white2tea

I think this might be from same source as Turtle Dove and Natural Redhead? I have no idea, just guessing. Definitely feeling similar vibes from this tea. Beautiful tea, like the other two! Rich blend of deep fruity notes which kind of reminds me of Harney and Son’s Fruits d’Alsace flavored tea – except no added flavor here. Beautiful rose and perhaps violet florals. Tends more towards the white tea, I think, but the extra oxidation gives it some satisfying body. Tough to pick a favorite between Dark Peony, Turtle Dove, and Natural Redhead. Thankfully, I have one mini left for each of them, so I think I might brew the remaining minis three days in a row to see if I can further distinguish between the three and maybe pick a favorite.

My mini weighed in at 6.31 grams.

Sipdown no.7 for 2025!

I’ve never had a single decaf black tea that I liked, so I’m on the hunt.

After this one, I’m still on the hunt.

One time, I managed to get that golden tannin glow on my tongue from this tea, maybe I brewed it really strong for a long time or something.

All other steeps, it tasted like the pale umpteenth steep of a black tea, as you might expect. Still superior to decaf teabags but sigh what’s the point.

I feel like this might be the same source tea as Tiltshift? Or very similar? This tea feels much the same as that one did, but with the added oxidation element there is an interesting “strawberry” note which has emerged, as advertised. Kind of cool and unusual to find strawberry notes in a straight tea, I think. For this, I’m rating this tea 10 points higher than what I rated the 2021 Tiltshift mini I also tried. I still don’t find this to be a very satisfying experience. Unimpressive and pretty boring once you’ve noted the strawberry. Just doesn’t draw you in with nice textures or twists in flavor or complexity or anything.

My mini weighed in at 6.87 grams.

Vanilla, cream, and a little bit of hay. Might sound kind of okay, but I think this tea is really boring. The vanilla note is the dominant force here, and I guess that much is nice, but it doesn’t really come together as a good tea experience. The other aspects of the tea aren’t much to write home about. Probably a tea that should be relegated to blending. Could add a vanilla note and soften other teas in a blend.

My mini weighed in at 6.94 grams.

Smoke and savory vegetable broth with a little bit of a green grape undercurrent. Not lapsang smoke, but still a fairly prominent smoke flavor. This tea is touted as “walking the tightrope of fruity sweetness and savory undercurrent,” and yes, no lies detected. A weird combination maybe, but there is a tension and interplay between these elements which is more than the sum of its parts. Also finding some oak, some hay, and some mint and parsley herbal notes. The tea seems fairly subtle as far as young raw puerhs go, and it sneaks up on me and I find myself enjoying its nuances.

My mini weighed in at 7.37 grams.

Liqour quality is good and attractive, producing a clear orangish-yellow liqour. I mention this because, like most of the white2tea raw puerhs I’ve tried so far, the tea has a refined and balanced quality to it. It never seems to veer too far in one direction and always seems to stay in some kind of controlled and defined region. I think this is due to the quality of the blending, which is impressive.

The one exception I have so far to this is the 2024 Green Hype mini I tried, which seemed very rough and uncontrolled to me. So far, I am not impressed by that blend. I didn’t review it yet, as I have a few more of those minis to brew through and I thought I’d wait and see if I could understand that tea better before writing about it. I’m thinking maybe that is a type of tea which might need some age to enjoy.

Thought this one might be a dud after the first couple of steeps. Steeped in 16 oz water for 1.5 minutes at 200° and for 2 minutes at 195° before I got a decent steep out of it. Those first two steeps were weak and fairly nondescript. Thankfully, the tea woke up on the third steep (3 minutes at 195°). I guess next time I’ll trying brewing even harder on first steep, maybe 3 minutes at 200°.

Pear, golden raisins, and faintly grassy/hay-like mouth texture thing happening here. The vendor description mentions “herbaceous bitterness,” and not sure I’m feeling that but maybe that is the grassy/hay-like element I perceived. The lingering aftertaste comes in with some deep beautiful florals, perhaps like somehow more concentrated, perhaps aged, and slightly degraded petals of roses and violets in a nice perfumy medley. 4th steep was similarly great (5 minutes at 195°), plus not a bad 5th steep (6 minutes at 195°). This one has some longevity, but seems to take a while to get started. I will tentatively give this tea a 90, as it has a lot of great stuff going on here. I have one more of these minis, and I will see if I can get a better start to my session out of that one.

But not sure that I liked it as much as the 2018 Turtle Dove. This may be an unfair comparison, as the Turtle Dove has 6 more years of aging on it, but I find similar elements at play here and the Turtle Dove is a much more reasonably priced tea. At $7.25 per session (roughly $470 for a lb of tea), Schedule White is the single most expensive tea I think I have ever tried. Definitely haven’t purchased any other tea as expensive as this, but I have tried a few really nice randomly gifted teas, and who knows how much those could have cost?

