What-Cha

I had this for the first time today but I’ll give it another chance before I rate it. I don’t know if I messed up something but this was a really weird experience. It could be that I overleafed or oversteeped it or that I didn’t wait for it to cool down a bit and burnt my tongue slightly. After a decent albeit a bit weak and watery first steep I increased the steep time. The liquor and leaf had a pleasant fruity and toasty smell but it left my mouth bone dry with a slight sour aftertaste and a really baffling saltiness. I could literally taste salt. Weird stuff.

Wow, I didn’t expect this to taste like the real stuff. Freshly cooked rice fluffed with a knob of butter, and those crunchy pieces that are stuck to the bottom of the pot. Om nom nom nom…
The tea leaves are olive green but I could also spot the odd blanched-spinach-green leaf in there, which I guess is safe to assume is the Nuo Mi Xiang herb. Not sure if it’s a rogue leaf or if it’s supposed to be there.
The color of the liquor is pale gold with slight green hints – in-between a sauvignon blanc and semillon.
Back to the taste, in addition to the sticky rice and going in the same direction there’s notes of popcorn. Balancing all this toasty, crunchy goodness is some refreshing greenness that reminds me of stinging nettles tea. This completes the savoury profile and goes well with the buttery notes too.
It’s a unique tea and an interesting experience indeed. I can see myself going back to it once in a while.

This is a truly delightful black tea. Intense red grapes fruitiness but with delicious charred notes. I haven’t tried petmez/pekmez but that’s how I imagine it would taste – grape must that has been boiled down until all the sugars are nice and caramelized and resemble sticky sweet molasses. Then there’s some roasted cacao beans on the finish and maybe just a hint of rose. I should order some more of this.

Very interesting tea from small farm in Africa. It is more of a oolong than black. The leaves are irregular in color, less or more dark. Taste is way too complex for a regular black. Still it possess astringency of African teas but with vegetable notes. I feel carrot, pumpkin, some herbs and spices. It’s worth giving a try. Don’t drink this tea hot. Let it cool down for few minutes and sip slowly. This way you will be able to adore its depth and complexity.

Here is yet another recent sipdown. I think I finished a 10g sample pouch of this tea back around the end of November. I always like to end each month by focusing on polishing off a few sample pouches, so this was set aside specifically for that purpose. I was also going through black teas like crazy and specifically wanted something that was a little different. Toba Wangi does some interesting things, and with this tea, they took a Taiwanese oolong cultivar (Si Ji Chun) and used it to produce a black tea. The results were great.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a brief rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 203 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 15 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of plum, cedar, chocolate, honey, and blood orange. After the rinse, I noted new aromas of orchid, roasted peanut, and malt. The first infusion introduced subtle scents of toast and brown sugar. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered up notes of cedar, plum, chocolate, honey, blood orange, orchid, toast, and roasted peanut that were chased by hints of nutmeg, smoke, and malt. The subsequent infusions introduced scents of ginger, raisin, violet, and lemon candy. Brown sugar notes came out in the mouth along with slightly stronger and more immediate notes of malt and smoke. New impressions of minerals, cream, cinnamon, raisin, ginger, violet, and lemon candy also appeared. By the end of the session, I could still pick up on notes of minerals, malt, roasted peanut, cream, and toast that were chased by fleeting hints of lemon candy, chocolate, nutmeg, and raisin.

This was one unique and satisfying black tea. I especially appreciated the fact that the natural floral sweetness of the Si Ji Chun cultivar was not lost. Too often tea producers can fall into the habit of doing the same old things over and over again, but offerings like this demonstrate that trying new and unusual things sometimes yields tremendously enjoyable results. If this tea is ever offered again or is available elsewhere, make a point of trying it if you are into floral, fruity black teas. I doubt you will be disappointed.

Heavenly. I was lucky enough to get a sample mini cake of this and wow, what a beautiful way to start the morning. I’m having mine western style, and it’s mild, yet full flavored and deliciously complex and wonderfully friendly. I get a lovely warm hug feeling drinking this. Sadly, I think it’s not available to buy now, but if it ever is, I’m right there. Thank you, What-Cha, for a beautiful thing.

I can attest that this tea is very merciful to fools who manage to oversteep, even when it’s just one damn packet you need to be slightly careful not to mess up, and WTH is wrong with you?! :P I had this for my late afternoon pick-me-up just before the end of work, and it was lovely — strong (heh) and smooth and rich, and now I’m all picked up, and free, free, free! Thanks to What-Cha for the sample; very tasty!

