2019 March White2Tea Club time! The March White2Tea Club contains two Milan Dancong oolongs – No Roast and 26 hour Roast, plus a bonus new 2015 Gongmei white tea. The Milan Dancongs are as a learning experience to compare what roast does to tea, whereas the Gongmei is a sample of a tea for purchase.
2019 March White2Tea Club Milan Dancongs
No Roast Milan Dancong
The No Roast Milan Dancong smells like floral cheerios. There are some long green leaves here.
These leaves seem really poofy, I filled the gaiwan and it worked out to 1 gram per 15ml of vessel size. I used boiling water to steep. With a rinse gone through, the hot wet leaf smells like spinach, powdered honey, and lots of floral.
First, Second, and Third Infusion: No Roast Milan Dancong comes out buttery spinach, with a citrus floral osmanthus trying to peek through. The texture is melted butter thick and luscious. The aftertaste is more fresh spinach notes. There is a touch of astringency developing with a slight dry lip.
Third, Fourth, and Fifth Infusion: These infusions are a floral bomb of citrus flowers, honey, and cooked spinach. The fourth infusion hit maximum bitter strength of floral bomb covering up the delicate stewed leaf.
26 Hour Roast Milan Dancong
The leaf smells roasted chestnuts at first but with my nose shoved in the bag and I got some fruity scents.
After a rinse, the leaf smells honey, powdery, and peachy.
First, Second, and Third Infusion: It is shocking how much roasting changes a tea, and not in the obvious toasty notes. This Milan Dancong is minerally, rocky, bit salted butter, and chestnuts. The aftertaste is a gentle stone fruit note that strengthens with the next infusion.
Fourth and Fifth Infusion: Admittedly, I’ve oversteeped the fourth infusion on both of these teas as my brain just auto clicked off. These steepings are fruity, rocky, and bitter with the aftertaste of peach skins. I was distracted again with the internet and noticed a stone fruit note shined through after a minute.
Sixth Infusion: The last infusion was minerally and light. The 26 hour Roast Milan Dancong is a bit syrupy honey, but also bitter nut shell in flavor.
Comments
Both Milan Dancongs are interesting teas. The No Roast is a predicted green floral bomb, but also had the fruitiness that carried over to the roasted teas. The roasting certainly smoothed out the tea and gave it the characteristic mineral, rocks of dancong teas.
2015 Gongmei White Tea from White2Tea
This is a preview of White2Tea’s new 2015 Gongmei. This has had dry storage as a loose leaf, then pressed in 2018. Most likely you are familiar with Shoumei, which is similar to Gongmei, but the latter being a higher grade with more buds. Gongmei is still a second picking, so it is different than Baimudan (White Peony).
The dry leaf smells like laundry hanging out in the sun.
I used my usual white tea brewing specs, so 1 gram of leaf per 20ml of vessel size, steeping in boiling water.
First and Second Infusion: The first thing I notice is the 2015 Gongmei is slick and sticky in texture. The flavor comes second as a coconut, cotton, and sappy sweet note. The aftertaste is a long almond milk sweetness.
Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Infusion: These steepings are darker. The 2015 Gongmei still has that sticky thick texture, almost like chewing on aloe with a bit of gooey mochi. The flavor is birch wood, cotton, creamy coconut, sweet sap, with a long sweet finish. The later steepings here have a touch of dryness but it blends in with the sticky texture.
Seventh Infusion: I did Sixth and Seventh for extended infusions, but seventh came out significantly different. It is still very thick, drinking like cotton fluff. The flavor has gotten ultra light, with a bit of birch wood and sweetness. I might get a stove boil out of this if I want to not be lazy. It hasn’t gotten any more astringent or bitter.
Comments
White2Tea’s 2015 Gongmei has some awesome texture. This Gongmei shows a lot of promise of being a good tea with the dense texture and woody sweet notes, which will continue as it ages. I actually prefer 2015 over the 2013 Gongmei (which White2tea also sells) due to the texture differences. It is nice the White2Tea club added the sample, as I will be likely buying a cake.
If you are looking for 2019 April White2Tea club, I actually skipped it because of green tea (bleh). I broke the streak after being with the club since the beginning.
