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White2Tea's 2007 Repave
(Tea Provided for Review)
2007
White2Tea Repave
Origin:
Hekai
So
I decided to continue riding the puerh train, even though I’ve been on the
Taiwanese Oolong train for the last couple months, and decided to try
White2Tea’s 2007 Repave.
Dry Leaves: I have a big ol’
chunk that is pretty tightly compressed. Other than that there is not much of an aroma.
First
Steeping
Temperature:
175oF
Brewing
Time: Thirty Seconds
Aroma:
Tobacco, Earth and Wood
Flavor:
Tobacco, Caramel and Citrus
Tasting
Notes: Instantly I noticed how smooth and mellow this tea is. It has a nice
syrupy mouthfeel to it, ridiculously thick for a first steeping. Besides that
it is a very punchy young sheng, the only real issue I had with this tea so far
is that it has a strange molasses/caramel taste that in the end I decided to list
as caramel, but that is not exactly right.
It
is very potent, I wasn’t overly fond of the tobacco notes, but I could
certainly live with it. So far no bitterness which I found a little
disappointing, but c’est la vie.
Second
Steeping
Temperature:
180oF
Brewing
Time: Forty-Five Seconds
Aroma:
Earth, Tobacco, Wood and Floral
Flavor:
Tobacco, Burnt Caramel, and Citrus
Tasting
Notes: It has become very smooth and became dark really fast! I had to double
check White2Tea’s site because even when brewed at such a low temperature it is
starting to feel like a shou. Suddenly the mellowness of the last infusion is
gone and is replaced with a swift punch to the kidneys. Don’t get me wrong,
this is still a lovely tea, but the last
infusion lead me to believe this was a soft delicate tea with a slight edge,
while this infusion is much edgier. (I didn’t realize this initially, but I
noticed when I brewed this tea on two other occasions that it has short bursts
of flavor that are not as prominent in the previous or subsequent infusions)
Despite
the sudden torrent of flavor, I still enjoyed this tea. It did become very
strong fast, but not an unpleasant tea otherwise this has a sweet aftertaste.
Third
Steeping
Temperature:
185oF
Brewing
Time: One Minute
Aroma:
Earth, Wood and Floral
Flavor:
Tangy, Dark Rum, Citrus and Floral
Tasting
Notes: It has become super smooth and less syrupy. Not as punchy as the last
infusion, which is a plus! The tobacco notes have disappeared and the caramel
has become reminiscent of dark rum. Of the three infusions this is my favorite;
it is dark, but not intense, it has nice soft floral notes, a sweet aftertaste
and has the mellowness of the first infusion. It is starting to develop fruity
notes, I couldn’t taste them in this infusion, but in later infusions I was
getting apricot, plums and dates
The
tea gets much better after the third infusion, but I did notice that on my
second, seventh and fifteenth infusions (on the three occasions that I brewed
this tea) that it becomes very potent. I have no idea why though. I decided to
continue my habit of only documenting my
first three steeping even though I feel the later ones are much better because
I thought of stopping and if I did I would have missed out on all this tea had
to give. If I abandon every tea that lashes out I’m sure to miss out on some
gems. If I were to buy this again I might do longer rinses or skip the second
infusion entirely. For $4.50 for 25 grams this is definitely worth checking out
to see if you like it. .
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