white2tea

It is no secret that I love young Sheng pu’er. This tea really intrigued me when I saw it on the White 2 Tea website, Sheng pu’er and honey are my two favorite things. However, at $122.50 for 200g the price was a little too steep (no pun intended) for me. Then that little voice in me started bugging me and told me you only live once. I will let Paul’s words describe this tea: “Pure ancient arbor Spring gushu tea from Manzhuan. One of the six famous tea mountains, Manzhuan has a long history of puer production. This raw puer is soft and supple with a taste of honey and sweetness.” You only live once and right now my taste buds are living very large on cloud nine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yiwu, one of the 6 ancient tea mountains, remains a sought after source of Puerh teas. Subtleties and generally soft flavors are what Yiwu unfermented teas are known for which is one of the reasons it is known as the ‘Queen’ of Puerhs and this tea delivers on that promise. This tea is very mellow with a smooth texture. Clear golden honey colored tea liquor. Sip at first is woodsy but becomes vegetal, sweet and a little creamy very quickly. Cooling with a dry coating around the mouth. The slightest bit of a very pleasant astringency. By the 4th steep, this is a very light apricot fruity tea – delicious! Still fairly young but offers a mellow taste experience with exceptional potential as it ages.

This is another absolute steal. One of the few cakes I’ve bought without bothering with a sample first (partly because I’d read some positive reviews, partly because of the price), and I don’t regret it. I really like the strong tobacco-flavor and smokiness (although it’s definitely not for everyone), and the endurance is just superb. Can easily go 15 infusions or more. It doesn’t come with a lot of surprises (or development throughout the steeping), but it’s a nice tea for everyday consumption for those of us on a limited budget.

The soup looks like sludge, and tastes like boiled boot leather (albeit well-burnished boot leather). Not great, but at least it did not engender in me the negative bodily response that other puers have done.

First infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz water, 90 deg., 2:00 min.

Second infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 90 deg., 4:00 min.

Third infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 90 deg., 7:00 min.

Fourth infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 90 deg., 10:00+ min.

I bought this Sheng after much scientific research. I love Asian Elephants, this tea is named Yexiangwang [Wild Elephant King] and it has an Asian Elephant on the wrapper so I bought it. Okay, enough of my scientific methods. The soup is a very light bronze color. The first steeping had me puzzled. The taste was a earthy, leafy, grassy, smokey mix (or, I really wasn’t sure what I was tasting). There was just a hint of kuwei and astringency that were not present in subsequent steepings. When I first tasted the second steeping I knew what the flavor was. To me it is a smokey tobacco flavor that is very mellow and pleasing to the tongue. I really liked the consistency of this tea. Steepings two through seven tasted the same. This is a great Sheng but if you don’t like teas with a heavy tobacco flavor then this tea may not be for you.

Really good aged tea & with a good price. Favorite of my whole order from White 2

So this tea came as something of a shock to me. Having only really gotten into puer a couple of months ago I’ve been sampling widely the selection of reputable vendors. Most of what I’ve had is fairly young stuff, so a necessary caveat emptor for this review is that I don’t have a lot of experience with aged teas. (Other than the White Whale under review here I’ve had some Mid 90’s CNNP Red Mark and a tea whose name or producer I don’t know, from 2001).

Anyway, this is aged tea and it’s very reasonably priced (I would say its downright cheap, but that sounds so derogatory). That calls for skepticism. I guess the reason for the pricing must be the lack of wrappers, for in terms of quality this really is a very good tea. It is earthly and deep, with a pleasant aftertaste. I didn’t find it all that complex, but it’s very smooth and it really has a lot of endurance (in terms of how many steeps you get out of it). This latter point surprised me the most, as I found myself really liking the first few brews I thought this might be one of those teas that dies before you’ve reached double digits. But no, this one delivers. I actually kept it in the gaiwan overnight and continued next day (something I normally don’t do) just to see how it would fare. Not bad at all! For reference I brew gongfu style with a good amount of leaves, not the most economical way (but at these prices, who cares?)

To repeat myself, I don’t have a whole lot experience with aged teas, and I certainly don’t know much about the differences between “dry stored” and “traditional stored” (or even wet stored) other than what I’ve read … But this really is a fine tea, justifying the name.

