#gaiwan

Totem tea contacted me about trying their tea and incense and I could not refuse!

I brewed this tea at 205F starting with 10 second infusions and gradually increasing .

The liquor comes out a a strong yellow with hints of red and smells floral with notes of smokiness. I paired this tea with the sandalwood incense that they sent and it made for a beautiful combination. Both had opposite profiles but complimented each other in ways I did not expect. Ruby 8 is a black tea from Taiwan and is so delicately creamy with zero bitterness. I found that the tea reminded me of cocoa mixed with lighter floral notes. Even if I left this tea to cool for too long it still tasted sweet and delightful at colder temperatures. They sell this tea on their website for $13/oz if you would like some of your own you can pick it up here.

If you have any questions comments or concerns please feel free to send me a PM! Want to decide which tea I review next? Don’t hesitate to ask! 

xoxo

Jordan

In Nature teas contacted me on my instagram to review a tea from them!

They sent me one of my favorite kinds of tea which is milk oolong. I was confused by the name when I saw it but once I smelled the tea I instantly knew it was milk oolong and google helped confirm that. 

I heated up my kettle to 195F - using 5.5g of leaf I steeped it for 15 seconds initially.

I love watching the leaf unfurl in my pot. BTW This is a brand new tea pot from Bitter leaf teas. it’s 110ml and it pours really fast! Absolutely love it.

Look at that golden color! Beautiful <3

Time for my thoughts. This tea has a light buttery flavor kind of like popcorn mixed with some hints of caramel. It really starts to shine around the 3rd steeping and around the 6th it tapers off. I always love milk oolongs for their creamy-ness and overall sweetness they can bring, it’s like having desert without the calories! My only gripe about this tea is when it steeped there was quite a bit of sediment sitting at the bottom of the cup so I strongly recommend using a fine filter with it. Some of the leaves were broken and I found a few stems but overall it didn’t affect the taste of this tea. If you are looking to try milk oolong but don’t want to pay the steep price a lot of companies have this one is very affordable! Almost 8$ for 50g (2~ ounces) AND SURPRISE! They sent me a discount code for my followers which is like OMG? Hello? Why don’t more companies do this? For 20% off of their teas be sure to use the code Jordan20 !!! Or don’t, I do not get anything out of it, I just find it awesome that you have the chance to get a 20% discount if you liked this review and want some of the tea! In Nature teas is a UK based company so I highly recommend getting some if you are in the UK especially! 

ALSO! I launched my blogger website for dedicated tea reviews! If you prefer that platform - be sure to check it out here!

Be sure to follow my instagram! @tea_tography

If you have any questions comments or concerns please feel free to send me a PM! Want to decide which tea I review next? Don’t hesitate to ask!

xoxo

Jordan

As you can see, this tea is in the shape of a heart! It smells like rose florals and woodsy black tea.

Steep this tea at 205F for 2-3 minutes. You can get roughly 3+ steeps out of it.

The brewed aroma is strong but not purfumey like I expected. The tea broke up into a lovely brew and the color was like dark amber. Taste wise this tea had tones of rose, smooth woodsy notes and lingering floral. Overall this tea is very pleasant and easy to sip on a chilly day. It had its own level of sweetness so I didnt’ feel like I had to add anything extra. For a scented black tea this is a great choice. 

Unfortunately this tea is part of a kick starter that I helped photography wise so you can’t get it individually, but if you are slightly new to the tea journey dipping your toes into loose leaf, I definitely recommend getting a subscription from them! You can find this tea here.

ALSO! I launched my blogger website for dedicated tea reviews! If you prefer that platform - be sure to check it out here!

Be sure to follow my instagram! @tea_tography

If you have any questions comments or concerns please feel free to send me a PM! Want to decide which tea I review next? Don’t hesitate to ask!

xoxo

Jordan

Mellow Monk Tea was kind enough to reach out to me for a tea review of my choice so I asked for Frosty Garden because it sounded so interesting! 

Frosty Garden is a green tea with some white stems. Brew this tea using 1 teaspoon in a small teapot and 167F/76C water for 1 - 2 minutes for the first infusion and only 1 minute for the second. 

This tea turned out to be very pleasant, with strong vegetal notes that I was able to subdue if I used shorter steeping times. Frosty Garden had light citrus tones that added a level of sweetness and complexity to this tea that was extremely palpable. I was left feeling like I had wondered into a Japanese tea garden on a spring day with the clouds promising a light drizzle.  Overall Frosty Garden has become a go to for the days I’m in the mood for green tea.

