2017 Waffles

Sipdown

Tea Time: Dang, this is good. I’m grandpa’ing it at the moment. Strong, sweet, and earthy flavors bouncing on the tongue. Powerful stuff (or it could be the rest of the tea I’ve spent drinking throughout the day). I’m giddy because 1. It’s Friday; 2. It’s the weekend; 3. I just got the next two books of the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan in the mail; and 4. I start my MBA in January! :D

Back to the tea: This one brews up for a long time. I decided to grandpa style my way through the last 10g of the tea. I only bought a sample of the 2017 & 2018 to compare the notes, but I lost them a while back (or I forgot which notebook I placed them). I like this shou, but I may not get anymore of it. I’m trying to get as much of the shou I currently have sipped down, so that I may begin storing more and aging some raw puerh.

PS. I’ll have my first tea room experience tomorrow. The wife and I had set an appointment at this place weeks ago because the last time we attempted to drop by, they were booked for the full day. I’ll have to make notes on here afterwards, but it’ll hopefully be a grand time!

I had to try my sample of this one to make up for my unfortunate lack of waffles, and it did the trick? I kept trying to think of something other than waffles to rule out me just being hopeful from the name, but no, it’s sweet and sugary and makes me think of waffles covered in butter. Doesn’t hurt that the tea’s the color of maple syrup either. :) Going on my list of things to acquire more of once I’ve worked through more of my stash.

It was quite hard to break up, I only got the 25g sample so, in an effort to break up a small piece, I had to avoid stabbing myself. ^^ Much easier to break up big cakes hehe. The dry leaf aroma and dark liquor was earthy, a little sweetness. I’m put off by strong leather, and I didn’t detect any of that.

The early infusions were mild, earthy, tasty, light. It became rich and full-bodied once the leaves opened up. Even though it was hard as a rock, it opened up pretty early. By the third infusion, it starting having a maple syrup taste, a pancake taste. I suppose they named it spot on. :) I can taste burnt sugar, caramel, more sweetness but not sickening sweetness. On the 5th infusion, I got a lot of walnuts. It was like a walnut pancake. I don’t normally like walnut but this is really good. It’s a very clean, no strong fermentation notes type of shu. Daily drinker due to price but the taste, to me, is better than many I’ve tried.

Yixing gaiwan, 6g, 110ml, boiling water, rinse: 5s, 10s, 15s, 20s, 25, 30s, 40s, 50s… Etc. (Still going)

First impression was impressed how easy to break off, but how dense it was. I washed twice to open up, but still dense so washed a third time. Wet leaf nose is your traditional ripe notes of wet forest floors. My first sharing pitcher (steeps 4, 5, and 6) really blew my mind one my first sip. Cedar notes with a slight fresh herb spice on the tip. There is no earth notes other than wood. There is no “dirt” taste as my wife says. Also, nothing fungal. My wife is not big on Pu’erh but she was not turned off by this too much. Said would drink if offered in setting, but wouldn’t order herself. That’s huge for her! Also, no bitterness though a bittersweet sweetness kike cocoa 60%. The astringency matches that as well, as its not horribly dry, but is sublte and lingering as i enjoying a fine cocoa nib. Several steeps later the tea is still dense and going. Not as strong, but just as dark but sweet. Would recommend.

A good everyday shou with a twist. The smell of the wet leaf builds expectations for something quite sweet but the liquor has a pleasant subtle sweetness, reminiscent of dark caramel. There is some of the characteristic earthiness and forest floor of shou, but again in the pleasant end of the spectrum with no off-putting tastes. I also get some very subtle notes of dark berries and cacao beans. What surprised me, and I went so far as to call a “twist” in this otherwise uninventive tea, was the fresh, almost minty, feeling I perceived after each sip. Quite pleasing.
This is a cheap and unfussy shou, perfect for a busy day at work or when you’re feeling too lazy for a 20-step gongfu session.

I hate that…
No autosaves.
Have to rewrite it completely.

BOO!

Okay,
my 100th tasting note here. I took same tea as my first one. Maybe my tea buds are much more prepared for it. And a SIPDOWN! My first pu-erh tea (sample though) and gone :/

I prepared it different. I took a strainer, made quick rinse with tea in big tea ball, and then I put it into a mug. I wonder how it is going to be. I think I had it in for 5 minutes maybe bit more. But big cuppa, I was keeping an eye on the colour and when it has got somehow similar as in gaiwan it used to have, I took the ball out. I know that are masters are closing this review in pure disbelief. I guess they won´t sell me anything because I am doing it plain wrong.

