Category: Tea Reviews

Tea reviews and tea tastings

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2017 Waffles Shou Puer from White2Tea

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For Black Friday I ordered all fo the new White2Tea ripe puers as they all sounded interesting and had fun wrappers! The 2017 Waffles shou puer is pressed into a square pattern 200 gram thin cake. It is promised to be a balanced puer. That is a cool retro wrapper! Bah, every Sunday my Dad made the pancakes and waffles. This cake is double wrapped with an inner blank wrapper. I like double wrapping as I can preserve the fun wrapper. Dry Leaf and Steeping Method The 2017 Waffle Ripe Puer has an earthy scent without any detectable funk. I… Continue reading, hoot!

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2017 Sheng Puer Regional Blind Tasting – Everyday Teas

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Oh boy, we are doing this again. My previous Everyday Teas  review was a sheng puer regional blind tasting of 2016 teas. It is time to do 2017 teas! I suggest reading the 2016 blind tasting before proceeding with this 2017 review. I predict this tasting is going to be harder – 2017 teas probably haven’t settled down enough yet. This year only the Nannuo shan is from the same farm as the Ailao Shan is from a different source. This set has a Yiwu instead of a Bulang. I like Yiwu, at least what I tend to associate what Yiwu tastes. Who… Continue reading, hoot!

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2017 Mountain Oasis Sheng Puer from Denong Tea

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I sampled 2017 Mountain Oasis sheng puer at my visit to Denong Tea’s shop in Pasadena, California. From what I tried, I was very impressed with the texture of it. However, they steeped it far lighter and cooler water temperature than what I do myself. I purchased a 100 gram cake to play with and push to the tea limits. 2017 Mountain Oasis was also priced on special at the time, making it a great deal. 2017 Mountain Oasis is a Spring harvest, from Xishuangbanna region. It apparently is made from 300 year old trees affected by the drought of the… Continue reading, hoot!

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Qi Lan Process and Roast Tasting – Old Ways Tea

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Today is a special comparison tasting between  Old Ways Tea‘s Qi Lan Maocha, Unroasted, and Roasted Qi Lan. This set is great as it is the same tea but in different parts of the process of Qi Lan oolong.  Maocha is the unfinished tea. Old Ways Tea says in the tea description: The fresh leaves arrive at the factory and need to be processed into tea. Once the basic processing is complete the product is called maocha. Maocha is then separated into its components: stems, yellow leaves, and tea leaves. Buyers will come to the factories and try the maocha.… Continue reading, hoot!

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2010 Kang Yang Chun Liu An Tea from Bana Tea Company

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For my last Bana Tea Company order, I bought  2010 Kang Yang Chun Liu An on a whim. I don’t own any Liu An so I wanted to play with it. I didn’t want to go all in on a basket, as cool as they look. This particular tea’s material was selected by Tea Master Vesper Chan. I’ve found most teas I’ve had of his were great, so it was a safe purchase. The 100 gram option is packaged in plastic inside a box. Dry Leaf and Steeping Method The dry leaf scent is of tires and red grapes. I haven’t… Continue reading, hoot!

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December 2017 White2Tea Club

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The December 2017 White2Tea Club is an exclusive 200 gram Huangpian sheng puer cake! You only get this cake if you were in the monthly tea club, or did a monster order during Black Friday. I should have tried this tea around Christmas, but I was so backlogged with other teas, and holidays is mostly me stress drinking black teas and matcha. I am not sure what to call this cake. XXX is on the wrapper? My guess Santa got into the tea early. I can attest that tea drunk driving had me do 60mph in a 35mph zone a few… Continue reading, hoot!

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2015 Buddha Hand Oolong from Floating Leaves Tea

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I have purchased Floating Leaves Tea’s Buddha Hand Oolong a couple times. It is a tea that I find challenging to brew, as well as one that needs a good amount of rest. What frustrated me was I’ve had Buddha Hand multiple times at Floating Leaves Tea on sample, but they always steep it better than me. So I kept buying this tea and playing with parameters on days I was craving ultra roast tea, finally reviewing it today when I think I got the tea figured out. Buddha Hand oolong is a traditional cultivar, roasted strongly. It is a… Continue reading, hoot!

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2016 Moon Princess Sheng Puer from Crimson Lotus Tea

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If you are a Seattle local and caught the time to have tea with Crimson Lotus Teas (often Phoenix Tea on Fridays) last year, you might have tried Moon Princess sheng in maocha form, with a promise of it being pressed into cakes in 2017. I had it a few times and was impressed how aromatic it was, excited for this tea to be released. When it came out, I immediately purchased a cake of 2016 Moon Princess sheng puer. However, I felt this tea got neglected by the tea community.  Everyone descended on Crimson Lotus Tea’s exclusive TKG, Secret Sauce, and… Continue reading, hoot!

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Huang Guan Yin Roast Comparison from Old Ways Tea

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Back at the 2017 Northwest Tea Festival, I saw the Tea Bar doing a 5 minute taste comparison of electric vs charcoal roast tea. I sadly missed the tasting, but Old Ways Tea, who supplied teas for that tasting, sent some my way to do my own comparison. Getting my own to try is much better as I can write in depth. So what I have is Old Ways Tea’s Huang Guan Yin Wuyi oolong. I have an electric roast and a charcoal roast, same year, harvest and batch – the only difference is the roast. Some might think the… Continue reading, hoot!

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November 2017 White2Tea Club feat. 2017 BP Sheng Puer

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November 2017 White2Tea Club! This month, a 50 gram cake of 2017 B_P_ Sheng Puer. Last year’s mad lib cake of 2016 B_D_ was impressively good. I have revisited it and it got even better. It was also warned to let this cake sit for a few months, at least, as it was freshly pressed. I gave this tea until January before trying. Anyways, B_P_? I immediately thought Bad Pirate, but my Tea Owls lack pirate gear. Boxy Pigs? I got Boxy Pigs. (I own way too many stuff toys) I also thought back in I believe Pokemon Black/White I… Continue reading, hoot!