2002 White2tea White Whale raw pu’er is a 100 gram brick sold by White2Tea, online seller of quality pu’er based in Beijing.

This pu’er cake is a steal! At the time I write this, $15 for a 100 gram brick (note, the price is going up in September 2014). Even for a 2012 raw pu’er 100 gram brick $15 is a good price. The story on this pu’er cake is White2Tea found it nice and aged in a corner, with no wrappers, in a pu’er warehouse – at a bargain – so we get this cake at a bargain too!

2002 White2tea White Whale also falls into “pu’er cakes with cool wrappers” club!

The pu’er brick attracted a dolphin to help out!

Dry Leaf

The 2002 White2tea White Whale cake is tightly compressed with swirls of dark brown leaf with a spattering of gold and cream leaves.

Steeping Instructions

I used White2teas pu’er steeping instructions, which I follow now for most of my pu’er steepings – 1 gram of tea per 15 ml of filter boiling water. I used a gaiwan for this tasting round.

As always, I did a quick rinse before starting to officially steep and taste the pu’er.

Tasting of the 2002 White2tea White Whale Raw Pu’er

First and Second Infusion: I started with 15 second infusions (a little longer than recommended, but whatever), adding an additional 15 seconds with each infusion. 2002 White2tea White Whale raw pu’er brews up a lovely dark orange reddish tea with a fairly clear liquor.

Coming from the cup is a dry musky scent. 2002 White2tea White Whale raw pu’er sips in strong with lots of flavor, whoa! Great woodsy and enoki mushroomy, with bit of sweet smoke (1/10 on the smoke meter) and a thick body. At the end of sip there is an interesting minty medicinal camphor quality to the pu’er that adds a cooling sensation to the mouth. In addition, 2002 White2tea White Whale raw pu’er has a hint of astringency – 1/10 on the astringency meter.

Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Infusion: With each steeping there is more camphor bite which nice and refreshing. Drinking 2002 White2tea White Whale raw pu’er is like getting hit by a wave from an Orca at Sea World. At the sixth infusion the tea is still a rich orange color.

Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Infusion: I began to increase the brewing times here – adding 30 seconds instead of 15 seconds. The flavor shifted, becoming very smooth of a sip with a sweeter edge to it than previous steepings. 2002 White2tea White Whale raw pu’er has that cool camphor dancing in the background with slick resin notes throughout makes these middle infusion refreshing, smooth and crisp. The colour of the tea is finally starting to fade. End of sip there is still a gritty astringency. Interesting, I’ve noticed the flavor after each sip doesn’t linger that long.

Eleventh, Twelfth, and Thirteenth Infusion: 2002 White2tea White Whale raw pu’er is light, but with plenty of minty fresh crisp camphor notes. I’m fighting to keep this tea going as at this point the woodsy and resin notes are just about gone, but it feels like the camphor notes are never going to end.

Fourteenth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth Infusion: I’ve cranked up the infusion time again, adding an additional minute tea each infusion. With each infusion, the tea is getting sweeter. 2002 White2tea White Whale raw pu’er is still minty but getting more dry – 3/10 on the Astringency Meter as my cheeks and tip of my tongue are dry.

Seventeenth “Last Hurrah” Infusion: This point I’m up to a 7 minute long infusion, so I did a “last hurrah” steeping with an extended 10 minute long infusion. The cup has a tint of colour to it, but the flavor is just an aftertaste of camphor. I might be able to get an encore steeping of 2002 White2tea White Whale raw pu’er but I think I’ll stop here – this tea lasted a lot longer than I thought it would!

Comments

The price of the 2002 White2tea White Whale raw pu’er is already a great deal – but with a tea with quite a bit of endurance and resteeping power, you are getting even more bang for your buck! If you start with 5 second steepings you’ll probably get even more infusions out of this tea.

Overall, White2Tea‘s 2002 White2tea White Whale raw pu’er is easy to drink, refreshing pu’er to have in your tea collection. If you are new to pu’er or would like to get into drinking pu’er 2002 White2tea White Whale is a fine cake to get your feet wet – especially to experience a cake with some age on it. When I started getting into pu’er, most of the cheaper cakes are the newer ones which taste better with more age on it. 2002 White2tea White Whale has some aging done for you, with a great price!

Bonus: Dolphin and Owl tea bonding.

(tea provided for review)

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