2019 Mini O'Bitters

Very unique shou! I got this mini cake from my w2t order, and it was quite an interesting experience. Strong citrus rind taste and finish at the start that moves on to a very very clean shou taste. Texture and chaqi is quite nice as well. If the tea had a stronger aroma and a more complex taste, it would be a tea that I would highly recommend. However, this tea just falls short.

Hmm…not sure how I feel about O’Bitters. It was more bitter than I expected, though I don’t know why the bitterness was such a surprise given the name. When dry it smelled like the chenpi teas I’m used to but wet it smelled more bitter. Bitter ripe was kind of weird for me and I wasn’t really into it. It wasn’t bad, it just didn’t match my mood very well. It was kind of like the teas stuffed in king oranges. I think the king oranges are more bitter than tangerines and mandarins. I don’t know why but I think of king oranges as having a “good for you” type bitterness. Maybe at some point I ate something that was supposed to be really healthy that had the same kind of bitterness. O’Bitters didn’t have quite the same bitterness but it was close enough to make me think of king oranges. Pretty different from the soothing, smooth orange flavor I’m used to with chenpi. I have one more mini to try later. Maybe I’ll like it better next time.

Gongfu Sipdown (1538)!

Celebrating Halloween and #shulloween today with a bunch of different shou pu’erh sessions, including this one which finished off the coin I got as a freebie in my last White2Tea order – I’ve had it before and I really enjoy it, plus I do have the full cake version of this material as well so it was a no brainer sipdown. It’s also been raining all week but especially today which makes it perfect chenpi weather on top of the Shulloween theme.

As the name suggests, this is a pretty bitter tasting chenpi blend. It’s more from the orange that the shou I’d say – definitely that pithy/rind type of bitterness mixed with a medicinal soothing note and a very thick, oily and woody/earthy pu’erh taste. It’s a little like drinking Vicks vapor rub if it was orange. Later steeps get sweeter but it’s a thick and intense tea even still. I love it! I paired it with a sweet glazed ghost donut because that’s fun for Halloween, and I will say the sugar of the donut was a nice offset for some of those early steep bitter punches.

Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CVso_LZAYZd/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfXmCkCf__c&ab_channel=SanFermin

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this tea. I was told by a tea friend that it was a unique one, but they never explained on how it was unique. The dry leaf has a typical ripe smell, but I noticed a touch of citrus. The wet leaf kicked me in the face with the citrus rind, spices, and hint of ripe puerh notes.

The flavor profile is very much like a spiced wine—heavy on the citrus and with heavy spice notes lingering in the mouth. I’m glad that I gave this a go, since I’ve been suffering from nausea/headaches since Sunday. It’s quite relieving to have something that both packs a punch and can ease these symptoms on a small scale.