2018 Arbor White

Gongfu!

I’ve been on a strong white tea kick this week, so I’m continuing down that path with a tea session of 2018 Arbor White. In general I much prefer the black tea version of this material, but today the sweet and syrupy liquor and brighter and more fruity nectarine/apricot and honey leaning tasting notes were more in line with my cravings. Along with that sort of “fruit nectar” like quality, this is also a white tea with that trademark straw/hay flavour as well – almost in equal parts to the sweet fruitiness, at least with today’s session. It’s really nice, but truthfully probably my least favourite of all the white tea sessions I’ve steeped up this week…

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CdOdHujO77M/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP8S8u_cXBo&ab_channel=RadioFantasy

Deep strong aromas from the wet leaves: vegetal, floral, hay, caramelized fruits. Some smoke. Similarities with puerh.
Tight compression

1
40 sec steeping.
Light silky, sweet and savoury, vegetables stock.

2
40 sec. Steeping.
Still very light and smooth, with more honey and dark fruits notes. Heavy and grounding feeling in my body and stronger heartbeat.

3
40 sec.
The compression is very tight and the flavours struggle to come out even with long infusions. So I try to lightly split the chunks in the gaiwan with my hands. The inner layers are still dry. After that the tea gets more peppery with tobacco flavours, still keeping a light body.

4
40 sec.
I finally get a more satisfying thick bodied liquor, with pleasant astringency, stronger mouthfeel and aftertaste. I like this savoury taste. The tea drunkness is very strong.

5
50 sec.
Slightly dry, fruity and spicy. I see the internal layers of the tea chunks are still dry.
If I’ll drink a similar tea again, I’ll make sure I separate the leaves more with a tea pick before I start the session. Even if that means getting more dust and tiny pieces. Because I’d rather have few strong infusions rather than dozens of light ones.

I’m generally not a big fan of white teas but I enjoyed the complexity and body feeling of this one.

Like the 2018 Arbor Red, I steeped the white version over the course of two days, though I did not take notes.

At this point, the oxidation is developing well and the tea is veering into malty white territory. It has a distinct character different from the few other white tea cakes I’ve tried, not so much red fruit tasting. First several steeps were the best, being thick, heavy, and sweet, with a creamy and floral component that was almost coconutty. Autumn leaf and malty backbone and hints of apricot and tropical fruits. One infusion was pure, dark honey. Tonal tea overall. A western steep of 2g in 8oz water off boil fell very flat in comparison to gongfu.

A great tea, especially for those looking for depth and complexity in a white cake. I agree with White2Tea’s description that Arbor White deserves an immersive session. Thanks so much for the sample, Togo :)

Arbor White is an impressive white tea that has a lot going on for it. However, I think it is not special enough for me given the price. Ultimately, I liked the Arbor Red more, which is why I got a cake of that one instead. Nevertheless, the complexity is definitely there.

The aromas are fairly standard for a white tea of this kind – there are notes of autumn leaf pile, honey, petrichor and passion fruit. The rinse is sweet, fruity and woody with a pronounced apricot note. The complexity increases in future steeps. I can notice flavours of bark, stonefruits, lemon zest, egg shells, spices and copper in addition to those mentioned. The profile remains very balanced throughout the session. It is a comforting and smooth tea. The finish is somewhat sour and it extends into the aftertaste, which then makes it feel like the liquor stayed in the mouth.

The liquor has a medium body and is mouth-watering. The mouthfeel is very expansive, soft and a little chalky. It induces a tingling sensation in the mouth and I feel like it’s more interesting once the tea has cooled down a bit.

As for the aftertaste, I find it quite acidic and slick with a cooling sensation in the mouth. It is somewhat earthy and displays further notes of pumpkin spice and cake.

In none of the sessions with this tea I noticed any particular cha qi, which came as a bit of a surprise.

edit: And half an hour after I wrote that, I notice the music filling the room much more than normally, I feel elevated, and my writing looks as if I was dyslexic. The cha qi of this tea is a creeper that you mightn’t even notice because of the slow onset, but it’s quite pleasant overall.

Sampled this tea. It definitely offers a great depth of experience. Definitely very high quality. However, at this price and level of quality I would have preferred the tea to be less oxidized. It’s already pretty red and I feel like I already missed out on the lighter more delicate flavors it could have started with. Despite that, I would still buy a cake because it is a special tea and I enjoy it a lot and also it’s not high on my priority list of teas to buy. Worth sampling for sure.