white2tea

Backlog:

As I mention in my full-length article of this tea: http://sororiteasisters.com/2015/01/15/rougui-oolong-tea-from-white-two-tea/ – I don’t have as much experience with Rougui Oolong as I do with some other Oolong teas, but that wasn’t about to keep me from enjoying it!

This tea is lovely!

Delightfully fragrant, notes of flower and fruit. Because this is a ‘darker’ Oolong, I note more fruit notes than floral. It’s sweet with hints of smoke in the distance. Subsequent infusions proved to be even more delightful with stronger flavors and a smoother delivery and sweeter taste.

A really pleasant cuppa! I highly recommend this.

Been drinking this tea a few times a week for the past couple months—I really like it. Starts out with a slight astringency, a subtle bitterness, but pleasant and sweet. Earthy, a bit minerally maybe… By far my favorite ripe puer I’ve had (although I’ve tasted very few). Will definitely be getting another cake with my next order.

Started brewing in the gaiwan but ended up bringing the cake with me to work where I just have one of those Teavana things that strain through the bottom. Probably used around 8g and steeped 4oz cups for 15, 25, 30, etc., seconds. Lasted quite a while.

First steeps were very mild but i knew its deceiving. on a 3rd steep it hit me. it is strong bitter tea but i like it a lot. only few months ago i probably wouldnt be able to drink it. Besides being bitter its incredibly smooth, even creamy. and there is a sweetness comes in the end of the sip. very happy i was able to try this sample. its a swap from Instagram member. i need to ask him if he is on Steepster.

http://instagram.com/p/zDHAkdBwip/

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5g 95ml gaiwan 205 F
rinse/ pause/ flash steeps , then increased to 7-10-15 secs

This is a tea with nice power – the power of rich content. It begins with a bit of astringency and smoke but quickly they both fade away. Next, the herbal and grassy notes move forward and become more prominent with a lovely sweetness poking through. The sip becomes very smooth by the third or fourth steeping and the sweetness begins to break through. After drinking three cups, I am left with a distinct dryness in the mouth and throat. This cake is definitely made with good raw material but it still has room to mature with more age. I’m going to move this one to the back of the humidity monitored sheng cabinet and let it sit for another year or two before trying again.

The aroma of the cake is quite gentle. Actually, it has a hint of “old library” aroma but rather distant. Lots of nice whole leaves throughout the cake. A lovely clean and clear tea liquor with a distinct orange hue. Low and dark in its sweet aroma and taste – a little nutty and fruity mixed with mellow-earthiness. Good mouthfeel with a smooth texture. Nice full chaqi producing a very relaxed feeling. In about the 9th infusion the tea begins to fade. Interesting tea session which I quite enjoyed. I would not describe this as an “exciting” tea (in other words, it won’t knock your socks off) but I must say that I found it to be delicious and extremely comforting.

This was a free sample from Paul at white2tea and I am very grateful that he sent it to me. It has been lurking in the back of the cupboard, awaiting the time when I might be able to take a moment from my schedule to fully appreciate it. This morning is that time.

The dry leaf smells green and slightly composty with a note of warm horse. It promises much at first sniff. Looking at it, I see brown, green and silver leaf. It’s chopped but not excessively so. The cake is loose. That might be a result of taking the sample from the beeng.

When I pour the hot water onto it, the leaf immediately releases a thick floral aroma. It’s not cloying though. The liquor is a thick amber colour. The website describes the tea as ‘burly’. There is certainly nothing wishy washy about it so far. All of the elements of it are strong and bold. The taste is the same. There is strong astringency with sweet, floral and fruity notes, and strong spice in the aftertaste with perhaps a hint of pepper. There’s a lot going on there, and I am not sure that I am the best person to parse the range of flavours. I am aware of the range, but at a loss to differentiate all the elements. Perhaps I should lay that out as a challenge to others. I really like this tea. It has great body and good legs, both in the liquor and in the aftertaste.

Backlog:

A really smooth, lovely, mellow pu-erh. A sweetness that is somewhere between molasses and a buttery caramel. Only a very slight earthiness which I really appreciated.

Really very pleasant and sweet.

Read my full-length review with details about the many infusions here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2015/01/05/2007-white2tea-repave-pu-erh-tea-from-white-two-tea/

Grrrr….accidentally hit the X while I was trying to switch tabs.

So my re-write.

Thank you so much, TwoDog2, for the sample of this tea with my order. I have never had such an expensive tea before. And yes, it’s worth every penny.

Started out very bold and strong, deep, clear, and incredibly smooth. Staying smooth and strong, it slowly sweetened up over infusion to infusion. And it’s still going strong. Amazingly smooth, delicious. I’ve got to stop for today, but I’m saving the rest for tomorrow.

http://instagram.com/p/ypS0YYAyfi/
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DROOL this tea was fantastic! Interestingly, this is from old arbor tree fermented puer made into black tea. The color is a dark orange and reminds me of a gold tipped yunnan black in flavor (creamy, malty) but with a berry fruityness to it. The steeped leaves smelled like raspberries to me. This tea also is a beast of a resteeper – finishing off with buttery flavor. Verry cool. Cry, I need more of this tea and it’s $35 full size and I just did a group order! cry.

Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/january-white2tea-club/ along with the other January White2Tea club teas!