As for aromas – this is very interesting tea. I thought it is going to be very muddy, maybe earthy (it is my first pressed puerh). But nope, it is rather sweet. A cinnamony sugar sweet. As stroopwafels. The stroopwafels tea was more malty (and sweet). Maybe few other spices are there.

Colour – probably not very important thing. But I don´t know, I enjoy describing it even it is not important, it does not change anything. For this cup, it is really red copper colour, clear. Enjoyable colour. Makes me warm.

And probably most important – and what are people looking for. Taste, flavours, liking, cup of tea. I bet there are much more synonyms for it.

It is really sweet as the name suggests. Yup, raw, uncooked dough. With kind of pleasant sourness. But then comes the sweet part which consists of cinnamon sugar, stroopwafels, bit chai (bitterness and biting), spicy, caramel (maybe salty).

This is, as it was suggested for me (beginner when it comes to pu-erhs). It was great. I can suggest it to everybody who haven´t got pu-erhs much. It is great for easy drinking. Sweetness, no wet forest floors, no wet tastes. No funky notes! I want (and can imagine) to pair it with pecan pie or something. Certainly not best tea in the World. But for start, it was great suggestion.

Taste lingers for long, keeping in mouth some kind of film. But that is what is it about. Just enjoying the moment with tea, forgetting everything around. I like it. I really do!

SIPDOWN!

209/365

I picked this up with my last White2Tea order, largely out of curiosity. I almost went with a full cake, but held back since pu’erh still kinda scares me a bit. I know it shouldn’t, given how much of it I’ve tried now, but it’s an undeniable fact. I’m about ready to place another order, so I figured I’d try this one today and then if I do want a cake I can get it this time.

First steep is pleasant, maybe a touch bland. There’s a light earthiness, and quite a lot of sweetness; I’m reminded of glace icing. It’s a touch thin tasting as pu’erh goes, but very easy to drink. It’s not the kind of tea that requires a lot of thought or concentration, and sometimes that’s just the thing. I will say that something in the scent reminds me of freshly baked waffles. I don’t think it’s just the power of suggestion, but it’s quite intriguing all the same.

Second steep is pretty similar. Nice enough, but not a lot of flavour. A light earthiness again, a touch of sweetness (less than the first steep), with a developing hint of floury doughiness. The texture seems thicker this time; more in line with what I’m used to experiencing with pu’erh. I think this would make a good introductory shou – it’s entirely inoffensive and not likely to put anyone off, but I wish it had a little more flavour.

Third steep, similar. Almost no sweetness now, but everything else is as it was.

Fourth steep..? You guessed it! Similar.

I like this one, but I’m going to stop with four steeps because it’s a little samey and I’m getting a bit bored. I have no doubt that it’s got more life left in it, and on a different (colder?) day I might have stuck with it a while yet. I’m done for today, though. At least I know that I don’t need a cake of this one after all; it’s nice, but I don’t love it as much as I thought I might.

Bought this tea as I thought it would be convenient to drink in the office and I was pleasantly surprised the tea itself. Have been drinking it both grandpa style as well as in my Piao I and it works great both ways. Got distinct sugary and cakey notes from it and I find it to be pleasantly uncomplicated.

Wow, this one was good. I heard a lot of hype in my tea-circles about it, so I gave it a try a little while ago. I don’t know if it’s just my brain making associations based on the name or what, but it really does have a flavor which reminds me of buttered waffles with a small amount of maple syrup on them. Very tasty, thick, sweet. Just about all you could want in a shou. I’ll almost certainly nab a cake when I make my next W2T order if they’re still in stock.

Got this with my Black Friday order and am just getting around to it now. It was a fairly nice tea with little if any bitterness and a fair amount of fermentation flavor. That flavor was a little unpleasant but in no way fishy. In any case it didn’t last and this became a nice perhaps you would say easy drinking ripe puerh with a nice mildly sweet flavor profile. I didn’t really get the flavor notes specifically as I made a phone call in the middle of the session. Months ago I have given a gongfu set to a friend of mine and a couple of teas, some ripe puerh and some oolong. He had not tried them yet. To be honest I was calling to convince him it was worth a try. I would be a shame if all the money I spent was wasted and he didn’t use the tea set. This was a nice tea in any case.

I steeped this nine times in a 140ml Yixing Teapot with 12g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 15 sec, and 20 seconds.