Another sample from Paul at White 2 Tea. I will let their website say it: “Sweet, thick, and fragrant, the tea has already got a little bit of age. Much smoother than most of the teas from our 2014 production.” This is the smoothest Sheng I have ever drank. Expensive, but it would be worth every cent!!!

This is another sample from Paul at White 2 Tea. Before this sample I had never heard of Hei Cha tea. Well I have now. This is an excellent tea. The color of the soup is a rich mahogany. The flavor is an earthy (earthy/muddy) and woody mix with just a hint of sweetness that is wonderful on the tongue. What really impressed me about this tea is the consistency, steeping six tasted just like the first steeping.

Sheng Yiwu snob alert. This tea was another sample from Paul at white 2 Tea. This tea is a blend of both spring and fall material. The color is a beautiful golden bronze. The first steeping was a bit timid to me. However, by the third steeping it really had hit its stride. This tea has everything I love in a Sheng from Yiwu. It has both great kuwei [pleasant bitterness] and a touch of background astringency and the combination of the two was very mellow. If you like young sheng pu’er tea that isn’t overpowering, you should give this tea a strong consideration.

Another sample from Paul at White 2 Tea. Once again, the website says it all: …" this tea is burly. Probably too strong for inexperienced drinkers to drink immediately". This is an excellent Sheng in my opinion, but it is definitely not for beginners. The soup is a beautiful golden color. The taste is very burly and I had to cut back my steeping times or I think the astringency would have been over powering. My White 2 Tea 2007 Taochaju Yiwu and 2011 Taochaoju Yiwu Guyun have great kuwei [pleasant bitterness] with a touch of background astringency. This tea is the opposite, a lot of astringency with a touch of background kuwei. Once again, in my opinion only, this is an excellent Sheng. However, if you don’t like astringency or are new to pu’er tea this tea may not be for you.

For the story behind this sample Sheng pu’er look up 2014 White2Tea Red 3 on the White 2 tea website. It is a really interesting story. This is a very hard tea for me to review. I really like young Shengs that have a mineral/earthy taste with kuwei [pleasant bitterness] and some astringency. As stated beautifully on White 2 Tea website, this tea is “very sweet and direct, without much mineral or bitter character”. So it is not a tea I would normally purchase. So to the review. The soup is a very light green in color. The taste is truly sweet with a floral undertone and there is absolutely no bitterness or astringency. Is this a really good tea? Yes it is without a doubt. It is just not a tea for someone with tastes like mine, but it is a tea for those who love young Shengs but not the bitterness or astringency that can come with them.

This was a sample sent to me by Paul at White 2 Tea. This is another excellent Sheng and at $15.00 for 100g, it is a steal. The color of the liquor is a deep bronze. The taste, well let me just say, it is incredible. There are a lot of undertones that lead to a very deep, complex, yet very smooth taste. The two most prominent flavors to me were earthy and smokey. Right after steeping it was earthy and after it cooled a bit the smokey flavor really took over. For a 2002 Sheng, I still can’t believe it is only $15.00.

Warning, Sheng Yiwu snob alert. Another EXCELLENT Sheng Yiwu from Paul at White 2 Tea. Unlike the 2007 Taochaju Yiwu, this Sheng is pressed from old arbor material harvested in 2009, 2010 and 2011. This tea is every bit as good as the 2007 Taochaju Yiwu yet, despite being younger, it is even more mellow. Well worth the money!!!!

This is just a tasting note. After tonight this lovely tea is really starting to grow on me. The lovely tobacco flavor was highlighted by a very subtle smokiness that wasn’t present on my first tasting. Once again, the kuwei was perfect. I just may have to rethink my rating for this tea!!!!

When I read the description for this tea on the White 2 Tea website it intrigued me so much that I decided to buy some. For the first steeping, the flavor seemed almost timid to me. After steeping two the flavor was much bolder and by steeping three it had hit its stride. White 2 Tea nailed this one with their description: “It has a formidable amount of tobacco flavor and kuwei [pleasant bitterness].” This is a solid Sheng that I will be enjoying for a long time!

The website says this tea is burly, but I would describe it as bitter. Tastes like an infused version of my father’s old work pants. Awful. Thankfully it was only a complimentary sample.

First infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz water, 90 deg., 2:00 min.

Second infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 90 deg., 3:00 min.

Third infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 90 deg., 4:00 min.

Fourth infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 90 deg., 5:00 min.

Fifth infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 90 deg., 10:00+ min.