Author: Oolong Owl

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Sunday Tea Hoots 41 – Back on Tea Caffeine

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I successfully cut out caffeine leading up to major surgery so I didn’t have to go through additional withdrawal pain. Now that I’m in recovery for a few weeks I have been introducing tea back into my routine. After not having caffeine for weeks, I gotta say, holy hoots this stuff has so much energy! Backing up, I had an overnight stay in the hospital, so they had to feed me a number of awful meals. I was on a liquid diet as my guts were untested in not being glued together from endometriosis. They literally strained my cream of… Continue reading, hoot!

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2020 March White2Tea Club feat. Yesheng Hongcha and 2003 Nuo Xiang Shou Brick

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2020 March White2tea club includes an unusual black tea, Yesheng Hongcha Gushu, a sample of 2003 Nuo Xiang Shou Brick, and a daily drinker Golden Oolong. I’ll be reviewing the first two teas as I imagine my readers are more curious about those. The Yesheng black is a club exclusive tea whereas the Shou brick is not. Yesheng Hongcha Gushu from 2020 March White2tea club I had a laugh with the description of this tea is a hoarded stash. I can somewhat relate, but not in that quantity. The leaves have a strong fragrance of tart raisins and dried cherries… Continue reading, hoot!

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Lo-Shan Hong Shui Oolong from Floating Leaves Tea

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A few months back Floating Leaves Tea did a live stream tea tasting for their hong shui GABA oolong on their Facebook / Instagram. Prior to the live session, you can purchase the teas to drink with them – perfect for those not in Seattle or in quarantine. Floating Leaves Tea sent me the sampler, but I ended up drinking mine sometime later as I was sick. I then learned it is really hard to drink back to back multiple hong shuis, especially Floating Leaves Tea’s hong shuis, as they have high body feels. Either way, from that blind tasting… Continue reading, hoot!

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Oolong Owl’s Tea Caffeine Cutting Tips

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In a previous post, I discussed how I am a tea junkie that drinks potentially problematic amounts of tea, and how I cut caffeine for an upcoming surgery without losing my mind. Yeah yeah, you can drink down to less caffeine but WTF else is there to drink when the tea is your life? What will I gongfu?!?!? Make it Count If you are going to have only a single caffeinated tea or two a day, make it count. Drink your favorite teas as well as your fancy pants leaf. Bust out the $1+ a gram teas, you earned it!… Continue reading, hoot!

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How a Tea Addict Cut Caffeine

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It would be no surprise to hear that I am a heavy caffeine tea addict. Nearly every morning I have a matcha, then I have a grandpa tea session before lunch. In the afternoon until my cut off at 5pm (so I can actually sleep), I’ll have at least one, sometimes up to four gongfu small sessions. My body is used to a monthly tea bender from tea festivals, expos, and tea parties that I’ll drink 4-6+ tea drunk gongfu session or drink tea nearly nonstop all day up to 9pm. In 2019 my average gram per day tea consumption… Continue reading, hoot!

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2019 White Mountain Taiwanese Old Growth White Tea from Mountain Stream Teas

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Mountain Stream Teas carries some unique teas. Today’s tea their 2019 White Mountain Taiwanese Old Growth White Tea. It is the same material as their Taiwanese sheng (which I have reviewed already) but this time is processed as white tea. I believe I got the purple leaf varietal as I preordered this tea the next day of their newsletter announcement. After some time, the tea arrived, I promptly forgot about it and left it in the ziplock baggie it came in for months. I was reminded again when I was contacted by Mountain Stream Tea that someone got mold on… Continue reading, hoot!

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2019 Big Old Ass Tree Sheng Puer from Bitterleaf Teas

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I purchased a sample of 2019 Big Old Ass Tree with my last Bitterleaf Teas order. I am partial to Hekai these days as I like how potent and balanced it can be but also I can’t pass up old and wild tree teas. Leaf and Steeping Method The leaf scent is light but has a floral tangy scent. Steeped up the leaf smells lightly floral, creamy nutty with some fresh green bean. Tasting of Bitterleaf Teas’ 2019 Big Old Ass Tree Sheng Puer First and Second Infusion: The first impression is Big Old Ass Tree is it is thick… Continue reading, hoot!

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Drinking ALL of 2020 February White2Tea club at Once

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In my last post, I reviewed the 2020 February White2tea club. Sometimes with these mega reviews I don’t use the whole sample so I don’t caffeine overload, but I don’t have enough for individual gongfu sessions. The day after I finished my review, I took the yancha leftovers, mixed them together, and steeped it. The teas in 2020 February club mix are Jin Guan Yin, Stone Sparrow, Shin Jin Gui, Stone Milk, Shui Xian, OBSX, and No2 Rou Gui. All seven teas combined, the leaves smell of a crazy mix of roast, soap, bread, and fruit. Since this is a bonus round, I’m doing my more casual… Continue reading, hoot!

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2020 February White2tea Club feat. Oolong Sample Fest

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The 2020 February White2Tea club is a big sample haul of their oolongs. All these oolongs are from 2019 so they have neatly rested from roasting. The oolongs featured in this monthly tea box are Jin Guan Yin, Stone Sparrow, Shin Jin Gui, Stone Milk, Shui Xian, OBSX, and No2 Rou Gui, all of which can be found at White2Tea. As seen on the handout, these teas should be fine without a rinse, so that is what I did. For all teas, I used 1 gram of leaf per 15ml of vessel size, gongfu steeped in boiling water with no… Continue reading, hoot!

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2019 Fall into the Danger Zone Autumn Sheng Puer from Crimson Lotus Tea

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It is time to taste Crimson Lotus Tea’s 2019 Fall into the Danger Zone, an autumn Hekai sheng puer. I greatly enjoyed their spring Danger Zone and I did not hesitate to preorder the fall pressing. 2019 Fall into the Danger Zone is the same tea garden, same king cobras, but autumn material. Leaf and Steeping Method The dry leaves have a sweet artichoke scent. As usual, I used a gongfu ratio of 1 gram of leaf per 15ml of vessel size, steeped in boiling water. After infusing, the hot leaf smells also sweet and of artichokes. Tasting of Crimson… Continue reading, hoot!