A nice starter ripe pu’er! It had a nice clear tea with a comfort feel with flavors of malt and chocolate. The only thing I didn’t like about this one was I didn’t get that many infusions, it got light within 8 steeps for me.

Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/january-white2tea-club/ along with the other January White2Tea club teas!

I drank this tea all morning. Thanks for the sample Marzipan!

I found it to have smooth mildness like an aged sheng, but with a little bitter punchiness like a younger sheng. Perplexing! Best of both worlds? Perhaps :)

Backlog:

This is the first White Two Tea offering that I’ve tried. I found it to be quite nice. The earthiness of it was rather subtle, which I appreciated.

Earliest infusions were sweet and mellow. The earthiness of this pu-erh is perhaps the most pleasant earthy taste that I’ve yet to experience in a pu-erh. This has a flavor of a mushroom. It’s not briny or fishy. It’s smooth, not bitter, and not astringent.

Later infusions became deeper in flavor but still pleasantly sweet, mellow and smooth. The sweetness develops into a caramel-y like flavor that I loved, and then with later infusions, it became more like molasses (loved that too!)

In later infusions, I also picked up on some raw cacao notes and hints of mineral. There was also a slight citrus-y tangy note.

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/12/27/1997-light-green-7582-private-order-pu-erh-tea-from-white-two-tea/

Mobile note so expect typos
in the past i put to few leaves this time I put a sprinkle over 10 g in my 125 gaiwan and it was too much I got a pleasant sweet taste but also astringent and a bit of smoke followed y a pupil constricting tea drunk

I am going to be broke(Paul take all my money)

*Soapbox
I am literally upset I did not find this site earlier. Paul has consistently good tea and honest descriptions with accurate tasting notes. Best of all you get what you pay for which leads me to this tea. I dare you to find a better tea at this price range, it is not the most complex, ethereal elixir of the gods but if you drink enough puer where you go through a few cakes-tong a year this can easily get my vote for staple. I don’t trust myself to store puer yet being in a very dry climate and my rather experimental 75% RH pack semi- sealed storage. Otherwise I would definitely purchase a bunch of this stuff and happily drink there the mountain of samples I have to keep me happy for the a long while.

*Tasting notes
A common theme of this tea seems to be me casually brewing this hungover sunday mornings so I don’t dare to claim to know it but I have picked up on a few consistent pleasant features. First off it steeps better with more leaf/water ratio (usually I go g/15mL of water as a starting point) but with this one closer to g/12-13 mL with good results. I consistently got a sweet taste and a nice slow pouring viscosity the oil present are hinted at the stained cake wrapper. Not as thick as a bu lang but much thicker than say most autumn harvests. The taste was not bitter at all but if you pushed the steeping time it got a little smokey which may or may not be your thing. Very versatile as the just nice sweetness and no smoke is not present if you flash brew. I was not able to taste any fruitiness as I have in the past but my taste buds are fried and it was more casual chug then a slow concentrated “gong fu” session.

A nice middle of the road versatile daily drinker that is priced perfectly and very approachable sweetness that is hard to offend most taste buds. Not super complex, I would say fairly one-note but then again I don’t want to have to concentrate/focus to enjoy some teas.

Update
Went for more leaf this time around with great results. Smoothness that comes with age a decent body but a very brief sweetness was something I had not tasted prior. Even though it was faint and short lived, it was a darker fruity (date, currant, jam) sweetness with a preserve-like tartness that made for an interesting brew. Getting the hang of this tea…. of course right I tried to overbrew it to bring out some bitterness but ended up with a smokiness I had not tasted before. So still learning the ins/outs of this guy but happy with my blind buy of a cake for the right price.

Next time I will just KISS keep it simple stupid, g/10ml and <20s short steepings

First session had a little bit of cold so wont comment of flavor.

According to the description this was “aged” maocha pressed into a cake and I am not sure if that has anything to do with the lack of longevity or not but I really only had colored infusion from maybe 5-6 steepings. Also more of a reminder to myself if seemed to be astringent on the first few brews quick quickly dropped off. I like my tea on the “strong” side especially pu erh so I will try to adding more leaf or extra time to each steeping.

Still to early to review but from the little that I did taste it was fairly unique and I am excited to take my time and master brewing this tea as I bought a whole cake.

Burpin’ Ole’ Book

Finally learned how to store and brew this guy which makes me a happy camper because I took a risk based on the price going up and bought more. I still wrestle with perfect steep time to acheive white whale nirvana which is a slightly tannic slightly fruity thicker smooth luscious cup. If I over brew it is a bit astringent and fruitiness is drowned by old book taste. Under brew and it’s a boring thin bland brew. I still sporadically smell and burp the old book taste hours later which is fun.

At the current price I like the yangpinhao better but I am spoiled to say this will be my daily drinker.

Huzza!

Finally got through the attic taste! Too tired to write anything worth while but how I “fixed” the tea was breaking it up to little sample size chunks and leaving it in a humid (75%) container for a week or so. It was not terribly complex nor did I get any of the intriguing sherry, red fruit flavors this time but Im happy to say it does not taste of dusty attic either. I am willing to amp up the steep time and leaf next session to see if I can coax anything pleasant out of it, all I tasted this time around was ever so slightly fruity old book but in a nice way.

My standard reference point for aged puer and I will except nothing less.

All I taste was attic…. hoping this is “storage” i will let it air out for a week before I retry