2016 We Go High

Geek Steep S2E4 – Janelle Monae

Gongfu!

This is the tea I chose for my listen through of the albums/songs that Marika chose for this week’s episode of Geek Steep – though I have to give a big shout out and thank you to my friend Cody from TheOolongDrunk for really taking the time to help me pick a tea. I knew that I wanted something to Gongfu since brewing gongfu while listening to albums/playlists is such an important part of my tea drinking routine, and he had some really awesome suggestions!

You can listen to this week’s episode now on all major podcast streaming sites for the more thourough breakdown of exactly why this sheng in particular got the final stamp of approval.

Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CNBWOliBhUw/

At first an intense aroma from the wet leaves: leather, wood, vanilla, dried fruits.
Then something more like clay… soil… fermentation… I don’t know.

The liquor is very tasty from the first steep. I immediately get a wobbling qi rising in my head from the back of my neck. My heart beats faster. My brain is slowly freezing. I sit still observing, and I stop taking notes.

Few hours later:
The tea is good. It gave me some kind of focused/stoned feeling, without making me nervous like other stuff does. This was a quite meditative tea session, strong teas like this demands attention. Flavours and aromas were good but not so defined or remarkable (I had just one session). The liquor was nicely thick with a medium-long aftertaste. There was some sharp bitterness but not overwhelming.
I stopped after 11 infusions, with a 3 minutes steeping. Taste was flatter and I was full. Did I miss something?

Good tea, I’m not good at defining tastes but I’ve had a weird dejà-vu, like I drank this before or something similar. The body effect was present. That was my first session of my 25 g so I’ll update this maybe layter.

We Go High is a high quality blend that is unfortunately too expensive. However, I can imagine that it could still be worth it for people who prioritize cha qi, don’t care about single origin sheng, and like their pu’er sweet and fruity. I wonder if some of the maocha was aged a bit, part of the leaves seem to be older than 4 years.

The aroma here is a bit simple and fairly standard for a raw pu’er, but also really beautiful. It lands on the sweeter side of the spectrum with notes of fruit juice and forest floor among the most prominent ones.

First infusion is sweet with only a touch of bitterness and flavours such as honey, longan and apricot jam. Second steep is a bit more floral and medicinal, but fruitiness still dominates. There are notes of butternut squash and rum, the latter of which is a common one throughout the session. Bitterness intensifies from then onwards and the tea’s flavour becomes progressively heavier and more grain-like too. Another interesting note that pops up every now and then is custard, which is a little unusual I’d say.

The aftertaste is a bit more on the vegetal and savoury side, but it also has a returning bitterness and a long-lasting soft sweetness to it. Sometimes the flavour reminds me of sunflower seeds a bit.

The liquor texture is oily, dense and smooth, which turns into a numbing and powdery mouthfeel after swallowing. A definite highlight of the session is the very strong cha qi. It is of the dizzying/sedating kind accompanied by a substantial body warming sensation.

Song pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_LZ99hqLQ8

Temporarily through with the the OCD phase of tea appreciation, as I’ve halted acquisitions and have entered drink down mode.. Now it’s kinda like throw a chunk in. Pour water until it feels right. If I overbrew, I overbrew. If I underbrew, I underbrew. The trick is to find a tea that you’re happy with either way, for many steeps. This is one of ’em.

song pairing: happy now – ha:tfelt

I read some reviews on this one and was warned about the effects of it, hehe. I didn’t get a chill up my spine but I did get a weird head throb, fuzziness, and a small headache. I never get headaches. I can’t even remember the last time I had one. It’s not a bad headache though, and when I walked around and got busy, it kindasorta went away. Made my neck feel tight though, like I slept on it wrong.

