I’ve known about and contemplated joining White2Tea’s club for a while now. For thirty dollars a month they send you something interesting, educational, or just plain tasty. If your interested in what the past months have been like, Oolong Owl has reviews for many of them. I heard that this months was a brick of aged Jingmai sheng, so I finally gave in and joined.

The packaged came a few days ago, and contained not only a 2009 Jingmai brick, but also a sample of second flush Auburn black, a relative of the popular Auburn black that White2Tea offered a year or so ago.

The brick has a nice tobacco smell and some staining of the wrapper, hinting that it is pretty mature for it’s age. Opening it up it looks and smells quite nice; medium brown leaves and gold-orange buds. I load up 6g in my 90mL Jianshui pot and give it a rinse.

It brews a clear, light orange liquer. The tea tastes of dry herbs and honey with a bit of mineral, citrus, and tobacco in the background. The herbaceous quality is nice and reminds me a bit of Tiger Balm. I quite like the storage: it’s mature for it’s age without being overly dank or earthy. It’s a pretty decent tea, but doesn’t have anything that makes me go “wow.” Unoffensive, but doesn’t have any particularly special qualities.

On to the Auburn Black…

I pour out almost seven grams for my 120mL gaiwan. A little heavy handed, but I decided to go with it. The dry leaf is dark and wiry with few buds. Slight savory aroma, but not a lot. I don’t rinse because I find that blacks generally don’t need it.

Brews a medium orange. It lets off a delicious aroma of fresh flowers. It tastes of malt and fruit with a floral aroma that reminds me a bit of a jade TGY or Taiwan high mountain oolong. It has a silky mouthfeel that reminds me of peach or mango nectar, and the fruity flavor adds to that.

Very tasty tea, I’d love to get my hands on some more of this one. Overall I greatly enjoyed this White2Tea club, and it was quite a good value. I look forward what future months will hold!