A huge thank you to Angel at Teavivre for another round of free samples! :D this is the first of the bunch I decided to try, as I’ve only had one other white tea cake (from Verdant) and loved it.
The dry aroma of this one smells much like a sheng, a bit woody and fresh. I steeped for 7 mins (!) With boiling (!!) Water! Very different parameters for a white tea, as it was recommended to do 6-10 mins, but hey I’ll roll with it! The tea brews up quite dark too, and the steeped scent is grainy and woodsy, a sheng crossed with aged white tea to me.
As for the flavor, initially I thought it was pretty strong, almost like a black tea! But as it cools it mellows out into a grain taste (actually a bit like hay) with some malt, a bit of astringency, and a sugared sweet aftertaste. Man, I don’t think I’ve had anything like this one! It’s a variety of teas in one – black, white, sheng..so interesting. The overall flavor is definitely of an aged white though, with the grain, hay-like notes and malt with a sugar (not honey) endnote. Also getting quite the little buzz off this lol, some good sheng-like cha qi!
Overall, this is an extremely interesting tea to try! I will need to have a few more cups to be able to fully grasp what’s going on in here lol, but it’s tasty and unique and I am quite enjoying this while sitting out on the deck with the fountain running. Today I felt a tangible change in the weather, a cooling in the morning, the difference in sunlight, saw some orange fallen leaves. The season of chai and lattes is arriving soon, so I will soak up the sunlight and warmth and enjoy my white teas while I’m in the mood for them! Don’t leave yet summer :(
Once again, thank you Angel for this sample! No rating yet because I’m on my phone, but this first cup feels like an 84 to me. :)
Flavors: Grain, Green Wood, Malt, Sugar
