Author: Oolong Owl

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2023 January White2tea Club feat. 2022 Charlie Shou Puer

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One of my favorite tea club months of the year! The 2023 January White2tea club is a 2022 Charlie shou cake! This is the last Charlie for the White2ea club. I am sad, but same time this tea has been great every year, it should be a staple for everyone. The leaves smell a bit funky earth. This is a fresh press, so it is to be expected. I used 1 gram of leaf per 15ml of vessel size, double rinsed, and gongfu steeped with boiling water. 2023 Charlie’s slight funk commanded an extra rinse to help it along. After… Continue reading, hoot!

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Tangerine Dream Machine Chenpi Shou from Intergalactic Tea

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Today is new to me vendor, Intergalactic Tea. They carry some unusual puer blends that are my jam. But let us start with something easy – a chenpi shou. Lately, there has been a chenpi drought, not many new chenpis have come out and my stash is dwindling. Some mornings I just need orange shou to start the day. Tangerine Dream Machine is an aged chenpi bulang shou, which is a good pairing. I am a sucker for cute wrapper art. Leaf and Steeping Method The square has a sweet orange scent. I used one 7 gram square, in a… Continue reading, hoot!

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2023 February Old Ways Tea Club feat. Bei Dou

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Hello to the 2023 February installment of the Old Ways Tea Club, a Wuyi tea box that arrives every 2 months. This month we have 2022 Cousin’s Bei Dou, 2021 Zuhuo Bei Dou, and 2022 Jin Xuan. 2022 Jin Xuan from the 2023 February Old Ways Tea Club I tried last year’s crop and enjoyed how different the oolong was from the usual green and milky Jin Xuan. The leaves smell warm, nutty, and sweet with a hint of plums. For all teas today, I used 1 gram of leaf per 15ml of vessel size, gongfu style in boiling water.… Continue reading, hoot!

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Hoot Tea Travels – 2023 Cascadia Spring Tea Festival

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Tea Festivals are back! Cascadia Tea Events has been doing small local tea festivals in the absence of the big NW Tea Festival. Rest assured, Northwest Tea Festival is coming back in September 2023, but Cascadia Tea Festival is a smaller, intimate event. The recent Spring event is their 2nd tea festival, the last one being the Autumn Tea Festival in 2022 that I unfortunately missed. I was planning to go, but I had a group knitting event at a Mariners baseball game a few days prior where a number of my group got covid. The Cascadia Spring Tea Festival!… Continue reading, hoot!

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2022 December White2tea Club feat. 2022 XXXmas Sheng Puer

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Yes, this is April and I’m drinking a Christmas themed tea. Over the last few years, the White2tea club has a XXXmas Sheng made out of huangpian material for December. Though, probably for the best that I waited to drink this tea as it had ample rest. As always, the wrapper art is fun! Leaf and Steeping Method The leaves have a sappy grass scent. As usual, I used 1 gram of leaf per 15ml of vessel size, gongfu steeped in boiling water. After a rinse, this tea smells spruce leafy with some young shengy floralness. Tasting of 2022 XXXmas… Continue reading, hoot!

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2022 Taste of the Mines Fubrick Tea from OWLAI

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Today’s first of April tea review is a brand new tea from OWLAI – 2022 Taste of the Mines. This heicha is a wild new venture into the tea world, so let’s dig in! 2022 Taste of the Mines is a beautiful fu brick that is made from whole tea leaves that have been compressed into a dense, geode brick-like shape. Like all Fu bricks, the exterior is covered in gold mold, but this brick also has a coating of rock crystals. Depending on where you break off a slice, you’ll find interesting caverns of tea gems. I used 2-3… Continue reading, hoot!

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Korean Sejak and Hongcha from Durumi Tea

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Today’s teas are from a new Canadian shop, Durumi Tea Company. Durumi specializes in fine Korean teas and sent me their Twin Pack. I leap at any chance to get some Korean tea, so let’s get drinking. Sejak from Durumi Tea Company This Sejak from Durumi is from Jeju Island. I rarely drink green tea, but I don’t mind Sejak – there’s something so smooth, mild, and elegant about it over other green teas. A tea bag wasn’t big enough for me to get a smell off the dry leaves – maybe vegetal? I took this one out of the… Continue reading, hoot!

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Kiroku Tea Garden’s Roasted Spring Tencha Amehojicha, The Sweet Roast from Yunomi

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I’m not well seasoned in Japanese tea but I cannot resist the flavor of a good roasted tea. Kiroku Tea Garden’s Roasted Spring Tencha Amehojicha is a fascinating tea – a roasted okumidori cultivar Tencha. Tencha is typically grown and processed to be matcha, and it is uncommon to find in loose leaf form. It is downright experimental to roast Tencha. This tea is from Yunomi, the place for Japanese teas with plenty of unusual finds. In the past, I’ve gotten Japanese Oolong from them. Leaf and Steeping Method The chopped leaves are dark, with a sweet roasted chestnut scent.… Continue reading, hoot!

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2022 November White2tea Club feat. Canton Cannon and Autumn Badger Stamp

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For the 2022 November White2tea Club we got an Autumn 2022 Old Arbor sheng mini cake, Badger Stamp. In addition, Canton Cannon, a heavily roasted Tieguanyin. Canton Cannon This tea was absolutely difficult to photograph – the rolled balls are inky black and shiny, and my camera was just so angry at it. Canton Cannon has a deep roasted scent. In a hot gaiwan, the scent is powerfully charcoal. My gongfu ratio is 1 gram per 15ml, using boiling water. A rinse opened up the leaves to almost burnt pastries. A sip of the rinse and I know I’m in… Continue reading, hoot!

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Aged Heritage Wuyi Oolong from Floating Leaves Tea

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Floating Leaves Tea recently came back from Taiwan with a lot of goodies, and one of the first teas I got was their Aged Heritage Wuyi Oolong. Dive deeper into the details, and this tea is from 2011, a Wuyi cultivar, grown in Shi-Ding where Baozhong is grown. It was processed with higher oxidation and roast, similar to a Wuyi tea. Leaf and Steeping Method The leaves smell like an old cupboard filled with roasted nuts. I went with a gongfu ratio of around 1 gram of leaf per 15ml of vessel size, steeped in boiling water. After a rinse,… Continue reading, hoot!