Category: Tea Reviews

Tea reviews and tea tastings

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2019 Still Love You Shou Puer from Bana Tea Company

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2019 Still Love You is a special shou puer that is made of, “…100 to 200-years-old, and adding an infusion made from Agarwood and Sweet Rice Scent Leaf,” from Bana Tea Company. Sweet Rice Scented tea isn’t too uncommon, but Agarwood is, at least here in the west. I haven’t had Agarwood in tea myself. A few times I had a chance to try I wanted to shell out for an outrageously priced tasting session of around $85 for an agarwood shou. This 100gram cake is $18 at this time. “Infusion” is likely the keyword here to make the price… Continue reading, hoot!

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Yi Shan Tea Factory 2018 Spring Old Arbor Yue Guang Bai White Tea via Yunnan Sourcing

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I love a good Moonlight White / Yue Guang Bai white tea. Yunnan Sourcing’s Yi Shan Tea Factory 2018 Spring Old Arbor Yue Guang Bai is of unique interest as it has been left to wilt longer producing a darker white tea. Leaf and Steeping Method The leaf has a darker malty scent. The compression on this white tea cake was easy to break but you certainly need a tool to assist you. I used 1 gram of leaf per 20ml of vessel size, gongfu steeped in boiling water. The hot leaf smells like a malty black tea. Tasting of… Continue reading, hoot!

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Three Roasted Oolongs from Wang Family Teas

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Today I’ll be checking out a selection of oolongs from Wang Family Tea – Bagua Shan Honey Scent, Lishan Lightly Roasted, and Alishan Jin Xuan Heavily Roasted. This tea company took the NW Tea Festival by storm with their delicious Taiwanese oolongs. I have previously reviewed their Sun Moon Lake black teas. All oolongs I used a ratio of 1 gram of leaf per 15ml of vessel size. They were all gongfu style steeped in boiling water. Bagua Shan Honey Scent Oolong from Wang Family Teas Thank you Wang Family Tea for including plenty of information about their teas. Bagua… Continue reading, hoot!

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2019 October White2Tea Club feat. Trapbird, 2019 Lumberslut, and 2019 Pretty Girls Shou Puer

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The 2019 October White2Tea Club is a selection of shous that you can purchase – 2016 Trap Bird, 2019 Lumberslut, and 2019 Pretty Girls. I have been doing the White2tea club since the beginning as well as purchase quite a bit of his teas that I’ve actually have had all the teas this month but in previous years. 2016 Trapbird Shou Puer from White2Tea 2019 October Club came with a sample of 2016 Trap Bird, but I own this cake and already reviewed it in 2017. Instead, I drank it from my own stash to see how it is progressing.… Continue reading, hoot!

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Taman Hong Shui Oolong from Floating Leaves Tea

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I wanted to finish 2019 by posting my most profound tea experience of the year – Floating Leaves Tea’s Taman Hong Shui Oolong. Floating Leaves Tea got me with their Lalashan Hong Shui. I loved that tea so much I didn’t review it as I wasn’t sure I could give it justice and now that tea is out of stock to buy (but I got a bag in my stash). Taman Hong Shui is similar to Lalashan Hong Shui as it is the same farmer, but it is from a different, higher peak in the same farm area. This tea… Continue reading, hoot!

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2019 December White2tea Club feat. 2019 XXXmas Love Pistol Sheng Puer

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The 2019 December White2teaclub is an exclusive 200gram cake of 2019 XXXmas Love Pistol Edition. 2019 XXXmas Love Pistol is a huangpian (big ugly yellow leaves) blend of sheng puer. I had to drink this for Christmas, despite not trying all the October and November White2tea club teas yet. This year’s huangpian holiday cake is my favorite wrapper so far. I was planning to frame the wrapper but with my Black Friday White2tea order, I got the matching chabu! As a side note, after reading on the wrapper this is the “love pistol” edition, I cannot get this EXO song… Continue reading, hoot!

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2019 September White2Tea Club

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White2Tea club of September 2019 had an assortment of different teas – two black teas, a white tea, and an oolong processed into a black tea. Red Milan is available for purchase at White2Tea, whereas the rest are tea club exclusive. Red Milan Milan varietal dancongs seem a favorite of White2tea. This Red Milan, in particular, is a modern version from Guangdong processed as a black tea. Red Milan’s leaves are aromatic and smell like a grape juice box. I treated Red Milan as an oolong as I didn’t read up on the tea until I was editing my review.… Continue reading, hoot!

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2019 Muzha Tieguanyin and Oriental Beauty Oolongs from Tillerman Tea

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Today’s tea review I’m drinking Tillerman Tea’s 2019 Spring Muzha Tieguanyin and 2019 Summer Oriental Beauty. All teas I steeped gongfu style, 1 gram of leaf per 15ml vessel size, in boiling water. 2019 Muzha Tieguanyin from Tillerman Tea The leaf has a freshly roasted scent, caramel nuttiness. After a rinse and infusion, the hot leaf has a deep caramel and roast scent continued. First and Second Infusion: The first sip of Tillerman Tea’s Muzha Tieguanyin gives off the impression of the fresh roast. Sharp and slightly ashy, but the tea is smooth once you get past it. It’s sweet,… Continue reading, hoot!

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2019 Purple Da Hong Pao Wuyi Oolong from Old Ways Tea

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Purple Da Hong Pao is an offshoot varietal from classic Da Hong Pao oolong. Old Ways Tea’s 2019 Purple Da Hong Pao, in particular, had its roast job in August 2019. Leaf and Steeping Method The dry leaf smells like roasted cream, with the roast smells potent without being burnt or ashy. I’m drooling and damn excited to drink this tea. I didn’t know how much I needed Purple Da Hong Pao until I smelled it. I used 1 gram of leaf per 12ml of vessel size, aiming to do chaozhao style and “fill the gaiwan”, However, I had concerns… Continue reading, hoot!

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2018 Warm Fuzzies Shou Puer from Yunnan Sourcing

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Yunnan Sourcing has some excellent house brand shou puer. With my last Yunnan Sourcing order earlier in 2019, I bought a cake of 2018 Warm Fuzzies as I was in the mood for inky dark shou. Warm Fuzzies is a blend of material from 2015 to 2018 from Lincang, Simao, and Xishuangbanna, in Yunnan China. Leaf and Steeping Method 2018 Warm Fuzzies shou cake is a subtly marbled gold and brown. The scent is sweet, earthy, and like opening a bottle of India ink. I do not detect any wet pile weird smells. I leafed harder for this shou, going… Continue reading, hoot!