Not rating, because I’m not knowledgeable enough, so this is just basically for my own notes. I wanted to try this because (I think?) some have called it a white tea for a black tea person. I’m a black tea + occasional green tea + some herbals + tisanes person. Mostly black tea, though. I don’t have the sophistication or experience to evaluate, but I just want to stray outside of my lane occasionally and try something different.

This was just okay for me. I tried it Western style (not going gong fu until I’m at least a little bit less generally ignorant) according to directions, and no sweetener, and I can’t say my jaded palate was terribly receptive. The second steep was better, but I also added a touch of sugar, which combo brought me up to “somewhat pleasant.” Okay, it’s a beginning. :) I can’t number the things that I only grew to love via persistent(ish) exposure, so I will carry on expanding my tea horizons, and see how and where it goes.

I would like to remark on What-Cha, though. I think I’ll just order their occasional surprise packets on the regular and extend my tea view via their curatorship. I love that option, and the accompanying free sample and nice note really made ordering from them special. Very warm feelings for What-Cha <3.

Backlog, and to be continued log. I cannot thank Alistair enough for including this generous sample. The leaves are beautiful to look at, having an almost purple hue amidst is white tips, darker brown and black highlights. The dryleaf smell is also very interesting, giving off an especially earthy smell like clay. There was a bit of a plum hint, and it had the weird fruity smell that plato does.

In my appartus it went, and I alternated between longer and shorter steeps a bit more akin to western brewing. I went light the first time at 45 seconds, and the tea tasted like, well, tea. Surprisingly malty with a hint of tannin, but something else developed. The blackberry sneaked into the middle aroma and taste of the actual tea, and ended with a plum aftertaste-not too sweet, not too dry, not too bitter. The overall texture was smooth.

My consecutive brews were longer, going to a minute and 30 sec, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, then shorter at 2 minutes, 1 minute, and 4 minutes. I know, weird. The malt was prominent in the second steep with only fruity hints and a bit of tannin backbone that was almost woody, but not nearly as woodsy as its Taiwanese predecessor or its Darjeeling cousin. I almost was hoping for something like dry leaves, but fortunately, the texture was always smooth.

As I got into steep four and five, the black berry note become much more prevalent with a plum finish and a bit of mineral emerging texture. The minerals and blackberry was the strongest in the last steep, being the lightest drink overall with the lightest color, but having the sweetest finish out of all the session.

I am not going to rate it quite yet since I need to do it properly western, and gong fu. I played with it too much, and I want to get less malt. Otherwise, I do recommend people trying it. Oriental Beauties are strong hit or misses for me anyway because of their fruity notes and inherent dryness, but this one was not too dry and a little darker in fruit which is fairly impressive. It reminded me of the notes I got with the Shan Cha, which is one of my favorite blacks so far.

If you like blackberry flavors, this one is not a bad match, and I also HIGHLY recommend trying the Taiwanese Shan Cha Black Tea.

Filtered Santa Monica tap water just off the boil throughout. Poured from a pear-shaped purple clay tea-pot into a glass cha hai, and served in a porcelain (“peony”) cup.

6 infusions (no wash), 45 seconds to 4 minutes: Marigold to gamboge liquor, a bit of sediment (seems like a lot more in the bag); Deep roast notes in the nose, nutty with a whisper of smoke; smooth toasted sweetness on the palate with hints of walnut and daylily. Some scalded milk notes emerge in the finish. Increasing earth and wood on the palate as you raise the temperature or infusion time; Soft, low astringency if not over-steeped. No char.

Robust, responsive, and clean for a dark roast – somewhat one-dimensional at the moment – this might be a good candidate for further aging (it’s only 1yo at present).

This was either one of the last teas I drank last month or one of the first I drank I drank this month. I can’t remember which is the case. What I do know is that this is one of the best teas I have consumed within the past month. Ban Tian Yao is a pretty rare oolong cultivar, so finding one this good at such an affordable price was absolutely mind-blowing.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a brief rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 203 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 18 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, and 15 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of raspberry, nectarine, raisin, cinnamon, orchid, and peach. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of roasted almond, cream, orange, and wood. The first infusion then introduced scents of honey and blackberry. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of raspberry, raisin, cinnamon, peach, orange, cream, and roasted almond that were backed by hints of wood, grass, and nectarine. The subsequent infusions introduced aromas of roasted peanut, butter, vanilla, grass, sweet cherry, and plum. Notes of honey and orchid came out in the mouth along with subtle blackberry hints and impressions of minerals, vanilla, butter, roasted peanut, plum, apple, and sweet cherry. I also noted some stronger grass notes and hints of malt, rock sugar, smoke, and nutmeg. By the end of the session, I was still able to pick up notes of minerals, roasted almond, cream, raisin, and roasted peanut that were chased by hints of wood, malt, butter, grass, orchid, and rock sugar.

