Finally, the 2021 October White2tea club! This month is a sampling extravaganza of White2tea’s latest teas.
(yes yes, I’m behind a few months on the White2tea club as it is February – I’m catching up!)
2021 Liu An Gongjian
I’ve had Liu An only a handful of times and half the experiences I wasn’t brewing it. This is also the youngest Liu An I’ve tried.
The leaves smell nutty and sweet.
I went with a 1g per 15ml ratio, steeped at a boil. This tea commands to be rinsed at least once or twice as the flavor is very low when I sampled it. After the rinses, the leaves smell like rubber tires.
The early infusions are mysteriously wheat malt with a sharp bruised plums and skins with a sweet nutmeg finish, which is likely better described as betelnuts.
Each infusion gets a bit stronger, heavier on the plummy notes, slowly getting stewy. Weaving in with the plums is a spicy nutmeg flavor.
By the eighth and final infusion, Liu An Gongjian slips, leaving an astringent sweet wheaty hay flavor with a hint of plums.
Most drink Liu An aged, but White2tea’s 2021 Liu An Gongjian is fairly pleasant as is. The notes are tasty and awakening, despite not being a dark tea (yet). That said, Liu An Gongjian is good to drink now and especially great to age for the long haul. $39 for 250g is a pretty good price too.
2021 Hokum Shou from White2Tea
Hokum is one of the small batch shou in the low price range. The ball smells of fruit and leather (not fruit leather).
I went with a gongfu ratio of 1g per 15ml boil (like all the other teas today except the oolong). I even broke the ball into pieces to fit a smaller gaiwan as I have too much tea to drink today. The rinses open a wood note, holding on to the sweet fruity scent.
The early infusions of Hokum are light and soft. It has a smooth texture and tastes like raisins, milk chocolate, and resiny wood. Each infusion opens up more woody and incense flavor. The aftertaste is fleeting, with a bit of wood and a hint of youthful shou funk.
When Hokum opens up to maxim flavor, it is vibrant and sweet golden raisins and dark malty wood. The best infusions are the fifth to seventh mark as it is sweet, smooth, and dark woods. Each steeping slips in intensity but goes sweeter and fruity.
The final infusions taste of minerals, raisins, the wood notes slipped away. I got a good amount of resteeps – ten in total.
Hokum is a no-fuss, easy to drink, pleasant shou. There’s a hint of youthful funk but that will be gone in no time. Maybe the funk was on my end as despite having these teas since November, I didn’t air them out much. Either way, Hokum is a great cheap beginner shou or daily drinker.
2021 Lesser Evils Shou
Another small batch shou, this one promised to be inky. The smell is of dark wood.
The wrapper even says to rinse twice and with longer rinses than I normally do. After the rinses, the leaves smell a bit of astringent India ink.
Lesser Evils starts off tasting a brothy dark blend of earth and wood. Each infusion deepens, going to ink. The flavor is surprisingly sweet earth, marshmallow, faint soy sauce umami, and inky peaches. All while the texture is thick and balmy.
I find Lesser Evils hard to peg down the flavor as it is mellow and well blended as if I’m drinking it western style. With pushed infusions, Lesser Evils comes out savory umami, strong dark wood bark, incense, with a buttery texture.
For the final infusion, the seventh, I let go for 30 minutes and it was cool to drink. The flavor is marshmallowy and light, with still a thick texture.
I feel Lesser Evils can go sweet and mellow, but pushed goes full ink and savory. I would overleaf this with more ink potential. Lesser Evils is a good tea for those dark dark shou drinkers, or for those that like the flexibility to daily drink a tea that can change with brewing.
Daily Duck Shit Oolong
Out of left field is some Duck Shit oolong included in this 2021 October White2tea Club. It feels lost in this sea of fermented tea.
The leaves are aromatic sweet roasted plums.
I leaf hard on these oolongs, so my 7g sample all went into a 75ml shibo. After the first steep, Daily Duck Shit smells of roasted sweet almonds and plums.
Daily Duck Shit is a very fruity duck shit. It’s sweet, plummy, loganberry, with a soft marzipan aftertaste but lingering orchid aroma.
As the tea opens up, it goes into an astringently intense floral orchid note. The roast job is light, leaving way for plenty of floral flavors over almond ones more typical in duck shit.
I went for a sixth infusion and it was too bitter stew to drink.
Daily Duck Shit is deliciously sweet, aromatic, and floral duck shit oolong. I love duck shit teas and this one’s price is great to enjoy more often.
2021 Smokeshou
This is a highly requested shou I review. Thankfully, it is another sample in this club box!
The ball smells like smokey pine needles, very much like lapsang souchong.
After a rinse, the leaves still smell strongly of smoked pine and wood. Thankfully not rubber tire fire levels of smoke.
The early infusions taste of sweet wood and peaty with swirls of smoke. Smokeshou is smooth to drink with a buttery texture. The earthy notes of the shou make this sweeter and more mellow, vibing nicely with the smoke.
As Smokeshou steeps, it shifts to caramel and peat notes. With too short of a steep it’s sweet, but pushed a bit more aggressively it tastes of sweet smoked earth, like a dirty campfire.
I got the other tenth infusion, steeping until the tea gets cold. The flavor is sweet bright caramel with a hint of peat and little echos of smoke. Excellent and drinkable down to the last drop.
Smokeshou’s smoke job is done exceptionally well. It’s not charred, burnt, or bitter. No young shou funk either. Smokeshou never got bitter or astringent compared to smoked Lapsang Souchongs.
I am not a smoke tea fan, I have to be in the right mood for it and it’s not often. Smokeshou I enjoyed quite a lot as it is so smooth and the earth + smoke + sweetness vibes so well together.
Smokey peaty tea fans, this one is a must!
