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2018 Enchantment of Ancient Trees Shou Puer from Bana Tea Company

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Today’s tea review is Bana Tea Company’s 2018 Enchantment of Ancient Trees Shou puer. It is of 300 year old tree bulang material. The tea leaves were fermented with local mountain spring water and stored for 3 years before pressing. Bana Tea always has some of the best shous. I didn’t hesitate to purchase a 100gram cake for $39. I later realized, “Oh man, that is expensive for a shou!” The 100g cake is deceptive and smart, I don’t mind dropping $40 on a good shou. $80 for a 200g or $142 for 357g cake likely would have made me… Continue reading, hoot!

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1990s Shou Mei White Tea from The Chinese Tea Shop

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I finally got my hands on some OLD white tea. I’ve had a number of 2008 white teas, which is the more common older aged white tea you can find, especially for pressed whites. The Chinese Tea Shop in Vancouver, Canada has a 1990s and 1980s Shou Mei white tTea and I purchased both. Today I will be drinking the 1990s Shou Mei white tea. White tea this old is expensive. I bought them to taste the potential of ageing a white tea. If I like how this tastes, I can hide kilos of young cheaper white tea for over 20… Continue reading, hoot!

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2018 Spring Beyond the Clouds Black Tea from Essence of Tea

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My 2018 Spring Beyond the Clouds black tea came as a free sample with my last order at Essence of Tea. Beyond the Clouds is Ai Lao Mountain material. Leaf and Steeping Method The leaf is strangely a little green. Reading up on it, this black tea is lightly oxidized to give it more character. I leafed pretty hard here, using 1 gram of leaf per 13ml of vessel size, gongfu steeped in boiling water. I like leafing black tea a little harder for maximum flavour. The hot rinsed leaf smells like candied red fruits Tasting of Essence of Tea’s… Continue reading, hoot!

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Hooty Tea Travels – 2018 Vancouver Tea Festival

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The Vancouver Tea Festival is in their 5th year! It was held November 3rd and 4th (Saturday and Sunday) at the Chinese Culture Centre and Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. I attended only on Sunday. For 3 years in a row, I’ve missed the Vancouver Tea Festival. One time I was in Vancouver just before or after it. The other year I was having surgery so I missed it. Last year I didn’t make it as I was remodelling the kitchen and I’d be a complete jerk to leave the tea hating husband to do all the work by… Continue reading, hoot!

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2013 Gongmei White Tea from White2Tea

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I bought a sample of White2Tea’s 2013 Gongmei White around the time of its release, promptly lost the sample bag, then went on a 45 minute rampage through my tea space trying to find it. It should have been in my review basket, but it was shoved in a tin with black teas. White2tea’s 2013 Gongmei is a Fuding white tea, stored also in Fujian in natural/dry storage. Researching white tea drives me crazy. The order of quality/grading of white tea goes Baihao Yinzhen aka Silver Needle (buds), Bai Mu Dan aka White Peony (buds and leaves), GongMei, and ShouMei, the… Continue reading, hoot!

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2018 Secret Forest Wild White Tea from Essence of Tea

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I am in love with Essence of Tea’s 2017 Secret Forest Wild White tea that I had to buy it again when 2018 batch came. Sadly, 2018 Secret Forest Wild White Tea is in loose leaf only so I ended up with 2 monster bags of fluffy white tea totaling 200 grams. Leaf and Steeping Method The dry leaf is spaciously nutty with a strong scent of fruity floral candy. I jammed 1 gram of tea leaf per 20ml of vessel size. In this small gaiwan I used 3 grams of leaf. I’ve drunk this tea a number of times… Continue reading, hoot!

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2018 Jingmai Sun-Dried Three Aroma Bai Mu Dan White Tea from Yunnan Sourcing

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I purchased 2018 Jingmai Sun-Dried Three Aroma Bai Mu Dan on a recommendation, and I went all in at a 250 gram bag because that’s how I roll with white tea. My brain auto thinks I need puer cake weight for the long term. By the way, if you have never purchased this much loose white tea before, it is a total PITA due to the volume it takes. I need to find a way to store this stuff. Leaf and Steeping Instructions Jingmai Sun-Dried Three Aroma is a rustic chunky stemmy leaf with mostly wide green leaves with some… Continue reading, hoot!

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2018 Gu Yun Sheng Puer from Denong Tea

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Today’s tea is Denong Tea’s 2018 Gu Yun Sheng puer. I don’t have much information on this puer other than this is a Menghai tea grown in Denong’s tea gardens. “2018 Gu Yun Raw. Made from ancient arbor material grown in our own tea gardens in Menghai, this tea’s taste satisfies those who are well acquainted with Pu-erh.” During the PDX Tea Festival I asked Jeffrey McIntosh his TLDR picks for Denong Tea‘s 2018 expensive line, he said the Nannou was good (but out of my price range) and his other pick is the Gu Yun. He said it is… Continue reading, hoot!

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The Bitter End 2018 Spring Lao Man E Sheng Puer from Bitterleaf Teas

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Early release, I purchased all three Bitterleaf Teas’ 2018 Spring Lao Man E teas – The Bitter End Lite brick, Bitter End, and Xtra Bitter maocha. Originally what I wanted to do was comparison drink all three teas but that would likely destroy anyone’s stomach lining from all the bitter. I’ve already reviewed The Bitter End Lite, which is the sweeter huang pian version. Today lets drink the regular Bitterleaf Teas’ The Bitter End 2018 Spring Lao Man E sheng puer. My Bitter End cake got aired out for a while, over the summer with my tea room being really… Continue reading, hoot!

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August 2018 White2tea Club feat 3 years of Milan Dancong

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August 2018’s White2Tea Club is three Milan Dancongs, each a different year – 2016, 2017, and 2018. All three teas are spring material, processed, and roasted closely the same. There are no re-roasts on the older teas. This month is to serve as a fun comparison, but also to figure out what one likes in terms of age. Steeping Method I like my Dancong leafed into another dimension, so I used enough to fill the gaiwan, which was 1 gram of tea per 11ml of vessel size ratio. The high ratio is one I’m comfortable with, so I didn’t do… Continue reading, hoot!