Category: Tea Reviews

Tea reviews and tea tastings

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Comparison Tasting of Masu Wild Style Black Tea from Old Ways Tea

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I have a mound of Old Ways Tea packets tempting me every time I look at it, but I also have the urge to hoard my treasure. After sorting through, I found a 3 year selection of Masu Wild Style Black tea. Storage wise, I left these packets in coolish room temperature. Is aged black teas a thing? Sort of, maybe unintentionally. I know some who dislike black tea that’s over a year old. Generally, I find pressed black teas really get good after a year. I’ve had some of my unintentional aged blacks from 2014 to 2016 and all… 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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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!

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2017 Cloud 9 Fuding White Tea from Bitterleaf Teas

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Today’s tea is Bitterleaf Tea’s 2017 Cloud 9 Fuding White Tea. This white tea is interesting as it is old growth large leaves only, but not the huangpian ugly grade leaves. I purchased this tea as Bitterleaf Tea’s white tea offerings I find economical for aging. Leaf and Steeping Method Wow, 2017 Cloud 9 looks fun with the large flat leaves. The cake smells like stale hay and willow sticks, making me think this is rabbit food than tea. This tea is easy to pry pieces off of, however, it creates a lot of shattered dust if going the usual… Continue reading, hoot!

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Wild Northern Thailand Apple Pie Green and Moonlit Mint Black Tea from Love Some Tea

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I have the hankering for some flavored teas, so let’s drink some dessert teas today. Love Some Tea uses wild-grown tea from Northern Thailand, making the base tea something special. I previously reviewed Love Some Tea, including their teas without any added flavorings. Love Some Tea’s Moonlit Mint Black Tea Love Some Tea’s Moonlit Mint is simply their wild black Northern Thailand tea with peppermint oil. To infuse this tea, I used 4 grams of leaf, 9.5oz/ 280ml of 200F/ 93c water for 2 minutes. Moonlight mint sips in fairly pepperminty. As the sip goes on, it gets dark, woodsy,… Continue reading, hoot!