We don't know when or if this item will be available.
“Wow!! I was excited to try this tea — and it proved to be excellent!! The first several steepings which I steeped for 5 seconds + 5 every steep opened like a white tea in some ways— the taste of...” Read full tasting note
“2020 nightlife mini 7g, brita water off the boil, gaiwan gongfu Smells like floral leaves. Tastes of light honey from the first infusion. Lovely, wouldn’t hesitate to buy a full cake on my next...” Read full tasting note
“Oooh, I like this one. A lot. In my opinion, it’s better than Moon Waffles. I’ll have to try them closer together for a better comparison but this might replace Yunnan Sourcing’s Moonlight dragon...” Read full tasting note
“Almost a sipdown, except I got a second freebie of these minis from W2T in another order I received recently. So I’ve still got one more to go… Drank this one Grandpa style earlier this week...” Read full tasting note
Nightlife is a bud heavy, high grade production of yueguangbai [moonlight white] style tea, commissioned from large leaf varietal material usually destined for raw Puer tea.
The tea has a heavy, creamy mouth feel with an airy sweetness and aroma. An enduring white tea with distinct character.
Pressed in 2020.
Each mini sphere is 7 grams, each purchase is for one mini.
Wow!! I was excited to try this tea — and it proved to be excellent!! The first several steepings which I steeped for 5 seconds + 5 every steep opened like a white tea in some ways— the taste of honey and vanilla was very strong and the aroma was wonderful very sweet—reminded me of a a berry hookah—the tea liquor was varying hues of gold from a bold gold to darker hue as I steeped on— the later steepings became to taste more of that Black tea floral/sweetness—more of a dry feeling on the tongue—overall a tea that I could steep and steep and steep and enjoy each time I sip!! Highly recommend !!
PS- my scrolls for the brew time and temp are wonky so I will say here I had my water at boiling which at my elevation here in Colorado is at 205 degrees F! And so far I’ve steeped the tea in 5s + 5s more per steep 10 times; it’s on its way out but I’m thinking I can get a few more solid steeps out of it!! I do not feel yea drunk at all or jittery which happens to me with some teas— I just feel awake and clear!
Flavors: Floral, Honey, Sugarcane, Sweet, Vanilla
2020 nightlife mini 7g, brita water off the boil, gaiwan gongfu
Smells like floral leaves. Tastes of light honey from the first infusion. Lovely, wouldn’t hesitate to buy a full cake on my next order from W2T.
Okay unfortunately I have no more notes as I had to finish an errand and forgot the tea. I stuck the leaves in the fridge and added them to a thermos with boiling water a few days later (no i didn’t die drinking tea brewed from couple days stuck in the fridge tea, I survived and still wrote this review). The brew turned out a little bitter and slightly sour, but it was okay I suppose. I wish I had more, but I will definitely order a full cake next time from W2T! if I had pleasant thoughts on Tiltshift, I remember this on the initial steep was even more obviously sweet (because most white teas have that subtle sweetness, but this was a bit more in your face).
Flavors: Floral, Honey
I’ll drink shou and black tea over 2 days, some sheng over 3 days, all left at my table with the lid off the pot and a bit of leaf fluffing once the top layer dries out – to no ill effect!
If I have time to gongfu, I’ll usually try to finish the steeping for the sake of continuity in notetaking, but when I forget I’ll toss leaves in the fridge or leave them in gaiwan as well (don’t do it for Yixing since I haven’t dedicated my pots to anything to begin with and I’ve probably brewed too many different things in it at this point). When I first really got into gongfu, I was reading all this stuff about making sure to use the leaves within a set timeframe of X hours, absolutely no using overnight and whatnot. For what it’s worth, if I was drinking with other people, then no, obviously I wouldn’t use “old” leaf, but if I’m drinking by myself (per usual), then I find that it doesn’t affect too much as far as I can tell (so long as you’re not starting off with bad or spent tea to begin with)
While I rarely do gongfu, I am a careless tea drinker and usually have wet leaves sitting in a wire basket for days at a time until they are brewed out. I have been doing that for more than 5 decades with no discernible ill results to my health and well being.
Oooh, I like this one. A lot. In my opinion, it’s better than Moon Waffles. I’ll have to try them closer together for a better comparison but this might replace Yunnan Sourcing’s Moonlight dragon balls as my favorite Moonlight White. I’m annoyed that I only got a couple of Nightlife balls but my bank account was already whimpering about the size of my order. Definitely going on the re-order list, but should I do more balls or a full cake? I love single-serving balls/mini cakes for their convenience (and they’re just so cute!) and I find big cakes weirdly intimidating for some reason…still, cost per gram…and I still need to try Tiltshift too. I ordered just before this year’s Tiltshift was available or I probably would have gotten a ball or two of that as well.
But anyway…Nightlife is fruity and sweet and smooth. I’m awful at picking out individual flavor notes. Maybe some white grape and a little lemon? Maybe a tiny bit of that creamy vanilla-ness I love so much in the aftertaste? I keep thinking I smell vinegar. I’m not sure if something about the tea itself makes me think vinegar or if the rubber seals of my tea bottle have absorbed some vinegar smell from the last thorough cleaning to remove Tea build-up. Or maybe it’s just my cranky sinuses being weird. Thankfully, I’m not getting any vinegary flavor. I’m using my smaller tea bottle this time. I think the section for Tea leaves is 100ml and the section for water is 200ml but I’m only filling it around 1/2-2/3 full and that seems like a good amount of water. I started the steeps at around 20sec but I didn’t use a timer and I’m horrible about getting distracted while trying to count the seconds. Going a little bit over the intended time didn’t have any negative effects that I could detect. I was distracted by the cat being cute and let one steep get cold before drinking it but it was still tasty. A lot of teas taste a bit harsh and bitter to me when they’re cold but this one was just as delicious cold as it was hot. The flavors and mouthfeel reminded me of drinking fruit juice. After swallowing my tongue feels a little dry but it’s not an extreme “tongue just shriveled up and died” astringency. Which is good! I can’t stand that feeling. I drank half a dozen or so steeps, had a nice little nap and then came back for a couple more steeps. Since caffeine tends to make me sleepy, tea-induced naptime or tea right before bed is pretty common for me.
Almost a sipdown, except I got a second freebie of these minis from W2T in another order I received recently. So I’ve still got one more to go…
Drank this one Grandpa style earlier this week though; Nightlife is one of my favourite compressed white tea “series” that W2T does (possibly my favourite overall) and this year’s cake of it has smelled incredible. So, probably needless to say, I was happy to see it as a freebie! Also gives me a chance to “sample” the cake without actually cracking into the cake yet…
I enjoyed this a lot the evening I drank it – most was while writing tasting notes so my attention was a bit split, but that’s why grandpa brewing is even worthwhile in most cases; it lets you enjoy tea without spending a lot of thought on the preparation of it. Things I remember jumping out and exciting my taste buds though; thick and creamy liquor and notes of molasses, brown sugar, brandied fruits, and golden raisins.
This lasted me all night (and was probably responsible for me having a hard time getting to sleep because of the caffeine) but it was damn good!
Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CCWuPbvgAv6/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3NR51LK3xs