This one is kind of opposite to the one I just reviewed 2015 Pin. It didn’t start bitter and it goes away like with 2015 Pin but it starts off mild and becomes slightly bitter. I’m currently only on the 5th infusion of a long series so I just wanted to make a note that I definitely felt something odd in my head like some others mentioned. No palpitations nor strong beating heart though hehe. Decent energy but not like the 2015 Pin earlier where I mentioned it felt like a definite mood lifter… or as derk asked “Did it make you dance?” lol :D

Aroma and taste profile is good. The dry leaves smelled like strong stonefruits and hay. It’s a smooth mouthfeel, slick and it kind of hangs in the back of my throat. Just recently I reviewed a tea where I said I had peculiar mouth sensations, the grandpa one. This is similar but different mouth sensations. Slickness. I did not find it too bitter nor dry as some mentioned, perhaps because I began with near boiling water.

I’ll add my parameters when I finish. I’ll also add more taste notes should anything change (which I believe they will).

Thank you Derk for the sample! :D

One of the oiliest sheng puerh I’ve had to date. Orange liquor, thick and viscous with honey, reminded me of sweet mead made with medium to dark honey. Heavy undertones of apricot, peas, fresh green beans and yeast roll. Bitter but plays well with the sweetness. Maintains this character for at least ten steeps then transforms into something more floral, bitter and buttery — lactobacillus in nature.

Great longevity (16+ infusions) and strong enough in flavor and bitterness that the first handful of steeps were quite short. The energy is very relaxing and within 5 infusions, the tea had me tucked into bed singing me a lullaby which led into a restful sleep. Of course, this all could be attributed to unpacking from my move. I finished the session the next morning and the tone was set for a mellow day.

Good stuff. Really interested to see the transformation since it’s already such a solid sheng. I’m actually surprised I liked it more than I thought I would, given that honey is my least favorite sweet flavor. Thanks for the recommendation BrutusK, denizen of slack.

Reviewing from the Sheng TTB Round #3, first up on reviews because I was so excited.
4.5g in 90mL gaiwan, 100C
Rinse was very light, and trending extremely sweet
Steep 1: the lid was extremely sweet. There is some very slight bitterness but more than anything else this is an extremely nourishing broth. All of this was on the first sip…by the time that I BEGAN to sip the second sip, I got chills and the hairs on my head stood up and felt like I had a head massager thing which is an eerily similar experience that Oolongowl reported…whew this is going to be a banger.
Steep 2: the texture is slick, but not bitter or astringent. Just pleasantly sweet. I’m sweating and lightheaded already wowww
Steep 3: Primarily sugarcane up first in front, followed by bitterness on the finish and some dry astringency afterwards up front but it isn’t bad at all I actually kind of enjoyed it. And there’s a sugarcane huigan in the back aplenty. I was waiting on some more water in the kitchen and was just pacing around dizzy. This is sitting right up tight in my chest and just under my scalp, with a very noticable energizing feeling. WHEW this is some good feels
By steep 6: there’s more bitterness, and a heavy texture but unfortunately I think this is on its way out….
By steep 8: there’s some brief floral notes up towards the top of my mouth but this doesn’t last long. Instead this is just CRAZY SWEET. After the 10th steep I think this was all done…not able to taste much besides leaf juice, and the texture is flat.
I wish it had lasted longer, this is awesomely sweet and some real fast qi which doesn’t fuck you up for long but its pretty great while it lasts. Totally considering getting this…

Dry leaf in a warmed gaiwan has that signature w2t/good young raw puerh smell. i wish we could get a candle made with that scent.
good energy. The first cup is soft and inviting. a sweetness almost like baby powder.
The smell of the empty cup after drinking smells of lilac and orchid maybe? anyway….floral.
infusions move along to a nice tingly slightly bitter vegetal brew, then (around steep 10 or so) get back to the sweetness, a sweetwater light brew.

i do one gram per 12-15 mL usually.

Bought a sample of this one a little while ago. It definitely has some pretty powerful body feels. Flavor is more vegetal/savory, though there is some floral and honey going on as well. Definitely lots of bitterness as well. Pleasant enough tasting, but definitely more about the feels and texture, as seems to be true with a lot of the high-dollar white2tea offerings. This one packs a punch, but doesn’t really do it for me enough to want to pick up a full cake.