2016 Heart Of The City

woof – I’ve had this sample stored for almost 6 years and am just now getting around to it. That will be the case for most of my pu’er notes this year.

Sounds like Heart of the City had good reception when it was fresh. Now it’s 7 years old and kind of weak in a way (also strong) but that could be due to my storage or other factors.

The leaf is moderately chopped to over an inch long, some thin stems. Tan to browning with an olive hue. Sticky to the touch when wet. It gives an orange brew that turns amber and does not provide much in terms of aroma. The warmed leaf, however, has strength in the nose with sticky plum sweetness and goji berries.

The first few brews are mouth-filling and the sip finishes with a dry sweetness that tastes like palm sugar-caramel. Kind of a hollow mineral-herbaceous midground. Nutty-fruity-mushroomy tone stays in the background. Sticky, moderate sweetness. After the first cup, the mouth and throat are already cooled and a decent returning sweetness presents. Mouth is perfumed with bittersweet purple flowers and palm sugar is the background. Strong mineral taste-feeling under tongue.

With the third cup, the astringency that supposedly marked this tea while young shows up. The brew becomes thinner, less sweet and finally it becomes bitter for the fifth and sixth. A few more pours give less astringency and mild sweetness.

Not too much of a sneaker with caffeine but it is felt. A smooth buzz with a gently heavy and forceful restorative swell juxtaposes the astringency and bitterness.

As it stands now at 7 years old and being drunk before the weather turns full spring, the tea might be in an awkward phase or maybe my 60% humidity and 65-70F storage isn’t doing this tea any favors. Heart of the City is not one for me to drink now, but I didn’t want to keep the rest of the sample around to find out how much it might change in several years’ time. Finished.

Song pairing: Evol Intent – Red Soil
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufI6LupwrNQ

I’ve been rather inattentive in my tea sessions of late so I tried to steer away from tasting new stuff knowing I won’t do it justice. With the arrival of a new batch of tasters, however, I fell victim to temptation. Following are the attempts to put in word some chaotic observations.

I have to admit I couldn’t fall in love with this tea. I was probably expecting something fruitier and sweeter. Yes there was fruit – apricots, apples, and some sweetness too, but it felt somewhat short. The astringency was prominent, though that too faded away relatively quickly. There was also some woodiness and, in the initial infusions, some vegetal notes (green bell pepper?). All in all not a bad tea, but not amazing either. Still, I feel like I need to revisit this in the not too distant future.

june 22/17 this tea was all about the apricot, at some points it almost made me feel like i was actually eating the dried fruit. very astringent, but only a very slight bitterness until i went in for the 10+ minute kill shot, which suited me very well as im not the hugest fan of bitterness. qi left me feeling calm, and a bit detatched. this is my favourite of the w2t samples i got so far, but now im going to be going in on repave.

Finally got back into some w2t samples. This one was a little weird for me. It took until the very last session for me to have a really good experience with it. It was never bad, but for the first few sessions of it I drank, I found it pretty inferior to other 2016 w2t productions, even in the lower price brackets. I agree with the laconic tasting note on w2t’s website, noting that this tea has “higher than average” astringency. It really required flash steeping for the majority of the session for it to show its better qualities.

These leaves had a sweet apricot, buttery aroma when dry – after a rinse, the aroma was strong and zesty, with apricot and a slight undercurrent of petrol which some people (including myself at times) associate with the aroma from young sheng leaves. The tea, as most from White 2 Tea do, brews up thick in texture from the get-go. It was sweet, with a bit of fruitiness – I got pineapple – along with some vegetal flavor. There was a pretty intense astringency, especially if steeped carelessly. The tea carries on for over fifteen steeps, flash steeping through at least 10 of those. Towards the end of the session, the fruitiness mostly leaves this tea as does the astringency. The finish becomes sweet, reminding me more than once of sugar cookies.

Reading back, this tasting note seems a little all over the place. That kind of matches my feelings for this tea. When I finally nailed the brewing, it was good – still not as great as some of the other White 2 Tea productions I’ve had this year – I enjoyed Tea Don’t Lie and Poundcake over this one. I’m glad I got a sample of it though, and I would encourage people who are perusing w2t’s 2016 lineup to sample this tea, as others I’ve talked to have really fallen in love with it.

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 tea reeks of fresh and pungent. A strong scent with floral, grass, fruity, and smooth melon. I warmed up my pot and put some in. The scent becomes deeper and filling with hot wood, syrup, white honey, and honey crisp apples (the best). I wash the leaves once and prepare for brewing. The leaves yield a sweet and astringent taste. I take in some soft wood, nectar, and hay. I note a very very light bitter tone in the background. The brew is very grassy and herbaceous. This is an interesting tea. I can taste some slight huigan and brief kuwei. The liquor wafts up with thick caramel scents. The qi is viscous. The feeling is very heavy and aggressive. The first time I drank this tea I didn’t like it because it made my stomach hurt. The second time (after I let it sit for a week or so) it calmed down and didn’t hurt quite as bad.

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Is this real life? I start every Sunday the same way—hop out of bed, eat a banana, and start sipping sheng. Today I broke into this cake for the first time. The qi is immediate. As soon as this hit my throat—scratch that, as soon as it got to the back of my mouth I sat up straight. I am four steeps in and had to use my newly acquired telekinetic powers to float my body upstairs to type this review. Now I must go sell a kidney and use the proceeds to buy as much as I can. Mild bitterness and no stomach discomfort.