Category: Tea Reviews

Tea reviews and tea tastings

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Korean Pumpkin and Wormwood Tea Session

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Happy Hootyween! Let’s drink some weird stuff! I got some interesting Korean herbal teas while at the 2017 World Tea Expo. When I got them home, I had to get a friend to tell them apart for me (thanks Nish!). While at Jade:Lee’s booth, he used a gaiwan to infuse all his teas, including the herbals. I honestly don’t know what the hoot I am doing to steep it, so… gongfu style it is? Pumpkin Tea This tisane looks like kibble and has a weird smell that I cannot describe. I used boiling water and 1 gram of pumpkin to 17ml… Continue reading, hoot!

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2016 vs 2017 Oriental Beauty Comparison from Floating Leaves Tea

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Last year I passed on 2016 Floating Leaves Tea Oriental Beauty oolong. It sounded good, but there are plenty of other oolongs I like more, so my money went to Floating Leaves Tea’s Dong Ding, High Mountain oolongs, and Red Peony. When the 2017 Oriental Beauty came out, Floating Leaves Tea’s Shiuwen told me this year’s teas is darker in flavor. A darker flavor Oriental Beauty sounded interesting, so I purchased an ounce. She threw in a sample of the 2016 so I can compare them. With both teas in my possession, I might as well drink them side by side… Continue reading, hoot!

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2017 Nancai Ancient Sheng Puer from Essence of Tea

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With my last Essence of Tea order, I got a free sample of 2017 Nancai Ancient Sheng puer. This tea apparently comes from old wild trees. It is promised to have a strong flavor, qi, bitterness, and aging potential. Dry Leaf and Steeping Method The 2017 Nancai Ancient puer’s dry leaf is strongly fruity smelling with a bit of zest to it. I used 1 gram of leaf to 15 ml of vessel size. I used 208F/98C water. Why not full boil? My kettle is junk and was flipping out trying to hold 212F/100c. The hot leaf smells fruity and a touch of… Continue reading, hoot!

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2017 Farmer Direct Tea Sheng Puer from White2tea

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2017 puer is nuts. We got so much selection this year for young sheng, that I’ve been busy drinking it all and getting gut rot. I’ve drunk a good selection of White2Tea’s 2017 line now, so I am starting with what I found is a good mid-range tea. I got 2017 Farmer Direct Tea (FDT) as a bonus sample with purchase. I was a high roller this year and only bought the expensive White2Tea shengs to try, which I slightly regret as FDT turned out to be pretty good. Farmer Direct Tea. I’m sure the name of this tea really… Continue reading, hoot!

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Black Teas from TeaBento

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With fall here, I’m in the mood for darker teas. I’ve been drinking all the black and shous lately. Today’s review is black teas from Teabento – a new seller based in Germany. Teabento has a really cute website with fun photos of teas as animals. Their tea selection is primarily unflavored, with a few floral teas. Teabento also carries a number of uncommon and rare teas. Today I will be drinking Happy Panda, Red Panda, and Plum Rooster. Teabento’s Happy Panda Black Tea Happy Panda is a non-smoked Lapsang Souchong. I love seeing traditional Lapsangs as I dislike the… Continue reading, hoot!

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Amoda Monthly Tea Box and Golden Turmeric Ginger Tea

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Amoda Tea Box is a monthly subscription box based in Vancouver Canada. Since I last review them, they now have their own teas that focus on primarily herbal, matcha, and wellness blends. The subscription boxes similar as before, sourcing high-quality teas from small independent tea vendors. Today I am going to drink a subscription box and a wellness blend. June 2017 Amoda Monthly Tea Box This is the June Box, reviewed in October because I am seriously backlogged since World Tea Expo. Willapia White Lavender is from Beach house Tea Co, and is a blend of white peony, lemon verbena, wild… Continue reading, hoot!

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August 2017 White2Tea Club feat. Mid 2000s Sheng Puer

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The August 2017 White2tea club is another learning experience box. This month contains two mid 2000’s sheng puer to compare storage and compression. The Fangcha is dry stored tightly compressed brick with little information known other than it is smokey. The traditional Bingcha is said to be Yiwu origin, loosely pressed, with less compression and humid storage. Yet another excuse to have some double gaiwan fun, let’s steep! Dry Leaf The fangcha is in a spiffy brick. Flipped over, it has warts! I was warned this brick was a PITA to break, but my folding puer knife got through it… Continue reading, hoot!

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Prana Chai – Tea Review

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I saw Prana Chai at the 2016 World Tea Expo and regret not getting some to take home. I visited Prana Chai at the 2017 World Tea Expo determined to bring it home for EVIL OWL experiments. Prana Chai is a lot of fun. Look at this mound! Prana Chai is made of black Ceylon tea, Australian Bushland Honey, cinnamon, cardamom, star anise, peppercorns, cloves, fresh ginger, salt. That sticky sheen is the honey, which acts as a natural preservative. Prana Chai has a shelf life of 1 year, even after it is opened. Dry Leaf and Preparation I can’t… Continue reading, hoot!

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2017 Turtle Dove White Tea Brick from White2tea

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A highly requested review! 2017 Turtle Dove is White2Tea’s newest compressed white tea. It is made from sun-dried, large leaf Yunnan white tea. It is described as being a forgiving white tea and I love white teas that I can beat up. This is also one of the teas of the 2017 Spring line up that has been tested and passed being free of 440 EU pesticides. Let’s steep! Dry Leaf and Steeping Method Breaking a brick of 2017 Turtle Dove White tea brick is scary – be cautious! I’ve had a couple sessions of 2017 Turtle Dove White tea… Continue reading, hoot!

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Material Matcha Uji MMU03 Blend & Kickstarter

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Material Matcha Uji is a new matcha seller with a twist – they have handcrafted 3 different matchas, blended with various Uji varietals, which makes for different flavor profiles. This isn’t the first time I’ve come across blended matcha, but the first time to have a tea vendor go into more detail. Since I do a lot of matcha reviews, I’ve learned matcha has many flavor profiles, yet no way to distinguish anything as no one talks varietals. I’ve had matchas that were potent, sweet, fruity, more umami, and even floral. The most information I see on matcha is the region, usually Uji.… Continue reading, hoot!