#sunskate

A first time production for White2Tea from 2021. This black tea was light oxidized and pressed into cake just like that of puerh and aged white teas, and can be left to age and further oxidize in the same manner. I took an extra minute or two to admire the fun little skateboarding sun character on the wrapper. If nothing else, just the design was fun to look at.  

Being a fairly tightly rolled ball, the dry leaf wasn’t overly aromatic. I found it did have notes of sweet smelling fresh bread. After a thirty second rinse, allowing the ball to open up a bit more, it released much stronger aromatics. Still was able to get a note of fresh bread with added notes of sweet red licorice, tart red plum and raw honey. 

The first infusion was a bit lighter as I expected when brewing dragon balls. The brew had a medium thickness but was soft and smooth on the palate, with tender notes of rose, apple and cherry candy. The second infusion had a stronger note of the rose, and a honey like sweetness. Kind of reminded me of a flower infused honey. I have noted the flavor of fresh baked breads as detected on the aroma of the tea. By the third and fourth infusions the ball had finally opened up enough to release a fuller profile. The tea became much more full bodied and syrupy thick like agave, with a light musk and hints of strawberry. 

It was very enjoyable tea, but perhaps not as much as the other black teas that came in the same order. Truthfully, I haven’t been able to find one that can stand up to the Arbor Red I tasted a little while back. For me this tea was just a bit too light. I tend to go for black teas with much more robust and bolder profiles. But for someone who might be struggling with the stronger profiles of the more commonly found black teas, this one may very well be a good fit.