The 2020 February White2Tea club is a big sample haul of their oolongs. All these oolongs are from 2019 so they have neatly rested from roasting.
The oolongs featured in this monthly tea box are Jin Guan Yin, Stone Sparrow, Shin Jin Gui, Stone Milk, Shui Xian, OBSX, and No2 Rou Gui, all of which can be found at White2Tea.
As seen on the handout, these teas should be fine without a rinse, so that is what I did. For all teas, I used 1 gram of leaf per 15ml of vessel size, gongfu steeped in boiling water with no rinse. Over three days I drank these seven teas in the listed order.
Jin Guan Yin
The leaf is woodsy but mostly tangy and sweet in scent, whereas the steeped leaf is fruity and creamy.
First and Second Infusion: Jin Guan Yin sips in buttered wood with a tangy creamed apricots with a peachy aftertaste.
Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Infusion: For these infusions, Jin Guan Yin is getting more pine board tasting with some sips having a tangy fruity note, like nibbling only on peach skins.
Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Infusion: Jin Guan Yin is getting bitter finally, tasting strongly a floral soap mixed with bitter wood, but a finish of tangy stone fruit flavor. With each infusion, Jin Guan Yin gets more bitter but holds onto the fruit until the end.
Stone Sparrow
The dry leaf has the scent of roasted nuts. Steeped up, the leaves smell creamy and fruity.
First and Second Infusion: I felt the first infusion was too light (which technically I would treat as a rinse), but second steep picked up. Stone Sparrow sips in creamy and of mystery red fruit that I associate with red Twizzlers. There is a floral honey note that wafts up my sinuses as I drink
Third, Fourth, and Fifth Infusion: Stone Sparrow is getting better and better. It fully honey and orchid floral with a hit of black currant and cherries, then the floral and fruit linger after each sip. The oolong is still a lighter flavor and has a touch of astringency, but enjoyable for the delicious notes and lingering flavor, building more floral with each infusion.
Sixth and Seventh Infusion: For the final infusions, Stone Sparrow lost body. The tea itself is pretty watery but the aftertaste and aroma is a dense jungle of orchid with touches of fruit. I went in for the seventh infusion and it was very dead with no taste nor any scent.
Shui Jin Gui
Shui Jin Gui’s leaf has a medicinal wood and sweet scent. In contrast, steeped up the leaves smell sweet and fruity.
First and Second Infusion: Shui Jin Gui steeps up dark right away. The flavor is very different tasting, especially coming from the lighter Stone Sparrow. Shui Jin Gui has a complex array of notes including sweet licorice, herbs, buttery caramel, and bread. It sounds wild on paper but strangely works. The aftertaste has a red fruit flavor but mostly butter.
Third Infusion: Shui Jin Gui has switched to buttery and underripe tart raspberries in taste. The texture is a bit sticky, like short grain rice made with a bit too much water.
Fourth and Fifth Infusion: Hoots, what is this tea? Shui Jin Gui sips in stewy herbs and bitter, but with some waves of butter and floral. The aftertaste is a bitter medicinal.
Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Infusion: For the final infusions, Shui Jin Gui has shifted to be light in intensity and tasting of peppery oregano and sucking on wet stones.
Stone Milk
At first, Stone Milk smells nutty but getting my nose right in there the leaves smell like fruit leather. Steeped up, the leaves smell fruity.
First, Second, Third, and Fourth Infusion: Stone Milk steeped up dark immediately.
There is a milky thick texture right away, with strong roasted nutshells and cashews. The flavor is strong and in my face. By the fourth infusion, Stone Milk is heavy in peanut and cashew shell roasted flavor, with a sweet finish.
Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Infusion: Stone Milk chilled out finally. In these later infusions, Stone Milk tastes sweeter, lightly roasted nuts, with a finish of stone fruit flavor and mineral. Each infusion gets sweeter and more mineral. There is a touch of astringency in the back of the throat and tip of the tongue.
Shui Xian
The leaves smell nutty and bready.
After the first infusion, the hot leaves smell like an apricot fruit danish.
First, Second, Third, and Fourth Infusion: At first sip, this Shui Xian is just ho-hum woody with a touch of harshness. After a few more sips, there’s some nice salivation and fruity flavor and aftertaste adding some nice balance and roundness to the tea. It develops a balmy texture and flavor of egg washed bread. There is immediate astringency though, tackling the tip of my tongue.
Fifth, Sixth, Seventh Infusion: White2tea’s Shui Xian crashed into stronger astringency tightening my throat, however, it is carrying a heavy aroma of stone fruits and sweet rocks. The final infusions became completely savory and tasting of sucking on rocks.
OBSX
Yeah yeah, I cut the package upside down.
The scent is strongly sweet and nutty. Steeped up, OBSX shifted to jammy stone fruits.
First, Second, and Third Infusion: OBSX is smooth and thick, tasting of white peaches, drooling minerals, rich roast, with a chest punch as a finisher. Some sips are dry and peanutty. The aftertaste is of rock sugar, white peaches, and lingering floral.
Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Infusion: As it steeps, OBSX gets more minerally. For this infusion bracket, the flavor is of driftwood, wet stones, and a peachy finish mixed with a sharp nutty bite.
Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Infusion: I pushed these steepings and got more strong driftwood, sharp wet stones with a floral peach aftertaste that lingered as rock sugar. The whole event made my teeth feel squeaky too. The final infusions of OBSX settle into a simple mineral flavor.
No 2 Rougui
The No 2 Rougui has the strongest roasted scent out of all the oolong samples, smelling like charred toast.
In contrast, the steeped leaf has a deep roasted plum scent to it.
First, Second, and Third Infusion: This tea is dense and multilayered. No2 Rougui sips in buttery thick, heavy roast, juicy rocks, jammy plums, and a cooling feeling after being hit in the chest. There is lots of salivation after each sip with a plum aftertaste.
Fourth and Fifth Infusion: I accidentally oversteeped the fourth infusion, but it came out strong, with heavy plum skins flavor. Without over brewing, No2 Rougui has plum and buttery quality, the saline coming from the mineral notes. There’s a touch of sharp roast like I’m nibbling on a too dark piece of toast.
Sixth and Seventh Infusion: No2 Rougui is light despite a longer infusion, but has a plummy and stewed cinnamon vibe, with a cooling sensation of saline rocks. I think I killed this tea sooner as I oversteeped it back earlier.
Final Comments
I’ve found oolongs to be White2tea’s weaker teas, but this batch of oolongs are actually quite good. They all impressed me in their own ways, but across the board, these oolongs are a step up from previous years’ teas. It was great to be able to sample them all for the 2020 February White2tea club!
Jin Guan Yin – $ Excellent balance of buttered fruity wood. Owl’s second pick.
Stone Sparrow – $$ Lighter than the rest but heavily fruity and floral. This tea is great if you love floral teas.
Shui Jin Gui – $$$ Absurdly complex. Perfect for drinking with tea nerdy friends.
Stone Milk – $$ For nut and roast lovers.
Shui Xian – $ Daily Drinker status but has an excellent aroma and balance of fruit and rocks.
OBSX – $$$ High tea energy and most settled down roast. Overall good across the board with texture and flavor.
No 2 Rougui – $$$ Owl’s top pick. High tea energy and body feel along with complex, multilayered texture, and fun contrasting flavors.
