Pucker Up for Smooch - White2Tea

Hello hello!

White2Tea has a wide variety of different puer teas in their shop including tea bricks, tea cakes, and even a dragon pearl! A dragon pearl is a tea ball, which is around 7-8g of tea rolled into a tiny ball. White2Tea released their first dragon pearl in 2015, and this dragon pearl goes by then name of ‘Smooch’. Smooch is a tea ball that’s blended from Lincang material sheng puer. So does ‘Smooch’ really leave an impression on the lips? Lets find out!

Steeps 1 - 4

For this session, I started with 6.6g of tea for a 100ml vessel (well, a make shift vessel since my tea pot broke), and brewed it at 185ºf. Anyways, Smooch opened its lips by beginning this session with the tasting notes of sweet gardenia along with a pleasant and calming medicinal undertone. As the steeps continued, a light taste of grass was barely noticeable on the tip of the tongue, and held a cotton-like texture that was fluffy to the mouth.

Steeps 5 - 8

As Smooch kept opening its mouth, the floral tasting notes transformed into a honeysuckle and bee pollen base, with a biting aftertaste. This teas texture turned into a broth, and as the bite calmed down over the next steep, the bodying note of honey appeared on the sides of the tongue. There was so much transformation going on with Smooch’s powerful kiss.

Steeps 9 - 12

Smooch began to calm down after its dramatic transformation from its earlier steeps. The light bitterness dissipated which left room for the floral notes that were present in the bringing of the session. The base of this tea still consisted of honey and bee pollen tasting notes, but the longer the steep, the sweeter this tea became. Smooch almost resembled a faint brown-sugar like sweetness towards the end of the session, which left a lovely impression on the lips which lasted until the very last steep…

Conclusion

Smooch left an impression on the tongue and on the lips, as its sweetness lingered long after the session was over. Smooch had a smooth and velvet-like body that continuously transformed throughout the entire session. Smooch also showed signs of early aging, which was evident in its texture and its honey tasting notes. Overall, I think that Smooch is a great experience, especially for being a little under $2.00 a ball. In this session, I was kissed by a dragon pearl of sheng puer, and I’m glad it was with Smooch. So pucker up, and hopefully this tea will kiss you in the same way it kissed me…..