoy in Bai Hao Yin Zhen and similar style white teas. Fresh cucumber pulp, a hints of sweet green melon or Asian pear, floral honeysuckle, and linden honey. Dewy, even. W2T describes it as whispy and bright, and I couldn’t agree more.

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C9swUYxu4I6/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuQ0V3ZQeJc

Gongfu!

This tricky to categorize mini was one of the teas from my last order that I was most curious to try out. I had no idea what to expect, but right out of the gate this tea was INTERESTING. I know it rides a fine line between being a white or black tea, but to me I felt like I was getting the body of an aged white with more of the profile of a black tea. Such a unique hybrid with a stunning golden liquor. Sweet and milky but with savory undertones. My mind was immediately flooded with imagery of miso caramel, tres leches cake, white rabbit candies, and jammy caramelized onion. Clearly, one of those tasting notes stands out amongst the rest as a bit of an oddball, but this was such an amazing tasting tea, and all of those tasting notes just clicked together in a shockingly harmonious way.

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C9u2W5-uxsb/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8BBZk18Oko

I find this tea to be a sort of, guilty pleasure, if you must. Millstone reminds me of the scalloped potatoes with ham and black pepper that my mom used to make every Christmas. It’s not super complex, but the flavor and scent brings me back to watching A Christmas Story as a kid. Yum. Mini from tea club.

Western brewed this 3 times now. Really impressed with it, wish I could buy more. I get no astringency at 3 minutes brewing time.

First couple of infusions smell smoky and even a little burnt. This note does not dominate but it’s definitely present in the liquor as well.
Soft taste with some astringency.
Mineral taste that makes way for sweet aftertaste.
There is also a distinct sour note that I do not care for.
Fairly energizing tea.

If you can get past the smoky and sour note, good intro into sheng puerh but I’d recommend spending a few extra bucks for a cake and pick up the 2023 Veldt,

7g/110ml
10/5/5/5/10/15/30/45/60/120 = 10 steeps
There was room for another couple of long steeps but I felt it wasn’t worth it.
95°C for the first 5 steeps, boiling for the rest.

Gongfu!

I never tried the original pressing of this tea. To be honest when it was first released I wasn’t a huge raw pu’erh drinker so I pretty much just skipped it over. I almost did the same with this year’s since one of my tea goals this year was to be more discerning with my Spring orders; but W2T’s tasting descriptions of this sheng as sweet, thick and floral really piqued my curiosity. I’m glad I went for it because this was a very lovely session to end the weekend on. Syrupy liquor with just a hint of astringency on the finish and, true to description, quite sweet. I get a lot of honeycomb, completely with subtly waxy undertones. It’s complimented with a hint of floral lilac overtones and just a bit of appleskin. That sweetness, though still super appealing on its own, is kept a bit in check by that astringency as well as a bit of a snappy vegetal undertone that started to peak out after the third steep or so. I would like more honey, if I’m being honest – something a little thicker and golden without the beeswax note. However, I still find this tea pretty pleasant with it’s slowly unwinding complexity and rewarding mouthfeel! I think with age that bite might soften and get closer to what I’m looking for taste wise.

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C9ans2-hC7M/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtlP-mkucaI

Grandpa Style!

I’m quite enjoying the well balanced sweet and savory profile of this hong cha, though I’m sure the flavours will settle in different ways both with time/age and alternative brewing methods. The liquor is smooth and full bodied with golden-leaning overtones of sweet potatoes, treacle, candied pecans, and fresh baked caraway bread – very much my speed. The undertones, while much more subtle, as a tinge herbaceous with the most memorable tasting notes being Thai basil or tulsi. Very slick, and coating on the palate. Super excited to get to know this tea a little better!!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C9H9A-cO-lI/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC7AZKDrZW4

1st Steep (15s):
Light and Sweet

2nd Steep (20s):
Vegetal and it starts getting bitter for no reason

3rd Steep (25s):
Ouch, too bitter for me.

This is probably not gonna get any better, I know where this is going…

- Flavor Complexity: 15/30
- Brewing Forgiveness: 15/20
- Quality Across Infusions: 10/20
- Overall Enjoyment: 10/30

- yaro

Oooh this is a tea I’ve been waiting for.
One of the cheaper offerings from w2t, yet it sounds like one of the most interesting ones too.

Flash steeps ? Bitter ? God knows I hate those flavors, and that makes me all the more curious. Knowing my bias for bitter teas however, please take this review with a grain of salt.

15s wash.
Before anything, already regarding the smell I feel like we’re going for that everlasting vegetal bitterness that I oh so dislike. From the get go it’s already not a good point for this tea but I’m looking to be surprised.

1st Steep (5s, 93C):
5s is quite short, but this tea although compressed is already starting to reveal itself, now this is really interesting.
The taste is deep, that vegetal smell isn’t showing anything too spicy for now. This is a good steep.

2nd Steep (15s, 95C):
Again, not much, no bitterness, just some really nice character and depth, some things in the front and none of the vegetalness I’ve expected. Well balanced tea and the soup is light, this is very interesting.

