2018 Green Hype

Raw Puer
White2Tea
$38.00USD for 200 grams

I had the opportunity to try one of White2Tea’s puehr teas in my May Sipsby box. Since I enjoyed it so much I decided to join White2Tea’s Monthly Tea Club. For $29.99 you receive different teas each month from their company. This 2018 Green Hype Raw Puer was my first subscription box tea.

Packaging

White2Tea beautifully wrapped their raw puer cake in 2 layers of a light, bamboo leaf tong and then inserted it into a bamboo pouch. Included, was a very nice introduction to the tea club and the tea. When you order the monthly tea club, you receive a coupon code to re-order the tea if you enjoy it. That is a really nice offer, and one that I will be taking advantage of in the future! Also included in the package is a pick to help you separate the tea cake.

When I first opened the outer pouch I was a little concerned. The initial smell was very smokey, like a very light lapsang souchong. I am not a big fan of smokey teas so I was worried that I wasn’t going to like the tea. When I unwrapped the cake, it was a completely different smell! It was sweet, it reminded me of a sweet hay from my days at the barn. Just the smell brought back amazing memories.

The cake itself is gorgeous. The leaves are absolutely stunning in multiple shades of tans and browns. I was so excited to give this raw puer a try!

How to Brew

I used the tea pick to get about 6 grams to use in my Gaiwan. There weren’t any brewing instructions in the pouch so I jumped onto the website to see if there were any there. I was unable to locate brewing instructions on the website so I went with what I knew to brew this tea. I used 195ºF water and rinsed the tea for 5 seconds. My second (the first one I would drink), third, and fourth steep I let sit for 15 seconds and the fifth, sixth, and seventh sit for 20-25 seconds.

As the tea steeped, the sweet hay-like aroma heightened. It smelled absolutely incredible. The leaves lightened as they steeped and unfurled. They were beautiful and I got many full leaves to open! They were beautiful!

The Experience

I loved the description that White2Tea put on their website about this tea:

This 2018 Green Hype has a formidable thickness and full bodied mouthfeel.  The tea is sweet and boasts an intense huigan [the lingering sweetness in the mouth after drinking a tea]. Drink this tea young if you don’t mind a touch of aggression in your tea, otherwise age for a bit to smooth out the edges.

The tea steeped to a sunny yellow color. Each steep deepened in intensity. I was shocked by how sweet the flavor was. It had a light floral flavor to it that really surprised me. It was very heavy on the tongue. The introduction paper that came with it said there would be some bitterness and astringency. While drinking Hype I found it to be incredibly smooth and not astringent at all. However, I found the astringency and bitterness in the aftertaste and as it cooled.

Warm this is an incredibly pleasant tea that I could drink every day. This is a tea that I could enjoy all day and not get tired of. Each cup was a little different from the one before it, keeping me on my toes throughout the entire tasting experience. I am interested to see how this would be as a cold steep but I’m not sure what the outcome would be.

The leaves were gorgeous as the unfurled! The dark leaves brightened and opened beautifully! It was impossible to take a bad picture of the leaves after they opened. Look how incredible those colors are!

I also really like that White2Tea recommends allowing the tea to age for awhile and drinking it again. Since it is a raw puer the flavor will change as it ages. I am looking forward to keeping this one around for awhile to see how the flavor evolves.

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