Category: Tea Reviews

Tea reviews and tea tastings

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Significance of Resting Young Puer feat Bitterleaf Teas Bitter End Lite

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From experience, I let puer rest as the flavor changes quite a bit. The best rule of thumb that you hear from many tea sellers is to let your puer rest a few weeks after shipping, about as long as it took to ship to you.   After a few weeks, I generally put the tea into the pumidor. I used to drink new teas right away but I have so much and notice tea changes so much, I tend to wait a bit. Shipping does weird things to tea, especially with longer transit times. In the warmer months, I open… Continue reading, hoot!

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Minto Island Black Tea – Oregon USA Grown Tea

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I am excited to show you all today some Oregon grown tea! Minto Island is a tea farm in Willamette Valley in Western Oregon that produces small batch teas, as well as tea plants for purchase. They have an assortment of different teas, but I went with the Minto Island Black tea. Right on the box, it says when it was harvested – June 4th, 2018. Leaf and Steeping Method The leaves are quite light and full, taking a lot of space in the gaiwan. The leaves oddly smell like pumpkin spice. I used 1 gram of leaf to 15ml… Continue reading, hoot!

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2018 Myanmar White Tea

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I got this amazing White Tea from Myanmar at the 2018 World Tea Expo. This was one of the best teas I had at the whole tea expo. This puppy was expensive too, at $55 for 75 grams as it is old tree “secret garden” material. Leaf and Steeping Method The material is gorgeously fluffy. I used 1 gram of leaf to 20ml of vessel size. I prefer thickly walled gaiwans or dedicated high-temperature retention/fired teapots for white teas. I did not rinse the tea here. The hot wet leaf smells like daffodils. The tea is ultra clear and pristine… Continue reading, hoot!

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HeHuan Shan and Lishan High Mountain Oolong from Floating Leaves Tea

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I’m late to the party on 2018 Spring Oolongs. I got quite distracted by the lure of new white and puer teas, while in the background I’ve gathered some banging oolongs. Let’s go with one of my favorite oolong places, Floating Leaves Tea. These 2 oolongs were pointed out as favorites – HeHuan Shan as the owner favorite, and many friends saying the Lishan is good. Sadly, no ShanLinXi this season, which is my usual go-to High Mountain oolong. Floating Leaves Tea’s HeHuan Shan High Mountain Oolong The dry leaf smells of sweet creamed butter with a touch of grassy… Continue reading, hoot!

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2018 Jade Rabbit Sheng Puer from Crimson Lotus Tea

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Here is a tidbit of info that pushes the CAKE IS A SAMPLE agenda if you are into blended regions/grades vs single origin puer. I’m sure you notice this with buying a sample, then getting a cake, or drinking through a cake or two, that there is some variability between sessions. Sometimes it is the weather, water, or the fact you forgot to brush your teeth that morning, but sometimes it is the blended material. One day you get a gaiwan full of stems, other days it is leaf shreds, whereas other days are beautiful. Maocha is weighed out in… Continue reading, hoot!

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July 2018 White2Tea Club feat 2018 Green Hype

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Last year we got 2017 Hype in a White2Tea club box, which I tried it out of the gate and it tasted too young to drink now. When I knew there was a 2018 Green Hype coming, I drank the 2017 Hype and was surprised that it got massively better with a year on it. I’ve been thinking my tastes quite prefer puer with at least a year on it. My tea package had a hard journey. I opened my box, after sitting not even an hour in my parcel locker, to a tea cake that was over 90F. It… Continue reading, hoot!

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Morning Mojo and Bolder Breakfast Puer Black Teas from The Tea Spot

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Continuing on from the review from the other week, I have more of The Tea Spot‘s blends – Morning Mojo and Bolder Breakfast! These two teas are quite good and both puer. Morning Mojo from The Tea Spot Morning Mojo is a blend of puer, black tea, orange peel, and vanilla flavoring. It smells like an orange creamsicle. I used 4 grams of tea, 12oz/350ml mug, and steeped it in boiling water for 3.5 minutes. The flavor is super creamy vanilla. The running theme of Tea Spot’s puer and black tea bases is they give a smooth yet sweet dirty… Continue reading, hoot!

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DAVIDsTea Tea Press Travel Tea Tumbler

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When DAVIDsTea came out with this new Tea Press, I got excited but didn’t pull the trigger right away as I had their Iced Tea Press, which is essentially the same product but in plastic instead of stainless steel. I eventually bought the Tea Press when they came out with a cute purple one. Then I bought a second one because they came out with a rainbow one. Uggg! That said, I’ve had my DAVIDsTea Tea Press since March 2018, and have been playing with it for 5 months. I tend to use it a couple times a week, with… Continue reading, hoot!

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Yuzu Citron Black Tea from Boseong Woohae Tea Plantation

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During the World Tea Expo, I caved and purchased three of these Yuzu Citron Black Teas from some tea farmers from Boseong Woohae Tea Plantation. These are Yuzu oranges grown off their tea farm, hollowed and stuffed with Korean black tea. I admired them last year, but they are priced out of my range. This year they were a bit cheaper, but some still ran up to $30 an orange. A couple Korean sellers had these yuzu stuffed teas, but Boseong Woohae had the cheapest, so they won. Leaf and Steeping Instructions This guy weighs in at 26 grams (almost… Continue reading, hoot!

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2016 Denong Black Tea from Denong Tea

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I sampled the 2016 Denong Black tea at Denong Tea’s shop in Pasadena and recall it being very smooth and likable. It is a tea that they like to serve at tastings and festivals as it is friendly yet luxurious. I didn’t end up purchasing it though, as I threw a lot of money at their puer. Denong eventually sent me a tin for review. The first thing you’ll notice is the paper container they package their black tea in is gorgeous! WOW! I will forever keep this container. Leaf and Steeping Method Denong’s 2016 Black tea doesn’t have much… Continue reading, hoot!