Replacement Ruyao Gaiwan and Crack Stains

Long time readers likely notice I tend to use the same Teaware.House Ruyao gaiwan for my reviews, which I bought it back in February 2016. I quite like the gaiwan’s heat retention, which I find pushes my teas harder, plus the wide bowl makes viewing the leaves easier. I also try to have my tea reviews neutral, so I prefer a ceremic gaiwan over tea pots, so readers can replicate easier, whereas years of clay seasoning isn’t replicated. Anyways, the White Ruyao Gaiwan served me well for over a year. I managed to crack the lid on my favorite gaiwan and the lip of another around May.… Continue reading, hoot!

Big PO Box Teaware haul for June 2016

Instead of flooding my Oolong Owl Instagram account of many pictures of this tea ware haul, I decided to post it here. I tend to post most of my tea mail on Instagram, however since I’ve been using a PO Box due to the move, I come back with a big bag full of packages. I get so many packages at the PO Box, the lady that works there knows my name just after 2 visits. First up, Crimson Lotus Tea. They are in China at the moment, but if you watch their social media they will post new products… Continue reading, hoot!

Yet another Teaware.house raid feat. White Ruyao Gaiwan

I had a Teaware.House order come last month, then I got caught up busy with the mediation of the Tea Owl union moving to becoming a Parliament, so some of these pieces of sneaked into Oolong Owl reviews. Teaware.House has many really nice tea ware pieces and the pricing is really fair. The quality is quite good too, better than many of the rando cheap tea ware I buy off aliexpress. Teaware.House Cups I can easily be persuaded to buy a tea cup, especially pretty ones that cost under $10. It’s for photos and Tea Owls to sit in! That said, I need lots… Continue reading, hoot!

Because you can never have too many rice pattern gaiwans and tea cups

Just keep me away from ebay and aliexpress – I keep finding these pretty gaiwans, tea cups and tea pets (I also find really weird stuff, but that’s another topic). I guess the good thing is as I downsize my tea stash, I’m creating more room for the tea ware. The Haul: The first item I purchased was the cups off aliexpress. I was inspired to get a rice pattern cup off Verdant Tea, who had some for a nice price, however I wanted a cup with more colour on it. I found these off aliexpress, which were a nice price,… Continue reading, hoot!

Yet again, Oolong Owl bought another ru kiln gaiwan and rabbit tea pet

I was doing my usual browsing through aliexpress and found a really sweet gaiwan! I also snagged a tea pet while I was at it! My tea pet is one I’ve seen around instagram plus I remember a tea seller having one in her facebook photos. I’ve wanted it for some time and I finally found one for an alright price so I jumped on it. It’s a bunny on a leaf boat tea pet! The tea pet is pretty cute as when you pour tea on him it fills up the boat! Thankfully, filling up the boat does not… Continue reading, hoot!

Pretty Rice Pattern Gaiwans!

Yes, I have successfully acquired a pair of rice grain pattern gaiwans! I’ve seen a few of these interesting gaiwans in use at the World Tea Expo. Bana Tea Company was using a gorgeous one at the LA International Tea Festival. None were for sale at either venue, sadly. I wanted a rice pattern gaiwan sooooo bad as see through stuff is cool, plus they seem uncommon. Challenge #1 – finding a rice pattern gaiwan. I’ve been searching through google/ebay/aliexpress. Sellers call them different things, often not even mentioning the style and lumping it under “gaiwan”, “cup”, and “teapot”. In the end, I spent an afternoon… Continue reading, hoot!

Oolong Owl’s Ru Kiln Travel Gaiwan

I’m starting to think you can never have too many gaiwans. Ever since hearing about the Ru Kiln glaze I wanted some kind of tea ware with it. I’ve seen said glaze before on tea ware, but I didn’t put two to two together that the glaze’s cracks get more obvious with tea drinking use. Like the yixing pot, I like the idea that my teaware can change over time – though with the Ru Kiln glaze tea ware, the change is more appearance than flavor. With that said, I’ve been looking awhile for this type of glaze on a… Continue reading, hoot!

Yunnan Sourcing Tea order! Pu’er Cakes and an awesome gaiwan!

Usually I just post what I get in the mail on my Oolong Owl Facebook page, however this Yunnan Sourcing.com order was pretty epic. It wasn’t a huge order, but an interesting one. By the way, if you aren’t familar with Yunnan Sourcing, they have 2 sites – the China based one,  Yunnan Sourcing.com and the US based one, Yunnan Sourcing.us. My order was with the China based one, as one of these items is only on sale there at the moment. First off, my order took a few weeks to arrived as I cheaped out on shipping. Hey, more money for tea!… Continue reading, hoot!

Oolong Owl’s First Gaiwan

I finally got a Gaiwan! WOOOOOT! A bit of history – I prefer gravity steepers. Once I got mine from DavidsTea, I was hooked. I later on got Adagio Tea’s IngenuiTEA (which I dislike due to its narrow size). I wanted to try a more traditional way of steeping tea to see the difference, but also experiment. I shopped all over ebay and online tea shops. My in-laws are going on a cruise in China later this year and I didn’t want to wait that long for a gaiwan. My Gaiwan came from Yunnan Sourcing’s US shop – I was attracted to the light… Continue reading, hoot!