.png)
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.
Crock storage will work out the tobacco notes, takes about a year. No sheng is ever too old, btw.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
DeleteWow, White2Tea is everywhere lately.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteYou 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.
ReplyDelete