White2Tea New aMerykah 2 2014

(Tea provided for review)

So I finally decided to write up my thoughts on White2Teas’s 2014 New Amerykah 2. Of course I had this and a couple other samples since December that I’ve been leisurely sampling a little bit at a time.


Dry Leaves: I had a large sample about 14 grams; it’s a nice mix of browns and greens with plenty of fuzzy silvery leaves. It’s not that tightly compressed, I could easily break it apart without a pick. It doesn’t have much of a smell, but I could get something medicinal when I was breaking off a chunk.


First Steeping
Temperature: 185oF
Brewing Time: Ten Seconds
Aroma: Hay and Meat
Flavor: Hay and Mineral
Tasting Notes: I started out with a quick five second rinse, perhaps I should have had a longer rinse or even a second. I’ve heard of teas tasting or smelling like strange things, but I always imagined those people were exaggerated or did not have clean palate. But I can assure you I could distinguish meat in this! Other than that I was not getting the bitterness promised on the description.

I wonder if I should have used more tea, I only used four grams in my 85ml gaiwan, I thought about using more, but I had a feeling that this was going to be a tea that expands a lot (and it did). I was not disappointed with this so far, but I was hoping for more bitterness. Will this tea ever develop the kuwei that I was promised?


Second Steeping
Temperature: 185oF
Brewing Time: Fifteen Seconds
Aroma: Beef Jerky, Hay and Medicinal        
Flavor: Pleasant Bitterness, Hay and Mineral
Tasting Notes: Oh god yes. It developed a nice bitterness very fast; perhaps I should have rinsed it more? I am always a little apprehensive about rinsing puerh, more often than not I try the rinse even though I know I should skip the boring rising action and go straight to the climax, but I am always worried I am going to miss something out. Regardless it suddenly became bitter and astringent while staying incredibly smooth and creamy. I know many people avoid bitter or astringent teas, but I’ve been craving a nice bitter tea for a while; normally I can be assuage this craving with a Sencha, but I’ve only liked a handful of the Snechas I tried in 2014 which has lead me to try more Shengs.

The liquor is still a golden-peach color which is a little deceptive; this is a lot stronger than it looks.


Third Steeping
Temperature: 190oF
Brewing Time: Twenty Seconds
Aroma: Medicinal
Flavor: Pleasant Bitterness, Hay, Vegetal and Fruity
Tasting Notes: Bitterness is weakening, it still there for the next five or so infusions. There is a new vegetal flavor that is quite nice, with the hay notes it sort of reminds me of a yellow tea. Everything is a lot sharper than the last infusion although nothing is biting except the Fruity/Apricot taste. I was very impressed with this infusion (definitely my favorite of the three infusions here), but the longer you go with this tea the better it gets.

In later infusions I was getting sweet tobacco that transitioned into honey-floral. It becomes very rich and syrupy as you go on. Definitely a tea to enjoy slowly, I am not sure if I would want to do longer rinses or infusions after trying this three times. It certainly benefits from being brewed with higher temperatures (I think 190oF is a nice starting temperature). Although I rather enjoyed experiencing the transition to from a shy thin tea to an insanely thick boisterous tea; towards the end it was starting to feel like a high mountain oolong, it had a nice syrupy mouthfeel that coated the back of my throat. Regardless TwoDog is currently selling a 25g sample for $7 and a 357g cake for $69.50 and I definitely think it is worth checking out. I tend to prefer puerhs that are good now rather than waiting a couple years for it to develop more character, but I feel this is a perfectly drinkable tea today, although I am curious how it will taste in a couple years.




Rah

Just a guy who likes tea.

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