2025 Oriole

Tea Thoughts Winter Countdown 2025 – Day 5

Wow, it seems like this one can resteep endlessly. I’ve been drinking it gong fu all day and it’s still giving me flavorful steeps! Smooth and round mouthfeel, with a honey-like sweetness, that savory hay note white teas always seem to have for me, no astringency, and just a bit of dryness at the end of the sip. Great paired with Reese’s Pieces, or on its own.

7g Mini. Gongfu in a 120ml gaiwan. Started with 180F but upped to 195 F second steep onwards.

My floral and fruit palate is not very developed, so I have a hard time being specific on tasting notes, sorry.

Rinse: almost transparent, very faint greenish yellow. Ball remained pretty tight.

1st steep (~10s): Looks a bit more green-yellow in liquor but still quite pale. The mini ball was still quite packed, and playing with it with my finger doesnt help to loosen it at all, its as hard as a rock. Flavor has familiar yunnan white notes – kind of floral and sweet, but I know the tea has much more to offer once it actually opens up

2nd steep (15s): tea ball is finally just starting to open up, but 50% of it is still packed tight. Liquor is proper golden, slightly pale, just a hint of green. Lid aroma is floral and sweet, touch of rose and another flower I can’t quite put my finger on. Taste is similar to the first steep but with a bolder step.

3rd steep (15s): I have never seen a compressed tea have such difficulty opening up! It opens further with some light prying, but the center is still practically glued shut. Liquor is a step darker in gold, but is not as dense as I know it could be. Lid aroma has the floral note even stronger. Flavor is still quite floral, and I’m starting to get a slight fruit note, like a citrus with something non-citrus. Much better compared to the previous steep

4th steep (25s): Lid aroma has softened to something like a floral baby powder. Liquor is now looking proper gold. Tea ball opens up a bit more with some light prying, but its still quite dense. Thinking of pushing the next steep. Flavor has deepened – its now a bit more to the back of the throat, I don’t have the word for the note, but it tastes more “orange” – the color, not the fruit. There’s a slight dryness in the texture, but it’s not bitter at all.

5th steep (40s): Lid aroma has stepped away from the bright floral and into the deeper “orange” colored note. Liquor has also deepened to gold-orange. I finally have opened the ball – the last interior leaves are still dry, stiff, and white! the rest of the leaves have become green-to-purple. Taste – floral note is there, but back seat, making way for the deeper note as the frontrunner. There’s a slight honey. Mouthfeel has thickened – less dry. No sign of bitterness.

6th steep (45s): Lid aroma is now fully deep, with a green note – floral is there but much further back. Liquor is now proper halloween orange. Taste is deep and a new floral note has emerged – a powdery floral.

7th steep (45s): Lid aroma has lost all the high notes. Color is still a Halloween orange. Deeper “orange” tasting notes reign, slight note of pear.

8th steep (1m): Same color as the last few steeps. I swear each steep less liquid comes out – more mass of the tea finally expanded? The taste has taken a surprising turn – honey notes with a new floral flavor emerges, a less bright floral note than the start. Tea remains medium juicy, no bitterness or astringency in this steep

9th steep (1.5m): I’ve limited experience in compressed whites, but I’ve certainly never what a white steep this much before! Perhaps the first 3 steeps don’t count. but even then. Lid aroma – the deeper note is now giving way to the vegetal note that typically indicates to me the tea is done. Liquor is the same orange color – given the steep time, I think this tea is finally on its way down. Taste – Astringency has stepped in a bit, although this is my fault for pushing the time out significantly from the last steep. Similar notes to the last steep – a deep and floral note with some honey and pear.

10th steep (1.5m): Very slight lightening of liquor. Tastes is now vegetal-floral, with the vegetal note come much closer to the front. Less astringent than the last steep. Almost slight spice note creeps in the background.

11th steep (1m50s): Last steep since I don’t feel like reheating more water. More vegetal-flower taste. Reminds me of the stale aroma of my father’s flower shop – a vegetal-flower aroma from cut stems and petals on the floor, both fresh and baked into the floor over decades. It doesnt have quite the vegetal flavor of a tea that is “done” in my experience, but it’s getting close.

Leaf examination: green and purple medium sized leaves – 1 leaf 1 bud. A couple 2 leaves. Not an intense purple, some are more purple-brown, others are more green with purple edges.

Overall – Actually a really enjoyable white. Usually I have issues with white becoming bitter/astringent, particularly in later steeps, but this stayed bitter-free throughout. Any astringency was mostly my fault, and even then not anywhere near a problematic astringency – this tea is quite forgiving, I think. I am annoyed with how long it took to open up though – the first 3 steeps were less than stellar just for this, feeling like I was wasting time and hot water. I’d be willing to bet this would be better in cake format than this super compressed ball. Given the price, I don’t think you could go wrong with this if you’re looking for a daily drinker white – it’s not cheap, but its very good for its value, especially considering how much you can steep it for!