If you would like to pick up some of this tea you can find it here.

Be sure to follow my instagram! @tea_tography

If you have any questions comments or concerns please feel free to send me a PM! Want to decide which tea I review next? Don’t hesitate to ask!

xoxo

Jordan

As a blogger, Its hard to write about things you don’t like, especially when its tea - at that point, its more up to the person who drinks it because all of our palettes are different. However, today we are reviewing teaware. I personally, never use infuser balls, bags w/e because I want to give my tea ample room to expand. If you use a small infuser for lets say - oolong - chances are your tea will come out more bitter than if you used a more open design like a tea maker from teavana or davids tea(this is because the tea leaf gets bruised in the process of expanding which releases tannin). So there’s my first gripe about this product - it doesn’t give you much room to work with, now my second gripe? It doesn’t close all the way - there are holes on the side of the infuser and this causes smaller more chopped up teas - like you would get from blends or tisanes, to come out into your cup. Doesn’t sound very functional does it? Over all - this product is cute, nice idea - but I’d only use them to make tea baths - throw some leaves in, throw them in your bath tub and enjoy. 

Mad Monk Tea is an adorable tea shop in San Diego, it’s right next to the coast and the owners are super knowledgeable! 

While my ship was docked in SD, I managed to get time to go over there and I stayed for hours! The owner taught me so many things (like proper pronunciation of certain tea works, like yixing, it’s pronounced like yee sheing), he also taught me about grandpa style brewing - I left that shop with about 70$ worth of tea. 

Moving on to this tea. Dong Ding is a Taiwanese oolong - as you can see, it’s rolled - but the rolled leaf is so big! The aroma is sweet and hay like but the taste is nutty with hints of pear. I’ve tried a handful of other dong ding oolongs, but this one packs the biggest punch. I still savor this - steeping it with a 60ml gaiwan. Unfortunately they don’t sell this tea on their website, but they  don’t sell much of anything online. If you are in San Diego, California, I super recommend visiting them!

Be sure to follow my instagram! @tea_tography

If you have any questions comments or concerns please feel free to send me a PM! Want to decide which tea I review next? Don’t hesitate to ask!

xoxo

Jordan

Year of the monkey gives off a lovely sweet scent. 

This pot - the panda pot is 95ml and also from Bitter Leaf Teas!

I steep this tea at 205F starting with a rinse - to 15sec+ infusions

Just look at those leaves!

Year of the Monkey Sheng puerh is deliciously sweet with a nice mineral finish. It’s light and drinkable all day. I kicked off the spring semester with this tea because I knew it would put my mind at ease. Everything I’ve gotten from Bitter Leaf Teas so far has been wonderful, and of course this tea doesn’t let me down! 3-6 infusions, YotM continues to deliver, with tastes of winter berry and some wheat notes. This tea lasted me about 15 infusions before I was tea’d out! You can find their shop here. I’ve yet to be disappointed with anything I get from them!

Be sure to follow my instagram! @tea_tography

If you have any questions comments or concerns please feel free to send me a PM! Want to decide which tea I review next? Don’t hesitate to ask!

xoxo

Jordan

A friend of ours recently asked…

“Do you recommend using a tea strainer or a teapot?”

We recommend using a Gaiwan or a YiXing with full leaf teas.  You can definitely get by using British style teapots too.  

Some tea strainers/infusers are great, but it really depends on the size of the strainer/infuser.  This type by ForLife is great 

Stump Teapot by ForLife

  while these types, though cute, are only good for certain teas.

The reason being tea needs room to expand and infuse.  A tiny strainer will choke most loose-leaf teas, so you don’t get the full flavor out of your tea and end up wasting most of it.

At Mountain Tea, we tend brew our teas using Gaiwans and filter out smaller particles using these:

If the vessel you’re brewing in is much bigger than your teacup, for added control over the strength of your tea you can pour out and strain the contents into a serving cup/pitcher so your tea isn’t over-steeping while you drink.

Teatime. Winter mood.

茶 (@_chaguan_) • Instagram photos and videos

Tea and nature are one. Warm colors for cold weather. Amber tea set for sunlight mood every time you sip your favorite tea