white2tea

gongfu

Backlog

I was brewing this late on Saturday evening while playing video games. I maybe had 3-4 infusions and was enjoying the session, however, I stopped shortly after the last steep. I needed to give my full attention to Helldiver II’s Titans and lost track of tea. Jump to 45-60 minutes later and I get back to the leaf. Before brewing this further, I had placed the idea into my head that this was a tea from earlier and the leaf was spent, so I tossed this into the waste bowl. But wait! I found the wrapper sitting on the tea table and realized my mistake.

I haven’t finished the session yet. I’ve made it to the 5th infusion and wanted to make a note before pushing this opportunity back any further. I usually read a book and have tea before heading into the office for the evening on Tuesdays.

I will note that my fondness for Lapsang has taken a temporary step aside these days. Smoked puerh? I had assumed I’d face the same problem on account that I’ve avoid smoked teas as much as possible. However, upon drinking this, I had forgotten that I really find a smoked puerh quite fascinating! It’s less aggressive, while maintaining a strength in smokiness. It’s comparing burnt wood or BBQ (Lapsang) to burnt honey or sugar (smoked puerh). They each have their place and time, but definitely something I don’t indulge in too often.

I am laughing at my tasting notes on this review because the “aroma” at the start of the session compared to the end of the session were waaay different from each other.

Notes: Aroma reminded me of piss and roasted peanuts. I had hoped it wouldn’t’ve tasted like piss (whatever piss tastes like, I do not care to know). After the second infusion, that piss note had left the pot. End explicit content. This tea tasted slightly burnt, but it turned out to be pleasant after the 3rd infusion. I noted that the tea had more of a toasted walnuts and a charcoal flavor profile after steep #3. It was a warming tea and wasn’t necessarily my favorite from the February club.

Gongfu!

This afternoon, I’m sipping down a 2023 941 sheng pu’erh mini from @white2tea that was added as a free sample to one of my orders this past year! I have a cake of, I believe, the 2022 production of this raw pu’erh and though I’ve only steeped it a few times I recall really enjoying the soft and sweeter taste and texture. It’s one of those “nail on the head” teas in regard to appealing to my penchat for Yiwu productions.

From memory, this mini is expectedly quite similar with a really gentle overall profile and light notes of dewy fresh pears, snow peas, and a mellow grassy and hay-like midsip that anchors the orchard fruit and cooling vegetal notes. Almost a creamy finish, especially in the late session. However, as most of the more sugary notes sit in the front half of the sip, it’s a creamy tail end that lacks sweetness. If I didn’t have a cake of the 2022 material I could totally see myself adding a few more minis of this to my next order…

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C4TsxeGO7s7/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l81HZfkLwpk

Sipdown, western style. Kinda contrary to normal directions for these, but I don’t do too much gong fu style due to it taking more time/energy than I have sometimes.
Three steeps on this, at boiling for the 1st, then with cooler water for the other two. Flavors stayed the same throughout, just weaker on the later steeps.
Sweet, amber (maybe honey?? not sure what I meant here), sugar cane, chocolate, cocoa. A nice smooth black tea.

Sipdown

From the February Club

Cannabis all over. A little bitter and intense. Not as solid as the other teas from this club, but passable.

Sipdown

From the February 2023 Club

Notes: Cannabis, seaweed, & sweet candied nuts (cashews? almonds?)

https://www.instagram.com/p/C4GoEszOlvs/?img_index=1

A sipdown! (M: 1 Y: 55)
Sadly, this was a miss for me. It was like drinking a cardboard to me. Steeped gongfu, western, with same results. No citrus notes, the puerh itself was very dark and earthy, not much enjoyable to be honest. Well, not all teas are winners.

I bought this for… reason unknown. Maybe I wanted to try fruit filled puerh, at least that sounds like a plausible explanation.

Anyway, I split the mandarin in half and picking some amount of puerh inside with a finger. Also adding some of the peel. I just hope it is intended to be steeped with the tea.

I tried it once before writing this note, but as my 4 years old niece was around, I was rather checking if my cup is far enough from the table border, than checking the tea itself.

Today I prepared 3g/3 mins with 90°C water.

It much earthier than I have expected. I also notice some of the cardboard / paper note which seems like a flaw to me. It’s not what I was expecting, to be honest. Also, earthy note is strong and then it fades into that I wrote about. I do notice some of the orange zest, but rather in aroma than the taste.

As it cools down it is getting better. Not by a lot, though. Have I used wrong steeping parameters? Was I supposed to steep it gongfu only? Was it packed in the paper wrapping for too long? Discuss below.

Grandpa Style!

Slurped this back of the course of yesterday afternoon. It’s slick and oily with a liquor that’s practically jet black save for a hint of red-ish brown cresting at the water line. Though there’s an expected smooth, grounding earthiness and minerality I find myself more entranced with the gentle sweetness of fruitier notes of figs and red dates – almost like drinking a Fig Newton in tea form, which I feel I should is a positive. It’s very clean and easygoing, which makes me feel like it falls very comfortably into the “daily drinker” sorta zone for the more well versed pu’erh drinker while also likely making for a more accesible option for anyone who’s been turned off pu’erh because of some of the funkier flavours sometimes present!

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/C3_CXinuK96/

I think this is one of the nicest photos I’ve taken in months, though I guess the IG algorithm disagrees. Kind of a bummer when a photo you’re REALLY proud of tanks. Womp womp.

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iJmIL83vas

I tried it grandpa, 3 grams from the chunk and it was surprisingly easy to pry; so I have just “opened the chunk” if you know what I mean.

Steeped for quite long. I haven’t checked; but I assume around 4-5 minutes and I had a great cup of tea.