My mini weighed in at 6.36 grams on the kitchen scale.

8.13 grams for this mini on my kitchen scale.

1st steep – 1.5 minutes in 16 oz water at 200°
Beautiful. A lot of these tea minis I’ve tried have had a relatively weak first steep, even after 1.5 minutes at 200°. Not this one. First steep has elderflower florals, apricot and green grape fruitiness, and a nice citrus rind type of bitterness. But all in balance. Not overly bitter, not overly sweet, and the florals pop out most. I like the way this is going so far. The tea is incredibly smooth and there is a lot of complexity – I can tell there are all kinds of other flavors beneath the surface. For some reason it gives me a “jungly” vibe.

2nd steep – 2 minutes @ 195°
Hello. Almost a totally different tea here. That citrus bitterness has been dialed up quite a bit, and now it is very much in the foreground. Reminds me of the “Gas” mini I tried last week, but instead of aspirin more like chewing on a grapefruit rind. Unlike Gas, I can still feel the presence of the charming tea from the first steep in the background, and I feel still more of the “jungly” effect. The tea leaves are beautiful and quite large.

3rd steep – 3 minutes @195°
That citrus rind is retreating a bit, but still very strong. Feels like I’m swinging on vines in a jungle, and tasting the vines, too. Jungle-forest notes of trees and vines and moss, etc. Not just forest, but clearly evocative of a hot, humid, jungle-like environment. I get “tea high” pretty frequently, but not so much that I write about it. This tea is making me feel a strong tea high.

4th steep – 195° for not sure how long – tea timer mishap, and I guess it was at least a few minutes
Going back to “normal” bitterness territory for a more balanced raw pu-erh experience, I think. Still jungly, still some fruit. I haven’t really noticed much in the way of florals after the first steep, but plenty of other things going on to make me happy. This tea takes you on a good adventure! Definitely shines in the areas in which my first Gas experience failed me. Comparing to Gas because perhaps it is a similar tea experience, as both Gas and Astro Kittens are advertised as ultra-bitter teas.

At $5.10 per mini, this is pretty far out of my budget for a daily tea. Wouldn’t drink it daily, though, even if I could afford to do so. I’ve got a wifey and three boys to take care of, so need to keep my tea budget in check. This is more like a once in a while type of tea, and a good one to pick when you are ready for a little adventure.

Pomegranate, cedar, and a faint whiff of smoke over an earthy/mulchy background. Hints of spice pop out mid sip and are gone just as fast leaving cedar as a lingering aftertaste. It’s a solid steep. My mini weighed in at 6.82 grams on the kitchen scale.

Sandalwood, burnt toast, light smoke, and maybe a little “mulchy?” Not in a particularly bad way, but the more bitter aspect of this tea I would describe as mulchy. Not overly bitter, and overall seems balanced and smooth. A decent cup of shou but not a fave for me. My mini weighed in at 7.25 grams.

Received this mini as a free sample with my order – I can agree with Roswell’s previous tasting note. Yes, all those notes are here. I would add that I get those nice cotton candy notes I love from this one. There is some bite, though. It’s not all sweet and happy, but that’s what I love about young shengs. That extra edginess can serve to elevate things. My mini weighed 7.66 grams on the kitchen scale.

Artichoke, Starbucks Sumatra blend coffee, a touch of maple syrup but not too sweet, and a little bit of oakiness. Smooth and much more satisfying to me than yesterday’s Prosbloom. I like it. I could drink this one once in a while, and think this is definitely pretty good for a basic everyday shou. Don’t notice much in the way of wet pile taste or aroma. My mini weighed in at 6.95 grams on the kitchen scale.

Charred wood, but not as woody as the Lumber Slut mini I tried yesterday. Brews darker than that one. Maybe some licorice. A little bit of dark chocolate. Some bitter edge, but not unpleasant. Some brown sugar sweetness. I find it most like a basic cup of coffee, flavor-wise. Reminds me of a Folgers brew or something like that. Nothing really pops. Smells like a pile of mildewed towels.

Shou is not my favorite type of tea, though, so don’t take my opinion too seriously on this. I do appreciate some of them. Sometimes a good change of pace for me.

This mini weighed in at 6.97 grams on my kitchen scale.

Charred oak, cedar, faint hints of cinnamon, light smoke, and “medicinal” notes all packaged in a surprisingly smooth tea. Nice lingering aftertaste. This reminds me of the Scottish Breakfast Blend from English Tea Store which I tried years ago, which featured Chingwo County Orange Pekoe, a variety of tea renowned for its oaky notes. But this is much smoother than I remember the other tea being, even though I enjoyed that one quite a bit. Woody notes are definitely the name of the game here, but the tea is also so smooth and friendly I could imagine it would appeal to a wide variety of drinkers, even those who are not particularly crazy about wood. My mini weighed in at 6.00 grams on the kitchen scale.

