Country of Origin: China
Leaf Appearance: somewhat dark, tightly compressed
Ingredients: puerh tea
Steep time: 30 seconds
Water Temperature: 212 degrees
Preparation Method: porcelain gaiwan
Liquor: dark amber
I cannot stress enough what an awesome vendor +White2Tea is. I posted a total newbie question on TeaChat about how to tell the difference between “ancient” and young plantation teas. Paul reached out privately offering samples that he thought would help me to understand. Included in the treasure trove that arrived a few weeks later was a brick of White Whale. I had heard quite a bit of buzz about it from fellow bloggers and on Steepster. Things have been a bit crazy so it had been way too long since I had a good raw puerh when I finally got a chance to sit down and enjoy some. The taste was earthy with a pine-like smokiness and notes of camphor. There was very little astringency and the thick mouth-feel made it feel even smoother. Strangely enough, I was reminded of the rosin that I used on my violin when I was in grade school. That might sound unpleasant for some but it was a nice sensory memory. Holy cow! I must have lost some of my tolerance because I was tea drunk very quickly. As I said when I logged this one on Steepster, Is it the best puerh I’ve had? Of course note. Is it the best $15/100g puerh that I’ve ever had? Absolutely!
2002 White Whale sample provided by White2Tea.