Snoozefest is a limited run sheng puer from White2Tea that has been put out as a Black Friday special the last couple years. I did a review on this cake back in April, and said I would do another update before Black Friday to see if I think it would be worth jumping on again – should they do another pressing this year.
Breaking the Cake
The dry cake has a strong smell, mostly consisting of earthy notes. The cake is heavily compressed and it is difficult to find a spot to get my pick into. After a rinse the leaves take on an entirely new character. They are bright, citrus-y, and floral with a bit of a peach note.
Infusions 1-3
Snoozefest tastes much like the wet leaves smell – there is a strong peach note, accompanied by a creaminess and a thick texture. The second infusion gains a bright brassy note that comes on quickly, then morphs into a sweet, milk oolong-like taste. Actually, this flavour is nuts – I could easily be tricked into thinking I was actually drinking a milk oolong. Infusion three looses the metallic note and is all gentle, sweet, and smooth. A slight astringency is growing in the aftertaste, balancing things out nicely. Snoozefest leaves a thick coating around every mm of your mouth and throat that stays for many minutes after your last sip.
Infusions 4-6
The fourth infusion gains some bitterness and astringency, just enough to wake up your senses a little bit. The milkiness has faded and Snoozefest tastes more like a standard sheng. Infusion five gains some woody note and bright cherry, while infusion six is overwhelmingly floral.
Infusions 7-12
The seventh steeping has some clove-like spice notes and more floral qualities. These notes stick around for the eighth infusion, which gains the woody and creamy notes again. Flavour is through the roof here, everything is rich and full. Snoozefest starts to wind down at the ninth infusion and lasts until the twelfth steeping. During it’s fade out the most prominent flavours are creaminess and floral notes. This tea has gone back to a very oolong-esq state for the very tail end of the session.
Final Thoughts
Snoozefest is a tea that keeps me on my toes. I’ve spend a good amount of time with this cake over the last year and checked in on it many times, but every time I break into the cake I have no idea what I’m going to get. Even from infusion to infusion the changes go from one end of the spectrum to the other so rapidly that it doesn’t even feel like your drinking the same tea. There are a few common threads through each session though – there is always some woody notes, always some peachy-ness, usually a bit of spice, and most importantly – it’s always great. To get my hands on this cake last year I had to park myself on the White2Tea website, mash the refresh button until the sale went live, and deal with about a dozen site crashes trying to get it into my cart and check out as an ungodly amount of people across the world try to do the same. I don’t know if White2Tea will be doing another pressing of this cake for this Black Friday, but I promise you that if they do I’ll be fighting against the hordes to get it again.