white2tea

A very good tea. I think you need to use more tea than normal given the nugget compression factor. That being said, the tea brews up nice and smooth, with chocolatey fruity notes. It is a high quality shu.

A perfect middle aged tea. Not too dry not too wet, but very smooth and pretty complex. I should get more of this

Had this one with a friend last week, been meaning to get around to posting a review, and, well, the qi is strong with this one. Seriously. At around 4 or 5 steepings in I started to feel like I was on drugs. This cake is clearly from Lincang- it is thick and bitter, but strangely balanced for being as strong as it is, with a granary-sweetness and the familiar pungent stank that I associate with the region. If I had to name its flavors, I’d say it tends towards the floral and herbaceous side of things, but that being said its pretty hard to pin down… While this cake is well out of my current price-range for a 200g baby-cake, I’m glad I had the opportunity to sample it and experience a tier of tea that I hadn’t had. I mean, goddamn, I could still taste and feel this tea more than an hour after the session.

This was a “wow” tea for me.

The dry cake is heavily compressed in some areas and very dark. The dry maocha is long and dark brown with some silver strands. I take in a dry grain with a subtle sweet scent from this cake. I placed a few chunks in warmed yixing and gave them a shake. The aroma that arose from my brewing vessel was of a classic young sheng. I could hint at a sweet caramel syrup with warm grass. I washed the leaves once and began my brewing. These steeped leaves have a strong roasted asparagus scent. The maocha unfurled into long green oily leaves. The taste was fantastic! This is the part that wowed me. The taste is dry and sweet, and there is a slight citrus background. This brew has an aggressive taste that is complex. I even experienced an almost herb mint taste in later steeping. The huigan is delayed but quite potent. There is also an intriguing bitterness that lingers after every sip. This flavor of this brew keeps changing. I can taste a dry herb with lemon one second and then floral with sweet honey. This was a very good sheng session,and I am so happy that I got this brew!

https://instagram.com/p/6Au2_BTGcu/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

I did something unspeakable to this tea, and for that I apologize in advance to the Pu-gods, Shen Nong, Lu Yu, and the honorable Tea Farmer who grew these leaves. When I drank it last, which according to my tasting note was approximately a month ago, I wasn’t feeling it. So apparently I drained the leaves, put the tea in a plastic bag, and put it in my fridge. And forgot about it. For a month. In my cheese drawer. FACEPALM

The good news is that it was not destroyed. I’m on my fifth steep and it’s pretty wonderful actually. There’s still that tang, but the predominant sourness has mellowed into deeply flavorful shou, earthy, primeval, and satisfying. Now I’m feeling it.

Got a sample of this in a tea trade; I didn’t want to commit to a whole box but I’d been wanting to try it for awhile. I’ll be honest, it’s probably because it has the word “chocolate” in the name, which is silly really because there’s nothing chocolate about this tea except for maybe the appearance. The brew is really dark, thick, coffee-like. Early steeps are very strong (even at 5 seconds): musty, earth, sour, decayed wood. The mustiness fades in later steeps. Not much sweetness. I didn’t go more than 5 or 6 steeps into this, I didn’t have it in me. Considering I’ve been drinking a lot of Gyokuro lately, choosing this shou tonight was probably not the best idea I had today.

Didn’t remember trying this when I bought it last month. Today it only got steeped western style. It is tasty with a very mild malt character and some sweet notes. It is a bargain for the price, good quality on the cheap.

I steeped this one time in a Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water for 3 min.

Thank you Boychik for this sample. This is a tasty and delicious black tea. There are notes of malt and sweet notes to it. I gongfud this through eight steeps but admit I was tired and probably missed the specific notes. For those who don’t like malt in black tea this has a very pleasant malt character, not at all overpowering. The maltiness slowly dissipated as I resteeped this. This tea would have essily gone twelve steeps I think but I was at my caffeine limit for the day.

