Kyobancha Green Tea from M&K’s Tea Co – Tea Review

Hello Kyobancha! This organic roasted Japanese green tea is sold by M&Ks Tea Co. It is the March 2014 harvest from the Nakai Seichajo tea farm in Wazuka, Kyoto Prefecture Japan. Despite being on a Japanese Monthly tea club a year or so back, I haven’t had a kyobancha before. With that said, I am not able to compare whether this is an awesome kyobancha or not. All my other M&K teas are samples, but this one is a full size and it has really fun packaging! I almost don’t want to put it in a tin!   Dry Leaf… Continue reading, hoot!

DAVIDsTea Matcha Maker Travel Tea Tumbler Review

Here I go again – me and my obsession with tea tumblers. I’m starting to buy these things as if they are accessories that go with my purse. Today’s travel tea tumbler is special though, the DAVIDsTea’s Matcha Maker, which is a unique design and the first time I seen a tea tumbler that focuses on matcha. First off, I need to address a question that is probably is on some of your minds. “Why is this a thing – can’t I just use a mason jar/any other tea tumbler to shake up hot matcha?” You can, go ahead and try it shaking hot… Continue reading, hoot!

More Ru Kiln Tea Ware!

In case you didn’t catch it on my Oolong Owl Instagram a few months back, my favorite ru kiln cup broke. The cup was part of my favorite travel gaiwan too. The set fell from my tea table onto the linoleum floor. The gaiwan is okay but the cup didn’t make it. I thought about kintsugi’n it, but for the price of the cheapest kintsugi kit I could find (33,00 EUR) I could just buy a new cup. I ended up buying a ru kiln tea pot, 2 cups and a pitcher (cha hai/fair cup/justice cup/whatever it is translated to) for the price of… Continue reading, hoot!

Shang Tea – Tea Review

Today we will be checking out two teas from Shang Tea! I’ve heard of Shang Tea before, and have been recommended to them a few times for excellent white teas. For sampling today I have Jasmine Snow Dragon and Cinnamon Wu-Long. By the way, Shang Tea will be at the Midwest Tea Festival on June 6th 2015 in Kansas City, MO! Tasting of Shang Tea’s Jasmine Snow Dragon and Cinnamon Wu-Long Jasmine Snow Dragon The dry leaf is fuzzy with a heavy jasmine scent. I got this sample in February/March is it is certainly the 2014 batch. Sadly I only… Continue reading, hoot!

Nine Lotus Green Tea from Mandala Tea – Tea Review

I recently did a small Mandala Tea order as they had a bunch of new teas roll in (2013 Young Tea Nugget!!). I’m usually not one for new spring green teas, but this particular green tea caught my eye – Nine Lotus Green Tea – so it sneaked into my shopping cart. Sneaky sneaky teas! Mandala Tea‘s Nine Lotus Green Tea is a spring 2015 tea from Jui Hua Shan, Nine Lotus Mountain in Anhui Province of China at an elevation of 3,500 feet. This tea is cultivated by Buddhist Monks! Dry Leaf Nine Lotus Green Tea has a super cool leaf – they… Continue reading, hoot!

May White2tea Club

I’ve been enjoying the White2tea Club with being able to explore pu’er, blacks and oolongs. I am excited for this month as the teas are a decade-aged ripe pu’er and a spring 2015 black, with the black tea building a comparison upon a previous month’s Yunnan black. Unfortunately, I ran out of time to review the black, so let’s sample the pu’er, the White2Tea Club only tea! Tasting of May White2Tea Club’s 2003 Xiaguan Crane Mark Ripe Pu’er 2003 Xiaguan Crane Mark ripe is a 100 gram tuo and a round bird nest shape. It was easy to break off pieces. For steeping instructions, I… Continue reading, hoot!

Oolong Owl’s Daily Tea Consumption

Since I’ve been in Spreadsheet everything mode, I started a spreadsheet documenting my daily tea consumption which I find to be the most helpful tea spreadsheet I’ve created. I found tracking how much tea I drink to be SUPER SUPER helpful in understanding my tea drinking practices, learning about my teas and being more effective with tea purchases. What my Daily Tea Consumption Spreadsheet tracks 1. Tea per gram each day. 2. How much tea leaves my house (gifted/swapped) 3. How much tea comes in. 4. Running totals of whether my stash is growing or shrinking Here is a screen shot of my spreadsheet for… Continue reading, hoot!

Amoda Tea’s May Monthly Tea Box – Tea Review

Looking for a monthly tea box that you can try and discover different tea brands? Amoda Tea’s Monthly box would be the perfect fit! Amoda Tea features a new tea brand each month. They also feature tea brands that are high quality and ethically sourced, with blends that are free of artificial flavors and sugars. Besides the monthly box subscription, you can also separately purchase teas that have been featured in previous monthly boxes, as well as tasting sets from the Amoda Tea Shop. Their website is really pretty too! This month Amoda Tea has paired up with Nepali Tea Traders with 25%… Continue reading, hoot!

Golden Tips Darjeeling Comparison

I was sent five Golden Tips Darjeelings to review. I tend to drink Chinese blacks or Taiwanese oolongs oxidized into blacks so I’m no Darjeeling super taster. I decided to taste all five Darjeelings together so that I can taste the differences between them. Assisting with this darjeeling comparison tasting is Black Tea Owl. He knows a thing or two about black tea, since he is made of black tea! The Darjeelings are: Oaks Organic – Second Flush, Summer. Grade: SFTGFOP1 MUSK. Picked June 9, 2014 Castleton Muscatel – Second Flush, Summer. Grade: SFTGFOP1 CL CH. Picked July 5, 2014 Arya… Continue reading, hoot!

Single Origin Teas Flavored Tea Review

Today’s review will be of a couple flavored teas from Single Origin Teas. Majority of Single Origin Teas’ selection is unflavored, but they do have a small flavored line up filled with interesting tea blends. By the way, Single Origin Teas will be at the Midwest Tea Festival in June 2015! If you are in the area be sure to check out the Midwest Tea Festival and report back!   Tasting of Single Origin Teas’ Flavored Tea Orange Blossom Oolong This oolong is sourced from Anteaques in Edinburgh, Scotland! Scottish tea! The leaf has a super orange scent with dark twists… Continue reading, hoot!