Hooty Tea Travels – Floating Leaves Tea in Seattle Part 1/2

Since arriving in Seattle, I have visited Floating Leaves Tea twice – the place is just that cool! Floating Leaves Tea is located in the Ballard area of Seattle.  Ballard is a little out of the way to get to from downtown Seattle, but once you are there it is a fun area with lots of interesting shops and food. Floating Leaves Tea’s shop is small, but the first time I walked in I was greeted by the scent of roasted tea – the owner Shiuwen was roasting some oolong in the shop! Fresh roasted tea has such a nice smell!… Continue reading, hoot!

DAVIDsTea Iced Tea Press – Teaware Review

I love tea tumblers and I was really excited when DAVIDsTea announced this new iced tea press. This iced tea maker looks like magic! I got my hands on one right away, then I’ve been using it regularly for a few months so I really got to know how this thing works. DAVIDsTea Iced Tea Press Stats 16oz / 475ml capacity BPA-Free Tritan material, Double Chamber Only 3 pieces Non slip base Fine Mesh to prevent oversteeping Handwash Only Made in China Various Colours – Right now it comes in Teal and Hibiscus pink DAVIDsTea Exclusive The Iced Tea Press did not… Continue reading, hoot!

Black Bean Oolong from Oolong Inc – Tea Review

Oh geeze, what did I get myself into? Today’s tea review is a Taiwanese Black Bean Oolong from Oolong Inc. They even having gongfu instructions for this tea too, which is nuts. I have had black bean tea before – one time wandering my local Korean supermarket I found it. I tried boiling the black bean tea forever but got no flavor. I now know that I should of roasted it first and cut it with Korean barley tea. However, Oolong Inc’s tea is blended with oolong. Let’s take a look. Dry Leaf The scent is strong roast with a… Continue reading, hoot!

White Pearls from Adagio Teas – Tea Review

Adagio Teas is a vendor I ordered from waaaaaay back in the day in the beginnings of the full on tea addiction. I see on my account my first order was October 9, 2009! I ordered 10 samples worth $31, all blends with exception of a White Tea sampler. My last order from Adagio was in 2010. To me, Adagio’s audience is more new-to-tea people and user crafted custom fandom blends (Overwatch teas anyone?). Since I quest for more weird teas, oolongs and pu’er, Adagio isn’t a tea shop I check out much. I’ve tried 4 of Adagio’s pu’er (3 blends)… Continue reading, hoot!

May 2016 White2Tea Club – 6 Black Tea Comparison

For the May 2016 White2Tea club we got 6 different black teas, two of them freshly 2016. The teas are: Little Red, Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong Spring 1 (aka Lapsang Souchong), Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong Spring 2, Black Buddha, Wild Tree Black, and Black Meizhan. I started off the morning drinking a TanYang black and then in the afternoon I thought, “Hey, I feel like more black tea, why don’t I drink all of these White2Tea club blacks together?” Brillant idea, especially since I got six 60ml gaiwans. I did not think of the consequences… Dry Leaf Little Red has a… Continue reading, hoot!

Hooty Tea Travels – Phoenix Tea Shop in Seattle

A tea friend and I visited a couple Seattle tea shops while she was in town. First on our list was Phoenix Tea Shop, which is located in a quirky area of Seattle called Burien. Outside the tea shop, whoa check out that amazing mural! I was told Phoenix Tea specializes in dark teas, however they had quite a selection of other teas. They had some whole heichas and some pu’er cakes. There was a number of teas I recognized as they were sourced from Yunomi, Yunnan Sourcing, and Tealet. They also had some interesting teas such as a line… Continue reading, hoot!

Kumaon White from Young Mountain Tea – Tea Review

I discovered this tea from a Kickstarter! Young Mountain Tea enticed me with this Kumaon White as a new region grown white tea. It was funded in March 2015, projected shipping for October but then it got stuck in customs for awhile. I got my tea on March 14, not as fresh as I was expecting. I also ordered 3oz – at the time I asked if people wanted to split but there was no takers. Now that I’m into aged white teas and discovered that this white is delicious, I figured I can simply leave it until 2020 and profit. First note, let’s start… Continue reading, hoot!

2009 Liu Bao Heicha from Treasure Green – Tea Review

I’ve been exploring heicha more and more, discovering I like it if it doesn’t taste like a log of tea on fire. I purchased this tea at Vancouver Canada’s Treasure Green, located in China Town. In shop, I had their most expensive heicha and it was great with an excellent deep woodsyness, but I freaked out at the price. That said, I bought a bag of their cheaper heicha, the 2009 Liu Bao Heicha. Dry Leaf The appearance of the 2009 Heicha is loose with matte dark sticks. The scent is moderately strong and of must and wood shavings. Steeping Instructions I… Continue reading, hoot!

Oolong Owl’s World Tea Expo 2016 Hooty Haul

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 This is it – the World Tea Expo 2016 HAUL! I flew down with a half empty (un-expanded) carry on suitcase. I got too much stuff that I had to mail a large flat rate home, plus smuggle in tea that didn’t fit in the box in my sweater as the airline were pretty firm on 2 bags only. I also bought something that TSA would of hated. I shipped my box Friday afternoon at the Las Vegas airport. My box arrived Monday afternoon! Upon opening… sad owl… something exploded. Upon investigation,… Continue reading, hoot!

Sunday Tea Hoots 22 – Tea Binge and Withdrawal

I’ve recently come back from the World Tea Expo. I’ve now done three World Tea Expos and the days after seem to go the same. For three days you drink (well at least I drink) an insane amount of tea – a true long weekend binge drinking of just tea. You got samples to taste at every booth and likely you will be trying more than one of their teas, or multiple steepings. The Expo ends at 5:30pm, and likely one just continues drinking tea to stay awake for the evening of checking out the strip, conquering Vegas buffets, or in… Continue reading, hoot!