2018 White Tripel

Gongfu Sipdown (1289)!

Really proud of the sipdown progress that I’ve made so far this year! This is one of several W2T white tea samples that I should really work my way through – but I’m glad I started here because I’ve never really been super impressed by this one, so it’s good to get it out of the tea stash.

It’s definitely smooth and consistent with a pleasant thickness to the mouthfeel but a taste that doesn’t pull me back in the same way as some of W2T’s other white tea offerings. I found this one tasted sort of autumnal-ish with hot hay/crunchy leaf notes and, when pushed, a bit of a dandelion root/brown sugar/stonefruit sort of vibe. Not big on flavour, though – but what is has does resteep many times.

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ4QS1ZA82c/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QubhJVWzxN0&ab_channel=DavidDeanBurkhart

This tea didn’t really grab my attention in either of the sessions I’ve had with it. It is fragrant, but overall there are very little distinctive aromas that stand out. It’s as if the aromas of the different constituents neutralize each other. The taste is sweet and floral with a lightly tannic backbone. I get notes like yellow courgette, dandelion and related vegetal and floral ones. I like the mouthfeel quite a bit, it’s probably the highlight. There is little astringency to be found. Instead, it is very smooth, soft and slightly mouth-watering. Overall, a pleasant tea to drink, but quite unremarkable all things considered.

Today I was in the mood for white tea so the White Tripel freebie (thank you white2tea) seemed like a good candidate to satiate my craving. I’m quite happy with the choice.

Anakin goes Vader, that’s what popped up in my head thinking about this tea. It goes from light to dark – taste, smell and color. It can surprise you with something new even in steep 10+ so don’t give up on it early. I think this is my first tea with such a prolonged development.

Gongfu, 6g, 130ml, 25+ seconds (I have to buy a timer, counting after the fifth or sixth infusion is not something I’m particularly good at.)
Dry leaf is always a bit hard for me – sweet and floral but also something stronger and heavier I can’t pinpoint.
Wet leaf is a beast. Starts all light, sweet and floral, some green nuttiness. I even got some very light red berries, like raspberries and redcurrant maybe. It darkens progressively. At various stages I get some rose, oxidized fruit, darker honey, and even spices like cinnamon and tonka bean.
Liquor also starts light – say acacia honey, and darkens with time to a deeper orange wildflower honey. It has a relatively think mouthfeel and quite a lot of bud hairs floating around even though there aren’t that many buds in the leaf. The hairs produce a sort of scratchiness in the back of the throat that I am not very fond of but I guess that’s what it feels being part of the Dark Side (phhhhhh… phoooo… phhhhhh… phoooo… I’m Vader).
The taste isn’t as complex as the wet leaf smell but follows the same development. Starts light with flowers, honey and green nut milk(?) and by the end with the rose, spices and oxidation it’s almost like drinking a very light black tea. (I wouldn’t know what kind as I haven’t had that many blacks so far but I’ll have to work on that.)

I don’t often mention body sensation because I’m relatively new with tea, and coffee was never my thing, so I almost always get the caffeine rush. This tea is no exception. It’s not as strong as sheng puerh but I’m definitely wide awake and alert.

Overall I’m pretty happy with this tea. It’s most interesting to follow it along its transformation. I wonder how it will age so I’d consider buying a cake.