The description What-Cha provided of this tea was ridiculously accurate as it really was a lighter and tangier Wuyi oolong. I particularly appreciated the complexity of this tea. It was very challenging, yet very enjoyable and easy-drinking. Wuyi oolongs can often be a bit heavy and sharp, but this one was actually much more refreshing, balanced, and easygoing than one would expect. I would recommend it highly to anyone looking for a quality Wuyi oolong that is a bit softer on the palate, though I also cannot help feeling that, due to the comparative rarity of oolongs produced from the Ban Tian Yao cultivar, seasoned Wuyi oolong drinkers would probably be the ones to get the most out of this tea.

What a lovely leaf to look at and hold. A wild and clumpy pile of large-leaf tendrils. They smell mostly of red cherry, malt and pine with hints of cedar and cacao.

Gone western. What-Cha recommends 2tsp, yes, but how I am I supposed to measure that? The leaves in the teaspoon are the arms of an octopus trying to escape man’s confines. So I brought out my scale and 2g of octopus arms roughly translates to 2 heaping teaspoons? 8oz, 205F, 2 steeps at 3/5m.

After the first brew, my nose is going wild picking out all the aromas coming from the leaf: baked bread, dark cherry, dark honey, cedar, malt and pine foremost with hints of cocoa, juicy red grape, red wine, mandarin orange and grape must. The aroma of the liquor has less strength yet is still satisfying with medicinal cherry, alcohol (brandy?), mandarin orange, baked bread, malt, cedar and pine.

The sip is light and smooth yet robust with an interesting astringency. I’m not sure I mentioned this in my note a few days ago about the Vietnam Wild Boar black tea but that tea’s flavors hit mostly mid-mouth and back with very little happening up front. I’m having the same experience with this tea. Dominant flavors of baked bread, cedar and minerals with hints of cherry, dried orange rind and woody cocoa appear mid-mouth. As I swallow the tea, I notice a stronger mineral presence and tartness. The aftertaste is tart much like a sour orange and lingering with some grape fruitiness and faint cocoa. A light oiliness lines my mouth and I’m salivating, which I love.

I have to thank Togo for the opportunity to try this lovely tea. This is yet another tea to add to my impressive experiences with teas coming out of Vietnam. Oh, this Shan Tuyet black was a great complement to a dessert of coconut ice cream and sticky rice. It cut the sweetness nicely and cleared my palate in between bites.

I’m enjoying this slowly. Rough, incoherent day amidst twenty degree weather. Hyperglycemia clouded my head to the point of me running into my bosses office’s wall and turning of the lights for 5 seconds.

Now, onto something positive, I cannot thank Alistair enough for this opportunity. Opening up the cake, it was a thin one made out of wire tendrils of black leaves tipped with an amber hue giving off some scents of bakers chocolate. I dropped the subtle, yet aromatic cake into the vessel. The seal of the cake opened just a little bit, revealing the delicate and precise holds of each leaf.

Steep one was nice after about 15-20 seconds. Cocoa in the aroma, and something not too far off from gotu kola in terms of nuttiness, albeit faint nutiness. Tasting it, more cocoa, rose hints, and an oily but sweet finish.

Second steep at 30 seconds was much the same, more rose and a little bit of honey accompanying some mild savoriness, like the butter in chocolate chip cookies. It got a little sweeter as it cooled.

Third had more intense cocoa in smell, and a bit of something tannic peaking through the background like you would in coffee or darker wine. Initial sip after about 50 seconds lead to more of a honey taste, or mildly fruity and salty. Think chocolate covered raisins, though not nearly as think or pronounced. Nice drying finish despite the tea not being astringent or bitter. Smooth, and almost silky, but not quite there yet.

Fourth steep after definitely over a minute (probably a min and 45 sec), more honey sweetness. More cocoa. Malty aftertaste. I keep thinking cherry, but it’s not that strong.

I might write more about this one, but know that I enjoy it and recommend it for lighter black lovers. It’s a comfort tea for sure.

Received as a generous sample from the proprietor.

