2016 Diving Duck

5.5g, 100mL at 100C.

Didn’t take particularly careful notes here, but the texture and sweet taste are the highlights of this tea. It’s got enough body to hold up on its own, and has the texture of like slightly unset jello but not in a bad way: just a little bit thick. Astringent at about Steep 3 but that clears rapidly. Really nice apricot huigan in the back of my throat, extremely sweet. Unfortunately, not a lot of qi or bodyfeel which I’m realizing I value a lot in sheng. At the price point this is a great daily drinker for those of you who prefer a sweeter profile tea that isn’t weak.

This was my puerh for the day on Friday. Getting toward the end of trying all my BF W2T samples. This one has a softer aroma than some of the others, and produced a smooth, golden, viscous liquor of florals and hay. Definitely on the softer side flavor-wise, but that contributed to its enjoyable subtleties. Very slight bitterness came in during the session, but very much in balance with the other flavors of the tea.

It seems like I didn’t go any farther than that with my notes, so I’ll need to spend some more time with this one very soon.

As a birdwatcher, I love waterfowl watching the most. Ducks rock. Dabbling, diving – they’re all made of perfection. Pictured on the wrapper is a drake Ruddy Duck (he’s missing the white on his chin, but that’s alright since it’s for the sake of keeping the print coloring simple). I’ve seen Ruddy Ducks a few times so far, but only a drake in breeding plumage once. That blue beak is something to see firsthand. Winter is approaching. The ducks are on the move.

I obtained a sample from the Pu’erh Plus TTB. Brewed in a ceramic gaiwan. Gave the leaf a 5-second rinse and a 2-minute rest. Steeping times: 5 seconds xfive, 10, 12,15, 20, 30, 45; 1 minute, 1’30", 3, 6, 12, 20.

The dry leaf smells sweet and pepper, and, after sitting in the pre-heated gaiwan, of apricot and mint. The wet leaf is very aromatic, filling the corner of the room with a fragrance of white sugar and apricot.

The soup is clear, and has a full-body yet a gentle, bright mouth-feel. The color begins as pale yellow and ends as pale gold. Thick-ish texture sometimes. I used 200 degree temperature water for the first five infusions and then switched to 190. 200 produces a tartness that overwhelms the grassy and apricot notes. The huigan is weak.

190 is much better for the leaf. The heart of the session – infusions 6-11 – are lightly sweet and bitter. Qualities balanced, one not overwhelming the other. Slowly developing is a slight cooling aftertaste, which I mostly feel in the mouth. The sweet apricot aftertaste – the throat – is at its strongest at this point. For infusions 12 and 13, the menthol note has fully developed and even rivals the huigan, cooling the throat. The soup itself tastes sweet, bitter, and menthol-like all at once. 14 tastes mostly of menthol. The longer steeps for 15-17 produce a bitterness that outdoes the menthol. No more sweetness. Once again, the huigan is weak. But more than twenty minutes later, as I write this review, I still feeling the cooling in my throat.

Diving Duck is a great daily drinker. As always, White2Tea produced a sheng with excellent quality. The tea itself was very clean and was very clear. I’m not a huge fan of the tasting notes personally, but the sweetness and the energy is great! This tea also has great aging potential, and I predict that over time it will start to taste like malt/honey. Can’t wait to see what this tea tastes like 5 years from now!!!

The White2Tea 2016:

I purchased samples of all the 2016 new line up this year, and I started at the bottom (cheapest) and worked my way up. I did this to taste the profile improvements and variances. I brewed in the same pot with same leaf water ratio. Also, this helps to hone in my palette to identify what’s a good deal and what’s not. At the conclusion of my tasting I will be placing my cake order.

The majority of the labels and “art” from White2Tea Cakes I can never understand. I always hope to while I’m drinking, and I think that maybe the brew will inspire me to understand; however, I usually end up completely lost. This brew was no exception to that rule. The leaf is light and long with a soft wood and hay scent. I take in a very light tobacco scent. I usually only pick up tobacco tones on aged puerh, so I was interested from the beginning. I warmed up my pot and stick ‘er in. The scent broadens and soothes out to a very sweet and pungent aroma. I can take in corn bread, grain, and a background of salted caramel. I washed the leaves and prepared for brewing. I do note that the steeped leaves released an odd appetizing aroma of butter and salt, hahaha. I wasn’t sure what to think of that, but that is what I noticed. The taste begins heavily sweet with a sight bite. The brief astringency moves into a smoke tone towards the back of the throat. The kuwei is grassy and bitter; however, a complimenting buttery sweet tone washes over the prickles. A rush of asparagus flavor appears later in brewing. The tones were quite good, but I find them common with most young sheng. The tea carried some depth, but it was still somewhat flat with flavors and aromas. The brew continued in the order of sweet, bitter, sweet; grassy and vegetable. Although, the very last infusions progressed into a concoction of honey sweetness and confectioners sugar which was a real treat! Finally, I note no immediate or powerful qi. I experienced a slight relaxation and some good blood flow; but, I didn’t note anything additional. I liked this tea, and it makes for a decent easy drinker.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJgQMqbgvb2/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

Sweet and subtle with a touch of apricot or a tart peach. Notes of hay or grass. As the steepings progressed a hint of bitterness showed up but then faded again. Overall very pleasant and easy going.

hashtag Peanutpool.

This is the first 2016 (not including Fade) of the White2tea line up I tried. This puer has a yiwu character of soft, sweet, apricot, bit grassy, and quite light in taste. What makes this tea good is the thick loose custard body and floral fragrance after each sip. Push it hard and you can get some delicious apricot explosions. The tea has low dryness, no bitterness, no smoke. You can chug Diving Duck as it is so easy to drink. Hard to say whether a newbie pu drinker would like this as it is pretty subtle, but yet not complex enough for a long time drinker. It would all have to go down to personal taste on what you like in a young sheng.

Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/2016-diving-duck-white2tea-tea-review/

Number rating this tea is hard, i keep bouncing 85 or 90. A screw it, no number rating for you duck.