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“2021 Tiltshift 7g mini in my 8oz pot steeped western with boiling water First steep is very light. I let it steep for longer than I would normally and the ball had barely started to break apart...” Read full tasting note
“Brewed gongfu style. The dry leaf aroma leans toward hay, camphor, and mineral, with a finish of honey. Initial tasting notes of radish, citrus peel, honeysuckle give way to cream, vanilla, and...” Read full tasting note
“I had a mood for gongfu, but today is another too hot day and white tea dragonball sounds like a delight. 10 seconds rinse. 1st steep, 20 seconds Very bright brew, smells after freshly cut yellow ...” Read full tasting note
“I decided to see how this does as a sort of western/grandpa/extra lazy steep in the tea press. It wasn’t awful but it lost almost all the wild tropical fruity magic it had during gongfu steeping. I...” Read full tasting note
Our 2021 Tiltshift is an extremely bud heavy picking of yueguangbai, a shade dried white tea from Yunnan province. This is a light and easy to drink white tea with a smooth body and sweet aftertaste. The aroma is soft and inviting, as is the tea. A lovely daily drinker.
Each purchase is for one ~ 7 gram ball.
2021 Tiltshift
7g mini in my 8oz pot steeped western with boiling water
First steep is very light. I let it steep for longer than I would normally and the ball had barely started to break apart and was still floating on the top.
Flavor is light as expected with an interesting sweetness in the aftertaste that brings to mind fruit, though not a specific fruit. Maybe a bit of a hay flavor as well. Its difficult to say.
Second steep, now the mini has broken up and I’m getting a lot more flavor, though its still delicate. Sweetness is now in the back of the sip as well as in the aftertaste. The maybe hay like flavor is also stronger. The mouth feel has a bit of viscosity. Its not heavy, but it is noticeable.
I’m not as fond of the direction the flavor goes as it cools. It does get stronger and drying and not so much sweetness in the back of the sip. The scent in the cup is absolutely hay like.
I’ve been looking through notes from others to see if they can kick start a vocabulary for what I am tasting. I don’t know if I would agree with cucumber, but maybe green melon might in the aftertaste.
Third steep and loosing flavor now. Dryness is now the dominant sensation and its lost that viscous mouth feel. It literally feels like all moisture is being sucked out of my tongue. Sweetness is down to an aftertaste. Might be some hay in the scent, but flavor is mild. The green melon vibe is also missing in flavor and scent. I don’t think this resteeps well, at least not for western style.
Brewed gongfu style. The dry leaf aroma leans toward hay, camphor, and mineral, with a finish of honey. Initial tasting notes of radish, citrus peel, honeysuckle give way to cream, vanilla, and peach. Very approachable.
Flavors: Camphor, Citrus Zest, Cream, Hay, Honeysuckle, Mineral, Stonefruit, Vanilla
I had a mood for gongfu, but today is another too hot day and white tea dragonball sounds like a delight. 10 seconds rinse.
1st steep, 20 seconds
Very bright brew, smells after freshly cut yellow melons, with hints of camphor, a bit citrusy. The brew tastes still quite weak, however first notes have started to appear, bunch of fruit flavours, stonefruits with hint of lemon maybe? Interesting mouthfeel, very mouthcoating with some kind of film coating all the mouth. Also there are some nice sweet notes in the background.
2nd steep, 20 seconds
Much stronger previous notes, yellow melon being very prominent, citrus notes in background. The ball has fell apart.
3rd steep, 25 seconds
Just a little increment because broken ball. Now it is indeed very citrusy, but with combination of white tea notes – read: hay, meadow, smooth and creamy notes, followed with stonefruits in aftertaste.
4th steep, 30 seconds
Stonefruit notes, a little unripe peach, honeydew, with meadow, hay-like aftertaste, with long mouthfeel, again “the film coating” feeling.
5th steep, 45 seconds
Is it almost gone? This steep was weirdly weak, with hay notes only and meadow flowers in aroma. Nice, but it is certainly noticeable it’s running out of flavours.
6th steep, 55 seconds
Indeed gone. I am surprised to see it lasts only 6 steeps. But on the other hand, I ran out of water in my thermos too. So, maybe it’s just a good timing.
I decided to see how this does as a sort of western/grandpa/extra lazy steep in the tea press. It wasn’t awful but it lost almost all the wild tropical fruity magic it had during gongfu steeping. I got hints of the powdery vanilla deliciousness now and then and but nothing like I was getting gongfu. It was sort of “just tea” flavor instead an intense fresh fruit juice experience. It was okay for mindlessly drinking all day and didn’t clash with any snacks or meals but disappointing when I know this tea can taste so much better.
