White2Tea 2015 Milk, Cream & Alcohol


So I’ve been sitting on my new White2Teas for a little bit, which surprised me  because of how much I was (and still am) looking forward to trying them, perhaps because my ever growing pile of samples is getting dangerously tall. Nevertheless I decided to start off trying my Milk, Cream & Alcohol since it has the best design and I forgot to buy a sample of Poundcake. I am starting to think I am subconsciously forgetting to purchase all the teas I want so I can justify a second and third purchase soon after receiving the first.  Regardless of my forgetfulness White2Tea describes this as:
Menghai area character. Built to be a quality daily drinker. A blend that has all of the traits of a classic style raw Puer, at a price that anyone can afford. Drink now or store for the long haul.
Like all White2Tea’s description it is short and somewhat lacking for such an interesting tea.



Dry Leaves: The cake is tightly compressed, quite a lot of variety in the leaves. I see an awful lot of white and silvery tips. There is a fruity aroma.



First Steeping
Temperature: Boiling 
Brewing Time: Five Seconds
Aroma: Fruity and Pine Needles
Flavor: Vegetal, Tobacco and Pineapple
Tasting Notes: This has an amazing pungent aroma; there is a very strong fruity scent as well as an incredibly clean pine needle smell. This has a nice cha qi, not necessarily strong, but pretty good for such a young sheng. I can certainly see one getting tea drunk off this tea in fact I did, but not until the fifteen or so steeping. Other than that there is a Tobacco taste that I did not really care for, the stronger vegetal notes and slightly weaker pineapple made this worth drinking despite the tobacco taste.



This was quite an interesting first steeping; it has some bitterness that quickly disappears because of the very sweet pineapple notes. At this point I could already tell I love this tea and will buy a couple cakes, perhaps even a tong of it.

Second Steeping
Temperature: Boiling
Brewing Time: Ten Seconds
Aroma: Fruity and Pine Needles       
Flavor: Tobacco, Green Bean, Pineapple and Wood
Tasting Notes: The initial bitterness is a little stronger than the previous infusion, although like the last it is overwhelmed quickly by the sweet pineapple notes. I was a little disappointed to see the Tobacco notes become the strongest and most prominent, nevertheless this is still a very drinkable tea for me as someone who does not care for teas with strong tobacco notes.



The vegetal notes of the last have become green bean-y, which may be a sign that this is the type of sheng that should be drank now rather than aged and judging by the price I feel that is a pretty safe bet, although this is a White2Tea and in my experience I have not had (or read anyone else who thought) that White2Tea’s teas were suitable or benefit from aging.

Third Steeping
Temperature: Boiling
Brewing Time: Fifteen Seconds
Aroma: Fruity and Pine Needles
Flavor: Tobacco, Green Bean, Pineapple and Wood
Tasting Notes: The aroma is still amazing and is pretty much unchanged from the first infusion. At this point it is hard to decide what is better the aroma of this tea or the taste; right now I’m leaning more towards aroma, but in later infusions the tastes definitely become the star. Thereis not much more that I can say about this tea, in its present state it is a little simple, the kind of tea that I have no trouble drinking often and last longer than many teas I’d consider as daily drinkers.





As I already said I love this tea and will buy more of it, for some reason when I was drinking this I kept thinking of White2Tea’s 2002 White Whale even though it does not taste similar to it. Last time I had the White Whale I was starting to think it was getting a little old for me, the next time I order something from Whtie2Tea I’ll have to pick up another cake and see if I want more of it. Nevertheless the obvious difference between 2015 Milk, Cream, & Alcohol and 2002 White2Tea is that this is nearly two thirds the price of White Whale and twice the size, although this is nowhere as smooth as White Whale and in its current state is much simpler tea. At the time of writing this White2Tea is selling a small 25g sample of this for $2.35 and the whole 200g cake for $17.50 and is definitely worth checking out; because of its modest price I’d recommend buying a cake as a sample.

Rah

Just a guy who likes tea.

5 comments:

  1. Crock storage will work out the tobacco notes, takes about a year. No sheng is ever too old, btw.

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    1. I thought about storing it in a crock,right now it is in one of YS's porcelain caddies (http://yunnansourcing.com/en/caddy/2831-yellow-porcelain-container-for-storing-tea-240ml.html), but I've been drinking it almost everyday so I am not sure how much longer it'll last.

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  2. Wow, White2Tea is everywhere lately.

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. You described very well and in simple way to your Tea. You wrote 3 steps to prepare a cup of white tea and all the three process have some different taste and smell also so everyone should take it minimum one time.

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