tread carefully
I'm drinking 2015 Poundcake, produced by White2Tea and from what I have gathered from the internets, a gentleman by the name of Paul, who has pressed this cake and overseen the sourcing and processing of the raw materials herein. I am partial to boutique pu er brands, whether they be Western mom n pop or the other more commercial Chinese variety. I have more experience with the latter, and just within the last two years or so have I really been exposed to laowai (foreigner) productions. Like a timid little kitten, I dab at the surface of these waters.
proceed with caution
My pu er drinking background is well rooted in plantation tea from big factories. The very first pu er I drank (which I hated) was a late 80's CNNP raw production (likely a Dayi cake), that was served to me by a man who is not shy about brewing old raw teas to the consistency and color of soy sauce. I actually remember him saying to me: "来点酱油吧!" which roughly translates to, "here, have some soy sauce!" while serving me some very very expensive tea. I don't know why I'm having flashbacks of this moment when drinking Paul's Poundcake, and yet, I am.
The Poundcake is sweet, light and has substantial mass - all attributes that I find immediately noticeable and appealing. It has definite Yiwu in the front-end, though I'd say perhaps it strays into lesser Simao territory. I say that because it does not finish like many proper Yiwu teas that I come across. "Outlier Yiwu", as Paul describes this production is probably accurate, but what exactly does that entail?
There is much obscurity in White2tea offerings. I do understand Paul as a champion of honestly labeling teas and not cramming provenance and vintages down our throats. While some may appreciate this marketing device , in this case I find it a tad dubious. Sometimes "not knowing" can be purposefully disingenuous. Forgive me for being so cynical, though, a skim through Paul's blog hints to me that he feels rather poorly about the state of the Yunnan pu er market. Is there a way to channel that sort of fear and distrust into his customers? Will they pay a premium for his white2knight (sorry, lol) sourcing philosophy? Is there a reason a disclaimer must appear on his Old Arbor tea very matter-of-fact-ly declaring he donno how old it is? It seems like just a little too much effort is being placed on how honest our seller is.
For now, I can only assume that intentions are good. I think back to my first time tasting pu er in all its soy sauce-ness. I wish I had Poundcake then. It's a welcoming tea that is easy to drink, though has a slightly tannic finish when challenged. It won't age well I'm afraid, both due to the compression and the roughness at the end, then consider that most of the Poundcake in existence will be travelling to the USA and EU- not a particularly wet environment. There is huigan, but overall chaqi is lacking. Perhaps Yiwu, but weak in its Yiwu-ness.
I have not talked about price, yet. Because those of you that adore Poundcake will probably not want to hear it. This tea is not worth 25 cents a gram. I hear the mob chanting, I hear the clang of pitchfork against shovel. This cake costs 105 dollars for 357 grams, shipped to the USA. I don't know how I feel about vendors pressing these 200g cakes and selling them for semi inflated prices due to less sticker shock. The Chinese started doing this years ago and found that there is "hangover" in people actually doing the price per gram calculations. I find a certain contradiction in the marketing strategy of W2T. It seems the seller distrusts farmers, merchants in China for overstating product value and yet uses the same style of questionable sales tactics that he supposedly rebels against (ie the 200g bing - a hallmark of Chinese pu er trickery). In the end the buyer must ask him or herself this: "would I pay 105 dollars for this tea in its traditional 357g form?" My answer is a resounding no. Though that's hypocritical because I did indeed buy it, and it has since sold out on the website, so most of you have probably answered "yes", instead.
I will drink Poundcake the way it was intended to be drank - fast. There's nothing I can see that requires mellowing out in the future, and there's nothing I can see that will improve with age that isn't already apparent. Being one year old, I think I'm enjoying this tea (and I do enjoy it, somewhat) in its very prime. I can't say I'll be buying any more tea from White2tea, as it is currently priced. I'm sure Paul works very hard in sourcing the teas he believes his customers want to drink, and I am inclined to believe that most of his customers want to fork over a cable subscription for the privilege. I cannot be a part of this population, I'm afraid.
I must note to you the reader that I have also purchased the 2015 Little Walk and Milk,Cream, and Alcohol. I am hesitant to review them (they still remain untouched in their wrappers) because I know the dear place W2T has in many western pu er drinkers' hearts. I will give them my ample and unbiased attention. Whether I have anything to say about them in the future remains to be seen.