For a week all I’ve been drinking is instant tea, tea bags, and stash old oolong to get my tea stash down. I haven’t had amazing tea in a week, which feels like ages. This month’s White2Tea club is a 2017 Mengsong gushu raw puer 50 gram cake, a tea club exclusive. Last time we had a little cake it was hella good, so I am looking forward to drinking this tea.
Dry Leaf and Steeping Method
The 2017 Tea Club Gushu cake weighs 50 grams on the button! Such a cute little cake! The scent is strongly floral and delicious.
I went full out on this tea, steeping with boiling water and a ratio of 1 gram to 14 ml per vessel size. After a rinse, the hot leaf smells like fruity cigars. Darn it, the Tea Owl nabbed the silver cup before I could.
Tasting of June 2017 White2Tea Club Gushu Cake
First and Second Infusion: White2Tea Club Gushu’s flavor starts off soft, with notes of tangy stone fruit and dull floral. The flavor hits strongly in the aftertaste, with an under ripe tangy apricot skin with a milky base. There is a hint of bitterness in the mouth, but not dry. The body is slippery and heavy, making this a great sip.
I stopped drinking for 20 minutes, as I got caught up in looking for yarn and playing video games, and realized the aftertaste still held on that long! My mouth feels like I brushed with flowers.
Third and Fourth Infusion: Either I got used to the bitterness, or it settled. This tea is smooth! White2Tea Club Gushu is brightly fruity stone fruit, creamy base, nicely thick, and sappy. The aftertaste is cleaning up and building to a big bushy white floral flavor.
Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Infusion: Full power! White2Tea Club Gushu is potently fruity, citrus, floral in flavor, with a heavy body and drooling effect. What makes this tea good is the aftertaste. I have been sipping and waiting as most of the pleasure is that flavor over the actual drinking. The texture is still amazing and thick.
Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Infusion: June 2017 White2Tea Club Gushu is starting to overcook and get bitter. The sides of my mouth are dry like squeaky spinach boiled to death but taste delicious floral fruity. I am at the point to just slam the tea down to get the bitter out of the way, to then ride the aftertaste for 15 minutes. The longer I wait, the more the bitterness goes away in my mouth leaving that thick fruity perfume. I am feeling very wired, inspired, yet chill, so I got a balanced feel.
I tried a final infusion and it was too much bad bitter to just abuse the aftertaste, so I ended it here. The final aftertaste was quite dry and vegetal, like I followed up my dental routine by flossing with the leaf.
Comments
The absolute best part of the 2017 June White2Tea Club Gushu is the aftertaste and texture – it is a real treat to have such a good tea. You need to sip and ride it out, this is not a daily drinker chugger. Set an afternoon or share with friends, and have an infusion while you reflect on random things or work on something calming. I am up to my eyeballs in crocheting owl bear feet, so I had time to just sip a bit and enjoy the tea. This was a great opportunity to have some excellent quality tea.
