Okay, some stuff to go through, having gotten in some new packages...
I got to try the new Turtle Dove from White2Tea in a thermos. It seems to be less sweet, more solid, deeper taste, has a bit more floral, and is clearly a bit thicker than Old Whitey. These may all be because of the differences in age and pressing. Looking at my notes for Old Whitey when I first got it, it's clearly more fruity/citrusy from the get-go, and Turtle Dove is just less Oriental Beauty-ish than Old Whitey. Right now, I strongly prefer Old Whitey, because of the sweetness, and basic shou-mei jujube taste has more engaging fruit tones. I wish Old Whitey was pressed as tight, though. Turtle Dove is likely to have nicer aroma, longer, than Old Whitey.
I did a thermos of the new W2T SwineDog 76. It seems to have a lot in common with We Go High. But yes, it has a strong bitterness. It's a little on the darker side. Feels much like a combination of the original We Go High blend and Bulang Mannuo. Doesn't seem to be as floral as We Go High. Has qi, and left me *very* hungry.
I did a thermos of W2T Trap Bird shu. Basically normal shu behavior in a thermos with an interesting note here and there. Anticipated my proper session.
I did a session of the new W2T Lumber Slut. I approve of this tea a lot. I wouldn't describe this as being super-woody and soil and all of that. Frankly, you generally get that from warehousing shu. What this shu has that might be offputting, is that it has a lot of green camphor, which of course can be sharp. It's also somewhat sweeter than what I thought I'd get, so this isn't really quite an uncouth, savory tea for unshaven smelly guys. Anyways, this shu has a strong aroma, with a taste that has a bit of wood, in that low fermented shu sort of way, camphor like some shu made from northern puerh areas, sharply dark shu taste like some bulang shu, and a sweet finish + aftertaste. The viscosity is very good, and there is a bit of qi. The durability is okay, and I don't remember a great deal of dynamacism, which would be rare for shu, of course. If I weren't already buying shu and planning on buying a tong of another shu, I'd seriously consider getting a cake or two for myself. It's also a lightly fermented shu, so there will be some aging, after a good long while, as typical with light fermentation shu.
Saturday I did the W2T Anniversary Cake. It was pretty good. Aroma tends to consistently have grains. Most of the time, there is some fruit tones in there, and later brews had some hot sand and florals in the aroma as well. Aroma dies out relatively quickly, by around brew seven or eight. The taste starts off on the lower end with leather, tobacco, grains, bitter medicinal notes, and as the session goes on, the taste goes higher, with fruit notes, and late session tended to be mostly a sort of sugar/caramelish note, with lower bitterness. Viscosity is pretty good, the tea does get progressively more drying astringent as the session moves on, more or less. The aftertaste game is decent. The second and third brew had some pungent huigans in the throat. More of the session featured a long lingering aftertaste in mouth from astringency conversion. Qi is there, but I made no explicit note here, so it must have been within expected range for the price. Durability wise, the exciting part is over relatively quickly and I didn't extend to tea too long when the taste got boring. Lastly, I think that this tea has some Mansa in it, as it features some behavior common to some teas from state forest. It's not that different from the YQH Wujincang. I also entertained whether there is some big leaf varietal Mengsong in there as well.
I wanted to try Trap Bird gongfu, so I moved on from Anniversary quickly, so as to try it before headed to a working Saturday Night. This was a pretty typical shu, in the way of sweet Lincang shus, with a bit of barkiness, and a kind of milk chocolate-white chocolate sweetness. It has a strong aroma with that note, while the taste is a bit less sweet with typical soil notes found with a bit of choco. The viscosity is nice and gelatinously smooth. I got bored with this one fairly quickly. While it's nice enough, much like Cream and Pretty Girls, it's a very standard shu that mostly stands out for being a better example of standard, rather than being interesting in its own right. This tea also has a slight issue with metallic sourness.
