white2tea

TTB. Finished. Charcoal-roasted white tea sounds intriguing. I love a good charcoal-roasted oolong, but I don’t know if I’ve had any white tea that specifically does a heavier roast to taste. I’m on the dregs, so I’m not sure how representative this sample will be of the full tea.

It’s been raining hard for the past few days. I need tea. Lots of tea.

Dry leaf: Nothing
Wet leaf: Raisins. Sweet wood. Charcoal and old house in the second infusion.
Flavor: Dried wood. Charcoal. Very slight Palo Santo.
I think it would be interesting to try more of this one. I don’t feel like I quite experienced the depth that this one has to offer.

I feel like Cookie Monster but with tea. And I don’t throw the leaves around.

This tea is smooth with a pleasant woodsy aroma. The flavor is much lighter than the scent, with a mineral bitterness and a cooling mint-like finish. I’m not sure how I feel about this tea, as it’s missing the funkiness and flavors I look for. The flavor profile did not change over several different brewing methods (gaiwan and grandpa style). I think this is one tea I’m just happy to sample and move on.

Gongfu!

For such a recent pressing, this was such a pleasantly approachable feeling sheng pu’erh. Very bright and lightly sweet with much more of a fresh, fruity-leaning profile. Light to medium-bodied notes of white peach, lemon curd, pink grapefruit, lychee, and just a whisp of elderflower. Still green and a bit snappy, too, but definitely not in a particularly sharp feeling way. The finish is most excellent, though, with a stronger and more lingering sweetness from the huigan; and this only got deeper as the session progressed.

Unfortunately, I think this may have been my last session with this particular teapot. Though I did notice it several sessions back, there was a hairline cracker in the lid of the teapot that worsened throughout the session until eventually it caused the side of the lid to chip apart. Sadly, I had mistaken it for crazing when I first saw it. If you look carefully, you can actually see it in the second to last photo of this carousel – before tragedy had fully struck.

Even with the chip, the lid (and rest of the pot) is still technically usable – but I’m definitely concerned about it continuing to worsen to the point where the skull on the top breaks off or the lid splits in half. Such a shame – it’s an incredibly beautiful piece of teaware, and was such a perfect capacity and shape for dragonballs such as this one. If it were you, would you retire it?

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DLGI40uyZy3/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYOqk19FJG0&ab_channel=DavidDeanBurkhart

Grandpa Style!

This unique and hard to categorize tea is so fascinating to me; I feel like I really volley back and forth between feeling like I’m drinking both a white and black tea as I drink it. The mouthfeel is soft in a way that makes me think of white tea, but with a thickness closer to a black. Though Indo think the tasting notes that rise to the surface can vary greatly depending on your steeping method, with this session I experienced a strong flavout of creamed or whipped honey with gentle fruity undertones, like someone had added a tiny splash of white cranberry juice. There were also notes of strawberry leaves, with their crisp yet fresh and delicate grassy sweetness, along with the tiniest touch of caramelized sugar. Thinking about it, maybe this experience was a little more on the ‘white tea’ side of things, though I’m sure as this tea ages that balance between the two tea types may continue to shift.

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DLKqPonggKi/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7qtZs3Iww4&ab_channel=CallMeKarizma-Topic

Gongfu!

An evening session paired with some super fresh, juicy red cherries. I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve had a decaffeinated pu’erh (ripe OR raw), and I have to admit that I was incredibly skeptical about it. I have been burned so many times by flat, tasteless decaf teas, and I was curious how this one could possibly hold up to being brewed using the gongfu method. Honestly!? It wasn’t so bad. Certainly, it was not a deeply nuanced tasting session. But despite the blunt delivery of the brothy and earthy-leaning flavours, I thought the body was exceptionally thick and slick with a lot of strength to the few tasting notes that did come through. I’m glad I challenged that bias I was holding because this was definitely more solid than I had expected.

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DLBD9QjSLh7/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjkEbrHp3eU&ab_channel=SACS%26TheBrusselSprouts-Topic

Gongfu!

This black tea is really full-bodied with a deeply brisk and malty profile that makes me feel like it would make for a really incredible base for an elevated take on a more traditional Southern sweet tea. It even naturally has a slightly pithy note of lemon zest, while being balanced by more rich “brown tasting” undertones of notes like maple and molasses. Obviously, it’s very good gongfu like this, but I haven’t been able to shake that sweet tea idea in the days since brewing this. Has anyone ever made sweet tea with a dragonball like this!? Was it worth it?

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DKfhiZxyJe6/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mzlm3Pb3UA&ab_channel=mamalarky

Sip Down

Aroma: Leather, dust (like house dust?), old chocolate, garden bed, greens, produce aisle sprinkler water (whhhhat the heck was going on? LOLOLOL), & mixed vegetables.

Tasting Notes: Nutty, light bitterness (up front), turnip greens, kale, charcoal, & astringent.

Gongfu!

This is a very smooth, clean tasting shou pu’erh with a more creamy mouthfeel and taste alongside a rather refined feeling and fruity profile. Notes of stewed stonefruits (plum in particular), raisins, and elderberries – all on the deeper, more dense, and jammy side without a lot of front-loaded brightness. It’s a flavour that sits with you long after each sip while inviting the next one. Even though this is smooth and mellow, it doesn’t feel overly “polished” or flat tasting, and the tea seems to really build in both taste and body feel steep over steep.

