Author: Oolong Owl

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Hooty Tea Travels – World Tea Expo 2018 Highlights

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2018 World Tea Expo Haul | 2018 World Tea Expo Trends & Thoughts The World Tea Expo was held at the Las Vegas Convention Center June 12 to 14th. The World Tea Expo is a tea industry-only event to further your tea business with networking and learning. This is the North American hub of tea, so there are farmers or tea sellers getting feedback on their experimental teas. There are many whole sellers here, so if you want tea for your business, you will find the connections here. Other tea sellers use it to display upcoming products. There are classes on… Continue reading, hoot!

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Nightingale and Ducktale Dancong Oolong from Bitterleaf Teas

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Today let’s check out Bitterleaf Teas‘ oolongs. Everyone fusses over their puer, but Bitterleaf tea has some banging oolong and black teas. I got Nightingale and Ducktale dancongs, let’s go! Nightingale Spring 2017 Yelaixiang Single Bush Dancong Oolong Bitterleaf Teas’ Nightingale is a “Night fragrance” oolong, along with, “…single old (50+ years) bush grown at high altitude (1000+ meters) on Wudong shan.” so this tea is luxury. This information I did not read until after I drank it. The dry leaf smells like floral and baked goods whereas the hot leaf smells like tangy mango. I steeped this dancong with a heavy leaf ratio, using… Continue reading, hoot!

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Berry Malt Black Tea from White2Tea

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I purchased White2Tea’s Berry Malt during the dry spell without their magical Anburn black tea. It is promised to be a good daily drinker. Berry Malt is processed as a Dian Hong, but made of large leaf puer material. I got this tea back in March 2018 and actually finished the entire bag in May. Dry Leaf and Steeping Method: Berry Malt is gorgeous and smells of yeasty bread and fresh berries. Total crack how good this leaf smells. I used 1 gram of tea to 15ml of vessel size. I steeped gongfu style with boiling water. Tasting of White2Tea’s Berry… Continue reading, hoot!

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White Anastasia, BB Detox, and Jasmine Green from Kusmi Tea

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A few weeks back, I reviewed the Russian Blends collection, a set of 5 Earl Grey teas, which I selected to review. More often than not, when a tea company contacts me, I choose the teas I want to write about. However, there was a mix-up and I got BB Detox, White Anastasia, and Jasmine Green tea bags from Kusmi Tea first. White Anastasia, I am totally down with. However, anything with “detox” in the name makes me run for the hills and I laugh at beauty claims. I’ve said this multiple times, if tea did anything magical, with the amount… Continue reading, hoot!

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May 2018 White2tea club feat Milan Dancong Roast Comparison

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This has to be the coolest month of the White2tea club – three special commissioned Milan Dancongs each with different roasting times. Not many variables in this tasting as it is the same batch of tea and same roaster. I have an 18, 22, and 26 hour roasts. Each tea is 25 grams, plenty to drink later to see how the roast has settled down. Let’s drink them side by side! For this tasting, I am working left to right, 18, 22, and 26 hour. I used 1 gram of leaf to 13ml of vessel size, flash steeped in boiling water. Dry… Continue reading, hoot!

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Hooty Tea Travels – Preparing for Tea Festivals and Expos

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Since diving deep into the tea world, I have been going to tea festivals 2-4 times a year, some local, and some I travel to. With more tea festivals popping up each year, I can see myself going to even more. Be sure to check out World of Tea’s festival schedule to find a festival near you! With the World Tea Expo 2018 coming up, I am getting ready to tea binge and fill my suitcase full of tea! Here are some tips and tricks I’ve picked up along the way, for both tea enthusiasts and business. Some points are… Continue reading, hoot!

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Thoughts on Huang Pian and 2016 Alter Ego from BitterLeaf Teas

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Today I am drinking Bitterleaf Teas‘ 2016 Alter Ego. Alter Ego is made of Huang Pian material from the Mansa, which is in North Yiwu, bordering Laos. This 2016 tea is long sold out, but there the 2017 Alter Ego available… and 2018 brought out a bunch of other Huang Pian bricks from Bitterleaf. Huang Pian material is a tea I am seeing more and more lately, and we’ll see it more in the future as it is a cost-effective tea using the “ugly” leaves. However, this is to not be confused with ugly mowed up tea barf we see in cheap… Continue reading, hoot!

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Award Winning Wuyi Rock Oolong Teas from MeiMei Fine Teas

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Today on Oolong Owl let’s drink some oolong and an award-winning oolong at that! I encountered MeiMei Fine Teas during the 2017 World Tea Expo and only tried their puer. They were kind to send me some oolong to try. Both teas I steeped with a really high leaf ratio, so 1 gram of leaf to 12ml of vessel size, flash steeped in boiling water. I enjoy this style of steeping as I get max flavor punched in the head and easy to find a weakness if things go into a bitter hell. MeiMei Fine Teas’ Wuyi Rock Oolong Tea… Continue reading, hoot!

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Kusmi Tea Russian Blends Set

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I’ve been feeling the call of afternoon tea with lots of snacks. I’ve been cutting down my sweet snacks which has been making me cranky. My In-Laws recently went to Paris, which lead me to look at various tea sellers based in France, many of which you can’t get here in the US without paying an arm and a leg on already expensive tea. Kusmi Tea had perfect timing and offered to send me teas and I selected the Russian Blends assortment. Kusmi Tea has a base in New York, so you can get this French tea easily online. This… Continue reading, hoot!

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2017 Flap Jacks Puer from White2Tea

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Today’s review is the 2017 Flap Jacks by White2Tea. I have both the Sheng and Shou set. This tea is sold in a mini tong of 7, with 8 grams mini puer discs. I bought both sets of Flap Jacks with my White2Tea order around Black Friday. I actually hesitated to buy Flap Jacks as I rather buy full cakes than gimmicky prepackaged shapes, with also a slight fear of lesser quality material was used. But the Flap Jacks are around $5 each and freaking cute, so like the tea addict I am, I got them anyway. I was having… Continue reading, hoot!