Category: Tea Reviews

Tea reviews and tea tastings

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2019 Skinnydip White Tea from Bitterleaf Teas

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2019 Skinnydip white tea is a 200 gram pressed cake with Simao material from Bitterleaf Teas. What attracted me to this white tea is the price, at this time, $14.50 for a 200 gram cake, so I couldn’t resist purchasing a cake. Skinnydip is flat out a budget tea for daily drinking or inexpensive aging. Leaf and Steeping Method Skinnydip has a strong scent of a sweet mowed lawn. The cake is a looser compression, making it easier to break off pieces, but also a bit messy as the leaf shatters. I used 1 gram of leaf per 20ml of… Continue reading, hoot!

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2019 Smooth Water Baozhong Oolong from Floating Leaves Tea

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2019 Smooth Water Baozhong is my favorite Taiwanese oolong this season from Floating Leaves Tea. I sampled it in the shop (already going in knowing I’ll love it as I enjoyed last year’s Nangang Baozhong), purchased, and I keep reaching for it. Smooth Water Baozhong is from Nangang, the birthplace of Baozhong. Modern Baozhong has gone very floral compared to the traditional old school Nangang style. I know many dislike Baozhong as it drinks like perfume, but this classic Nangang Baozhong is different. Leaf and Steeping Method Smooth Water Baozhong ‘s leaf has a milky floral scent. For today, I… Continue reading, hoot!

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2018 Beneath an Emerald Sea Sheng Puer from Crimson Lotus Tea

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2018 Beneath an Emerald Sea is a sheng puer by Crimson Lotus tea. My experience with the 2016 version was it was very shengry, causing a party of people to eat an entire tray of rice krispies at my BBQ party. I sampled the 2018 version of Beneath an Emerald Sea with Crimson Lotus Tea right before I left for my Europe cruise. I enjoyed it so much and felt it had potential, so I bought a cake then I went cruising with this tea. Looking back, I enjoyed 2018 more than the 2016 tea. Leaf and Steeping Method Here… Continue reading, hoot!

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2018 Lucky Accident Oolong from Old Ways Tea

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2018 Lucky Accident Oolong is a blend of Huang Guan Yin and Qi Lan. The blend, like its name, is an accident as Old Ways Tea’s aunt accidentally mixed the two teas together, birthing a surprisingly good blend of tea. I’ve had both teas separately, and both teas are good teas. I purchased this tea after hearing a number of my tea friends raving how good it is. It is sadly one to easily miss or skip as you see “oh a cheap blend, whatevs,” and go for the Rou Gui. Leaf and Steeping Method Once I opened the little 8… Continue reading, hoot!

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2017 Rhizome Sheng Puer from Kuura

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Today’s tea review is Australian based tea seller Kuura’s 2017 Rhizome Sheng Puer. Rhizome is a blend of 2017 Spring and Fall material from a single forest in Xishuangbanna. I purchased this tea on a whim, thinking the description sounded fun and I like the name. The houseplant obsession has leeched into my tea drinking as I got exciting thinking this tea will rhizome clone out plant babies from the soil. Leaf and Steeping Method Rhizome’s dry leaf has a subtle scent of stale floral. The compression is tight on these sample pieces. Either I got the beenghole or this… Continue reading, hoot!

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2019 Colombian White Tea from Bitaco Colombian Tea

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I had some amazing white tea from Bitaco, a tea grower in Colombia. I recall they had a silver needle last year, but this year certainly caught my attention as the taste of their latest white tea, a Baimudan/ White Peony grade, is outstanding. Bitaco regularly attends the Tea Convention circuit, and I’m finding every year their teas are getting better and better. Leaf and Steeping Method The leaf smells like under-ripe melons and linen. Gorgous looking leaf with the fuzzy silver buds mixed with a rainbow of red browns, greens, and dark leaves. My gongfu ratio is 1 gram… Continue reading, hoot!

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2019 Spring Dong Ding Laoshi from Tillerman Tea

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Tillerman Tea sent me the 2018 Winter Dong Ding Laoshi last season. I saw it sell out fast before I had a chance to review it (and I generally don’t like reviewing stuff that isn’t available unless it is educational). I shared some with a local tea friend as a session closer and we were both surprised how crazy good this Dong Ding is. When the new 2019 Spring Dong Ding Laoshi arrived, I jumped at the opportunity to get some vendor samples for review. The 2019 Spring Dong Ding Laoshi is medium-level charcoal roasted by Tillerman Tea’s Teacher (Laoshi)… Continue reading, hoot!

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2018 Impression Sheng Puer from Yunnan Sourcing

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I was actually a fan of the last Yunnan Sourcing Impression sheng puer cake, so I caved and purchased the next 2018 Impression sheng puer cake. The 2017 Impression was a good tea for the price, so I felt it was worth a blind caking another one. At this time of writing, the 2018 Impression is $28 for a 400gram cake, so still a deal. The 2018 Impression is a blend of Mengku, Bang Dong, and Jing Gu tea gardens, constructed to be, “…a powerful blend that has strong mouth feeling, cha qi and a balanced sweet, bitter and astringent profile.” Leaf and… Continue reading, hoot!

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2019 Spring Shan Lin Xi and Hehuan Shan High Mountain Oolong from Floating Leaves Tea

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Let’s check out Floating Leaves Tea’s new 2019 Spring High Mountain oolongs. I went with Shan Lin Xi and Hehuan Shan this year, both being favorites in blind tastings. Floating Leaves Tea’s 2019 Spring Shan Lin Xi High Mountain Oolong Shan Lin Xi is generally my favorite High Mountain oolong and I buy it when it is available. I am super excited that Floating Leaves Tea got it this season, after not carrying it for a while due to previous seasons not making the cut. The leaf is floral, sweet, buttery, and a touch roasted in scent. I steeped my… Continue reading, hoot!

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2018 Dark Depths Shou Puer from Crimson Lotus Tea

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I purchased a cake of 2018 Dark Depths Shou Puer online a few weeks after it was released. I was teased by the original art, by Carl Faulkner, which is hung in Crimson Lotus Tea’s living room and I couldn’t wait to give this tea a try. My cake arrived sometime in June and I had it aired out for over a month before tasting. Leaf and Steeping Method The dry leaf has sweet earth and incense scent. My ratio was on the conservative side for shou as sometimes I like leafing harder, but I went with 1 gram of… Continue reading, hoot!