Filtered Santa Monica tap water just off the boil throughout. Poured from a pear-shaped purple clay tea-pot into a glass cha hai, and served in a porcelain (“peony”) cup.

8 infusions (no wash), most around 45 seconds – the first was my favorite:

Saffron to Fulvous liquor; Biscuity/faintly-floral aroma with notes of hay and popcorn; Very low roast grain on the palate with meringue/custard and rice pudding elements as well. Medium finish with residual honey, fleeting malt, and faint apricot notes. Longer infusions/higher temperatures seem to flatten out (or better integrate, if I’m being generous) the flavors – although I also get a faint vegetal note suggesting weakly stewed morning glory or water spinach along with a hint of corn when the tea is pushed. Medium-light bodied; Good longevity.

Reminds me of the bug-bitten oolongs I’ve sampled from Taiwan, with similar levels of oxidation and roast (modest but perceptible). An enjoyable not-quite-medium roast tea, fairly responsive to infusion time/temperature, though not finnicky to brew.

Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge Tuesday, June 1st: World Milk Day Tea #2

additional notes: An actual sipdown with ‘milk’ in the name!  Not What-cha’s finest tea but it’s still a lovely oolong.  I have sampled this tea before but this sample was from Kawaii433 – thank you!
2020 sipdowns: 79

I hope everyone celebrating has a great Thanksgiving! I had this one a couple days ago. A delicious oolong. Surprisingly I didn’t notice much in the way of a ‘milk’ flavor, whether natural or added. The flavor is light, but I do appreciate when the flavor of an oolong doesn’t get bitey. Not much to say on this one. Dare I say it’s kind of flavorless? Maybe it’s the way I brewed it. It’s a good oolong. But to call it ‘milk’ oolong I would have liked to notice that aspect in the flavor. All three steeps seemed identical in flavor, so at least it is consistent.
Steep #1 // 1 heaping teaspoon // 20 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 10 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #3 // just boiled // 2 min

Rejoice! First day of the rainy season! Let there be oil-slicked roads and accidents, landslides, lakes on 101 that span 3 lanes and potholes lurking underneath that eat cars for breakfast. Wash away the stench of months of… nevermind. It’s gray and wet, the air is clean once again, I am happy.

Wild Boar. April 2018 harvest. Gone western. 2.5g (2tsp), 8oz, 205F, 3 steeps at 3/5/11m.

The dry leaf is fragrant with dark fruit notes such as prune, blueberry, blackberry and cherry. There is a rose floral note that sits just beneath the dark fruits and an undertone of cedar and malt.

After the first steep, the wet leaf smells like prune, blackberry and a faint menthol. These also show up in the the liquor aroma with additions of cedar, amber and another incense. The first thing I notice about the liquor is not the tastes but the body. It is s full, robust and brisk with an interesting tingly, astringent mouthfeel I’ve never experienced before, pleasurable and reminiscent of a Ceylon but not quite. It’s lightly bitter, tart and mineral.

Once I get used to what’s going on in my mouth, I can focus on the tastes which are almost like a Darjeeling. I pick up on berry, cypress?, autumn leaf, salt, cherry, raisin, rye and faint malt, walnut, rose and incense. There’s a gentle menthol cooling quality to this tea that opens my sinuses. I can breathe clearly again. A moderate to strong, delayed returning sweetness appears. In the second steep, I can also pick up some butter and an odd impression of creaminess in the body. That becomes more prominent in the third steep. The aftertaste is pleasant and tart with some salivation.

Wild Boar is an interesting, unique tea. It offers a kind of simplistic quality upfront, but once I take the time to appreciate it, the scents and tastes really open up with some complexity – something that makes me want to try this brewed in a gaiwan. It has a great body and robustness that makes this a nice breakfast/morning tea. It’s not mind-blowing but for the price, this kind of quality is hard to beat.

This was one of my most recent sipdowns as I finished what I had of this tea a couple days ago. What-Cha advertised it as being a good inexpensive baozhong, and I have to echo that sentiment. Actually, I would go a step further and say that I found it to be a very good inexpensive baozhong, one that would be perfect for regular consumption.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a brief rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 7 seconds. This infusion was chased by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of cream, butter, custard, vanilla, gardenia, baked bread, and parsley. After the rinse, I noted new aromas of honeysuckle, orange blossom, sugarcane, grass, and watercress. The first infusion introduced an oat scent along with some hints of cinnamon and honeydew. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of cream, butter, grass, watercress, baked bread, oats, and sugarcane that were backed by custard, parsley, and orange blossom hints. The subsequent infusions introduced scents of violet, coriander, cucumber, and spinach. Cinnamon, vanilla, gardenia, honeysuckle, and honeydew notes came out in the mouth alongside stronger orange blossom impressions and new notes of minerals, coriander, cucumber, spinach, green apple, violet, pear, umami, and honey. By the end of the session, I could still pick up notes of minerals, grass, honey, vanilla, baked bread, sugarcane, cream, butter, pear, and orange blossom that were underscored by hints of spinach, grass, and umami.

