The January 2019 White2Tea club is 7 samples of their new oolongs – Iron Arhat, Baisuixiang, Stone Milk, Dahongpao, Spice Flower, OBSX, and No.2 Rougui.
Last White2tea clubs like this I drank them all side by side, but I felt I lost more intricacies of each tea. That said, I’m drinking these teas one by one. I attempted to drink all the yanchas in one day but got five out of seven finished on day one, then I drank the final two expensive a few days after.
For all these teas, I filled the gaiwan with leaf and gongfu steeped with boiling water. My ratio worked out to be 1 gram of leaf to 12ml of vessel size, so this is decently strong oolong.
Iron Arhat
The dry leaf smells dark roasted with charcoal and chestnuts starting to burn.
First, Second, and Third Infusion: Iron Arhat has a strongly roasted taste that sips in rich and strong without being sharp or acrid. It has a creamy smoothness to it, with sweet floral peaches and cream oatmeal. Each sips adds some nice salivation and a nice coating feeling in the mouth and trip down. As I go on, the floral stone fruit aftertaste gets stronger.
Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Infusion: This round of infusions started to get a bit astringent and squeaky feeling. However, it is still quite fruity and bit of a milky flavour. The roast isn’t as sharp here but adds flavour intensity and a dark depth to the tea.
Seventh and Eighth Infusion: Last infusions are fruity and strangely taste like boiled down mint. I move my lips around and my teeth are squeaking from the texture. There’s a refreshing but beaten down glow to this tea. It was quite drinkable throughout the whole session. I sit a while and a nice peachy aftertaste shows up. The last infusion was great, it was light tasting but a nice smooth hit of dark roast, sweet squeaky fruits, until the astringency hit strong.
Baisuixiang
The leaf has a creamy sweet scent to it. The handout says it was roasted 3 times, but it smells tame compared to Iron Arhat. There is a bit of colour to this one with some red leaves in the mix.
First and Second Infusion: The flavour of Baisuixian is upfront floral, bordering a bit soapy for me. It is smooth and has a sheen of roasted nuts shells without having the rich darkness like Iron Arhat did on the roast job. It’s light, bit mineral sweet, with a long floral sweet aftertaste.
Third and Fourth Infusion: This has gotten soft and sweet as well as lost the soap quality. I wouldn’t have guessed this tea was roasted 3 times as it is chill, but it has a good expert smoothness from the roast. Some sips have a buttery note and the texture is silky.
Fifth and Sixth Infusion: The fifth infusion got bitter and tongue drying. It has a savory brothy wood taste with a sweet floral aftertaste that shines through. The sixth infusion had little flavour and mostly astringent dryness.
Stone Milk
The leaf on this tea is big and spacious. The scent is of roasted browned butter.
First, Second, and Third Infusion: Stone Milk sips in roasted nuts, but is smooth. It’s milky, roasty, and nutty tasting, leaning a bit cashew and almonds. The finish is sharply sweet and nutty. Stone Milk has a slick texture that is balanced well with the sweet, nut, and roast.
Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Infusion: These steepings taste nutty and a bit fruity sweet but it has shifted to roasted chestnuts with that sharp shell flavour. I accidentally oversteeped the fourth infusion and it came out fine. Overall pretty smooth and thick tea that tastes soft, but perks up sharp sweet nuts in the aftertaste.
Seventh and Eighth Infusion: These final steepings of Stone Milk show a touch of astringency on the tip of the tongue. It has shifted fruity, little nectarine behind a wet stone flavour. The aftertaste is more stone fruit with a subtle sweetness.
Dahongpao
Bit of a chocolate smell on this Dahongpao. The leaves on this one are also big.
First, Second, Third, and Fourth Infusion: This Dahongpao is nicely sweet, woodsy, and minerally. It has a soft thickness to it as you drink, but not as slick feeling compared to the other teas today. The more dominant flavour here is a chew of driftwood with a side of pebbles. Slowing down, the aftertaste emerges as a gentle mystery fruity floral with more wet wood.
Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Infusion: The Dahongpao is pretty consistent tasting for most of the session, but finally a shift here with a bit of a tangy fruity note. The final steeping was light and sweet, easy to drink. This tea got a bit astringent and was overall easy going to steep.
Spice Flower
The dry leaf has a roasted and cinnamon scent to it.
First and Second Infusion: Spice Flower is less roasted than the rest. It comes out strongly juicy fruity with a creamy background. The sip is a bit silky and least textured out of the teas.
The aftertaste blooms more sweet nectarine with a tang of wood. Off the bat Spice Flower has astringency, making my tongue feel dry. I likely butchered this one as it might have done better with 200F water than boiling.
Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Infusion: Spice Flower is now mixing floral and fruity, but has a boiled down caramel background with a shot of stiff astringency. The aftertaste is sharp and most of the ride with a potent floral carnation with a tang of nectarines. The last infusions were a bit bitter, but still sharply fruity floral.
OBSX
OBSX, aka Old Bush Shui Xian, Smells like roasted charcoal peaches and it makes me drool.
First, Second, and Third Infusion: I sampled the rinse and it is freaking strong. OBSX sips in strongly flavoured. It is sharp roasted with a nutty bitterness flavour. Some sips have a peachy fruitiness but most of the flavour is the heavy roasted richness. The texture is oily slick. Drinking this one slow and I notice a peachy floral aftertaste followed by a refreshing cool feeling in the mouth. OBSX has an immediate body feel. I got a good sinking chest and relaxing mood right away from drinking this tea. I wasn’t particularly stressed out going into the session either.\
Fourth and Fifth Infusion: Each infusion releases more of a fruity flavour, though the main taste is the sharp roast nut shells. Some sips my brain wants to fill in smoke to match the sharp bitter roasted flavour. Likely it is the fruity aftertaste mostly influencing the flavour rather than the actual tea taste.
Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Infusion: OBSX got astringent here, making the tip of my tongue and cheeks feel dried out. The tea is light tasting and most of the flavour is being carried by the fruity aftertaste and refreshing feel. The final infusions are sharp bitter roast with never-ending stone fruit flavour with a hint of refreshing mint. I am also ready for a nap, this tea is trying to put me in a coma. The extended final infusions made it ultra astringent though, my tongue wants to fall off.
No.2 Rougui
The dry leaf has a smooth scent of a toasted, egg washed bread loaf.
First and Second Infusion: The rinse was really good tasting. The early infusions are freaking smooth and drink like melted butter. The flavour is minerally, like sucking on a whole bunch of river rocks, with a dark rich character from the roast. I don’t taste the roast though. The aftertaste creeps in an underripe apricot note. This tea drinks like a meal, the denseness of this tea make me feel stuffed.
Third, Fourth, and Fifth Infusion: No.2 Rougui has gotten dark. It has a bittersweet chocolate vibe but laced with mineral chunks and apricot in a thick dense broth. There is lots of energy in No.2 Rougui, I lost track of space and time, but most likely it is trying to put me to sleep
Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Infusion: No.2 Rougui has lost that overdrive darkness, and I’m left with a mineral sharp tea. It tastes of licking toasted rocks and each sip is another brick added to my stomach. No.2 Rougui is smooth to drink and these late infusions have salivation from the soft astringency. The final infusion was super astringent but real malty smooth.
I’m going to have a nap now.
TLDR
Iron Arhat – $$ Powerful roasted flavour with fruity notes. It could use a bit of roast settling time but is fine to drink now. Owl’s personal taste favourite.
Baisuixiang – $$ Most floral with a strong aroma and good roasted depth.
Stone Milk – $$ Well balanced with sweet nutty cream flavour. Easy to brew and least astringent. Owl’s pick for most unique.
Dahongpao – $ Good daily drinker, balanced well between wood, mineral, fruity floral.
Spice Flower – $ Greenest out of the teas. It is fruity and floral, but a delicate steeper.
OBSX – $$$ Strong energy and potent roasted flavour with a refreshing fruit aftertaste.
No.2 Rougui – $$$ Strong energy, dense thick texture with a smooth mineral and rich flavour.
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