One of the the things I love about being a tea club member is that it isn’t just about new teas, but also new experiences, and this tea is definitely an experience.
First off, I don’t know about this tea as being a “puerh/white tea blend” as per the description, b/c as far as I know, the description from w2t says nothing about puerh. Anyway, this is my first time drinking white tea and it’s baffling. Does white tea always look like a pile of decomposing leaves, but taste like honey? It smells like honey too. Seriously, this is one of the most wonderfully aromatic teas I’ve ever had. I gongfu’d for a few steeps (the first, aka “the rinse” was the best IMO), then I decided to just grandpa drink it from my gaiwan for awhile, and that was also quite nice. What a lovely lingering sweet aftertaste.
I tried boiling the spent leaves and I might have overboiled; at one point I tasted the tea and it was nice. I was going to take it off the stove but got distracted by having to pee, and when I came back it was too late. Like, “I should have eaten that avocado yesterday” too late. Still drinkable, but disappointing nonetheless because I knew I had screwed up. Luckily, I have more of this tea and next time I’ll be more careful.
Overall, I loved it.
Flavors: Dates, Honey, Sweet, Vanilla
I’ve had Shoumei from other vendors, its not for everyone, but it is very good when you are up for it. To me it always reminded me of honey dipped hay lol. It has some fruits to it, but I can’t pin point them, fruits in the woody/dried spectrum.