Today, I did the Sunday Special. I liked this tea, because it was fairly complex for a shu. The dominant theme in the taste of this shu is a note that I remember before with the YS 2009 Jinggu laochatou. It's sometimes noted as cottonseed, while another review of the YS tea noted hazelnut, which I think is more accessible a taste description. The sharp sense of hazelnut/hazelnut skins without the nuttiness. It can also be described like one those small raisins in one of the box' corners that had gone off a bit and delivers a kind of resinous sugaryness. Anyways, not a totally typical shu taste. Both aroma and taste has some complexity. With the aroma, if I make sure to enjoy it right after the cup is poured, I tend to enjoy a nice floralness, hinting at roses. It has good thickness and some qi. Some degree of sweet finish. In general, Paul seems to have done a much better job of making more premium shu puerh this year compared to last year or 2015. The two nicer shu I got to try this year were much more compelling to me than Orange, Trap Bird, Cream, etc...
I also got in a package from Houde.
I did a thermos of the 2006 Taipei jincha that I got a drinker of, leaving my three wrapped in its bamboo. The dry tea is much darker than I expected, so I wondered if these are a from a re-up out of Taiwan, rather than having been stored in Houston for most of a decade. The tea seems to be more of a gushu style tea rather than a factory style, and the thermos soup was generally quite loose and broad, without a core dense flavor like what you'd get from factory. I had to search for flavor in the mouth, especially when hot. This is one of those weird teas that gets better as it cools, and tastes good cold. Taste is sort of hay, wood, nut, medicinal, has some layers and depth. The viscosity wasn't that high, but it did have a degree of stiffness and velvet. It had a strong sweet nutmeat sweetness in the finish and a high degree of aftertaste activity in the mouth and throat. Very strong feeling down throat. Good qi.
I had bought two cakes of the 2006 Taipei shu as well. Intensely sweet shu, with little of the wood and ginseng that I expected from a previous sample. I thought it was a lot like the W2T '98 white wrapper tuo, but with no funk, and less viscosity. A rather understated tea that has a lot of layers, and it took a while for me to understand that it had more complexity than shu usually does. Strong sweet finish, lingering aftertaste in mouth, some feeling down throat, and notable qi. Noted some similarities with Jincha in terms of feeling, so wouldn't be surprised if this is mostly the same sort of material. This is also more durable than most shu, in terms of exciting parts and continuing flavor. Late infusions got a bit harsher in the throat though, so firm finish line. Much of the obnoxiousness of light fermentation, in terms of energetic feel, or the thin taste feeling, seems to have faded.
*whew* long post...
I got to try the new Turtle Dove from White2Tea in a thermos. It seems to be less sweet, more solid, deeper taste, has a bit more floral, and is clearly a bit thicker than Old Whitey. These may all be because of the differences in age and pressing. Looking at my notes for Old Whitey when I first got it, it's clearly more fruity/citrusy from the get-go, and Turtle Dove is just less Oriental Beauty-ish than Old Whitey. Right now, I strongly prefer Old Whitey, because of the sweetness, and basic shou-mei jujube taste has more engaging fruit tones. I wish Old Whitey was pressed as tight, though. Turtle Dove is likely to have nicer aroma, longer, than Old Whitey.
I did a thermos of the new W2T SwineDog 76. It seems to have a lot in common with We Go High. But yes, it has a strong bitterness. It's a little on the darker side. Feels much like a combination of the original We Go High blend and Bulang Mannuo. Doesn't seem to be as floral as We Go High. Has qi, and left me *very* hungry.
I did a thermos of W2T Trap Bird shu. Basically normal shu behavior in a thermos with an interesting note here and there. Anticipated my proper session.
I did a session of the new W2T Lumber Slut. I approve of this tea a lot. I wouldn't describe this as being super-woody and soil and all of that. Frankly, you generally get that from warehousing shu. What this shu has that might be offputting, is that it has a lot of green camphor, which of course can be sharp. It's also somewhat sweeter than what I thought I'd get, so this isn't really quite an uncouth, savory tea for unshaven smelly guys. Anyways, this shu has a strong aroma, with a taste that has a bit of wood, in that low fermented shu sort of way, camphor like some shu made from northern puerh areas, sharply dark shu taste like some bulang shu, and a sweet finish + aftertaste. The viscosity is very good, and there is a bit of qi. The durability is okay, and I don't remember a great deal of dynamacism, which would be rare for shu, of course. If I weren't already buying shu and planning on buying a tong of another shu, I'd seriously consider getting a cake or two for myself. It's also a lightly fermented shu, so there will be some aging, after a good long while, as typical with light fermentation shu.