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/DKAwSMzS0b6/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5RxB0N52aU&ab_channel=DUUNES

For the moment, I’m drinking this tea Western-style in a large, oversized “camping” mug. The kind you cradle with both hands while sipping from it. This more experimental white tea is interesting because, though it is smoky throughout, the top of the sip is really sweet with notes of peach jam and just a little marmalade before those fruitier elements swap places with the undertones of petrichor and wet rocks; creating a clean, earthy and smoked tinged mineral finish. It’s still raining this afternoon, so something smooth and smoky with elements of petrichor (my fave smell) is right at home with the quiet, melancholic atmosphere brought on by the steady pitter-patter of rain outside my windows…

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DJzzFO2yvTl/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y-PenHH71c&ab_channel=EverythingEverything-Topic

All the barbecue flavors with none of the calories! Initial steeps are dominated by complex smoky, sweet, bacon-y notes. There’s also a pleasant fruity aftertaste which complements the smoky flavors. The white tea is also a lot easier on the stomach compared to other smoky teas I’ve had from White2Tea, like 2022 Boat Captain and 2025 Northern Grown.

I very much enjoyed this tea! I agree with other reviewers that the taste reminds me of autumn leaves, however the smell is like a strong apple cider vinegar, which makes for a stimulating brew.

Has the usual shou qualities that I love — slick and oily texture, earthiness. Mild sweetness and has a great color, super dark red.

Smooth, bold, and fruity with hints of apricot and heat. The leaves smell sweet and earthy, and the tea pairs well with all sorts of food. I enjoy this tea very much and have purchased the full cake for everyday drinking. For me, the best flavor brews out in the gaiwan, but grandpa style or thermos brewing also yields good results.

Bright and sweet, with hints of hay and tobacco. The sweetness leads into a slightly bitter and complex earthy aftertaste. The mini is a bit compressed, but after two ~5min steeps it starts to open up.

Gongfu!

Enjoying this tea with some muscat grapes this morning and rereading some earlier volumes of Dandadan while I impatiently wait for the second season of the anime!! This is a really, really cozy and warming black tea with such a bold body and pleasantly light bite of astringency at the top of the sip. Very strong spice notes led by cinnamon and allspice, which lean in perfectly to the more starchy and grain-like mid sip notes of baked yams, baker’s chocolate, mugicha, and freshly baked rolls. The undertones are a bit fruity in a more dense, darkly sweet, or “brown tasting” way – think raisins or dates.

It’s absolutely pouring today with some seriously intense thunder, so this is tea so reminiscent of fresh raisin bread or hot cross buns straight out of the oven is absolutely the perfect tea to hunker down with while staying snuggly inside with something good to read!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DJwkpFstcrr/?img_index=1

And it really never stops being both challenging and hilarious to explain the plot of this manga/anime to other people, as evidenced by the last few slides here…

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVIWIbUG9Qw&ab_channel=B%C3%98RNS

April Backlog and sip down

My April stack has been sitting on my desk to review for a few weeks…I cannot believe we’re 17 days in May. Where the heck is 2025 going?

Aroma: Hay, melon rind, & cannabis

Texture: Oily

Tasting Notes: Melon, bitterness, & lingering sweetness.

Gongfu!

I love a bud heavy black and the bright, coppery liquor practically glows in the sunlight. It’s quite a sweet black tea, with a velvety smooth mouthfeel and more of a medium body. As expected, it tastes a lot like honey, with warm floral undertones that make me think of wildflowers. More unexpected are the sweet, airy, and creamy confection notes – like marshmallow fluff! They don’t eclipse the honeycomb that takes center stage, but they’re an undeniably present supporting role. It’s probably one of the more standout black teas I’ve brewed up as of late.

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DJmacE0Nja2/?img_index=1

This set looks right at home out here among the grass and stones; AKA my favourite spot for outdoor tea as of late.

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRBa34X5Hwg&ab_channel=SayaGray-Topic

Wow! Love this one. Next to Yunnan Sourcing’s Green Dragon for my favorites. Strong and reminds me of fresh, healthy compost. Smells so good and woodsy out of the bag too.

Tea is delicate and sweet with an upfront honey taffy and earthy funkiness, which leads into a floral and fruity aftertaste. Honeysuckle and white peach notes lasted many steeps.

Good daily drinker. Sweet and light floral notes that last for many steeps.

Floral, clear, and refreshing. Slightly bitter, but in a pleasant way. In later steeps floral notes decline, but are still present.

Trying this Western style for the first time as that’s how I usually would drink a breakfast tea, but no milk or sugar for this first tasting. Part of me expected this to be brisker and more tannic, but I’m also delightfully surprised to be met with a very rich and full-bodied cup that is actually quite smooth and velvety. Though there is a woodiness and almost oak-like note, mostly I found this quite chocolate-y tasting. A less refined and more bittersweet cacao chocolate, sure, but chocolate forward nonetheless.

I have had other black teas from W2T steeped Western style that have left a more immediately striking first impression, but I thought this was solid and it’s something that I could see servicing that early morning breakfast cuppa role quite well.

Fresh sweet hay, leather, and apricot notes. Leaves are tightly compressed, but opens up after a short wash and two ~50sec steeps with boiling water. Brewing with Gaiwan, first steeps have clear notes of fresh hay, which settles into an apricot and leather aftertaste. In the later steeps, the fresh hay notes weaken and become sweeter.

Decent daily drinker, as expected and advertised. Tastes a lot like a red (aka black) tea, so not my favorite gong fu style but that’s alright.