No comments

2009 Bask in the Sun White Tea from Healthy Leaf

  By ,

Healthy Leaf has an impressive aged white selection and I happen to have a bunch of samples. Let’s start off with a bang with one of the fancier aged white teas in their shop! 2009 Bask in the Sun Ri Sha Cha is a Fuding region Baimudan. What makes this white tea fancier is that this one has more fine leaves and buds than usual. Dry Leaf and Steeping Method This is a woodsy and sweet scented leaf. Bask in the Sun was easy to snap chunks with my fingers, I didn’t need a hammer or blood sacrifice like the last… Continue reading, hoot!

No comments

January 2018 White2Tea Club feat 2008 Menghai Puer, 2013 Baimudan, and Little O

  By ,

New year, new teas! The January White2Tea Club included samples of new teas available in their shop – 2008 Menghai Sheng Puer, 2013 Baimudan White Tea, and Little O Ripe Puer. White2Tea 2008 Menghai Sheng Dry leaf and Steeping Method: White2Tea was pretty generous to give us 50 grams. I had 2 big cake chunks and it was easy to flake the puer into individual leaves. Not too much scent from the dry leaf. I used 1 gram of leaf to 15ml of vessel size, steeped in boiling water gongfu style. The 2008 Menghai’s hot leaf smells like sour plums and steeps up an… Continue reading, hoot!

No comments

Incense and Tea Testing – featuring Totem Tea

  By ,

If you didn’t know, incense and tea is a thing. There are cool tea and incense photos on Instagram, or maybe you have seen it at a gongfu session with all the fixings. Early on, I was put off as I bought a teapot from a tea shop that lit incense and it took work to get the smell out of my pot. That reason alone, I do not recommend lighting incense around your tea. I am big on scent – I think my sense of smell is the majority of my skill and enjoyment in tea drinking. I’m no supertaster… Continue reading, hoot!

No comments

Sunday Tea Hoots 37 – Starting the Fukien Tea Bonsai Adventure

  By ,

I saw a bonsai catalog before Christmas and fell in love with the idea of having a bonsai tree next to my tea table. I enjoyed when I had flowers at my tea table (until they died). I also had some bulbs that bloomed, which looked amazing until they died. I am pretty bad with plants, despite being enthusiastic about owning many of them. I seem to do well with succulents (especially when I lived in SoCal), but I am good at murdering all herbs. Christmas came, and I got a Fukien Tea bonsai! TEA! So cool! It was shipped to… Continue reading, hoot!

No comments

2017 Waffles Shou Puer from White2Tea

  By ,

For Black Friday I ordered all fo the new White2Tea ripe puers as they all sounded interesting and had fun wrappers! The 2017 Waffles shou puer is pressed into a square pattern 200 gram thin cake. It is promised to be a balanced puer. That is a cool retro wrapper! Bah, every Sunday my Dad made the pancakes and waffles. This cake is double wrapped with an inner blank wrapper. I like double wrapping as I can preserve the fun wrapper. Dry Leaf and Steeping Method The 2017 Waffle Ripe Puer has an earthy scent without any detectable funk. I… Continue reading, hoot!

No comments

2017 Sheng Puer Regional Blind Tasting – Everyday Teas

  By ,

Oh boy, we are doing this again. My previous Everyday Teas  review was a sheng puer regional blind tasting of 2016 teas. It is time to do 2017 teas! I suggest reading the 2016 blind tasting before proceeding with this 2017 review. I predict this tasting is going to be harder – 2017 teas probably haven’t settled down enough yet. This year only the Nannuo shan is from the same farm as the Ailao Shan is from a different source. This set has a Yiwu instead of a Bulang. I like Yiwu, at least what I tend to associate what Yiwu tastes. Who… Continue reading, hoot!

No comments

2017 Mountain Oasis Sheng Puer from Denong Tea

  By ,

I sampled 2017 Mountain Oasis sheng puer at my visit to Denong Tea’s shop in Pasadena, California. From what I tried, I was very impressed with the texture of it. However, they steeped it far lighter and cooler water temperature than what I do myself. I purchased a 100 gram cake to play with and push to the tea limits. 2017 Mountain Oasis was also priced on special at the time, making it a great deal. 2017 Mountain Oasis is a Spring harvest, from Xishuangbanna region. It apparently is made from 300 year old trees affected by the drought of the… Continue reading, hoot!

No comments

Qi Lan Process and Roast Tasting – Old Ways Tea

  By ,

Today is a special comparison tasting between  Old Ways Tea‘s Qi Lan Maocha, Unroasted, and Roasted Qi Lan. This set is great as it is the same tea but in different parts of the process of Qi Lan oolong.  Maocha is the unfinished tea. Old Ways Tea says in the tea description: The fresh leaves arrive at the factory and need to be processed into tea. Once the basic processing is complete the product is called maocha. Maocha is then separated into its components: stems, yellow leaves, and tea leaves. Buyers will come to the factories and try the maocha.… Continue reading, hoot!

No comments

2010 Kang Yang Chun Liu An Tea from Bana Tea Company

  By ,

For my last Bana Tea Company order, I bought  2010 Kang Yang Chun Liu An on a whim. I don’t own any Liu An so I wanted to play with it. I didn’t want to go all in on a basket, as cool as they look. This particular tea’s material was selected by Tea Master Vesper Chan. I’ve found most teas I’ve had of his were great, so it was a safe purchase. The 100 gram option is packaged in plastic inside a box. Dry Leaf and Steeping Method The dry leaf scent is of tires and red grapes. I haven’t… Continue reading, hoot!

No comments

December 2017 White2Tea Club

  By ,

The December 2017 White2Tea Club is an exclusive 200 gram Huangpian sheng puer cake! You only get this cake if you were in the monthly tea club, or did a monster order during Black Friday. I should have tried this tea around Christmas, but I was so backlogged with other teas, and holidays is mostly me stress drinking black teas and matcha. I am not sure what to call this cake. XXX is on the wrapper? My guess Santa got into the tea early. I can attest that tea drunk driving had me do 60mph in a 35mph zone a few… Continue reading, hoot!