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Storm Breaker is quite unique and accurately named as I got plenty of notes of dirt, petrichor, rainfall, and finishing of marine. It’s like a rainfall cleaning away the dirt and the final steeps being cleansed.

However, I would certainly sit on this shou for a year or two to get more tighter texture and resteeps. This tea has a lot of room to age as it isn’t fully fermented. As is, drinking in 2017, you need to rinse it multiple times to get the wet piled funk out.

Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/2017-storm-breaker-shou-puer-crimson-lotus-tea/

Trap Bird is a good aroma focus shou, daily drinkery, and resteeps well. I had mine air out awhile, then forgotten in a shou pumidor. It smells really funky when I got it last year, and it still has some slight funk in the early infusions.

I got notes of wood, butterscotch and whiskey, though flavor wise is on the light moderate side – most of the flavor is the in smell as you drink it. A good shou if you love aroma.

Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/2016-trap-bird-shou-puer-white2tea/

Fantastic shou puer! I got 16 infusions and likely could get more with a yixing pot instead of a gaiwan. This shou runs expensive, but at least you get plenty of reinfusions.

The notes are strong woodsy, mushroom, molasses, hazelnuts, and honey, brewing up very dark. What makes Black Gold incredible is the powerful aroma and thick body.

Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/2010-black-gold-shou-puer-crimson-lotus-tea/

So I sat on this light/medium fermented shou for over 4 years. It sounds like awhile back it was certainly greener. As of 2017 it is dark and tastes like roasted chestnuts, early infusions with a bittersweet bite to it. It gets nicely sweet and creamy in the later infusions. Not bad for paying $12 over 4 years ago.

Full review http://oolongowl.com/2009-menghai-dayi-yellow-box-tuocha-shou-puer/

I drank this along with the 2016 Oriental Beauty.

This Oriental Beauty is dark. It is woodsy and has an interesting cinnamon note. Later steepings get dark honey like and could be confused for a black tea. The colour of this tea is dark too. Very good grandpa style, but is great gongfu style too.

Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/2016-vs-2017-oriental-beauty-comparison-floating-leaves-tea/

I drank this along with the 2017 Oriental Beauty.

The 2016 is more fruity, tasting of green grapes and pears along with floral notes. The later infusions get honey and woodsy. It is best gongfu style as you can taste the more delicate fruity notes.

Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/2016-vs-2017-oriental-beauty-comparison-floating-leaves-tea/

I got this as a free sample with my order and was quite surprised how much punch it had. The flavor has a perfect level of strength, which is a nice contrast to all the sweet light 2017s right now. The notes are daisy, stone fruits, buttered green beans, and slight char. It gets sharper in flavor each infusion, and also builds up some astringency, but a drinkable dryness. The energy of this tea hits after the session.

Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/2017-nancai-ancient-sheng-puer-essence-tea/

FDT is all about the texture! The broth is weighty and sticky, like drinking a bone dense stock, making for an interesting body feel of a tea session.

Flavor note wise, it is light. FDT leans on the savory side with sweet grass, vegetal, and sticky rice. It does get stewy tasting in the later infusions, but it very much drinkable. I think leafing harder than normal gives the best result, and I wouldn’t go under boiling as you’ll lose the texture and the flavor would be too weak.

Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/2017-farmer-direct-tea-sheng-puer-white2tea/

Plum Rooster is the favorite so far out of the black teas from Teabento. It is a black Long Jing. The notes are of pomelo, butter, mineral, and various baked goods like eggy cookies and sourdough. This tea is quite delicate, so it gets bitter and dry in 5 infusions.

Full review, along with other Teabento black tea reviews, on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/black-teas-teabento/

This is a unique black as it is a Yunnan black, processed as a Taiwanese black. Happy Panda has notes of blackberry, malt, and clover honey. The texture is super oily, which I love. This tea does get quite bitter and dry at the 4th infusion.

Full review, along with other Teabento black tea reviews, on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/black-teas-teabento/