Today’s review is a set of white and black teas from White2tea. Mall Ninja Dojo and Horse Girl Clique are the same puer and sun-dried material from Menghai but processed differently. I purchased samples of both as this will be a fun tea tasting to see the same material in different ways.
I enjoyed the names of these teas as they brought back so many memories of the horse girls at school (gosh don’t get in a fight with them talking English or Western saddles) and the characters at the mall sword store.
White2tea’s 2020 Mall Ninja Dojo White Tea
Let us start with the white tea. 2020 Mall Ninja Dojo’s leaf has a sweet, floral honey scent. My teas are samples, but I was able to tear off pieces with my fingers, so the compression isn’t too crazy tight.
As usual, I went gongfu style and used 1 gram of leaf per 20ml of vessel size, with boiling water. After an infusion, the leaf is quite red grapes in scent.
First and Second Infusion: Mall Ninja Dojo seems to be awkward and shy, as this tea is taking some time to tease out. The second infusion has a creamy flavor with lightly baby’s breath flowers, honey, and grape leaves. The floral builds with each sip, adding layering on more perfume. My brain can’t decide if the fruity aftertaste is fuzzy peach or grapes, but it is faint. There is a hint of astringency making me lean it is why I’m connecting fuzzy peach as the sensation gives off that same tickle of eating peach skins.
Third, Fourth, and Fifth Infusion: I found I had to steep a bit longer than usual for the best results. Mall Ninja Dojo is bright but still light in flavor, most of its power is in the aroma and aftertaste. The velvet and fuzzy texture tickle the throat. It sips in densely thick with flavors of honey, floral and fruity. Mall Ninja Dojo tries to be malty in flavor, as there is a dark rich note flashed every so often, showing more as well as more astringency with each infusion.
Sixth and Seventh Infusion: Mall Ninja Dojo is now showing a malty tannic bite with a moderate amount of astringency, finishing on the light honey note. This tea tastes like I took a very spent black tea and boiled it to get it all out. I did an extended infusion for the final and it was quite stewy bitter and dry.
Right now, 2020 Mall Ninja Dojo is great for those aromatic white tea drinkers. There is a lot of promise in this tea and most of my curiosity is tasting this one aged as I can see the malty notes developing as complimenting the tea.
White2tea’s 2020 Horse Girl Clique Black Tea
Will 2020 Horse Girl Clique have horse girl energy? The dry leaf is stunningly grape fruit leather scented.
I used 1 gram of leaf per 15ml of vessel size, gongfu steeped with boiling water. After the rinse, this black tea still smells stunningly like grape.
First and Second Infusion: Horse Girl Clique scent and first sip reminded me of drinking a Ruby 18 black. It is very bright in flavor with sharp black currant and underripe raspberries, with a light woosy background. The texture is oily slick leaving a lubricated lip feeling. Each steeping builds upon the previous, adding stronger flavors of sweet fruits, honey, and wood.
Third, Fourth, and Fifth Infusion: Horse Girl Clique is getting tannic and astringent quickly. It tastes like raspberries gone tart, then a hit of bitter chocolate from the malty dark black tea flavor. The fourth infusion got quite intense, tasting of grape skins for some sips. Despite the aggressiveness of this tea here, Horse Girl Clique is interestingly complex and addictive to drink.
Sixth Infusion: The final infusion, though I likely can get 1 or 2 more, is very dry and bitter. Horse Girl Clique finishes off tasting of chewing on red grape and plum skins with a woodsy finish.
White2tea’s 2020 Horse Girl Clique is for those who love fruity black teas, especially if you are a fan of Ruby 18/ Sun Moon Lake varieties. Horse Girl Clique does get tannic, dry, and bitter at the end, but tastes good on its way there. I’ve noticed that compressed black teas really settle down deliciously after a year, so it is worth revisiting this tea later in the year.
From the first sip and scent to the end, Horse Girl Clique reminded me of White2Tea’s Natural Redhead. My review is somewhat similar to the Ruby 18 black parallels, but I found Horse Girl to have better texture and complexity.
