The 2019 October White2Tea Club is a selection of shous that you can purchase – 2016 Trap Bird, 2019 Lumberslut, and 2019 Pretty Girls. I have been doing the White2tea club since the beginning as well as purchase quite a bit of his teas that I’ve actually have had all the teas this month but in previous years.
2016 Trapbird Shou Puer from White2Tea
2019 October Club came with a sample of 2016 Trap Bird, but I own this cake and already reviewed it in 2017. Instead, I drank it from my own stash to see how it is progressing.
I followed the same method as last time, “I used 1 gram of leaf to 13ml of vessel size, steeped in boiling water. I did a single rinse and let the leaf sit in the pot for a few minutes to open up.”
First and Second Infusion: Trap Bird is light, sweet, and softly milky with a creamy texture. Time has removed the sour and funk out of this shou.
Third and Fourth Infusion: Trap Bird is a dark caramel with a lot of earth. Some sips are like butterscotch but the main flavor is smooth earthy dirt.
Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Infusion: As the tea goes on, Trap Bird changes slowly as it slowly lightens. It’s earthy, butterscotch, and rock sugar.
Over the years Trapbird lost the whiskey sour funkiness, replaced with a stable smoothness and sweetness. The tea leaned again a bit butterscotch and earth but got a rock sugar sweetness. YMMV as this is the cake I stored for years.
2019 Lumberslut Shou Puer Balls
I honestly tried to review Lumberslut in its very early release. I had the review all written and had the idea to hit my husband’s woodpile for great photos, but then the nastiness of Seattle damp winter deterred me, and I wasn’t as organized back then so I forgot my draft.
The ball is dark and brittle. To deal with this, I did two rinses with a direct pour of boiling water on the ball, then left it for a few minutes to steam with the gaiwan lid closed. I clocked in at 1 gram of shou per 14ml of vessel size ratio.
The hot leaves have a strong aroma of frankincense and myrrh, almost church incense without the sandalwood.
First and Second Infusion: Lumberslut is strongly aromatic of a shou with a heavy lean in woodsy flavor. It is incense like to me, with a finish of frankincense with a touch of savory bbq charcoal. The texture is oily and slick, making for an easy sip.
Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Infusion: Lumberslut is smooth yet abrasive. It continues to have a smooth and oily texture, but the flavor is gritty wood and savory burnt incense that shifts into a crystalline sweetness. With each steeping, the flavor gets more of that church incense and sweet than wood. The taste of this tea clearly reminds me of how some of the churches smelled in my trip to Rome – an old yet oily wood staleness with an intoxicating smell.
Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Infusion: Lumberslut continues to be smooth and oily. The flavor has fully shifted to sweet mineral with an incense finish. There is a touch of a lingering skanky woodsy note. Each steeping got sweeter and lighter until I couldn’t resteep it anymore with what I had. Lumberslut can resteep amazingly well in a clay teapot.
Most seem to prefer this shou young as it has maximum woodsy sluttiness which fades with age. I found the 2019 version to be more incense heavy than woodpile.
2019 Pretty Girls Shou Puer
Here is the 2015 Pretty Girls review I did when it was a young shou.
The 2019 Pretty Girls has an earthy and red wine scent, with the steeped leaf sporting a creamy india inky scent.
First, Second, and Third Infusion: 2019 Pretty Girls is a lovely blend of fruit and cream in a shou. It has a slight baked goods quality like I’m eating a strawberry shortcake piled with whipped cream. The finish is gently woodsy, but the aroma of the fruity shou rises and lingers at the end of the sip.
Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Infusion: Pretty Girls is starting to get an earthy and brothy flavor, balanced well with the creamy and fruity notes. The texture is what I like in a good shou – thick, heavy cream and pudding with a coating effect left in the mouth.
Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Infusion: In the end, 2019 Pretty girls shifted away from the stronger earthy broth to a creamy rock sugar note until I couldn’t get any more flavor out.
I love 2019 Pretty Girls, I like it more than the 2015 version in its youth. The 2019 shou does go more with fruity cream flavor, but overall it’s a quality shou with good flavor and texture.
If you haven’t had Pretty Girls and love shou, it is worth a buy.
