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“Got a coin of this in a pack I ordered from white2tea – I was supposed to get a stack of coins, but they only shipped one – great customer service, they refunded the amount and offered free...” Read full tasting note
Our 2019 Gongmei is a Fujian white tea, stored in Fujian until white2tea purchased it for pressing in 2023.
An excellent daily white tea with smooth and soothing character. Plenty of spicy aromatics and sweet fruity character, and even a heavy broth when pushed. An ideal way to start the day and a flexible tea that can be brewed in nearly any style and still shine through with intrigue.
Each mini is ~7 grams. Each ~49g stack contains 7 minis.
2019 white tea, pressed in 2023.
Got a coin of this in a pack I ordered from white2tea – I was supposed to get a stack of coins, but they only shipped one – great customer service, they refunded the amount and offered free shipping for my next order!
Brewed gongfu at 205F in a 110ml glazed gaiwan.
Rinsed once to let the tea open up, but the steep was already a little bit darker than I expected
First steep (10-15s) is a golden color, slightly pale. Notes of hay and farm animal (?) its quite noticeable and I don’t think I like it. It tastes like a petting zoo.
Second steep (10-15s) deeper gold – surprisingly deep color for a white tea, Same weird farm note up front, but with honey/honeysuckle forward in the mix, and a very distant floral note
Third steep (10s) gold color again, a bit light due to shortening the steep. The farm note has gone further back, hay and honey are further to the front, again with a floral note in the distance. The coin is still surprisingly packed at the core, although a lot of the leaves have shed off and opened.
Fourth steep (20s): Deep golden hue again. Farm note is almost gone, thank god. Starting to become a nice white tea on the deeper side of notes as opposed to just floral/crisp like many white teas. At this point the note is prominently honey/honeysuckle, with a bit of hay in the distance.
5th steep (30s): same hue. Farm note fully gone, but also the taste is starting to fade, despite the color remaining the same. tad more dryness/astringency
6th steep (40s): deeper orange hue now. The coin remains compact, which I think is preventing the tea from unlocking all of its flavor. Pried apart much of it now by hand, we’ll see how it affects the next steep. Despite the deeper hue, the flavors are fading.
7th steep (40s): Flavor has returned now that I manually pried the leaves open a bit. No major change of notes – mostly honey with hint of florals
8th steep (50s): High notes are now missing, still mostly honey-floral
9th steep (70s): I think the tea is officially over, getting the “kicked tea” flavor.
Overall, not my favorite, but it did better than I initially thought once the “petting zoo” note faded out. If you’re looking for a white tea that’s on the darker side of the flavor profile, this would work. Personally, the farm note is not quite worth the rest, I’d rather drink a white tea that’s nice all the way through.
Flavors: Barnyard, Hay, Honey, Honeysuckle, Warm
