2024 Gas Minis

I unscientifically weighed this in my uncontrolled kitchen environment on my small digital scale, and I found this ball to be 8.33 grams, compared to vendor’s promise of 7 grams. So I have some extra gas here!

Excited to try this, as I have recently enjoyed experimenting with the bitter Campari liquer in various cocktails, and found this to be a rewarding experience, so let’s bring on the bitter!

1st steep – 205° in 16 oz water for 1 minute – nothing much going on here. No real bitterness, not any sweetness, no aroma, no florals, etc. Just some barebones vague “teaness” here. Maybe I should have done a rinse or had a longer first steep. Will adjust next time, as I have four of these minis to play with.

2nd steep – 195° in 16 oz water for 2 minutes – Okay, here it is – pretty much a one-note chewing-on-crushed-aspirin type of bitterness. The brew is a noticeably cloudy looking amber color. Not too appealing, with maybe kind of a chalky texture. The bitterness is strong, but I wouldn’t consider it “mind-bending.” Might have been disappointing or annoying if I wasn’t expecting it. So far, I don’t notice any “returning sweetness” or really anything else but the aspirin.

3rd steep – 195°in 16 oz water for 3 minutes – More aspirin. The liquor is clearer now, with a better texture. Nothing else seems to be going on still apart from the aspirin flavor. I’m hoping to find a reward somewhere for hanging in there.

4th steep – 195° in 16 oz water for 5 minutes – Still got that aspirin thing going on, but it does seem to be fading in power and liquor color is still clearer and even better texture. But I don’t really notice any rewards for hanging in here.

5th steep – 195° in 16 oz of water for 5 minutes – I went ahead and gave this a 5th brew, because it seems to have some more “gas.” It’s a lazy Saturday at home, so why not? Fun to experiment with a new tea for most of the day. The aspirin has now very much faded and there is kind of the lingering elements of a basic raw pu-erh here, maybe something more akin to the 941 blend I tried a couple of days ago. I don’t really find this one too rewarding so far. I’m thinking perhaps I should try “flash steeps” as recommended by the vendor or change it up in other ways with the remaining minis, and I suspect maybe there is more here to discover.

Difficult tea to rate – If you are looking for a bitter, aspirin-like tea, then hell yes, I recommend this one to you. Otherwise, I would say no at this point. I guess I could maybe rate it a 75, as it clearly does what is promised. This tea is about the bitterness. I would rate it higher if I could find some other things going on, like some nice florals or some sweet elements.

Oooh this is a tea I’ve been waiting for.
One of the cheaper offerings from w2t, yet it sounds like one of the most interesting ones too.

Flash steeps ? Bitter ? God knows I hate those flavors, and that makes me all the more curious. Knowing my bias for bitter teas however, please take this review with a grain of salt.

15s wash.
Before anything, already regarding the smell I feel like we’re going for that everlasting vegetal bitterness that I oh so dislike. From the get go it’s already not a good point for this tea but I’m looking to be surprised.

1st Steep (5s, 93C):
5s is quite short, but this tea although compressed is already starting to reveal itself, now this is really interesting.
The taste is deep, that vegetal smell isn’t showing anything too spicy for now. This is a good steep.

2nd Steep (15s, 95C):
Again, not much, no bitterness, just some really nice character and depth, some things in the front and none of the vegetalness I’ve expected. Well balanced tea and the soup is light, this is very interesting.

3rd Steep (20s, 95c):
Oh, okay now it’s starting.
The bitterness is in the front, I don’t think I’ve ever experienced something like this.
This is definitely a “feature not a bug” situation, the bitterness builds up and then hits suddenly and in the very front as well, while the after-taste isn’t long lasting, the back of the taste is definitely deep, and the soup is so light too huhhhh ? Incredible.
But I know the next steep is were things are gonna hit.

4th Steep (30s, 95C):
That’s bitter, now everything is bitter. It’s so bitter on every level, I’m fascinated by how good this is. I have bitterness but I’m pleasantly surprised.

- Flavor Complexity: 30/30
- Brewing Forgiveness: 15/20
- Quality Across Infusions: 20/20
- Overall Enjoyment: 12/30 – While I really enjoy this tea, in the sense that I find it very interesting, I don’t think I could drink this more than once.

- yaro