This is a Spring 2025 raw puer from Farmerleaf.

Brewing setup: 7g in a gaiwan brewed at 95C

Dry leaf aroma: super fragrant the moment it’s unwrapped. Strong dried apricot aroma. 

Wet leaf aroma: dried apricots, jasmine flowers, grass clippings, some earthiness

Tasting notes: intense jasmine florals, dried apricot sweetness that lingers in your throat, some grassiness on later steeps. Very little bitterness or astringency, though there is some drying mouthfeel when pushed. 

Overall, this tea is very tasty and elegant, but still easy to drink on a daily basis. I got the full cake on a whim without trying a sample just based on the reviews of the tea and the relative affordability ($45 for a 357g cake), and I’m happy I went for it. I’ve had it for a couple of weeks now and it’s great both grandpa style and in the gaiwan. This is the first raw puer that my partner has really enjoyed due to the low bitterness and astringency. She said that before I told her it was a puer, she would’ve guessed it was an oolong based on how floral and sweet it was.

This is a black tea from white2tea.

Brewing setup: 3g grandpa style with boiling water

This is a delicious tea that is very forgiving and perfect for grandpa style or thermos brewing. It’s very sweet, with no bitterness or astringency. The name of the tea may be influencing me here, but it really does taste like strawberry jam mixed with butter, just missing the toast. Also quite an affordable tea too at just $6.50/50g.

This is a 2025 raw puer from white2tea. I’ve had it in the gaiwan, but today I am having it grandpa style since I’m traveling without my tea equipment.

It’s a tasty tea grandpa style with a decent bitterness, vegetal notes, and some sweetness in the aftertaste. Not quite as delicate as when brewing in the gaiwan, but still tasty.

This is a 2014 raw puer tea from white2tea.

Brewing setup: 7g tea ball brewed in a tall glass with boiling water.

Tasting notes: good bitterness up front, leading to a fruity huigan after bitterness fades. Later steeps have a more fruity floral note to them.

Overall quite a tasty slightly aged puer to have while traveling for work. Not too fussy and does well grandpa style.

This is a 2021 sheng puer tea from Crimson Lotus Tea.

Brewing setup: 5g tea ball grandpa style with boiling water

Tasting notes: some bitterness and astringency, vegetal notes, refreshing

Tea high: normal caffeine alertness, nothing crazy as expected by the name/description of the tea

Overall, this was a good raw puer. I’m brewing grandpa style this week because I’m traveling for work and don’t have my gaiwan. I was looking forward to getting my gourd smashed by this tea, but unfortunately I didn’t experience that. Maybe I'm not someone who’s super sensitive to cha qi.

This is a raw puer tea from Farmerleaf.

Brewing setup: 7g of tea in a 125ml gaiwan brewed at 95C

Tasting notes: this is a very soft tea, low bitterness and astringency, some vegetal notes, fresh tree bark, and some fruity floral notes in the later steeps.

This is a raw puer tea from Farmerleaf. It is maocha instead of a cake because apparently they had a small harvest this year.

Brewing setup: 7g of tea in a 125ml gaiwan, brewed at 95C

Dry leaf aroma: super fragrant, smells like a cool wet forest in the Pacific Northwest with apricot notes.

Wet leaf aroma: vegetal, cool forest, apricots, freshly shredded tree bark.

Tasting notes: some intensity in the earlier steeps, PNW fern forest, fresh tree bark, minerality, mint, apricot, floral notes, good huigan.

Mouthfeel: intense on the early steeps, then leading to refreshing, cooling, and juicy feelings on later steeps.

Tea high: happy, energetic, heady.

This is a delicious and complex tea. Even though it was a bit pricy at $38/80g, I’m happy I got it. Looking forward to trying the other teas from them in my order.

This is a black tea from white2tea.

Brewing setup: 1.5g of tea in a mug with boiling water

Just having some black tea grandpa style today. This one is tasty and comforting. The tasting notes I’m getting are: milk chocolate sweetness, cream, slightly herbaceous. I’m on refill #3 right now and I think it can probably go for at least one more time.

I finished my session with Glider yesterday a bit prematurely because I was feeling over caffeinated. So I took the leaves and put them in a jar with water and stuck it in the fridge overnight to make cold brew tea.

The cold brew tea still had a decent amount of flavor in it. The tea tasted sweet, vegetal, and a bit fruity.

This is a sheng puer tea from white2tea.

Brewing setup: 7g ball of tea in a 125ml gaiwan brewed at 95C.

Tasting notes: green grapes, fresh cut grass, apple blossoms, balanced astringency, good returning sweetness.

I like this tea, I think it has interesting flavors and good huigan. However, my partner is not a fan — she says it has a sour or astringent aftertaste that doesn’t sit right with her.

This is a shou puer from white2tea.

Brewing setup: 7g tea ball in a 125ml gaiwan brewed with 95C water.

Wet leaf aroma: dry wood, campfire ash.

Tasting notes: starts out with dry wood, campfire smoke, bitterness, and I guess a camphor taste. After a few steeps, the bitterness fades and it becomes sweeter, with some nuttiness and leather; the dry wood and ash notes are still there.

Overall a good tea with a good value at $26 for a 200g cake. I’d consider buying a full cake of this tea.

This is a yancha oolong from white2tea.

Brewing setup: 5g of tea in a 125ml gaiwan with 95C water.

Wet leaves aroma: very floral and tropical sweetness.

Tasting notes: super floral, juicy tropical fruits, slick mouthfeel, and some herbal notes like thyme or oregano.

Overall, this is a very tasty tea. It was a bit tricky to brew, some steeps got a bit too punchy / perfumey if I let it go just a bit too long. I ended out dropping the temp a couple degrees down to 90c to help with that.