2016 Poundcake

An Ode to Tea challenge – P

Precious Poundcake!  I despaired!  I was distracted and went an entire minute (or more) on that first steep.  I haven’t had a sheng in a while!  My mind blanked!  Only 30 seconds is my usual steep method!!!  The first sips tasted like an overdone sheng… but then behold, the flavor of poundcake was there once again.    A hint.  But gone for all four steeps.  No hints.  The one minute steep seemed to set all the other steeps up for failure.  I’m wondering if even much shorter steeps even for Western steeping works much better for this?  Like water cooled to lukewarm and steeped for 15 seconds at a time?  I looked at my first tasting note afterwards, and the magic of this one is waiting almost an entire hour for the water to cool.  I’m smacking myself in the face for not looking at my old note before steeping.  I’m very sad about this steep session compared to the last one!
2021 sipdowns: 52

This tea had a pleasant mouth feel and stayed with me between the cups. There was some astringency in the earlier infusions which faded longer into the session. The most notable flavor for me was the sweetness, which was more on the sugary side rather than overly fruity. I am still relatively new to sheng pu’er but I have had very enjoyable sessions with this tea.

A really pleasant astringency in this tea that ends in a wonderful smooth sweetness. This tea is mellow but with enough flavor to support it. Its almost as if someone put some cream in this tea and mixed it up. Hold up well with heat and long steeps a nice energy that really heated up my body a lot. Poundcake is appropriate name for this tea but it also has a name vegetal and medicinal aspect to it with a wonderful sweetness at the end that keeps you going back. Very nice tea.

Eh, this tea is okay. Definitely not my favorite from White2Tea. It’s not quite as bitter or particular as Little Walk but it’s nothing special. I will say though that I’m doing a lot of quick steeps at 190 and I’m still getting a lot of flavor out of this tea. Was hoping for some cha qi but not really getting anything from it. Oh well.

Just for fun decided to try some longer steeps and yeah.. too astringent for me. Almost metallic.

june 8/17 the second tea i tried from my w2t order i got in yesterday. used 8g for 100ml this morning instead of the 6.5 i used yesterday, and liked it a bit better. there was still some tobacco flavour, and a woody aspect in the first few steeps, not like the old growth forest type of woody, but more like you were in a lumber yard woody. after the first few steeps the sourness kicked in, and the woodiness left. to my taste this sourness is a bit of a deal breaker.

october 12/17 i like this quite a bit more now. earlier this week i remembered a tea that tasted just like good host iced tea, but hot. it was this one.

I’ve fallen back on not reviewing many teas again because I feel like my tastebuds have just faded and there isn’t much I can do about it.

But I sat down with a notebook for this one. Tossed the first rinse.

First steep was very thin, mineral, almost metallic, bitter but smooth, not drying on the tongue; maybe faintly vegetal.

Second steep was more vegetal, still thin but smooth, still felt it was almost a metallic bitterness, but not wholly unpleasant. Bitterness lingered on the tip of the tongue.

Third to about fifth steeps (15 seconds) it evolved to more steamed vegetables, and evolved to a more drying astringency on the tongue, which stuck with you after each sip.

Purchased one of these to send out to all the newbies last year and I sent out about 130g of it and kept 70g for myself.

I’ve had quite a few sessions and enjoy the leaf assortment in this cake, however I have a huge issue with how tight it was compressed because it doesn’t really make for a tea to leave the leaf intact which is something I want in my midtier teas.

A little sweetness, not particularly fruit but somewhat like sugarcane with a hint of bitterness that faints away into an old blade of wet grass. Not sure if my taste buds have changed or if I have been drinking stuff beyond this in quality or just taste in general, but this didn’t ‘wow’ me. If this was a recipe for poundcake I would probably give a 7 out of 10 as it provides what I was looking for, however it wouldn’t be party popping dessert.

Pretty sure this is something that will age beautifully because there are some wonderful leaf within this cake that are assorted in size, shape, and color. Really like the small leaf with thick stems which I will say gives that sweetness as I have noticed with most teas; maybe they are just like fruit and vegetables, bigger does not mean better.

Decided to start the morning off with some Poundcake while working on a midterm. Starts off floral and fruity. Nice thickness and smooth to start, with some astringency kicking in later. I steep this one out over two days and I really get more floral, herbaceous notes out of it than anything. The bitterness and astringency are not at all off-putting or unpleasant for me, personally. All in all, this was a nice, easy drinking experience, but I felt like I was left wanting more out of it. I’ll be giving it another chance, for sure!

The poundcake is the young pop star of pu’er in the West for obvious reasons. I’m not one to embrace trends, but I’ve been curious what all the hype was about. This is my second session with this tea. The attractive long dried leaves have a sweet sugary/grassy scent which is enhaced with a spash of ripened passion and mango aromas after the first rinse. What’s not to like?

Steeps are consistently vibrant and active in the mouth with some throat action going on there too. This one has a nice buzzing qi that grabs my attention. Typically expert processing here: mercifully light compression respecting leaf integrity; pure and clean tea liquor and taste; and no burnt specks to be found. Tropical fruits, sweet florals, and milky oolong continue into later steeps with just a hint of astringency.

There’s a metallic finish (all too prolific in W2T’s shengs) at the roof and back of my mouth that takes points off in my book. This can be overcome with more dynamic flavor characteristics, which isn’t the case here considering the softer profile and lack of edge of this tea.

I can see why this would be attractive to beginners with a decent tea budget, but having tried at least 5 of W2T’s Yiwu-like shengs, I find myself unwilling to put up the cash for this xiao bing. Instead, I chose to pay $15 more for their 357 g 2009 Yiwu Gushu Bing, I suspect shared very similar characteristics in its youth.

Summary: Sweet but not cloying, playful, easy drinker with a thick texture and some energy.

Prep: Dunno, boiling water, 5-8g, 100cc gaiwan. Anywhere from 7-16 steeps.
Sessions with this tea: 10+

Taste: Starts sweet like fruit (more complex), evolves to sweet like dew (simple). Small astringency early, mildly medicinal, goes away into sweetness. Aftertaste doesn’t linger unfortunately.

Body: Thick heavy cream mouthfeel, so good. Drying in the mouth aftertaste, induces some salivation. Sits deep in the belly, not heavy. Moderate energy.