Saturday I did the W2T Anniversary Cake. It was pretty good. Aroma tends to consistently have grains. Most of the time, there is some fruit tones in there, and later brews had some hot sand and florals in the aroma as well. Aroma dies out relatively quickly, by around brew seven or eight. The taste starts off on the lower end with leather, tobacco, grains, bitter medicinal notes, and as the session goes on, the taste goes higher, with fruit notes, and late session tended to be mostly a sort of sugar/caramelish note, with lower bitterness. Viscosity is pretty good, the tea does get progressively more drying astringent as the session moves on, more or less. The aftertaste game is decent. The second and third brew had some pungent huigans in the throat. More of the session featured a long lingering aftertaste in mouth from astringency conversion. Qi is there, but I made no explicit note here, so it must have been within expected range for the price. Durability wise, the exciting part is over relatively quickly and I didn't extend to tea too long when the taste got boring. Lastly, I think that this tea has some Mansa in it, as it features some behavior common to some teas from state forest. It's not that different from the YQH Wujincang. I also entertained whether there is some big leaf varietal Mengsong in there as well.
I wanted to try Trap Bird gongfu, so I moved on from Anniversary quickly, so as to try it before headed to a working Saturday Night. This was a pretty typical shu, in the way of sweet Lincang shus, with a bit of barkiness, and a kind of milk chocolate-white chocolate sweetness. It has a strong aroma with that note, while the taste is a bit less sweet with typical soil notes found with a bit of choco. The viscosity is nice and gelatinously smooth. I got bored with this one fairly quickly. While it's nice enough, much like Cream and Pretty Girls, it's a very standard shu that mostly stands out for being a better example of standard, rather than being interesting in its own right. This tea also has a slight issue with metallic sourness.
Today, I did the Sunday Special. I liked this tea, because it was fairly complex for a shu. The dominant theme in the taste of this shu is a note that I remember before with the YS 2009 Jinggu laochatou. It's sometimes noted as cottonseed, while another review of the YS tea noted hazelnut, which I think is more accessible a taste description. The sharp sense of hazelnut/hazelnut skins without the nuttiness. It can also be described like one those small raisins in one of the box' corners that had gone off a bit and delivers a kind of resinous sugaryness. Anyways, not a totally typical shu taste. Both aroma and taste has some complexity. With the aroma, if I make sure to enjoy it right after the cup is poured, I tend to enjoy a nice floralness, hinting at roses. It has good thickness and some qi. Some degree of sweet finish. In general, Paul seems to have done a much better job of making more premium shu puerh this year compared to last year or 2015. The two nicer shu I got to try this year were much more compelling to me than Orange, Trap Bird, Cream, etc...
I also got in a package from Houde.
I did a thermos of the 2006 Taipei jincha that I got a drinker of, leaving my three wrapped in its bamboo. The dry tea is much darker than I expected, so I wondered if these are a from a re-up out of Taiwan, rather than having been stored in Houston for most of a decade. The tea seems to be more of a gushu style tea rather than a factory style, and the thermos soup was generally quite loose and broad, without a core dense flavor like what you'd get from factory. I had to search for flavor in the mouth, especially when hot. This is one of those weird teas that gets better as it cools, and tastes good cold. Taste is sort of hay, wood, nut, medicinal, has some layers and depth. The viscosity wasn't that high, but it did have a degree of stiffness and velvet. It had a strong sweet nutmeat sweetness in the finish and a high degree of aftertaste activity in the mouth and throat. Very strong feeling down throat. Good qi.
I had bought two cakes of the 2006 Taipei shu as well. Intensely sweet shu, with little of the wood and ginseng that I expected from a previous sample. I thought it was a lot like the W2T '98 white wrapper tuo, but with no funk, and less viscosity. A rather understated tea that has a lot of layers, and it took a while for me to understand that it had more complexity than shu usually does. Strong sweet finish, lingering aftertaste in mouth, some feeling down throat, and notable qi. Noted some similarities with Jincha in terms of feeling, so wouldn't be surprised if this is mostly the same sort of material. This is also more durable than most shu, in terms of exciting parts and continuing flavor. Late infusions got a bit harsher in the throat though, so firm finish line. Much of the obnoxiousness of light fermentation, in terms of energetic feel, or the thin taste feeling, seems to have faded.
*whew* long post...