Author: Oolong Owl

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Sunday Tea Hoots 7 – Matcha Ranting

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I recently finished doing some matcha tasting work. Matcha has been on my mind a lot as matcha is the big trend now. Tea companies are pushing it, adding weird flavors it it (cheese pizza matcha yo), and selling it as magical cure to all your problems. I’ve been reviewing it and tea companies that aren’t exclusive matcha sellers are scratching their heads wondering if there matcha is any good and scrambling to find better. I’ve drank so much matcha this year that it is simply crazy and potentially damaging to my body. I also been drinking so much matcha I still… Continue reading, hoot!

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Mandala Tea’s 2014 Temple Stairs Ripe Pu’er – Tea Review

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Mandala Tea’s 2014 Temple Stairs Ripe Pu’er – this review is overdue. My Mandala Tea 2012 Noble Mark review is also overdue, I’m too busy chugging it than writing about it! I have this pu’er in both loose and cake form. For this review, I’ll be drinking the loose material as I’m trying to finish it, haha! Dry Leaf Temple Stairs Ripe Pu’er smells like roasted chestnut skins. Steeping Instructions I used around 8 grams for my 100gram-ish gaiwan. I did two rinses and steeped starting at 10 seconds, adding time as I went on. Tasting of Mandala Tea’s 2014… Continue reading, hoot!

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Oolong Owl’s Hooty Tea Travels – Alaska Cruise September 2015 – Part 2 of 2

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 – Oolong Owl’s Alaska Cruise Part 1! – Day 7 Whittier and Anchorage Our cruise finished in Whittier. Before I left the ship I had my last cruise meals – first the first breakfast, breakfast buffet. I like getting a cup of tea at 6am before the breakfast crowd. I had to pack my luggage the night before, in which I packed my tea tumblers so I didn’t have anything to steep my last package of tea with. I made due steeping a TGY oolong with this insane method – 1. One mug that I steeped the tea in. 2. I used a fork to… Continue reading, hoot!

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Oolong Owl’s Hooty Tea Travels – Alaska Cruise September 2015 – Part 1 of 2

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I recently came back from a cruise to Alaska! I’ve cruised a couple times before, all with Princess Cruises. I wanted to do Alaska as they start/end at Vancouver and I’ve heard from many people that it is one of the most beautiful scenic cruises. I wanted to also go to Vancouver, as I’m originally from Vancouver and I can visit family and friends. To see more of my time in Vancouver and tea haul, check out my Vancouver 2015 Hooty Tea Travel post. We started in Vancouver and sailed north. I had 3 sea days, 2 of which were scenic… Continue reading, hoot!

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Bitaco Colombian Black Tea – Tea Review

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Bitaco is a tea seller I came across at the World Tea Expo 2015. What is interesting about Bitaco is that their teas are grown in Colombia! Awhile back I reviewed Bitaco’s Green tea line up.  Awesomely, they also have black teas! Similar to the green tea review, let’s drink the unflavored black before getting into the blends. All three teas I used 3 grams of tea and steeped it in boiling water for 3 minutes, western style brewing. Bitaco Colombian Black tea Tasting The dry leaf is long and wirey, similar to green, but a dark rich colour. The leaf… Continue reading, hoot!

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Oolong Owl’s Hooty Tea Travels – Vancouver Featuring Chinese Tea Shop

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I’ve recently came back from a trip to Vancouver as well as an Alaskan cruise. I’m originally from Vancouver and I haven’t been back there since I moved to California in 2012, so I was very excited to be back home! I had 3 days in Vancouver so I had just a short time to see friends and family, load my suitcase with Canadian treats I cannot find in the USA, cram multiple rounds of Tim Hortons and poutine in me, and enjoy the awesome high US dollar shopping. My first stop – DAVIDsTea! I had a list and the Fall Collection just came out! I… Continue reading, hoot!

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Mango Ice Cream Black Tea from 52 Teas – Tea Review

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Today’s tea review is a tea I got from the recent 52 Teas Kickstarter – Mango Ice Cream Black tea! This tea has been blended by the new 52 Teas under Anne/Liberteas! I couldn’t resist a mango tea! This is a reblend from the original 52 Teas recipe but with a new black tea base. Dry Leaf Mmmm, Mango Ice Cream Black tea has lots of sweet mango scent. The leaf has nice big lumps of mango too! Steeping Instructions I used an in-mug tea infuser – steeping the black tea for 3 minutes with boiling water. For iced, I… Continue reading, hoot!

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2015 Menghai v93 Ripe Puer

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I had tried a Menghai v93 2010 or 2011 in a Steepster Community Pu’er Traveling tea box and thought it was pretty good. Looking up the Menghai v93, I found out it is pretty inexpensive, especially if you go for a recently made one and just age it yourself. For the 2015 Menghai v93 I paid $7 for 100 grams tuo on ebay, however you can get it cheaper at Yunnan sourcing, especially if you get the 5 pack. I was stuck though – my pu’er cake collection is exploding after a recent upgrade to my storage, which is already close to max capacity. I decided… Continue reading, hoot!

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August 2015 Simple Loose Leaf – Tea Review

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Tea of the month club time! Today is for the August 2015 Simple Loose Leaf club! Simple Loose Leaf box info – Simple Loose Leaf is a monthly Co-op tea box that sends 4 to 6 loose leaf tea samples (1/4oz size) – you get a wide assortment of different teas such as straight teas, blends and herbals. With being in the Tea Co-op, you get a membership ID. If you enjoy and want more tea that you’ve sampled, you can purchase it from the Simple Loose Leaf Tea Shop for 50% off. For your first box, you can enter OolongOwl for a 50% off your… Continue reading, hoot!

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Jasmine Green from The Little Red Cup Tea Co – Tea Review

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Today’s tea review is Jasmine Green Tea from The Little Red Cup Tea co. This particular jasmine green is fair trade and organic! This tea is from WuYuan County, Jiangxi China. Little Red Cup Tea Co also has these really cool tea tins! Dry Leaf The Jasmine green has a lovely soft sweet jasmine scent. The tea is small little half moons. Steeping Instructions Little Red Cup Tea Co has pretty flexible steeping instructions. They have a basic guideline for a water temperature of 170F to 180F. I’m going to play with this one, wheeeeee! I steeped 5 grams of leaf… Continue reading, hoot!