It’s White2tea club time, and this is February 2022’s box. Oh boy, this is “sample all of White2tea’s newest yanchas” month, so all of these are available for purchase. I’m skipping the Dahongpao this year – it’s a basic intro yancha – let’s get into the more interesting ones.
For all teas here I used a gongfu ratio of 1gram of leaf per 15ml of gaiwan size, steeped at a boil with no rinse.
Stone Sparrow
The leaves have a roasty and dried fruit sweet scent. After a steep, the leaves smell like a powdery fruit cocktail.
Stone Sparrow is buttery, partially rehydrated dried cherries, a bit of buttery salty melon, peach skins, with a topping of toasty roast and amber incense. The texture is buttery and thick as well, leaving a balmy effect after drinking. Each steeping brings out more fruity notes, and slight bitterness, before finishing minerals and butter.
Stone Milk
Smells amazing! The leaves are softy nutty sweet, but once steeped they smell of hot apricot skins.
Stone Milk is juicy nut milk – it’s cashew, raw almonds, and hazelnuts with a dense, snappy milky texture, layered with deep roast. Each steeping goes more fruity peach and hazelnuts, with a long mysterious mineral nut flavor. I went for a trip to get more water and an oatmeal dried peach flavor lingered. The final steeps are mineral, watery nut milk, with a long oatmeal peaches aftertaste.
Ban Tian Yao
The leaves smell as if butter and tires made a baby, in the nicest way possible. Whereas the steeped leaf is cherries and woodshop.
Yowza, this is just what I was needing today. Ban Tian Yao is dark, woody, with an interesting boiled sage pepper herbal note, with a finish of tree sap. Sips weave in that smell of a lumberyard, whereas others are pine shavings and sage. All include a thick oily texture.
As Ban Tian Yao steeps, it gets more herbal sage and almost minty, biting back with astringency. This tea refuses to steep out too. A very interesting yancha!
Orchid Heart
The leaves here smell like sweet fruity toast, like what I want pop tarts to be. Adding hot water made this tea even more fragrant, smelling of tropical coconuts and floral.
No leaf pic as I was already hyped up on tea, so I forgot.
Orchid Heart is super sweet and smooth with fresh pine needles, sweet mineral salty butter, and plum tree flowers. The aftertaste is a long peach, whereas the texture is buttery. This one faded fast, going watery and dry, but it kept the aroma. Overall, pleasantly sweet, floral, and smooth.
Spring Peach
Spring Peach’s leaves smell nutty spice, but after a steep, it opens up to a spicy fruity scent.
This tea is soft, firm peaches, with plenty of cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg spice. The background has light molasses notes and a silky texture. Some sips have the leaves off the peach tree in here. Spring Peach died faster than the rest, going watery, bit dry, and stewed bitter.
Yes, I drank these teas in one sitting.
Comments
Owl’s pick is Ban Tian Yao for the most complex and unusual notes. Orchid Heart is also a differently unique yancha profile. Stone Milk was pretty good, better than the last time I’ve had it – but reliably a good tea.
