Yes, this is April and I’m drinking a Christmas themed tea. Over the last few years, the White2tea club has a XXXmas Sheng made out of huangpian material for December. Though, probably for the best that I waited to drink this tea as it had ample rest.
As always, the wrapper art is fun!
Leaf and Steeping Method
The leaves have a sappy grass scent.
As usual, I used 1 gram of leaf per 15ml of vessel size, gongfu steeped in boiling water. After a rinse, this tea smells spruce leafy with some young shengy floralness.
Tasting of 2022 XXXmas Sheng Puer from the 2022 December White2tea Club
First, Second, Third, and Fourth Infusion: I took a sip of the rinse, and 2022 XXXmas Sheng Puer was good already. This tea is thickly textured with a bit of chew to it. The flavor is sweet light honey and the fir needles note adds a zesty flavor. Each steeping holds onto the zesty woodsy green flavor but opens more pine wood notes.
Fifth and Sixth Infusion: 2022 XXXmas Sheng Puer is doubling down on sweet zesty soft wood needles and wood boards. After a pause, I got some soft floral peachy wine aftertaste.
Seventh Infusion: 2022 XXXmas Sheng Puer is finally losing steam here, tasting a bit stewy, but has a stronger zesty medicinal herb flavor. Interestingly, this tea hasn’t gotten too stewy or bitter and is still drinkable. It finally got astringent here, but just to dry the tip of the tongue. The aftertaste got less peachy and more vegetal, similar to the zesty tree needles.
Comments
2022 XXXmas Sheng Puer is a sweet leaning huangpian sheng with some herby woody flavors, all with a thick texture and aroma. My gamble (or backlog) failed, as this December White2tea Club tea would have been best to drink sooner due to the holiday woodsy flavor. I feel this iteration of XXXmas was a good change of pace from the 2020 and older bitter cakes and good contrast to last year’s fruity flavor.
