2007 White2Tea Repave

Nice gold-orange liquer. Bitter with tobacco, piney, and apricot notes, camphor and sugarcane. I enjoy this one a lot and may have to pick up a cake! I could use some more aged/semi aged sheng in my collection and this is a pretty nice one

finishing the last of the Oz I had of this as a sample.

The main thing about this is that about this age of sheng always seems to me like the young leaf has been varnished. I can never get away from that, I dont know why. And this one is a perfect example of a well varnished raw.

Apricots and leather and wood that have all been varnished. Yup. a bit of tobacco is stuck in my mouth too.

it is up-front and solid, sour fruity and defo one for people who can take a bit oomph in the taste of their sheng. Not too woody like some aged can taste where thats all you get, piles of sticks and leaves where fruit once was, instead falls into the fruity-sour-bold category.

Not sweet, tangy twangy varnished sheng that is beginning to round itself out a bit.

- thinking about it, stained might be a better description rather than varnished, idk. :D

Backlog

This tea brews up the colour of liquid gold. It’s slightly smokey , very woodsy and no bitterness at all. Also, very sweet.

I enjoyed this tea but it didn’t grab me as something I had to buy. Maybe if I drink it again….

My cousin sadly, was hooked on crack cocaine at one time n his life and he told me it was a high like no other. He said that first hit was why ALL addicts chase from the first time thy try it. I think I just found my crack!

I got my hands on a sample of 2007 White2Tea Repave and was hooked from the first sip of this glorious golden liquid! Campfire, slightly smoky, leather, tobacco…it reminded me SO MUCH of evenings with my grandfather when I was a boy.

So, I liked Shu Pu…but I am in LOVE with this Sheng! THIS is what Im gonna use to set my bar. I am now on the hunt to find one better, but until I do, Ill be ordering a cake from W2T REAL soon!

Sipdown.

Having this at work – which, of course, is real different from doing it in a gaiwan. It’s less smoky this time, which is good. Hoping this will soothe my stomach over the day; about to have my third steep.

Smoky, earthy, but not too overwhelming.

“Holy shit”
That’s what I’m saying after the 10th steep of this… I’m not saying that because it’s the best, because interestingly I have had better, but because this has to be the highest quality sheng I have ever seen. Of course the 2012 Wild Monk from Mandela is the best sheng I’ve had (that tea stole my heart), but as for quality… this one takes it. The picture on W2T’s website of the steeped leaf is exactly what this is. The leaf is 85% + in tact and it looks wonderful.

The taste is clean with a mild umph to each sip. I think the last 8 years slapped the bitterness right out of this tea as it is smooth. The odd part is that during the first 45 minutes of drinking this tea I was eating a chocolate pie with caramel all over it and this didn’t taste nasty… nor is it sweet, it just seems to be fantastic so it doesn’t matter what accompanies it.

I can safely say that Hekai and I are going to become great friends :)

Today’s tea! 5g in the 100ml gaiwan, 2 rinses (maybe 10-15sec each) and then steeps of 10, 10, 15, 15, 20, 20, etc… I started with boiling water but am experimenting with letting it cool down a bit since I’m finding this a bit punchy.

This is a really aromatic tea – you get a lot of interesting scents off the gaiwan lid: old books, tobacco, a bit of smoke. The slightly musty, old books flavour is fading as I progress through the steeps, leaving more sweetness, bitterness, maybe a bit of stewed dried fruit. It does have a slightly viscous quality, coating the mouth and throat, and leaving behind quite a bit of that dry astringent feeling. Lower temperature steeps are smoother and sweeter. It feels warm in the stomach, and it’s kind of making me feel both more alert and sleepy at the same time which makes no sense.

This is good, but I’m finding it to have a bit more bitterness/astringency than I really want. Not enough to make me stop drinking it, mind you. ;) I think next time I’ll either steep with cooler water, or much shorter steeping times, or both.

I’m gonna break this down into the first three steepings, I did a quick rinse before the first steep.

First steep 5s: This tea was campfire-y with a smooth/sweet finish, there might be some slight mineral notes in this steep but I’m not entirely sure.

Second steep 10-ish-s: Ok so I fumbled the kettle this time so I’m not sure if it was actually 10 or I went over. Either way, the campfire smokey taste is stronger than ever, but while still pretty smooth there’s a bitter edge near the end. I also am starting to detect some wood taste too.

Third steep 15s: The smell of this steep is the most smokey, but the taste has died down a bit from the second steep. I can taste wood notes much better now, and it’s back to being not-bitter and completely smooth. Also starting to taste a bit of tobacco at this point.

Overall I really enjoy this tea, I liked it decently when I got it and it’s only grown on me over time.

If there was ever a sheng to finally convert me, it would be this one. This is pretty amazing tea and I ended up drinking a half gallon worth XD It’s a nice amber color and feels very “full” in the mouth. It’s a nice woodsy, sweet brew and smells like a campfire. It’s slightly smoky and all delicious. Hands down the best puerh I’ve had so far.

Spent the day with this one – a great selection using fine material from the Hekai tea producing area. Fragrant dry leaves which produce a clear tea soup – dark bronze in color moving toward orange. Thick syrupy mouthfeel with an appealing blend of tobacco, wood, citrus and molasses flavors. This is a rather interesting flavor profile which is noticeably smooth and mellow. All in all this is a great full-bodied, complex sheng and it holds up nicely for many enjoyable infusions. Today I steeped at 195 degrees but I think I’ll push the temperature to 205 degrees when I go back to these leaves tomorrow.