Here it is, the 2016 Untitled 02 Sheng Puer from White2Tea! This raw puer is the 3rd most expensive out of the 2016 line and one of the new teas. There is little information on this tea other than, “A blend of raw Puer material with low underlying bitterness. The soup is thick and heavy with strong sweetness and body feel.” which sounds good. The wrapper looks pretty awesome too!
There is a lot of try this year so I bought samples of all the new White2Tea shengs. Owl in a Sombrero is helping me out today.
Dry Leaf and Steeping Instructions
2016 Untitled 02 is very fragrant, like fresh floral leaf. The sample piece I have really really compact (and not a beenghole), I needed to get my puer pick out to break it apart.
I steeped 2016 Untitled 02 at 1 gram 15ml ratio with 200F water temperature. I had 2016 Untitled 02 previously with boiling water and it didn’t have the longevity nor did I get blasted out of my mind.
Tasting of White2Tea’s 2016 Untitled 02 Sheng Puer
First, Second, and Third Infusion: 2016 Untitled 02 sips in light, yet thick. The notes are vegetal, bit of sweet floral with a touch of bitterness in the back of the throat. Overall mostly savory, with the light bitterness catching on the throat making you pause each sip. It is like drinking melted butter on some lightly wilted green salad topped with edible flowers.
Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Infusion: The bitterness is tight here, it’s a potent grassy with a punch strong fragrance. The dryness is fairly high as I am actively aware of all the gaps in between my teeth. Flavor is strong vegetal but the fragrance is strong floral squeaky spinach and bit of mineral.
Seventh and Eighth Infusion: Very dry, I can feel the enamel on my teeth. Interest sweet mineral and wet stones taste. The body is slick on the lips, fragrance is still vegetal. My stomach is starting to ache and head squishing. Unsure if my head being squished in a vice or I’m being run through a clothes dryer.
Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Infusion: 2016 Untitled 02 is bright and mineral sweet. These infusions have a lot of oomph, and no vegetal notes left. The fragrance is long lingering peach breath of death. Admittedly, I’m not completely in love with this tea other than the fragrance, and apparently the tea knows this and is punishing me. LOVE ME DAMMIT! Confirmed, my head feels like it is the dryer, getting tumble dried and bouncing all over the place. A “WOB WOB WOB” feel. 2016 Untitled 02? I’ll title it. “Owl in a dryer”. WOB WOB HOOT! Back to earth, that head in the dryer feel is likely the tea ramping my blood pressure to 11.
Twelfth and Thirteenth Infusion: I switched to boil here and did long steeps. 2016 Untitled 02 was getting too light and I am too out of it to figure out how to use my kettle. This tea did not like boil, it is bitter in a bad way, but with some interesting mineral notes. 2016 Untitled 02 tastes like concentrated spinach stuck in my dried out molars.
Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Infusion: 2016 Untitled 02 has a really nasty funny frowny face bitter finish, but starts out mineral sweet and butter. It is so bitter with a dry burn of a sip. My brain has melted so I do not care anymore. This is pretty close to dead but I’m milking this tea as long as possible as I paid $24 for my 25 gram sample. I think I can get one more steeping if I let it go for an hour in a steel flask but I lost motor skills to coordinate doing so. My body lost control due to violent sheng hangry. I abandoned the tea to raid the fridge.
Comments
I put White2Tea’s 2016 Untitled 02 sheng puer as a fussy steeper and creeper tea drunk. The fragrance in this tea is rocking awesome! I boiled it a previous session and it came out pretty bitter and finished fast without the owl in the dryer feels – if you can drag the session long it’ll slam you. The notes are fairly savory in the beginning but sweetens nicely at the end. Final steeps are pretty bitter but at that point your face has melted off and you don’t care anymore.
At this time (and at release) 2016 Untitled 02 is $179 for a 200 gram cake. I milked everything this leaf had, so I felt I got my money’s worth, especially for a young sheng. I’ve debating for awhile what else to say as usually at this point I make recommendations. I tend to drink cheaper offerings, favoring the $50-$100 price range and I want to explore the more expensive young shengs more. Owl in the Dryer is totally a high roller tea for someone who want blood pressure ramping tea drunk with lots of fragrance.