Given the price and origin of this tea, I was not expecting something so complex and resilient. Honestly, this tea actually beat some of the supposedly premium Wenshan baozhongs I have tried in recent years. If you happen to be looking for an affordable baozhong with a lot to offer or a quality introduction to oolongs of this type, this will very likely be the tea for you.

Here is another review from the backlog. I finished a 10g sample pouch of this tea either at the end of the first week or at the start of the second week in the month. To be totally honest here, this was not a tea I purchased myself. Alistair included it as a free sample with one of my more recent What-Cha orders because he wanted to see what I thought of it. For the most part, I have made a point of avoiding Korean green teas simply because I do not know a ton about them, and not only is information on them rather scarce, but it also often seems to be unreliable. This Korean green tea, however, struck me as being a great offering. I may have to explore the world of Korean green teas more thoroughly in the near future.

In terms of preparation, I could not find any sort of consistent guidelines for brewing this tea, so I just kind of winged it. I started by rinsing approximately 3-4 g of loose tea leaves in 158 F water and then steeped them in 8 oz of 158 F water for 30 seconds. This infusion was followed by 45 second, 1 minute 15 second, 2 minute, and 3 minute infusions. I used the same water temperature for each additional infusion. I have no clue whether that was appropriate or not.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced a sweet, delicate toasted grain scent. After the rinse, I picked up scents of grass, straw, asparagus, and zucchini. The first infusion introduced some additional toasted grain aromas that I could not place. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered up soft, delicate, and subtle sweet corn, honey, and sugarcane notes that quickly gave way to impressions of toasted rice, grass, asparagus, zucchini, and spinach. Something of a nectar and/or honeydew sweetness came out after the swallow and lingered in the mouth. The second infusion brought out some salty and brothy qualities on the nose with some subtle impressions of spinach and chestnut appearing as well. Stronger grass, zucchini, asparagus, and spinach notes appeared in the mouth as well as stronger and more immediately noticeable nectar and honeydew impressions. Butter, cream, umami, chestnut, and sea salt notes also emerged alongside hints of seaweed. The third infusion brought out a little more chestnut on the nose as well as some subtle honeydew scents. Stronger honeydew, chestnut, and sea salt notes were present in the mouth while new impressions of minerals, lettuce, and oats also made themselves known. The fourth infusion saw the nose turn nuttier, saltier, and more marine. Notes of straw finally came out in the mouth along with stronger mineral, spinach, seaweed, lettuce, sea salt, oat, and umami impressions. Some sweet, fruity underpinnings were still detectable in the background, but I did not make much of an effort to analyze them. The final infusion brought out heavy mineral and sea salt aromas that were underscored by some vague vegetal hints. Notes of minerals, umami, spinach, lettuce, seaweed, sea salt, and cream were present in the mouth and were backed by fleeting hints of sweet corn, toasted rice, chestnut, honeydew, and sugarcane.

This was an extremely deep and complex green tea with a ridiculously sophisticated layering of aromas and flavors and tons of body and texture in the mouth. I especially appreciated the fact that each infusion offered something different, holding my attention from start to finish. Even with me most likely butchering the preparation, this was still a fantastic tea. I would recommend it to green tea drinkers who are looking for something different and highly unique.

Sipdown: Finished this off at work. I think it was a little bit too tannic for me and I didn’t care for the flavor all that much.

Enjoying this lovely tea on a chilly Monday afternoon. Immediately when the hot water touches the leaves, they begin to unfurl and release a beautiful fragrance. It’s roasty, it’s warming, and pretty nutty. Gongfu style, 205F water, about 6.5g/120ml
This dong ding is smooth, and it tastes like a lesser version of the smell. It’s rather one-dimensional but that one dimension is pretty yummy. Definitely more notes of roast than anything else, but it’s creamy and fills the mouth nicely. Certainly a good tea to warm you up and get you into the day, but not the most mind-blowing experience ever. Recommended due to the price and the fact that it’s a solid tea overall. I’m really interested in trying more dong dings to get a feel for the range that this particular tea would fall into.