Quite strong, wet forest floor aroma and taste, along with camphor and I noticed also petrichor (okay, that was maybe the enviroment as in meantime rain came). All covered in somehow lovely sweet smoky element and molasses as Roswell Strange notices in 2021 vintage.

Gongfu!

First couple steeps of this oolong were just a bit more mineral and earthy with a subtle spice and a hint of honey. However, by the third steep pretty much all the earthiness and minerality had dropped away and what was left was a surprisingly sweet and mellow dancong with very lovely fruity and floral notes of linden honey, hops, and apple blossoms with really gentle undertones of spice. Not my normal kind of tea but something about it just worked really well for the cool, crisp autumn day.

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DBXDFb5yVc9/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbQ_qKmmv8c

Gongfu!

Drank this with some dark chocolate in between steeps! I used to buy a greener and more ball-rolled style of oolong from a now defunct company called Ginger Lily Oolong, and I’m finding this tea reminds me of it in a lot of ways. It’s light to medium bodied with a very mild, gentle sweetness that compliments the subtle spice notes and overall fresh, crisp profile. In particular, I love how the aromatics are so floral and soft, while the finish has such a clean earthiness and mineral quality. Maybe even a touch of petrichor. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this tea quote as much as I have, but it turns out that it’s actually pretty nostalgic, and the subtle sweet earthy notes of ginger are really soothing and cozy!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C300b4XO_nS/?img_index=1

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

Gongfu!

Back on a bit of a shou pu’erh kick. Honestly, it’s KILLING ME that my giant Shulloween order is stuck in limbo thanks to the Canada Post Strike. I brewed this shou pu’erh up quite strongly and the resulting infusions were beautifully inky and thick with a deeply dark wed balanced mix of bitter earthy notes and rich, fudge-like chocolate. It’s been a while since I last had a ripe pu’erh this intensely chocolatey tasting, and I really appreciated how bold that flavour was without being sweet and syrupy!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DC7pbE_yJER/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v518fuyH7A&abchannel=OrionSunVEVO

Gongfu!

Enjoyed this shou paired with a delicious soft boiled duck egg (with a splash of maple hot sauce) for a delicious breakfast tea session. Apologies in advance to the anti-runny yolk crowd. This was such a rich and unctuous way to start the day, though!! This shou in particular has a robust earthiness with a smooth woody character and sweeter dark undertones of molasses and brown sugar with just a hint of brothy umami weaved throughout everything else already going on in this complex blend of different ripe pu’erhs. The egg, with its golden and delicious yolk, is just as rich as the tea with a deeply creamy taste and texture alongside its own distinct umami character. So fatty and luxurious!! And of course, a hint of sweet and fiery hotsauce to break up the indulgence just a bit…

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C3qmElmuu1U/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWk4IjZHsb4

Sipdown

I really want to write a lot about this tea, but I didn’t take too many notes. I promised IG that I would add something, but I was too into this tea at the time. I wrote “buttered toast” a few times. The only other notes on my scrap paper were the following: whipped cream, milk, butter, & toast/bread. 6 infusions noted, too.

Feel like you want to brew some longjing but you don’t have any? Love a few funky mushroomy notes here and there? This tea is for you! Good energy and duration. It brews like a sheng, tastes most like a green, and smells like oolong. Weird combination but it’s great. It has a tendency to go astringent, so dont brew too hard…unless you like it that way. I ain’t your mother.

Gongfu!

This is a very soft and gentle tasting tea with a lot of the more delicate and finer characteristics that I love so much about Yiwu productions alongside such a rich, thick and creamy mouthfeel. It isn’t until a few steeps in that the tasting notes begin to paint a clearer picture: dried apricots, apple blossoms, and the smell of simmering brown sugars. It warming, cozy and very peaceful – I definitely felt, as I sipped on the latter infusions, like I’d slipped back into memories of late summer evenings back home in the Prairies. Almost like a merger of summer breaks spent at my Grandparent’s house and the night markets I used to frequent before moving to Montreal. Just a simplicity and easiness saturated in a glowy feeling sense of nostalgia.

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C3fyO3PuKqS/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viBbRfstO84

If you are at all a fan of smoked teas, this is a pretty good one. The smoke is there but not acrid, and there are still some interesting tea scents around. Good texture and overall balance for a pine-smoked tea. I like this better than most lapsangs, and this might the one smoked tea I keep in my collection for those cold nights.

Late last evening, I opened the second tea from the White2Tea Tea Club. Had I known this was a prized tea, I’d’ve saved it for last. Alas, I didn’t until finally reading the full letter.

I brewed this up to 6 times. Each sip I drank, with the exception of a single (sake) cup. I wanted to dive into it layer by layer, with a proper boiling water palate cleanse.

Cup One: cocoa & sweeten milk
Cup Two: tobacco, darker chocolate, buttery, nutty
Cup Three: Surprisingly less notes than cup two, but mostly the same.
Cup Four: Steeped way longer than expected. Add cannabis and “cooked florals” (whatever I meant by that).
Cup Five: No, no. Please don’t fade out on me, you beautiful beautiful tea.
Cup Six: End Scene.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C3iCnExOGFF/?img_index=1

Sipdown?

This was the first tea to be had during the February Tea Club. It was a terribly windy day. I wanted to drink some tea after waking too early on little sleep.. It was a rough morning and a rough evening, as nobody could sleep last night – the wife sick and I worried. She currently has a fairly high fever, but the doctor advised that if it remains in the morning, it’s recommended we take a trip to Statcare. Poor dear.

Notes: This was a warming tea – both in smell and flavor. I’m a sucker for a yancha and this was the type that really hits the spot. There were ‘soft’ mineral notes and a nice lingering sweet citrus aftertaste.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C3YfaYAu3Rg/?img_index=1