Cream

This was a very nice shou from W2T, especially at this price point! The feel of the tea in my mouth was like velvet or melted dark chocolate. The flavor went from fruit-forward to more nutty, honey, and sweet flavors. Fairly subtle flavor profile overall, but absolutely no bitterness. Astringency is mild and soothing.

Not much of an aftertaste in my opinion. I went for 12 infusions with this tea and it certainly could have gone at least a few more. The flavor was still potent at infusion 12.

I think I need to sit with this tea a few more times to really hone in on my final opinion of it, but I certainly like it. I think I like the 2016 Fade I tried from the same W2T order yesterday better. More complex and better mouthfeel to me. But this tea is still quite nice!

Edit: After reaching the end of the sample, I’ve fallen deeper in love (like?) with this tea and have purchased a whole cake :).

Dry leaf: mild, lightly malty smell.
Wet leaf: wet earth, mushrooms.
Flavors: apricot, butter, cashew, honey, sweet, peach, vanilla.

This is my first official White2tea puerh! (that I’m trying on my own/not from a swap). I really love puerh and it’s not something I get to have often so for a little treat I got myself some a few weeks ago and I had to try this one as soon as I opened the box. It’s creamy, hazelnutty, and smooth with just a touch of vanilla. I’m thinking I may need to order more than 25 grams next time, perhaps 50? Even if I love a tea I don’t think I’ll get full cakes of any of them because I don’t get the time to relax with puerh as much as I’d like and I don’t want it to just sit around.

This has become my go-to special occasion shou, I should probably order more. Worth leafing hard because the flavor is subtle but delicious: very little bitterness, some hazelnut-vanilla kind of sweetness. As promised, the texture is impressively thick and creamy. I think it’s often the texture that elevates a fancier shou above a cheap one. This tea makes for a great session in a small teapot but is washed-out and underwhelming in a thermos.

One hour sleep last night bleh.

It’s very clean, no fermentation notes, earthy. It was mellow and somewhat light until the 5th infusion then it became rich, thick and creamy buttery mouthfeel. The dark liquor smells of apple cinnamon and earth. Throughout the infusions, there were no particular notes that really stood out, it’s like they said, it’s pretty balanced. With the earth, there is some dried fruit. I didn’t get the bananas but got a little citrus and apple. I noticed some cinnamon and spice notes but they are subtle as well. Towards the end, it did get more peppery. It’s good and I can’t call it ordinary nor can I say extraordinary. I think it would be a good daily tea, during work when you want something tasty but do not need the focus.

Yixing gaiwan, 6g, 110ml, 212°F, rinse, 12 steeps, 5s, 10s, 15s, 20s, 25s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 1m, 1m30s, 2m, 3m

5g in 500mL tea thermos, grandpa style. Strong honey, orange, fermenting bread dough, and earth aromas. I like this one, it’s rich, smooth, silky, and has lots of good well-fermented flavors going on. The energy is even, focusing, and balancing. My one quibble might be that it doesn’t have a lot of endurance. Usually, I can get two respectable grandpa-style steepings out of a shu and this one didn’t have much to offer in the second steep. Otherwise, enjoyable.

This ripe pu-erh has medium body and is super easy to drink with little to no fermentation notes. Its highlights are the nuanced aroma and thick creamy mouthfeel.

The smell is quite light but has a lot going on. At first, it is sweet and woody with some hints of dried cranberries. I imagine sitting in a clean mountain cottage in the midst of the winter with dry wood burning in the fireplace. Later on throughout the session, other notes like brazil nuts, banana, chicken broth, cinnamon, black pepper and licorice appear in moderation.

Taste-wise, it is mellow and quite well balanced. There are some slightly unusual flavours, like citrus, wheat, roasted sunflower seeds and walnut skins. Overall, it has decent sweetness and medicinal qualities.

The aftertaste is somewhat spicy, slimy and not astringent at all. It is somehow muted but actually quite long. Mouthfeel is creamy and slightly oily, thick and a little dry in the finish.

I just love this, so thick you can almost chew it. Cream? It certainly has a creamy mouthfeel but tastewise I can find no dairy products present. For me the taste is sweet and syrupy with lots of stewed fruits like apples and plums. But what about the traditional wet soil and wood and mushrooms and all that funky stuff you might be asking? Well, either I’ve suddenly become accustomed to the quirks of shou pu’er, or, and this certainly sounds more plausible, this is just some damn fine tea. I know it took me only 4 steeps to add it to my wishlist so make of that what you will.

This is a nice ripe with a creamy mouthfeel and a reasonable amount of sweetness. I enjoy it.

So I and my friend are tried this tea for the first time. After the first couple of steeps she asked me what is the name of this puerh. I told her that it was Cream and that it is supposed to be creamy. We looked at each other perplexed because it was anything but: this tea had a pronounced mineral, metallic and tangy taste. Not a bad taste but no hint of creaminess present.

After the third steep my friend started claiming that she felt a hint of creaminess but I was certain that she was imagining things. But the fourth and all the subsequent steeps – OMG, so smooth and so creamy with a looong creamy aftertaste! A bit of earth too.

All in all, I liked it, especially since I like creaminess and I did not have any other tea that creamy. And it is fun to observe the change from the metallic tanginess to the all-encompassing creamy goodness.

This fellow walks hand in hand its tasty path when it comes to its taste and scent. Both express themselves in a very woodsy flair which really reminds me of the following components – Old Indian furniture like teak or mango wood, wet tree bark, a deep dense rainy day forest flair with a thick layer of mushrooms to it like shiitake and those brown mushrooms (we call them Creme Champignon). Beside that there is an unknown secret sweet accent to it and a very nice mineral / stony fusion. This fellow is definitely a worshiper of the dark side as you can see. Already the first infusion near lead into a deep sinister bloody red and transformed very quick into its final nearly blackish zone. Typical for a good little devil this fellow keeps going for many following rounds.