Whatch'ya Up to? What-Cha's new Sheng!
Hello!! Is it me you're looking for?
In today’s blog post I’ll be reviewing the new What-Cha Sheng!
This is What-Cha's new house sheng whose full title is '2015 What-Cha 'Lao Shu Bai Cha' Raw Puerh Cake' and was produced by Yunnan Sourcing's Scott Wilson!
First, I’m going to tell you about why this tea is a must-buy for all pu-erh drinkers alike…
Opening:
Woah - back up like 10 feet! Before opening this tea I must point out the odor radiating from this tea is something worth mentioning. When I say odor, I don’t mean it in the same sense that the guy sitting next to you on the subway smells homeless - no. I mean that the smell of sweet/sugary tea leaf knocked me down when I opened the shipping box!! Mmmmm, yummy!
The first thing I noticed when opening this cake is that, in my gayest accent possible, its beaUtifulllll!!!!!! Seriously, look at that compacted leafy crack-cocaine! Move out of the way Colorado, because this is something worthy of being legalized! Rihanna was clearly singing about this tea in ‘Diamond’ on her last album.
Do double-g Dog! Snoop, tell’it!
No, it’s not the year of the dragon. This paper is a clear representation of What-Cha’s logo. Its simplistic yet beautiful.
Infusions 1-3 -
Before I started my session with this tea, I washed it with a quick rinse. My first infusion game me that sugary-globby feeling in the back of my throat. After my second and third infusion, I got a warm-whisky taste my mouth along with notes of air infused fruits that gave a lingering sweetness. Of course with a new sheng comes with bitterness, however the other flavors were too strong for the bitterness to be a problem
Infusions 4-6 -
I’m now up to 20 second infusions and the flavor was really strong! I was surprised at the strong full bodied flavor of mixed fruit and bourbon I was tasting. I was experimented with different water temps and found that this tea was best at 175º - the oolong temp.
Anyways, when I say there was a whisky taste I mean it as a good thing. The note of bourbon was very pleasant as in, an acute warmness in the throat with an amber punch that was just like a good bourbon!
Infusions 7-10 -
The bitterness subsided and my infusions got longer. There was still a warmness in the back of the throat, but around infusion 8 it was gone. All that was left was the taste of warm fruits. At this point however, it was hard to pinpoint what the flavor exactly was because of how full bodied it was.
After about infusion 12, I put this tea up and finished my session. It started to get watery and the taste of liquid happiness was disappearing, leaving me with a cloud of great sorrow hanging over my head….
Conclusion -
What? The conclusion already?
Wow. I need to praise this tea on the fact I got so much out of it in such a short period of time. The fact that the bourbon/bitterness is already subsiding this early in a sheng is something that really stood out to me. Rarely do I enjoy a sheng that is this fresh, but the potential it has is completely mind blowing. Ned Stark raised from the dead to reclaim the throne!!!
...if Caitlin can come back alive as Lady Stoneheart than goddamnit, so can Ned!
The flavor was something completely unexpected and gave me an experience I’ll never forget… Well, until I drink it again ;)
I bought two of these cakes and I can guarantee you that i’m going to buy more from Alistair.
Ranking:
9.6/10
Drunk Level:
"You know that special kind of drunk, that you're a better driver because you know you're drunk. You know the kinda drunk that you probably shouldn't drive but you do anyway, because... come on, you gotta get a car home, right, I mean what do they expect me to do? Take a bus? Is that what they want? For me to take a bus? Well screw that! You take a bus!" -
I'm that kind of tea drunk....
[Props to anyone who knows that quote]
