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2022 October White2tea Club feat. Fuding Baicha, Silver Bud Red, and Mengku Dragon Ball

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It is time for the 2022 October White2tea Club! For this month – 2019 Fuding Baicha, Silver Bud Red, and 2016 Mengku Naked Dragon Ball – an interesting mix of teas. 2019 Fuding Baicha from the 2022 October White2tea Club The leaves have a coconut and flowery scent. My white tea gongfu ratio is 1 gram of leaf per 20ml of vessel size. After a rinse, the leaves smell of golden raisins and more coconut First, Second, and Third Infusion: 2019 Fuding Baicha is super bright, and rock sugar sweet. It has some gentle sips of sweet golden straw, and… Continue reading, hoot!

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Bird & Blend Matcha Review feat. 2022 Matcha Advent Calendar

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Bird & Blend is a UK boutique flavored tea vendor. Back in 2013, I found out about this company from Steepster and got some teas. Well, they expanded and made even more creative tea flavors, especially in matcha! For years I have wanted to order Bird & Blend, but it is expensive to ship internationally, best for a huge order. I finally caved in to try a bunch of stuff, including their 2022 Bird & Blend Matcha Advent calendar. The 2022 Bird & Blend Matcha Tea Advent Calendar was $64 for 24 x 5g matchas – all different flavors. It… Continue reading, hoot!

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2022 December Old Ways Tea Club feat. Fo Shou

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I was very excited to see 2022 December Old Ways Tea Club has multiple Fo Shou teas! For this month – Cousin’s Fo Shou, Friend’s Fo Shou, and 2022 Tongmu Old Tree Charcoal Roast Black. Old Ways Tea read my mind as I’ve been craving the big honking leaves of Fo Shou (aka, Buddha Hand) and I’m always up for more hongcha. Cousin’s Fo Shou For both Fo Shous, I used a 90ml tea vessel, so a very strong 1g to 12ml ratio or so. Cousin’s Fo Shou leaves are fragrant, like a bag of juicy fat raisins. First, Second,… Continue reading, hoot!

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2022 September White2tea Club feat. Lapsang Souchong

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Five Lapsang Souchongs to drink for the 2022 September White2tea Club – I hope you like hongcha! All these teas can be purchased at White2tea, so this is a sample haul of the newest crop. White2tea has quite a selection of Lapsang Souchong giving a good representation of what is a good Lapsang Souchong. So much of the typically available Lapsang is a tire-fire bitter ashy nightmare. For all teas, I used close to the instructions, so around 1 gram of leaf per 17ml of boiling water, no rinse. Traditional Lapsang Souchong from the September White2tea Club The leaves smell… Continue reading, hoot!

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2022 Winter Diva High Mountain Oolong from Floating Leaves Tea

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For the past couple of seasons, I’ve seen Floating Leaves tea come out with the Diva High Mountain. I keep meaning to try it, so I snagged the latest 2022 Winter Diva High Mountain oolong during their anniversary sale. This Qing Xin cultivar oolong was grown at 1500 meters at Smangus village in Northern Taiwan. Diva High Mountain Oolong is a more traditional style, so it is not as green as other high mountain oolongs. Leaf and Steeping Method Opening the package of oolong releases an explosion of scent. The leaves have a heavy floral scent of orchids and butter.… Continue reading, hoot!

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Oolong Owl’s 2022 Tea Consumption and Stash Data Report

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Hello, 2023! This year marks 11 years of Oolong Owl tea terror – a continuing case study of a tea hoarder and tea guzzling addict. Every year, since 2015 I have posted how much tea I own and drank. I’ve kept up with my tea stash spreadsheet, though it is in dire need of inventory to ensure the numbers are correct. 2022 was eventful and busy for my personal life. I lost 50 lbs (then gained some back over the winter holidays) and struggled with a few health issues. My life was busy with many non-blog tea and non-tea projects.… Continue reading, hoot!

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2022 August White2tea Club feat. Yellow Tea and 2007 Mengsong

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For the 2022 August White2tea Club, we got a yellow tea and a 2007 sheng puer. Both of these teas would have been good to drink in the summer, but here I am drinking them in December. Chuan Huang from 2022 August White2tea Club Chuan Huang is a club commissioned Sichuan yellow tea. Yellow tea is uncommon and I can’t find in my posts if there were other yellow teas that appeared in the White2tea Club. The dry leaf of Chuan Huang has a spring buttercup floral and grass scent. But in a hot gaiwan, this tea smells of nutty… Continue reading, hoot!

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2022 Night Shift Shou Puer from Crimson Lotus Tea

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Crimson Lotus Tea’s 2022 Night Shift is a shou puer blended to be mysteriously dark and creamy tea. The wrapper features Aztec style artwork by Seattle artist Jose Rodriguez III. Leaf and Steeping Method The leaf has earthy and hot dirt in a muddy summer scent. As usual, I went gongfu style with 1 gram of leaf per 15ml ratio, 2 rinses, steeped with boiling water. After the rinses, the tea shifted to an almond nutty scent. Tasting of 2022 Night Shift Shou Puer from Crimson Lotus Tea First, Second, and Third Infusion: Night Shift is a silky textured tea… Continue reading, hoot!

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2022 July White2tea Club feat. 2016 Bulang Puer

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Better late than never, is Oolong Owl’s 2022 July White2tea Club tasting! This month has two teas – a 2016 Bulang 100gram sheng cake pressed exclusively for the White2tea Club and Chuan Zibai white tea. Chuan Zibai from the 2022 July White2tea Club Chuan Zibai is a purple leaf Sichuan white tea. The leaf has a sweet baby powder scent. My gongfu ratio here is 1 gram of leaf per 17ml – a little more leaf than usual but that’s how it plopped onto the scale. I used a fearless boiling water temperature. After a steep, the leaves are fragrant… Continue reading, hoot!

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2022 October Old Ways Tea Club feat. Tea Master’s Set

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The theme of 2022 October Old Ways Tea Club is Tea Master’s Set, an educational tasting of teas throughout its development. It seems the 2021 October Old Ways Tea club box was also an educational box. Maocha from 2022 October Old Ways Tea Club This Mao Cha has huge long leaves with plenty of sticks. For me to make a 8g serving, I removed almost 2g of sticks. I didn’t separate the different leaves, but you could for further experimentation. The scent of the tea is strongly fruity stone fruit. The early infusions are sweet and mellow. Even as raw… Continue reading, hoot!