3rd Steep (20s, 95c):
Oh, okay now it’s starting.
The bitterness is in the front, I don’t think I’ve ever experienced something like this.
This is definitely a “feature not a bug” situation, the bitterness builds up and then hits suddenly and in the very front as well, while the after-taste isn’t long lasting, the back of the taste is definitely deep, and the soup is so light too huhhhh ? Incredible.
But I know the next steep is were things are gonna hit.

4th Steep (30s, 95C):
That’s bitter, now everything is bitter. It’s so bitter on every level, I’m fascinated by how good this is. I have bitterness but I’m pleasantly surprised.

- Flavor Complexity: 30/30
- Brewing Forgiveness: 15/20
- Quality Across Infusions: 20/20
- Overall Enjoyment: 12/30 – While I really enjoy this tea, in the sense that I find it very interesting, I don’t think I could drink this more than once.

- yaro

New Nightlife review, let’s see what how this year’s batch holds up.

1st Steep 30s:
Nice and light, not any difference with the 2017 Nightlife for now. It’s really nice.

2nd Steep 20s:
Not much to say, it’s a nice tea for sure but there isn’t anything interesting more to say compared to the review I’ve already made of the 2017 nightlife.

3rd Steep:
Same thing again, nothing very interesting to say.
I love this tea, it’s a classic.

Knowing that, I’ll just go ahead and copy the review conclusion i made for the previous version of the Nightlife:

- Flavor Complexity: 25/30 – Offers a delightful range of flavors, particularly in the early steeps.
- Brewing Forgiveness: 15/20 – Can become bitter if brewed incorrectly, but generally performs well with proper care.
- Consistency Across Infusions: 15/20 – The flavors evolve but maintain a coherent profile.
- Overall Enjoyment: 20/30 – Highly enjoyable in initial infusions, but becomes predictable and less exciting.

Gongfu!

After hearing all the hype surrounding the original pressing, I’m finally taking W2T’s 2024 Moon Bear Mini for a spin – and of course I had to do it in the matching teacup!! I know this tea sits somewhere inbetween being a white tea and a sheng pu’erh, but personally I found it a little more white tea-like. Once the dragonball started to more fully open up the liquor became quite viscous and creamy. Hard to sum up the overall taste profile, but in its sweet spot I found it somewhat at the middle point of when you take sweetened condensed milk and cook it stovetop to make dulce de leche – but with a more savory and brothy backend. One thing that did surprise me was how prone to bitterness this tea was; a few times I lost focus on infusion times while snacking on dragonfruit and the resulting brew definitely had some punch to it. Very interesting, very complex. I definitely get why there was so much demand for it!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C89zwqnOrHa/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ko-DAwsi83U

I lost almost all my energy and usefulness yesterday to a stomach virus and today my buttered English muffin did not sit well. It sat and sat and sat in my stomach feeling like a brick. I decided a pot of puerh for all day sipping was in order.

Since I am behind on cleaning I was busy vacuuming and dusting and polishing and forgot to check the tea, and this big flat cube had opened right up and I had a pot of almost inky black tea.

No worries, puerh almost always forgives, so I added some extra water. Then I was puzzled. There was puerh smell and…something else? Fruity? I decided the jasmine incense burning in another room may have infiltrated the kitchen. But this didn’t smell like jasmine, or like puerh. I poured a cup and sniffed.

It’s just the tea. If someone else made this tea I would swear it was a flavored puerh. Trying to wrack my brain for what the aroma was, I think blackcurrant describes it best. There is camphor as well. Minty tingle on the tongue while the tea is hot that fades as it cools. Overall, the broth is very creamy.

Second steep (these are big steeps) was very dark as soon as the water hit it, so it probably had a 30 second steep at most. Now the initial aroma was quite expected “horse-y” puerh aroma. As I poured it into a second pot, the horse barn was subdued and stronger camphor came forward but there is still a fruity note here, much weaker than the first steep and horse and camphor lead.

White2Tea says it has molasses notes, and I suppose I get molasses and maybe some molasses has this fruity taste which they do not mention at all. I think it is fabulous, and this would be a really great choice for introducing people to ripe puerh tea.

I will ice part of this and keep drinking it for the next day or two, as Ashman is now feeling a bit off in the gut and will also benefit from puerh’s tendency to calm the gut when food feels heavy.

Bottom line: I like it very much and would definitely order more of this.

Gongfu!

Very smooth with dense, dark, and surprisingly coating and sweet notes of potting soil, forest undergrowth and decaying wood, beetroot, oatmilk, molasses, Okinawa black sugar, and malt or golden biscuits. Like a cross between some kind of mysterious and broody feeling forest-y profile and a really nice milk tea!? I sort of feel like some kind of bog witch chilling in the darkest part of a forest swamp just drinking a boba and brewing potions. Where did this witch get the boba? Who knows and frankly who cares. This shou is evocative in a weird and fantastical kind of way, clearly. But that’s not a complaint. It’s actually a very fun energy to invite into the rest of my Sunday.

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C82gcWnuXis/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-ZhcpNUkY8