I steeped this eight times in a 120ml gaiwan with boiling water and 7.2g leaf. I steeped it for 10 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, and 1.5 min.

mmmmm this is a dessert tea. The dry leaf smells of sweet vanilla and kettle corn. This cake consists of long maocha loosely pressed together. I placed these long slender tendrils in my warmed yixing and shook them up. The aroma that arose from my brewing vessel was phenomenal. It was so sweet and caramely, yet it had a slight floral tone. I could hint at the scent of magnolia along with sugar and baking flour. I washed the leaves once and began brewing. The steeped leaves smelled alike that of a smokey Ti Guan Yin. The leaves were vegetable and creamy scented. The brew itself was incredible! This actually tastes exactly like poundcake. This tea yields a light yellow colored liquor that had heavy vanilla tones. I can taste a slight earthy undertone, and this is covered by a plentiful huigan sensation. The aroma from my cup was so delicious. This tea stood up well against steeping. This was a long lasting brew. The qi was moderate. The body feeling was present, but it wasn’t overwhelming. This was also my first gongfu session in bed. I was having an off day, so I retreated to my room. My new kettle enables me to not even have to get out of bed to enjoy my tea. This makes me happy but slightly worried at the same time, hahah.

https://instagram.com/p/5xxjJxzGQt/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

I am so happy that I am the first to review this.

This is a prime example of what Sheng should be like. The dry leaf is gorgoeus. This cake is an array of loosely compressed autumn colored maocha. The bing carries an almost medicinal scent. I can pickup a slight eucalyptus scent mixed with an underlining sweetness. I broke off a chunk and placed in my warmed yixing. The scent was unusual. I’ve never smelled something so lively. It was like escaping to a jungle. The scent was thick, hot, and humid. I could smell the vines growing rampant around me. I washed these leaves once and began possibly one of my best gongfu sessions. The steeped leaves changed dramatically. These oily olive colored leaves carried the scent of an old Victorian home with a slight peppery aroma. The liquor was a pale gold and shone bright. It looked like translucent white gold. The taste was spectacular. I’ve never tasted something so silky and sweet. I was drowning in huigan. This brew gives a thick, and I mean THICK, mouth coating. The flavor was like watercress, silk, cream, and sugarcane. There was absolutely no bitterness or astringency. I found out that you can’t make this tea bitter. I used boiling water and steeped for a little bit of time, and the brew only grew sweeter. This was well rounded and the taste lasted well after steeping. The qi was incredible. My body completely soothed and my spirits became uplifted. This tea gave an all encompassing comfort to my body. I took my time with this session. Eventually, I had to go to work. I left my table until afterwards. I came back several hours later and resumed brewing. The liquor was still powerful and just as sweet. I honestly don’t know how many steeps I got out of this. This is by far my favorite sheng. This is a delicious brew, and I can only imagine how it will be aged.

https://instagram.com/p/5zpJIYzGaY/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

I honestly can’t tell you what duck shit smells like…
But I’m pretty sure it doesn’t smell like this tea :)
The leaf smells kind of fruity, really, and although I can’t quite identify the fruit aroma, it kind of reminds me of juicy fruit gum (admittedly, I haven’t chewed juicy fruit since I was a kid, but that’s what came to mind.) It’s a sweet smell, and also somewhat floral.

Flavorwise, the tea itself is also sweet. I’ve been sitting here sipping it, and relaxing. I’ve been kind of lazy in my steeping notes lately, in part because I’m busy & although I’m drinking tea all day, and enjoying it, I’m not taking notes or anything, and when I’m finally at my computer I’m at a loss for what to say. Sometimes I just don’t feel like analyzing things either, I just want to enjoy a cup of tea without having to think about it too much.

So I’m several steepings in on this session. What to say?
It’s pleasant, sweet, & fruity, although I can’t quite name the fruit…not lychee, not peach, not grape, not citrus…WTF is it? I keep circling back to Juicy Fruit gum…
There’s also a gentle floral component, which I also can’t identify, but it adds a rich after sensation to the sinuses, and I have a nice thick Bassy mouth sensation.
Ensemble: harp & flowery woodwinds, probably a pentatonic scaled, joined by a low deep drone of didgeridoo, bass clarinet, bassoon.
sipdown 262

This is the most obviously throaty tea I have ever sampled. It produces a very noticeable ‘pooling’ feeling at the top of the throat, as if the tea were physically sitting there. If you concentrate, you can feel the tea enter your chest and expand.

Its taste is quite soft overall, but the tea definitely possesses strength that manifests in astringency when pushed. I would describe the flavor as a light floral bitterness with just a tinge of those sort of ‘barnyard’ tastes. There is a very interesting cured meat smell on the gaiwan lid that doesn’t come out in the flavor.

Huigan is slow to build, but very apparent after several steeps. Quite excellent tea.

GREEEEN SHROOOOOM! The wrapper is super cool! Breaking off pieces from a mushroom was a little difficult.

This young sheng is delicate with vegetal, peachy and amber notes. Moderate amount of dryness in the later steeps. I’m going to stash my shrooms away and see how they taste in a few months.

