drank 2016 Poundcake by white2tea
145 tasting notes

The poundcake is the young pop star of pu’er in the West for obvious reasons. I’m not one to embrace trends, but I’ve been curious what all the hype was about. This is my second session with this tea. The attractive long dried leaves have a sweet sugary/grassy scent which is enhaced with a spash of ripened passion and mango aromas after the first rinse. What’s not to like?

Steeps are consistently vibrant and active in the mouth with some throat action going on there too. This one has a nice buzzing qi that grabs my attention. Typically expert processing here: mercifully light compression respecting leaf integrity; pure and clean tea liquor and taste; and no burnt specks to be found. Tropical fruits, sweet florals, and milky oolong continue into later steeps with just a hint of astringency.

There’s a metallic finish (all too prolific in W2T’s shengs) at the roof and back of my mouth that takes points off in my book. This can be overcome with more dynamic flavor characteristics, which isn’t the case here considering the softer profile and lack of edge of this tea.

I can see why this would be attractive to beginners with a decent tea budget, but having tried at least 5 of W2T’s Yiwu-like shengs, I find myself unwilling to put up the cash for this xiao bing. Instead, I chose to pay $15 more for their 357 g 2009 Yiwu Gushu Bing, I suspect shared very similar characteristics in its youth.

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Bio

My ever expanding list of obsessions, passions, and hobbies:

Tea, cooking, hiking, plants, East Asian ceramics, fine art, Chinese and Central Asian history, environmental sustainability, traveling, foreign languages, meditation, health, animals, spirituality and philosophy.

I drink:
young sheng pu’er
green tea
roasted oolongs
aged sheng pu’er
heicha
shu pu’er
herbal teas (not sweetened)

==

Personal brewing methods:

Use good mineral water – Filter DC’s poor-quality water, then boil it using maifan stones to reintroduce minerals。 Leaf to water ratios (depends on the tea)
- pu’er: 5-7 g for 100 ml
(I usually a gaiwan for very young sheng.)
- green tea: 2-4 g for 100 ml
- oolong: 5-7 g for 100 ml
- white tea: 2-4 g for 100 ml
- heicha: 5-6 g for 100 ml
(I occasionally boil fu cha a over stovetop for a very rich and comforting brew.)

Location

Washington, DC

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