1271 Tasting Notes
The squares in this brick are pretty big, considering it is a 100g brick and only 9 squares.
Chocobrick black was easy to break. The notes are mineral, malt, bittersweet chocolate, sweet, and bit of a brisk quality to it. I got 9 infusions, with the final ones being quite dry and bitter. Overall, a pretty good daily drinker.
Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/2016-chocobrick-white-black-tea-white2tea/
Fantastic tea! They use a jin xuan milk oolong, barrel aged in Uncle Nearest 1856 Premium Whiskey.
The flavor is so balance with the whiskey, without being overpowered. I got notes of butter, milk, woodsy, caramel, grass, floral, and fruit. No strange alcohol notes. This tea does well western and gongfu style, resteeps very well, though I think western does a better job.
Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/tennessee-oolong-steven-smith-teamaker/
This is an awesome puer, especially for the price. The notes are clean and bright, tasting of mineral amber and rocks, rock sugar, stone fruit, and floral. The body is heavy and thick. Wuliang H has plenty of energy too. I got 13 good infusions.
Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/2016-wuliang-h-essence-tea/
Preparation
Nice review! I know what you mean by a tea being too powerful for as a workplace tea, but not complex enough for an amazing session. That being said, I have a Mangfei and Mengku tea that were at that stage even after they had a year to settle, but are now nuanced enough, and just as powerful as ever, for a good session. Perhaps this tea, too, will require another year to really come into its own.
This review is for the Spring 2017 Gaoshan.
This Gaoshang is great quality. The flavor is buttery, fresh corn, pine, tulips, and daisies. I got 9 infusions and the leave expanding into giant monsters as wide as my palm.
Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/spring-2017-organic-chingjin-gaoshan-oolong-tillerman-tea/
Preparation
The 2017 Spring Silver Needle at FLT is killer this year!
It is super fuzzy and fresh tasting. The notes are syrupy sweet, aloe, sweet grass, crisp asparagus, and lychee. The texture is on the heavy side too.
Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/2017-spring-silver-needle-white-tea-floating-leaves-tea/
Preparation
A very complex Moonlight white – you can tell the material is very good. The body is very heavy, the flavor is floral, buttery, a bit citrus, and paperback book.
There is some dryness, but I wonder if with age that will go away. I got 16 infusions.
Full review http://oolongowl.com/2016-nightlife-white2tea/
This Purple Leaf tea steeps up beautifully! I suggest you check out my photos in the link at the end of my review. You get a unique pale purple, that turns pink with lemon.
The flavor is quite light, a little vegetal and plummy. However the texture is quite dry and it makes your whole digestive tract dry. I steeped this low temperature, so the balance of flavor output and astringency is VERY fussy. Someone cold brew this and report back. It is good if you like really delicate, dry green tea.
Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/purple-leaf-tea-justea/
Preparation
This Dong Ding has been roasted 3 times.
I pushed this tea to 23 infusions, but I likely could of gotten more if I had used a yixing tea pot and didn’t take the night off.
This dong ding is great – it has lots of nutty, mineral, caramelized sugar, umami, and roast flavor. The roast here is not ashy, sharp, or burnt. The tea is never bitter, only with a little dryness way late in the reinfusions. The body in this tea is very heavy and thick.
Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/2016-winter-charcoal-dong-ding-aka-3-roast-floating-leaves-tea/
Preparation
This shou starts dark – lots of rain on hot pavement, earth, dirt, and hot crust, but also plenty of sweetness. I get around 10 infusions, and the last infusions are quite sweet and creamy. There is no bitterness, weird young shou funk, or dryness. A few more years would likely smooth this one out even more.
I found it best leafed hard, 1g 10ml.
Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/2015-thats-no-moon-shou-puer-crimson-lotus-tea/
May the 4th be with you
Preparation
This is pretty solid black tea from Adagio teas!
It is chocolately and fruity, with a nice amount of mineral. It is smooth, never getting dry or bitter no matter how long you steep it. I found it did better western style to get those chocolate notes out. Gongfu gave some great infusions, but got mineral heavy at the end. It is up to you.
Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/fujian-rain-fujian-baroque-adagio-teas/ (also with Fujian Rain)
