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“Not really having fun with this one. It’s way too green for me. A little bitter, and not much else. Flat – boring – grassy. This is not for me.” Read full tasting note
“Whoops, it’s been a while since I’ve logged anything. I’ve been rather busy as of late what with bumbling through the Real World with this job thing and bills and insurance and whatnot. When I...” Read full tasting note
“stumbles onto Steepster tea-drunk I’ve never had GFZ since I’m still learning all about the different puerhs.. Got this from the white2tea box this month. I don’t know how to describe this.. My...” Read full tasting note
“This is my first sheng from white2tea, and it came in the monthly club. I like the orb idea for convenience sake. My husband thought it was a Ferraro Rocher chocolate! Ha! When I got it, I thought...” Read full tasting note
Old arbor Guafengzhai Puer tea from 2012.
Originally made as a sample distribution from an old arbor production, these small balls were roll as a way to give a “one steep sample” to potential customers. We happened upon the leftovers and bought the remaining couple of kilograms.
Each sample is in a hand rolled orb shape of roughly 10 grams, though each sample varies slightly by weight.
Whoops, it’s been a while since I’ve logged anything. I’ve been rather busy as of late what with bumbling through the Real World with this job thing and bills and insurance and whatnot. When I found out I was eligible for a retirement investment plan thing I went full on into “I have no idea what I’m doing” mode for a good week or so until I (hopefully) figured out what to do with that.
Anyway, I think I’m slowly getting the hang of this…
In the meantime, I’ve mostly been sipping on some old favourites and didn’t get around to writing notes of new teas I’ve had as of late. Fortunately I still have some left for most of them so I can revisit and take notes when I can.
I rinsed this one once for 5 seconds and somewhat absentmindledly drank it by accident.
Now I’m on steep 2 or 3. Or maybe 4. I can’t remember which because my hands are on autopilot since my brain yells “MORE” every time it notices the cup is empty. It’s really starting to open up (in flavour and the ball unfurling) at this point though, which makes me think I’m on steep 4.
One orb that I forgot to weigh, 150 ml gaiwan that I tend to underfill. 5-10 second steeps.
Smooth and silky mouthfeel. There’s an edge of vegetal tartness/bitterness to it that complements the hint of floral sweetness and juciness I’m getting. The aftertaste (huigan? ugh I’ve forgotten a lot of terms as well) is quite prominent. Sweet sugarcane, I think? Man, I’ve got to work on identifying flavours better.
It’s been a while since I’ve been properly tea drunk but I think this can easily get me there. I’m feeling pretty tea buzzed right now. I’m feeling surprisingly alert and energetic (a little bouncy) yet calm at the moment.
It’s almost midnight so I don’t know if I’ll steep this to the end tonight or set it aside to dry and then work on it in the morning but there’s still a lot left in this tiny orb!
(Steep #x + 1 : so soothing. Aftertaste keeps getting sweeter and sweeter. I’m taking longer pauses between each sip to just enjoy the aftertaste. Also I’m surprisingly calm/content now considering I was feeling pretty down all day today. Tea is great.)
2.5 hours later and I’m definitely tea drunk. Of the calm yet bouncy kind.
The morning after:
Steep #x + 4 or 5
a) this is still going pretty strong.
b) huigan makes me think I’ve eaten some candies.
c) still smooth, flavour has veered a little more vegetal but the sweetness is still there. I think at this point I’m mostly paying attention to the huigan. I’m kind of in love with the huigan.
d) guys, I think I’m tea drunk again.
stumbles onto Steepster tea-drunk
I’ve never had GFZ since I’m still learning all about the different puerhs.. Got this from the white2tea box this month. I don’t know how to describe this.. My first thought was that it tastes “clean.” I didn’t find any bitterness or astringency and it just makes me feel so good. :P It’s pleasant – that would be the best way to put this. I could definitely drink a gallon of this tea :)
Two five second rinses, then steeped for 10/15/20/25/30/45..
This is my first sheng from white2tea, and it came in the monthly club. I like the orb idea for convenience sake. My husband thought it was a Ferraro Rocher chocolate! Ha!
When I got it, I thought it weighed 10g, as advertised, and was going to split it in half because my gaiwan isn’t that big. I also normally use about 6g for a sheng session. Thanks to TheTeaFairy’s suggestion, I broke it in half by bending it with my fingers! But then I weighed it and decided that half an orb was too small, so I went with the whole orb anyway! It was actually around 8g.
I did two 5-second rinses and then steeped 10/15/20/25/35/45/60s and beyond! I actually had this over 2 days, which is the first time I’ve done that. I just spread the leaf out on a small plate and let it dry overnight and went back to it the next day and gave it a couple of rinses.
This is the thickest, most buttery mouthfeel sheng I’ve had. Really delicious! The liquor is a beautiful peach color. In the early steepings, it seemed more savory, with a touch of tobacco and vegetal astringency, but the buttery smoothness was dominant. The sweetness emerged early, by the third steep, and got stronger as the steepings progressed. The buttery mouthfeel lingered throughout. This was one of those everlasting gobstopper teas. I lost count of the infusions. The later ones had a juicy fruity sweetness with that buttery mouthfeel.
I must warn you, though, that it was a bit harsh on my stomach, and had an extremely energetic effect. I was pretty tea drunk and giggly on the first day. On the second day, my heart was pumping fast with only a couple steeps! I wasn’t sure whether it was just this tea, or whether it was because of the large amount of leaf. I really enjoyed it though, and would definitely consider picking one up in the future.
