The Owls and I were in the mood for a hearty black tea, so today let’s have White2tea’s 2019 Builders. The 2019 Builders is a Yunnan sundried black tea smashed into bamboo then hand roasted over a fire. I am expecting a strong session, similar to a UK Builders Tea. My curiosity about the combo of Yunnan black tea in bamboo got me to purchase a sample with one of my White2Tea orders.
Leaf and Steeping Method
The scent of the dry leaves is sweet, fruity, and tannic.
Above is a 23 gram chunk, with 2 grams of crumbs to make up my 25g sample. The tea lump feels very solid and cannot be broken with my hands. However, I had no problems when I used a Crimson Lotus Tea Bingslayer to wedge off pieces.
For the first round, I went gongfu style using 1gram of leaf per 15ml vessel size, steeped in boiling water. I went in with a rinse, then broke up the piece with a knife, then did a quick rinse again to open up the flavor more. The scent is burnt woody and tannic.
Tasting of White2Tea’s 2019 Builders Black Bamboo Roasted Tea
First and Second Infusion: 2019 Builders sips in sweet, milky, lightly vegetal, cooling bamboo, and clover honey with the finish of malt. Some sips have a fruit leather sun-dried sweetness to it. The black tea starts off light in colour and taste, but the flavor is moderate and not in your face. It sips in creamy with a lightly oily lip feeling that lingers.
Third Infusion: With each infusion, White2tea’s Builders is getting stronger, malty, and adding tannic. For this infusion, the tea tastes of cherry wood, tangy fruit leather, cooling vegetal bamboo, malt, and overall drinks pretty smooth. The light tannic finish shows up in some sips. The aftertaste on this tea is very pleasant and my favorite part – it’s buttery and milky with a touch of fruit.
Fourth and Fifth Infusion: These steep hit dark and maximum – 2019 Builders now is a strong heavy black tea that is dense, woodsy, malty, with a gentle astringency. This tastes like I could milk tea and toss in some boba for a solid treat. With each infusion, Builders got more burly, malty, stronger, and adds hair to one’s chest.
Sixth Infusion: Builders flavor is dropping off fast – it is still inky malty buttery wood, but lost the strong intensity of the last set of steepings. The aftertaste is tannic and perky, enough to slap me awake if I wasn’t awake already.
Seventh and Eighth Infusion: White2Tea’s 2019 Builders is losing flavor very fast and I’m milking all this tea has. The flavor has faded to lightly woodsy, rocky, and rock sugar sweet. There is a light dryness touching the roof of my mouth in the finish.
Grandpa Style
2019 Builders has a smooth and creamy texture despite the longer infusion. The notes are malty and a touch of peat over rock sugar sweet. There is just a wisp of astringency drying the tip of my tongue. Drinking Builders Grandpa style certainly slaps me awake while being excellently smooth and enjoyable.
Comments
White2Tea’s 2019 Builders tea is a unique combo of cooling bamboo combined with comforting notes of a robust Yunnan sundried black tea. Gongfu, you can progress through some awesome flavors, textures, and aftertastes. With Grandpa style, you get the more heavy malty flavor.
I quite like this tea for the wake-up call and variety. However, I’m too lazy to own a whole one at the thought of breaking bamboo compression. At this time, 2019 Builders, a hand roasted bamboo tea, is $49 for 250g.
