Author: Oolong Owl

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Bonavita Variable Temperature Gooseneck Kettle 1-Liter – Teaware Review

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Variable temperature kettles are the game changer in tea. Not all teas can be made with boiling water and if you are having issues with tea being really bitter, it is likely your water temperature is too hot. I find many black teas that are prone to bitterness do great at 200F, sometimes even 190F. Green teas need to be steeped with a cool water temperature of around 175F or they will be bitter, swampy and awful. Anyways, Variable Temperature Kettles are not cheap, so often people on tea forums are asking about which one is a good kettle. I have two… Continue reading, hoot!

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Cuisinart CPK-17 PerfecTemp Variable Temperature Kettle Review

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In my opinion, a variable temperature electric kettle is a must have for a tea drinker. It is a game changer, especially if you drink delicate teas. The biggest complaint I hear from new tea drinkers, especially with green tea and matcha, is their tea is too bitter – really high chance they steeped the tea with boiling water. The same green or matcha steeped at 160F to 175F will yield a tea that is not bitter! I came tame a bitter astringent black by dropping the water temperature to 200F. When I’m without a variable temperature kettle I find… Continue reading, hoot!

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Urban Tea Tumbler from The Tea Spot – Teaware Review

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I spotted The Tea Spot‘s Urban Tea Tumbler at the last World Tea Expo and was impressed with the design. To my delight, The Tea Spot sent me an Urban Tea Tumbler to play with! It was great timing too as the tumbler arrived when I was on crutches with a sprained ankle, unable to carry things as I walked, but I could carry this tumbler as it has a strap! I gotta say, the Urban Tea Tumbler is a very nice tea tumbler. I’ve been using this tea tumbler almost every day even when I don’t need to as it’s a… Continue reading, hoot!

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Christmas Spice Black Tea from Secret Garden Tea Company – Tea Review

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Ah yeah, let’s roll out the Christmas themed teas! Let’s start off with Secret Garden Tea Company’s Christmas Spice Tea. This tea seller is from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, hurray my hometown! Dry Leaf Christmas Spice goes with the angle of the holidays being of cranberries – lots of plump dried cranberries in this tea with a strong spice scent. Upon looking at the ingredients list, this tea contains black tea, citrus peel, almonds, vanilla bean, clove, rose petals, and cardamom. Steeping Instructions I went with my default western style steeping method for black tea – boiling water, 10 oz mug,… Continue reading, hoot!

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Gui Fei Oolong from Tea From Vietnam – Tea Review

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Today’s review is Tea From Vietnam’s Gui Fei Oolong! I’ve had a few Gui Fei Oolongs before, all of them more on the greener side of oolong. Years ago before I was using gaiwans, a Steepster friend discovered if you western steep Gui Fei for over 8 minutes you get something really crazy sweet like drinking tea ice wine. Now I have gaiwans and I can leaf this oolong hard and steep it like a boss. Hold onto your leaf hoppers folks, let’s go! Dry Leaf The Gui Fei leaf here is tightly coiled and dark. Some pieces have a… Continue reading, hoot!

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Oolong Owl at the 2015 Los Angeles International Tea Festival!

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I was at the 2015 Los Angeles International Tea Festival on Saturday, December 5th! Like previous years, the festival was held at the Japanese American National Museum. Unlike previous years, the tea festival was held in December. Last year’s 2014 Los Angeles International Tea Festival was held in August in the blistering heat. Having a tea festival in the LA “winter” was a better call as last year it was a lot of sugary iced tea samples. If you are curious of my visit for the previous years – 2013 Los Angeles International Tea Festival | 2014 Los Angeles International Tea… Continue reading, hoot!

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The Tea Spot Connoisseur Collection – Tea Review

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Today’s tea review is of a collection of fancy teas! The Tea Spot Connoisseur Collection contains samples of four luxury teas – Organic Black Pearls, Golden Pu’er, 88th Night (shincha), and Organic Silver Needle White. This collection is quite interesting as you get a wide range of teas from pu’er to white, rarely do you see pu’er thrown in a collection like this. The Connoisseur Collection is true to the name as it is an expert line up of teas. The Tea Spot also sells the teas individually. The Tea Spot Connoisseur Collection comes in a set of four little tea tins. Looking on their site, you… Continue reading, hoot!

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Aliexpress 11.11 2015 Teaware Haul

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Aliexpress has the most epic 11.11 sales which I, of course, participated in. Hootcurses, once November comes it’s never ending sales – 11.11 (Singles Day technically), Pre-thanksgiving, Early Black Friday, Black Friday, Cyber Monday and now it’s Tuesday and I’m getting “Extended Cyber Monday!” sales. Seriously, I shouldn’t even bother rushing for sales if they just don’t end. First up – Bamboo Tea Table with Drip Tray. I bought a bunch from Dragon Tea House for the 11.11 sales, so you can probably easily find this one on ebay, aliexpress, and Dragon Tea House’s website. I rage quitted on my tea… Continue reading, hoot!

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November White2tea Club 2015 Pin – Tea Review

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I’ve been with the White2Tea Club monthly subscription tea box thing for a year now. At $30 a month, add up how much of my monies have been funneled into White2Tea for a year, and I’m still signed up as I love this tea club. If I cut myself off I think I’ll get the tea bends or something. November 2015’s White2Tea Club is the lovely 200 gram cake of 2015 Pin Sheng. For a $30 a month price, getting a $49 cake is a great deal for something I would of purchased it eventually. $49 cake is in my price range of… Continue reading, hoot!

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Sunday Tea Hoots 11 – NaNoWriMo Day 29

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Boom, did it, 50k words written for NaNoWriMo! #NaNoWinner2015! I like to thank the powers of Shou Pu’er for this writing win. I have a box full of pu’er samples and I drank down every shou pu’er sample I had and badly dented one of my aged oolong stashes to fuel writing this thing. Funny as I last week that I knew I was going to finish despite not having an actual real story title nor a book cover. Apparently having a cover increases your chance of finishing writing 50k words by 60%. More funny is that half my secondary… Continue reading, hoot!