UNTITLED 02

An interesting tea for sure. I picked up a sample of this and some of W2T’s other really high end stuff to see how it was. I’m really not sure how I feel about this one. It definitely wasn’t a flavor powerhouse, but as he has said, flavor isn’t necessarily what Paul is going for on some of his teas. This one has a reputation of being a bit of a face-melter, and while I didn’t quite have that experience, I definitely picked up on some qi from it.

The dry leaf had a greenish and pungent smell to it – there may have been some florals in there, but it really just smelled powerful to me. It didn’t change much after a rinse. It mostly just smelled “shengy” to me.

I found the flavor to be simple but pleasant. Certainly some bitterness involved, but not enough to chase me away. Grassy at times, but mostly a buttery vegetal flavor in the first half of the session. The flavor started moving in a sweeter, fruity direction around 8 or 9 steeps in, most notably in the finish. By the time I was squeezing the last bits of life out of it, the flavor was slightly syrupy and a bit fruity.

The texture of the liquid was incredibly thick and sat heavily in my stomach. In the first session I did with this tea, I didn’t feel the qi starting to build until I was about four or five steeps in, and it sort of just flowed through me in a relaxing way. Not too face-melty, but nice feeling. The second session was more notable and…weird I guess. Starting very early on in the session, it was distracting me from whatever I was trying to do at the time. I kept hearing music in my head, but not any songs which I knew…strange hip hop beats or something. I don’t usually listen to that kind of music or anything. Maybe it was the Kendrick Lamar song which this tea is named after (which I have never heard). I pretty much couldn’t get anything done as I drank the tea this second time around.

I like this one, and it had a weird qi effect to it. That said, it hasn’t inspired me to buy a full cake of it for the price it goes for. I have enough left to do one more little session with it, so I’ll probably try that with 200F water like Oolong Owl did on her blog review. Glad to experience this one. That second session was sorta surreal.

The White2Tea 2016:

I purchased samples of all the 2016 new line up this year, and I started at the bottom (cheapest) and worked my way up. I did this to taste the profile improvements and variances. I brewed in the same pot with same leaf water ratio. Also, this helps to hone in my palette to identify what’s a good deal and what’s not. At the conclusion of my tasting I will be placing my cake order.

This is it. The beginning of the end and the end of the beginning.

I finally made it to the last sample, and I am excited to see what is in store. I opened up the package and took a nice long inhale. I instantly pick up stonefruit, dark figs, sparkling grape juice, and pink lady apples. The aroma is quite heavenly. The leaf is very loosely pressed and includes a long chaotic mess of tangled stems and large leaves. I heated up my pot and prepared for brewing this nameless drink. The aroma was enticing to say the least. The scent began with molasses, brown sugar, and warm wood. A light floral background peeked out. I believe I sniffed some dark coco and possible cherry. Needless to say, it was very pleasing. I gave the pot a shake and lifted the lid for another sniff session. This time, I was catching aromas of honeysuckle flower, orchid, and wet moss. I washed the leaves once and prepared for brewing. The taste begins with a lot of wood and chestnut. The flavors are sweet and deep. I can take in some soft fruits in the aftertaste, The huigan is thick and filled with sugarcane and dates. A slight cooling sensation begins at my tongue and follows down to my belly. The brew is sweet and buttery with tones of powdered sugar and dough. A very decent tea. The brew keeps this consistent profile and slowly calms down. The qi is soft and uplifting. I imagined the word “cloud walking” to describe the feeling. Very peaceful. Very high, I enjoyed this tea. I thought it was fairly good, but the price is daunting. I will contemplate on it.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJ1SYaBA0to/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

The tasting of the 2016 lineup has ended. I only tasted the "new teas, for I already have an idea of the 2016 re-blends.
In conclusion, I am very unsure about a lot of them. They were all decent teas; however, it cost me 130$ +/- just to sample the teas. I was not incredibly taken aback, nor was I surprised by any of them. I enjoyed tasting and drinking them, but I can’t recall anything “jumping” out at me to stock up. I will drink what I have left and see if my thoughts change. Personally, my favorite was the daily drinker, hahah. It is not because of price. The pure fruity tone was fantastic! The brew was very appeasing and tasty and it had a decent qi; however, the brew has little to no depth. Again, I will sit and think about my last thoughts…

Def not one for the bitter haters and new to pu. This young sheng has a savory profile, Vegetal, grassy, spinach. The best part of this tea is the long lasting squeaky spinach and floral aftertaste. Later steeps get dry and bitter, but then the longer it goes the more face melter it gets. I got 17 infusions with 200f. I found this tea did best at 200 than boil.

Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/2016-untitled-02-sheng-puer-white2tea/

This stuff makes my legs tingle.