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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!

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2016 Organic Chingjing Hong Shui Red Gaoshan Oolong from Tillerman Tea

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One of my current tea obsessions is Hong Shui oolong. There is something about a more oxidized and old style of oolong that just sings to me. Hong Shui also seems to be harder to find and if you do find them they can be expensive. I own a couple Hong Shuis at $25/oz ~ $1 a gram, which is insane to drink all the time. I was excited to see Tillerman Tea has a new 2016 Winter Hong Shui and priced at $19.50 for 2 oz ($0.35 a gram). It is organic, grown in Chingjing, and of the Qing… Continue reading, hoot!

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2016 Sheng Puer Regional Blind Tasting – Everyday Teas

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Everyday Teas approach is carrying quality daily drinker teas. The owner is passionate about puer, so in their line up including a number of raw puer cakes!  Everyday Teas awesomely sent me one of each of their 2016 and 2017 puer cakes. I thought I’d blind taste them at once to remove the bias of which one I would like (likely the Nannuo) as well as tasting perceptions I have of each region. Every person I know who has done a blind puer regional tasting has told me that everyone guesses wrong, which adds some reassurance in the event I fail.… Continue reading, hoot!

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2017 Yunnan Sourcing Da Zhong Shan Sheng Puer

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In an effort to find an interesting 2017 sheng puer to cake, I went to Yunnan Sourcing and searched through all the $60+ cakes and purchased samples of what sounded good. Buying random Yunnan Sourcing things is always fun! The 2017 Yunnan Sourcing Da Zhong Shan sheng puer description caught my eye – Our Da Zhong Shan tea cakes are pressed from wild growing tea leaves harvested in early spring from 50 to 150 year old tea trees growing at 1800 meters altitude!  The high mountain feeling in the tea comes out during brewing, giving the tea an almost oolong-like aroma… Continue reading, hoot!

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October 2017 White2tea Club feat. Tieguanyin

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When the October 2017 White2Tea club arrived I was not excited. Inside is 5 tieguanyins and these days I personally dislike nuclear green tieguanyins. Modern tieguanyin is the most commonly found basic oolong these days that tastes super green, vegetal, maybe floral flavor. I find there’s not enough depth, say compared to a high mountain oolong and traditional tieguanyin. That said, this is the thing of monthly tea clubs – you can’t please everyone. I felt I got great personal value for what I got in November and December 2017, so I’m okay with whatever October throws at me. It did… Continue reading, hoot!

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Sunday Tea Hoots 36 – Dental Work and Tea Taste

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In a rush to use all my dental insurance, as well as having a broken tooth, I got a whole slew of dental work done at the end of 2017. Every week I was going in for a new section of fillings or sealants to be placed. What I found was weird (besides me reacting badly each time to numbing shots) is how dental work affected taste. Each time I had dental work it bothered me enough that I don’t do any tea review tea drinking or drink good tea for a couple days.  For me, I found the sealant leaves… Continue reading, hoot!

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Dark Oolong Teas from TeaBento

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Continuing on from my review of TeaBento’s Black Teas, here are reviews of their Oolongs! As with their other teas, each tea is paired with an animal. Today we will be reviewing Little Dog Red Oolong and Scared Boar Shuixian. I have even more oolongs to review, but for simplicity I’ll just be reviewing the darker, more oxidized ones I have. By the way, TeaBento‘s steeping instructions are the complete opposite of what I do. TeaBento leafs a lot lighter and goes lower temperature (195f/90c). I found with the black teas it was worth dropping the temperature. I will not budge for oolongs as they… Continue reading, hoot!