2020 Waffles Mini

Gongfu Sipdown (1332)!

Picked this one to sip on while I tested out a new gaiwan over the weekend. One of my favourite ceramicists, Inge Nielsen, recently began working with a new purple glaze and I immediately lost my mind and had to order a gaiwan using it. It’s truly stunning. I have a few people from her (though this is my first gaiwan) and the craftmenship on them all is just impecable, but this lovely purple glaze was just the cherry on top.

I picked this because, one, it was an easy sipdown – but also because Waffles is one of those teas that kind of just tastes great no matter what you do with it. It’s very forgiving, and whenever you use a new piece of teaware for the first time there’s bound to be at least a little clumsiness/fumbling as you figure out the best grip. Or… is that just me!? It might be, I am awkward as hell when I brew Gongfu – I have what I call “gaiwan claw” when it comes to pouring. This gaiwan has a nice flared rim though, which helps a lot. As does having killed the nerve endings on the sides of the two fingers that make the most contact with the gaiwan when pouring…

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CLhtnV0gqvu/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm_25EHffDQ&ab_channel=TankAndTheBangasVEVO

I’m not sure if this has been offered at other times but I received a stack of mini Waffles in a big pack of ripe minis White2Tea offered around Halloween 2020.

It might just be the power of suggestion but I think I can almost smell pancake/waffle syrup in the first couple steeps. After that it’s pretty much just what I think of as young ripe pu-era taste and smell…it’s like if you scrape up a bunch of wet, partially decayed leaves off the ground and stuff them in your mouth, but if that wasn’t gross? I don’t know if that makes sense. I haven’t tried any of the past Waffles cakes to compare or get an idea of how this will age. I’m hoping for more of that syrupy-ness as it gets older but even if it doesn’t change much I could still see myself picking up a cake each time I order or getting more of the minis if they’re available again. It’s not particularly exciting but seems like a good everyday ripe that I’d drink when I want a hot drink but there’s a lot of stuff going on to distract me or I don’t have the “brain energy” to contemplate more complex flavors.