Ooooh, finally it is 2017 tea time! May 2017 White2Tea club is Lincang Fresh Green and Puer Maocha. Both teas are the same material and farmer, but processed differently.
As much as I wanted to drink these side by side, rolling two different temperatures would of drive me crazy. I own two kettles, but that also requires me to clear room in my cluttered tea space.
2017 Lincang Fresh Green Tea
I went low temperature rocking 175F/79c, going high on leaf for a green – 1 gram for 15ml vessel size. The hot leaf smells quite fruity, like chewing gum. The owls caught me huffing it.
First and Second Infusion: I notice the texture of this tea right away, it is like melted butter. The notes are creamy undercooked crisp vegetables, a blur of various vegetables similar to eating a mouthful of that classic corn/pea/carrot/bean frozen mix. There is a slight peachy sweetness, but overall this is quite a beany tea. The second infusion is a touch crisper. Oddly, the silver cup gave a slight caramel note due to the increased brightness. Slight tingle in the tongue after this round.
Third and Fourth Infusion: The flavor got more corn and carroty. It is certainly getting overcooked now as I now have mushy carrot. I got a sinking bitterness from the green, weighing down the tea and making me feel like I’m sinking and want to curl into a ball.
At that point I finally learned something about myself. I discovered why I’m not big into green tea as I get that “downer” body feel which I don’t seem to like.
2017 Lincang Fresh Puer Maocha
I went with 1 gram per 15ml, using 200F/93c water temperature. The hot leaf smells savory, just like boiled lettuce. The scent brings memories/terror of my dad’s legally blind cooking.
First and Second Infusion: Interesting notes here. Kind of tastes like celery, but has that creamy melted butter body similar to the green. The flavor is more distinct and savory, celery, a little marine. It kind of tastes like celery sushi roll. The body feel is weighty, but uplifting.
Third, Fourth, and Fifth Infusion: Flavor is now tasting like puer. The body is still heavy and silky, the notes are coppery mineral, savory, with a sweet vegetal finish and some random floral notes. There is some good bitterness at the end of sip that is refreshing and satisfying. Other sips the aftertaste is savory and low. Tastes like eating a frantic piled salad buffet plate and sushi rice off a sizzling hot iron pan. This tea is a roller coaster of body feel.
Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Infusion: The sixth had a terrible middle steep weirdo floral citrus note. Seventh and Eighth chilled out into a mellow, cream, savory bayleaf herby bitterness with a sweet slightly floral finish. Odd sip, combined with the build up of astringency, gives me a hint of amber incense wisps of an aftertaste. Also I am feeling blasted and began to drink out of the cha hai as I felt cups were too slow.
Ninth and Tenth Infusion: The flavor faded fast here, I got some tangy bitter metallic notes with plenty of dryness. Then I got that young lincang body feel like I got a giant rock in my gut, like I went a little too hog wild at the salad bar buffet. The owls and I are now laying in a chair, holding our tummies and burping. I am feeling good, so I regret nothing.
This lincang is in White2Tea’s new charity cake. Part of me thinks I should get one so these kids will get glasses, who will grow up to see and not accidentally feed their poor kid boiled lettuce instead of cabbage rolls.
By the way, drinking both of these teas in the same day was a bad idea, more so having the Maocha at 3pm. I did not sleep at all. I was completed juiced up in the evening, read an entire Star Wars novel, then it was 4am and I had to find something else to do. Fresh teas have A LOT OF CAFFEINE and I thought I would be fine since I used a smaller gaiwan for the maocha.
