; Cwyn's Death By Tea: 99 Grams of Poundcake from white2tea ;

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

99 Grams of Poundcake from white2tea

this shape and I have a past.
I hadn't planned on reviewing the new white2tea Poundcake gourd but it is a week already since it arrived and no one else has. The gourd is just such an enticing shape I can think of several uses for it. Originally I thought I'd pass on reviewing this since I have no way in hell of breaking this thing apart. Recently I got a pick injury trying to pry apart a tiny sample, so I worry over the dangers I might face. But what the hell, I might as well brew it on top of my car.

30 sauerkraut jar
Now I'm not just about doing crazy shit for the blog. I did my research. Early scuttlebutt on the Poundcake is the first three steeps are incredible. Seems reasonable to me therefore that I want those steeps as long and as large as possible. So the only solution here is to steep the whole 99 grams at once. Sometimes you gotta go big or go home, baby.

A wise teapot choice, the double-wall.
Big tea calls for big equipment so I drag out a Bonjour borosilicate double-walled 30 oz honker. I don't have a gong bei this size, so instead I am using a 30 oz sauerkraut jar which luckily nestles my strainer quite nicely. Right away I can see that I am going to need to refill and heat the kettle for each steeping. I start out with two rinses and photographed the second one because I don't think I want to stop for photos on a real steep.

None for the neighbors.
Steep number one I use about around 20 oz of water and get a bright yellow brew. I therefore have about 4 cups of first steeping. The brew is entirely honey sweet with no bitterness whatsoever, and notes of nutmeg and cloves, suggesting that "cake" image the tea is named for, and the motor oil thickness that all of white2tea's house label productions seem to give me.

First steep of oily goodness.
So yeah. I drank the entire first steep in one go. I have sheng literally down to the inside of my ankles. If I stand up now I will slosh. Really should be taking my time but instead I gulp the whole thing. Now I'm sweating with dry mouth but not so dry that I need water. In fact I kinda want more. Thought I'd  wait til tomorrow for a second steep, but might as well keep going.

Rinse photo again.
Second steep I moved indoors to use my Zojirushi water heater which keeps my water just under boiling. I must remember to use my Bonjour pot on puerh shapes like this, sheng balls and whatnot. The double walled insulation really keeps the tea lightly steaming for a bit in between steeps which helps to open up the gourd. I really don't need to use a puerh pick after all. The tea is really starting to kick in now and I'm feeling decidedly woozy in a happy way.

Have you ever noticed when green tea really hits you that your eyesight improves? I don't know if this is the actual tea or the effect of hydrating the eyeballs. Or, in my case, floating the eyeballs. I check the scent on the leaves which is rather vegetal, a swampy vegetal since I'm brewing so much tea all at one time.

I've heard this tea will brew more bitter as time goes on and people are reporting a good ten steeps so far. I'm sure other reviewers will be there for you with deeper exploration than I'm providing here. I think the flavor really does have the sweetness of cake and suggests to me that Poundcake is one of those teas for people who really enjoy their young sheng, that the leaves are chosen for this particular flavor in their fresh state.

Right now I've got my Son posted for sale on EBay so I can afford all of the white2tea productions this year. So far a lot of lookers but no takers. In reading all of the Yunnan travel logs from western puerh vendors, I can say that Twodog spent more time in Yunnan sampling more young tea, drinking more alcohol with farmers, eating more insects, and plucking more lunch chickens than any other producer. You all know this is true. We've heard there is still one cake left to come in the 2015 Collection, and that a few of these gourds remain if you contact white2tea.


I'm glad I decided not to hoard the gourd and instead went all out for the huge brew pitcher, just like some people might drink lemonade or beer in the summertime. Come winter when I'm steeping away at shou, heicha and oolong teas I will have a wonderful summer memory of this huge pot of tea. As for now, you know what I will be drinking for the next five days while I steep this one out.

Requiescat in Pace.

15 comments:

  1. Please take pics of the leaves after this experiment in gluttony - I've never steeped out an entire pressed gourd before. Also, you are nuts.

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    2. I completely agree with you mister! That being said, I'm sure she is doing this for science or to achieve the title of the blog 'DEATHbyTEA' :) I hope her son will keep us posted if she dies :P

      I"m just being silly btw :D
      You are awesome Miss!
      paxl

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    3. Never really occurred to me people haven't brewed a hundred grams before. I hadn't planned an experiment. Look at the picture of the tuo, can you see anywhere this weinie can be shaved? Cuz I don't.

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    4. [First time caller, long time listener, yada yada...]

      I managed to chip the tip off without any trouble and the procedure didn't need anesthesia or frozen peas in recovery (although, apply as you like).

      Once you get a tea pick into it, it pulls apart without any trouble. My self impalement has been on the stubborn and crotchety White Whale.

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    5. Glad to hear. I'm just not as dexterous as I used to be.

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  2. I totally agree with twodog :-)

    Also, there were some tuochas in W2T teaclub that could be stepped whole, especially the 250g tuocha from the beginning of this year!! We want to see it!

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  3. I think steeping a whole Often tuo would kill you dead. I'm glad you're at least taking it slow and not trying to steep it out in one day. I used to work for a coffee company and one of my jobs was messing with (and tasting, and spitting but still...) espresso and all day, like probably 40-50 shots. Beer was an essential yin element, it probably saved my life. Just a word of advice.
    PS That tea is baller, super umami and sweet.

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    1. Yeah I've been napping and dreaming I need to pee but can't wake up.

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  4. Sloshing, clearly it is the vaping of the tea world. I applaud your epicness in just steeping the whole thing....also am I the only one that sees a buttplug in the shape, because if so i need to rethink my life. Also I need to apologize to every wu luo gourd I see.

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    1. Nope you're not the only one. ( see first paragraph)

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    2. Never comment on a blog while tea drunk, because you might miss thinly vieled innuendo :p

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