I tried it cold brewed as well and it was interesting as it was really thick creamy texture that was very nice!

Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/july-white2tea-club-with-2015-green-shroom-puer-tea-review/

Really nice. Soft, creamy, delicate, fruity/floral. Really a perfect little easy-drinking tea. Great value for such quality leaf. I could see this being a daily drinker for me.

I like a raw puerh in that adolescent stage because it still has some of that young vibrancy while also showing some signs of maturity. I’d love to try this one again in 5-10 years but not sure I can hold onto it that long. The tea liquor is nice and thick with a beautiful orange color. Taste is salty tobacco and wet straw with a slight astringent bite and some caramel sweetness. Salted caramel! Maybe some apricot in there as well. Fantastic qi! Got a little drunk on this one.

I really wanted to love this tea, after hearing it compared to Keyyixing and LYM… but it’s just too… yiwu.

This is a great tea, it’s balanced, has a great throat feel and after taste. But at it’s heart it has that powder taste I find off putting in many yiwu teas with age on them. I might come around after the second round of this tea (there was enough in the sample for two)… but I’m coming to the sad conclusion I need to drink up the young yiwus I like… because I’m not a fan of how they age.

If you are into yiwus, especially ones with age, this is a great buy. I haven’t met anyone else who gets geisha powder from yiwu (I presume this is the yiwu floral note)… so I’m assuming this will be a beloved tea for many at a great price. If I wasn’t so broke, I’d be tempted to get a cake just to age in case I ever come around, because the quality of tea is quite enjoyable.

If you need a tea that bites you back… this is not the tea for you. There is a bit of astringency in the form of the after taste of some kind of puckering stone fruit, but no bitterness. The storage this tea was in must be superb, because it’s very clean. To be honest though, part of the enchantment with the Keyyixing for me was the slightly murkier storage that gave it that ocean note.

This is a tea that is clean and will appeal to a wide audience, and has a lot of great qualities… but other than the awesome label (I love spaceships!) there isn’t anything truly unique or outstanding about this brew.

6g in a 100ml yixing. Second session with this tea. First session was 9g in a 120ml gaiwan and it was borderline over powering, very strong stuff. I’m not one to talk much about qi since I feel that everyone experiences it differently and in varying degrees but this tea has it in spades. The first session left me with a narcotic almost pain killer effect. It was so strong that I couldn’t get past 5 steepings . The second session had some of the same effects but also left feeling me feeling amazing. Relaxed and calm as other good puerhs have made me feel but also extremely focused which is pretty rare for someone as ADD as am. Taste wise the tea had both elements of sweet and bitter in a good balance. I’d say this is less sweet than other Yiwu puerhs I’ve had and if you push a steeping, as I did on a few (you know, for science) it will get quite bitter. Highly recommend this to anyone that hasn’t experienced a puerh with qi and anyone that wants to get good and tea drunk

7 grams in a 100ml yixing. Quick rinse and then a couple minutes for the tea to open up. First steep was a touch light but I knew that this was going to be a good one right away. Good sweet and savory flavors with just enough bitterness to balance it out. Extremely thick mouthfeel, rich and oily in the best way. Possibly the thickest of any puerh to date for me. Mouth and tongue were coated throughout the session. Later on a bit of astringency creeps in which once again gives good balance to the richness of the tea. Leaves you salivating and wanting more. Some throat feel in later steeps but not a whole lot for me at least. Lost count of how many steeps (not that I generally keep track) but I’d say around 10ish and the tea has at least a few more to go. Left the session feeling great, calm and relaxed. Any tension I had in my neck and upper back just seemed to melt away. Definitely recommend trying at least a sample of this if you are a fan of White2tea’s offerings or puerh in general

Just a short side note. This based on a single tasting and with tea that had just received less than 8 hours before drinking it. I’ve been finding that most if not all of the teas I’ve been drinking have improved after settling into their new home. Usually I’d wait but my patients is little to none for something I’ve been excited to try.

Received 10 grams as part of the White2tea club.

I first tried 5 grams in my trusty gaiwan. It was good, but nothing special. I went through around 15 steeps over a 24 hour period. It tasted like a generic aged sheng puer. Nothing really jumped out at me that would distinguish this tea as something special.

I waited a few days and then used the second half of the sample in my “aged sheng” yixing… and wow. There was this ridiculous creaminess that was amazing. Complexities in aroma and flavor profiles abound… sweetness with the underlying creaminess. My expectations were far exceeded.

I will definitely be picking up a cake.