I bought White2Tea’s 2015 Tuhao As Fuck early when it came out, took awhile for me to drink, and enjoyed it enough to not drink it again that I was considering to purchase a cake. I procrastinated, then the 2016 Tuhao AF came out so I purchased a sample of that. I am still procrastinating on a cake as I am quite happy with multiple cakes of the cheaper 2016 Teadontlie.
Anyways, today’s the day to try the 2016 Tuhao AF. I felt I needed to drink this soon to compare with my recent review of 2016 We Go High, another White2Tea sheng at the same price point. My Tea Owl is blinged out for the occasion. Tuhao means gaudy.. I guess he should had some hootdazzling done, but I couldn’t find my rhinestones.
Dry Leaf and Steeping
Oooh, I like a big nice sample piece! The puer is mostly dark green tones with the odd silver leaf. The leaf has a light scent to it that is a difficult for me to pick up.
I started off safe with a 1 gram to 15ml tea to vessel ratio with 200F water temperature.
Tasting of White2Tea’s 2016 Tuhao As Fuck Sheng Puer
The hot steeped leaf smells sweet, a little floral and tall summer grass.
First and Second Infusion: 2016 Tuhao AF steeps up a clear light citrine yellow with a light grassy scent.
Tuhao AF sips in soft citrus grass with a bit of linen in the background. Not gaudy yet! The texture is heavy and slick throughout the sip. The aftertaste is bright citrus and sweet. Very pleasant and personable tea at this stage.
Third and Fourth Infusion: Still on the light, personable, citrus, grassy, and sweet side but I am getting a whiff of amber incense and slight bitterness. The tea has a stickyness to it, like there’s a couple grains of cooked rice on my chin.
Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Infusion: Boiling time! No nice Ms. Owl, we beat our teas here. Tuhao sips a moderate flavor level of of mineral, wet gem stones and pavement. Still sweet like and maybe a little floral. However the boiling water switch turned Tuhao into a fragrance bomb – my mouth explodes with a stale, lingering floral that does not quit.
I had a break here as my computer spazzed and needed to reboot for updates and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Then my bloody phone wanted to update too. I was stuck not writing and drinking for 15 minutes and I could still taste the fragrance bomb of tuhao. I’d also compare this tea as tasting like a permanent trail leading away from a fragrance counter at a department store – a lingering floral burned into the carpeting.
Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Infusion: There is an astringency building here making my cheeks scratchy. The notes lost the bulk of the sweetness – more subtle sweet, tasting more mineral wet stones sweet, steamed rice, butter and starting to cook to mush grass. In addition, there is a hint of bitterness from the vegetal, but it is pretty light. Tuhao AF almost tastes like gai lan vegetal at first, but with each steeping it fades to more mineral and butter. The texture is still nice and slick. It is still a big floral fragrance bomb after each sip.
I’m feeling pretty excitable right now. I’ve been distracting as I’ve been shrieky, jittery, and bouncing in my chair online shopping while I sipped these last steeps. Forget the blog, I need Sephora and Korean beauty products. I need all the egg, snail, fermented tea, pig fat, watery gel, hell pore products. And some highlighter – my feathers need to glow from space. Actually, last time I drank the 2015 Tuhao I got pretty wrecked and bought nail polish… a big giant holo haul.
Fifteenth Infusion: Power steeping! 40 minute infusion… as I was distracted Tea Drunk shopping. It isn’t very bitter or dry, that level stayed pretty constant since earlier. The flavor is still buttery, mineral. The fragrance is still there but not as potent. The tea was also lukewarm.
Comments
I find White2Tea’s 2016 Tuhao as Fuck a pretty approachable, drink now, higher end tea with its main feature of ultra lingering aftertaste fragrance. Let’s just get that out there first, this tea is $140 for 200 gram cake. I got quite a few steepings and Tuhao does pretty well boiled – this cake can take a good beating and while it does have some dryness and bitterness, it is on the light side.
I think if you are the type that has been buying the $50 or less range or wants to explore with a sample of an expensive puer, this is the tea for you. Tuhao AF is very approachable compared to the bitter, more crazy 2016 We Go High. 2016 Tuhao as Fuck is also perfect for types who favor oolongs and fragrance drinkers – you will greatly enjoy this sheng! More hardcore drinkers who can take bitter and want epic would prefer to pass and go directly for 2016 We Go High.