The dry leaves, twisted, fine-haired, and multi-colored (black, green, yellow, gray, in myriad shades) reveal careful attention and skill on the part of the producer, and emit a subtle perfume of hay, wildflowers, and raw sugar cane.

Brewed in my Korean-infuser cup 5g leaf to a bit less than 5oz (filtered L.A. tap) water @ 195ºF.

Gong-fu style infusions, roughly doubling each steep: 10, 15, 45 seconds, 1, 2, 4, and 8 minutes total.

What Cha’s description mirrors my own experience closely:

Pear gold liquid; creamy/biscuity/faintly floral aroma – quite subtle; initial unripe winter fruit note gives way to a complex gentle sweetness, suggesting alfalfa, honey, and melon. Faint spice (cardamom?), earth (worm casings?), and malt in the finish. Hints of pumpkin and baked citrus emerge at times. Lingering/returning sweetness is notable as well. Full bodied and relatively thick for a white tea, yet still largely clean (only the slightest glimmer of vegetal/oxidative notes, mostly restricted to the wet leaves themselves) and free of bitterness/astringency.

Interesting to see a “hand-made” tea come out of industrial/factory production – Kangaita is setting a high standard here.

I really, really enjoy this oolong. The combination of fruity and malty is just so tasty, it smells as good as it tastes and is just delightful. This was one of the first “true teas” I ever got, and I’m on my second 50g bag now. Until last month when I got my gaiwan, I thoroughly loved drinking this tea western style. Brewing it gongfu is even more delightful. There is a depth to this tea that changed my view on tea forever, as you can note the depth even when drinking it western. It has an uplifting energy that matches the satisfying tastes. This is one of those teas that demonstrates how good tea can be, and it’s so accessible that I think everybody should try this if they’ve never had unflavored or loose leaf tea.

This was another of my recent sipdowns. I finished what I had of this tea a couple days ago. I was a big fan of What-Cha’s other Kenyan white teas, so I went into my review session for this one with incredibly high expectations. Fortunately, it delivered, yet I could not help feeling a slight tinge of disappointment with it because it was a couple steps down from the others in terms of appeal for me.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a brief rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose leaf buds in 4 ounces of 185 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was followed by 18 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, and 30 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry buds produced aromas of hay, cedar, sugarcane, vanilla, and eucalyptus. After the rinse, I picked up on new aromas of almond, cream, butter, straw, and marshmallow. The first infusion then introduced a slight peony scent. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered delicate notes of cream, butter, almond, and vanilla that were chased by faint straw, sugarcane, and eucalyptus hints. The subsequent infusions brought out aromas of toffee, plum, peanut, malt, menthol, and baked bread as well as a few traces of tobacco. Impressions of hay, marshmallow, and cedar belatedly emerged in the mouth alongside stronger sugarcane and eucalyptus notes and a few stray hints of peony. I also noted new impressions of minerals, plum, peanut, pear, malt, baked bread, and tangerine zest as well as some hints of menthol, tobacco, apricot, and toffee. By the time I decided to wrap up my review session, I could still pick out notes of minerals, malt, baked bread, butter, cream, almond, and sugarcane to go along with stronger toffee notes. There were also some lingering hints of tobacco, eucalyptus, straw, menthol, pear, and plum in the background.

This was a subtle yet incredibly deep and complex white tea with tremendous longevity. I was particularly impressed by the sophisticated and harmonious integration of its eclectic aroma and flavor components. That being said, I was often left wishing for a little more oomph in terms of body, texture, and overall flavor. All in all, this was a very good and very unique white tea, but when compared to some of the other Kenyan white teas sourced by What-Cha, it suffered somewhat. A lot of that is due to the combination of the busy and cluttered composition, understated expression, lighter body, and delicate, airy texture of its liquor. Since no one component or set of components was overly attention grabbing, this tea ended up being one of those that required extreme focus to appreciate. Honestly, it made for a challenging drinking experience that was ultimately a bit exhausting for me. Normally, I can squeeze a couple of gongfu sessions into a day if I so choose, but after doing a lengthy session with this tea, I was simply done for the day. I know that I am being a bit hard on this tea, but it was just not as fun or as immediately likable as some of What-Cha’s other Kenyan whites. It was still very good, though, and I would not caution interested drinkers to avoid it.