Floating Leaves Tea

Two More Mysterious Teas

Once more! we are working with two unknown oolongs for a little blind tasting challenge to see if we can get out of our own preconceptions. This time Shiuwen picked the teas, and it was a blind session for me! (Noah) This was a really fun session to see what we know and what we don't know. 

Two Roasted Teas

Just two roasted teas! This session we tasted two roasted oolongs which I chose and placed on the table without telling Shiuwen what they are. We wanted to have a grounded session focused on the sensations of these teas in our mouths and noses. Flavor, texture and aroma. Also, I'm a little obsessed with chili at the moment ;)

Softer, Gentler with Alishan

We dedicated this episode to brewing Special Reserve Alishan again since the first time we recorded it there were two other teas involved. It deserves it's own session! This pot of tea really guided Shiuwen to explore more deeply her intentions for tea and other things in 2021. The idea : Be softer to generate more energy.

Tea Practice Goals for 2021

For the first session of 2021 we are revisiting a Yunnan grown high mountain oolong that we've been working on for the past week or two. In the spirit of the practice process, and because 2021 is an Ox year, we drank this Furry Crab while discussing our goals, struggles and successes we've had while trying to fine tune the way we brew this oolong. May 2021 be full of good practice and hard work!

Huan Shan Bug Bitten High Mountain

The last podcast of 2020! We drank an excellent high mountain oolong to celebrate, and pretty much all we could say was how excellent it is. I hope you enjoy the episode anyway, because it was a lot of fun to record. We're lucky, as it seems like teas show up particularly well when we're recording.

Anyway, thank you all so much for your support throughout 2020. This tea will be up on the site fairly soon, and that's not something I would have thought possible even a year ago. We're so grateful to be able to share teas like this, and have such a wonderful support system throughout the US! Cheers to you all, and cheers to tea!

Special Reserve High Mountain Oolongs

This episode was so much fun to record! It's the debut of a new line-up of high mountain oolongs that we're SUPER excited to share. Enjoy :)

Also, it's Shiuwen's birthday on the day this comes out. Happy Birthday Shiuwen!!

Tea Party!

There are so many new teas in the shop that we can barely walk around!! So we decided to drink THREE teas on the podcast this week. Two Charcoal Dong Ding Oolongs (comparing the last batch with this new batch) and one Hehuan Shan High Mountain Oolong harvested in November. 

 

Sitting with Big Sister

We're back after a brief hiatus to pack tea. Last week's sale went really well! Thank you to everyone who bought tea!!

 

This week we are full of both gratitude and the desire to take a long nap. So we decided to have a laid back session with this comforting puer for the podcast this week. We call this cake of 2011 Menghai puer the "Big Sister Cake". It is a cake from our teacher Mr Zhan. Very grateful to have teas like this :)

Smooth Waters Ahead

The first fresh picked oolong from this year's Winter harvest at Floating Leaves IS... Smooth Water Baozhong! The weather was not especially favorable to tea production in Taiwan this year, but this farmer from Nangang pulled it off to produce something really special! We both loved it! After I pressed stop recording, our hands simultaneously raised in a 'thumbs up' motion and we gave each other a stern nod, to say "That's a solid tea!"

What Is This New Hong Shui?

It's time for new Hong Shui! But this time we don't know if it's from Lala Shan or Lo-Shan (yet). For this episode we drank the new crop of Hong Shui and tried to figure out where it's from, and really focused on looking at the tea based on our objective experience. Really awesome tea! We'll have it up on the site sometime next week, and by that time we will be able to say definitely where it's from ;)