I wouldn’t be surprised if this tea comes from the same patch of leaves the Turtle Dove white tea comes from? I find a lot of similarity between these two teas.

This is a lovely winey black tea, not very malty at all, but with deep red wine flavors and wonderful perfumy rose-floral notes. Taste profile is very reminiscent to me of the 2018 Turtle Dove white tea I tried a few days ago, but this is maybe not as woody. Kind of like a Yunnan version of Keemun black tea, a favorite of mine.

My mini weighed in at 6.68 grams on my kitchen scale.

This tea is indeed a lullaby. Sweet and soothing. This is the first Yunnan white tea I’ve had (not that I’ve had so many) with the bright and fruity notes more reminiscent of a Fujian bai mu dan tea. Maybe not quite as bright and fruity as can be, but definitely going in that direction.

Sweet notes of green grapes, cantaloupe, and honeydew melon. With delicious minty tingles. Very creamy, too. All over a background of the grassy haylike Yunnan character I am more familiar with from other Yunnan whites. Very smooth.

The mini weighed in at 7.64 grams on my kitchen scale.

7.12g for this mini – Wow, this tea is smooth in more ways than one. First of all, the lighter notes of the white tea serve to smooth out the stronger raw pu-erh tea. But on another level, the bitter notes of the raw pu-erh are smoothed out by the sour Meyer lemon notes and the sweet and creamy caramel notes. This tea finds an interesting balance between the bitter, sweet, and sour elements. Yum.

6.46 grams – The floral element of this tea struck me most on the initial steep – strong grassy florals. As I drink further on, I notice some apricot but this tea also leans in a grapey direction, and I get some caramel sweetness. The bite is pretty strong on this one and I notice some “aspirin” taste in the bitter element of this tea, reminiscent of the “Gas” mini I recently tried, but thankfully accompanied by a fuller range of other raw pu-erh elements.

I’m drinking the mini version of this, which registers at 6.14 grams on my kitchen scale. Steeped in 16 oz water at 200° for 1.5 minutes 1st steep, 195° for 2 minutes 2nd steep, 195° for 3 minutes 3rd steep, and 195° for 4 minutes 4th steep.

Really reminds me a lot of a light-to-medium-oxidized oolong with strong apricot notes and a touch of green apple tartness. But it also has some of that signature raw pu-erh bite to it, and some lingering flavor with hay-like “zings”, which is great.

Doesn’t seem as complex as the 941 blend I tried a few days ago, though, and that one wasn’t a particularly complex tea. I might be giving in to confirmation bias, because going into this I know that this is huang pian, a bi-product, and thus a “lesser than” tea. But I think I’m being fair.

I think I could pick this up again because it is a good value for a raw pu-erh and I do enjoy this type of flavor profile.

6.16 gram per my kitchen scale. Tomato, honey, and malt/caramel is what I’m tasting here (in agreement with Cube’s prior review). Learning slowly from my past mistakes with these minis, I stretched the time on my first steep to 1.5 minutes at 205° in 16 oz of water. This seemed to result in a better flavor on the first steep, but the ball had was still not anywhere near having completely opened. A nice black tea with no bite at all. Seems closer to an oolong, as suggested by the vendor. I’m on my third “Dave-Fu” steep and I’m enjoying this one, just doesn’t really have any twist to it to draw me in or make this a definite repurchase.

Nice peachy notes with just a touch of some tangy pineapple. Some hay. A nice white tea. This mini weighed in at 6.88g per my kitchen scale.

Well, this is the last of my initial White2Tea order. I was pretty impressed by the selection. Some very good teas in the mix, and way more winners than losers. Bumping my score on this Gas mini up to an “80,” as it has continued to grow on me. I can’t really say why, as my descriptions of the flavor etc are pretty much the same as my previous note. But I like this tea for some reason.

Difficult decision where to buy my next batch of tea – Mainly between Yunnan Sourcing USA and White2Tea again, but also considered Silk Road Teas (San Francisco, not the Canada one), TeaSenz, and even Vahdam Teas (I like a good first flush Darjeeling).

Ultimately, I think I’m settled on ordering a bunch of tea from Yunnan Sourcing USA and continuing to explore their catalog, along with a few old favorites. Maybe the selection doesn’t seem quite as tightly curated as White2Tea, but overall I think you probably get more bang for your buck through YS. I’ll probably revisit W2T again soon, though, as definitely some good stuff.