2019 Undercover by White2Tea

Now is probably not the best time for me to start writing this; it’s the height of the day, outside I can see that the skies are clear blue and the pine trees are still, I’m a couple of steeps in and I’m getting the feeling that soon I may want to go out. Still, it’s only coming on slowly. This morning and the one before I’ve woken up feeling off colour, with tender glands in the neck and a dull apathy that’s kept me in bed til mid morning. Yesterday, after some subdued hours, I remembered tea. I am currently overseas and my tea selection while diverse, is highly portable. This tea cake, ‘Undercover’ from White2Tea, is the star of my meagre sheng Puerh collection, and I selected it from last year’s new offerings as my go to drinker to take overseas. It’s not an inexpensive cake, I worked it out at about 5 Australian dollars per 7 gram session, but I needed it to be engaging enough to drink frequently and satisfying enough to quash the need to seek out other, more expensive things to drink, being as I am situated in a remote place where luxury commodities are priced to holiday makers.

The tea was pressed last year from maocha “stored tightly sealed since 2014”. The cake is medium to light compression in my opinion. I was attracted by the fact that the material is 5 years old and described as aromatic and possessing “an emerging smooth character”. As a semi-casual drinker my preference is young sheng for its aromatics and myriad flavours, but my stomach tends to rebel against drinking anything less than 2 or 3 years old multiple times in a week. I let this tea rest for awhile both when I first received it and after moving it halfway around the world with me before setting in on it, I find the aromatics and flavours can dull a little with travel. It turns out that this tea was the smartest purchase I made last year, because it is absolutely perfect.

I usually brew with an 180ml gaiwan. I don’t currently measure how many grams I use, but I usually either brew with this gaiwan at full capacity using roughly 11g and two 75ml cups, or at roughly 100ml capacity using around 7g and one cup. Since I’m not currently being precise I don’t find much cause to record steep times, although I have in the past and definitely will do so again in the future. My brewing technique has evolved over a year or so of contemplative consumption, but I would like to credit one Steepster reviewer “TJ Elite” with heavily influencing the way I treat my puerh. After warming my gaiwan and cups I will rinse the leaf for 5 seconds or perhaps slightly less and then I will always allow the leaf to rest in my gaiwan for at least 5 minutes. I usually always at least sample the rinse and then I rewarm my cups when I’m ready to continue. The first steep is always as close to 5 seconds as possible. Water is always just boiled.

Pictured above is the ‘Undercover’ leaf after steep 3. I’m now on steep 6, and it’s been about two hours since I began. I feel great and my glands have noticeably gone down and no longer ache. I feel significant mental and physical energy calling to be focused. Although today I am, you don’t really need to drink a large quantity of this tea to enjoy it, I think that because the tea shows you everything it’s got from the beginning and the later steeps are equally as enjoyable largely due to the increasing force of the huigan and the endurance of the core flavour, as is so helpfully advertised in the product description, there’s no need to use excess grams to get a lot of mileage out of the first handful of steeps as there is the temptation to do so with teas of low endurance, or to rush through the initial steeps as with teas that take awhile to get going. This tea does not change much from beginning to end, it also hardly seems to lose steam as the aromatics and flavours dissolve into the liquid only to emerge immediately as a coating of the mouth and throat. The decrease of aromatics of the leaf appears directly proportional to the increase in intensity of the huigan.

The first quality that makes this tea exceptionally good to me is it’s fragrance. Described as “entrancing” it turns out to posses several of my absolute favourite scents. The mingling aromas from the freshly rinsed leaf of white florals, specifically lilies and orchids, sticky pollen and rich caramel overlaying a musky, earthy base of agarwood, vetvier, wet moss and an animal scent I’ve thought of before as wet dog, do fill me with a sense of delight. Elements of the fragrance remind me of the high end Xuigi material Bitterleaf Tea’s ‘Oz’, not the same, but very similar, it’s the orchid and wet dog notes in particular. I noticed this more in the wet leaf aroma after infusion 3. As the steeps progress the floral aromas recede and dried fruits appear as the woodsy base intensifies. A very light tartness coupled with an orange zest note, which were perhaps always there in the mix become more noticeable, and together for a moment suggest marmalade. The slightest hint of smokiness appears but so well integrated as to be barely perceptible. In my empty cup I can smell butter cookies.

The second quality is the huigan, which begins from the first sip of the rinse and intensifies with every parcel of tea that sinks into the mouth and throat, coating both with a thick floral fragrance. The sensation of one’s insides being elegantly perfumed is so overwhelmingly strong and enjoyable, it’s nice to quit the session for an hour or so anywhere up until steep 6 just to enjoy breathing. This tea has the strongest huigan I have experienced.

The third quality is the taste. This tea does have a lot of flavour going on, although it gets overwhelmed first by fragrance then increasingly by the sensation of the huigan. The body is medium for the whole session. Even long cold steeps of the spent leaves after the session produce a flavoursome and medium bodied liquor, I’ve tested. The flavour incorporates earthy, woodsy flavours with biscuity, caramel toffee flavours. At one point there was a hint of smokey incense. If pushed a very minor bitterness can appear and towards the very final steeps minerality starts to overcome distinct flavours. There is never any astringency.

The fourth quality is the overall effect. The fragrance, huigan, and balanced, mellow flavour give this tea it’s supreme elegance. The liquor is peaceful to the stomach, and doesn’t require much food to balance it’s effects. The energy is also very peaceful, it feels physically and mentally energising without being overwhelming, though by the end of the session it’s easy to become unfocused if you lose concentration. The tea is mentally uplifting and imbues the mind with happiness and calm. This is the first puerh I would choose if someone with no Puerh experience wanted to drink gong fu cha with me. It is an intense tea, but one that really highlights everything I love about Puerh with no negative points.