Bai Ye Varietal Dancong Black Tea Spring 2016 from Yunnan Sourcing

Yunnan Sourcing has all kinds of sales every week. I managed to get sucked in a Dancong sale, feeling the need for some new and interesting Dancongs. I found Bai Ye Varietal Dancong while looking through all the 2016 line and the write up sounded appealing with, “Pronounced baked sweet potato taste…Highly recommended for Dan Cong and Black Tea aficionados alike!” I purchased this tea on Yunnan Sourcing.us, and it is sold out. Bai Ye Varietal Dancong is available on Yunnan Sourcing.com though. Actually, with this Dancong run I purchased many last bags from the US site. Dry Leaf SMELLOVISION… Continue reading, hoot!

1982 Aged Sun Moon Lake from Taiwan Tea Crafts – Tea Review

I purchased the 1982 Aged Sun Moon Lake Black Tea with my cheap but good Taiwan clay tea pots with my last Taiwan Tea Crafts order. 1982 tea? DAMN. However I refuse to say 1982 tea is old as it is close to my birth year and I am not old. Despite the age, this black tea wasn’t that expensive – it was very affordable at under $5 an ounce/25g. By the way, this tea is sold out, however there is a 1983 Aged Sun Moon Lake for the same price with similar notes. Dry Leaf and Steeping Instructions 1982 Aged Sun Moon Lake smells… Continue reading, hoot!

July 2016 White2Tea Club feat. 2016 A&P Black Tea Cake

I have been a month behind on my White2Tea club reviews and I think I am finally going to catch up! Today let’s drink the White2Tea July 2016 Club. For July, the teas are the brand new whole 2016 A&P Black 100 gram cake and 3 2013 Fengqing black tea orbs, the orbs added as an aged comparison. I’ve been seeing black tea pressed into cakes more and more. It is somewhat unknown what age does to these teas, but adding the 2013 Fengqing balls gives us something to compare to. The previous month we also got a black tea… Continue reading, hoot!

June T&Co. Subscription Box – Tea Review

Today’s review is a brand new tea subscription/ tea of the month club – T&Co. T&Co is different than other tea clubs as each month gives you an experience to go with your tea. Each month is a theme, and following the theme the club comes with a tea curated with a treat, activity, and music. I got the June box, so the theme was Father’s Day. The packaging is lovely! It also came with a nice basket strainer and yellow mug (note, I unwrapped the mug for photos, it was safe in bubble wrap when it arrived) The tea is… Continue reading, hoot!

June 2016 White2Tea Club – Tea Review

For June 2016 White2Tea club we got cute 50 gram cakes! 2016 Mengsong Raw Puer and 2016 Mengsong Black Tea. This month sounds like another tea education piece as we can compare spring 2016 Mengsong – same producer and leaf, but processed differently resulting in a puer and black tea. The puer was traditionally processed to be a sheng, whereas the black was made for traditional Yunnan Dianhong style. These were pressed in mid-May and the notes stated resting would be a good idea. Since I am behind on the club, I am drinking this end of July, so these little cakes… 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!

Thai Iced Tea Ice Cream by Full Tilt Ice Cream

Besides checking out the local tea and yarn shops, when I’m in a new area I like to try the ice cream. I found it interesting how ice cream differs between countries and states – Utah being the most crazy with lots of great local ice cream and ice cream sections in the supermarket 2-3 times bigger than ones in Southern California! When checking out the Seattle ice cream, I discovered lots of coffee ice cream (bleh), Marionberry and how Tilliamok ice cream is crazy good. They also have lots of pint sized ice creams from smaller companies with really neat… Continue reading, hoot!

Unsmoked Lapsang Souchong from 3 Leaf

Today’s review is a newer offering from 3 Leaf – a seller that has expanded a loose leaf tea line. When I was introduced to them, they did pretty good flavored matchas. I was excited to see Unsmoked Lapsang Souchong. Unsmoked Lapsang Souchong is an uncommon find. “Regular” Lapsang Souchong is a very common find in most loose leaf tea shops here in North America as it is a very western taste bud friendly tea. I know many people who love the intense smokey flavor, plus Lapsang Souchong is one of the most common teas to cook with. If you… Continue reading, hoot!

Hooty Tea Travels – Perennial Tea Room in Seattle Pike Place Market

I came across this tea shop by accident while I was touring Pike Place Market. It looked quite busy (as Pike Place Market on a sunny weekend is crazy packed with people), so I came back on a week day while I was in the area. Perennial Tea Room is located in the Post Alleyway, just up half a block from the main Pike Place Market. You can’t miss it if you are walking down the hill to Pike Place Market, or wandering around the area. Perennial Tea Room has been there for 26 years! The staff at Perennial Tea Room were… Continue reading, hoot!

Pique Tea Crystals – Tea Review

Pique Tea Crystals is an interesting new organic tea product – it is tea that has been brewed, then crystallized. Pique is packaged in individual servings, making for a convenient tea on the go, all you need is a vessel and water. Steeping Instructions I followed the instructions, which was 1 packet, to 8oz/1cup/250ml of hot water. They didn’t specify water temperature so I figured I would just use these instant tea packets as if I was in the wild, so around 200F water. I already failed with instructions and with the first attempt I added the Pique Tea Crystals to a… Continue reading, hoot!