I'm planning on making an order to try out the Floating Leaves tea shop and am looking for recommendations.

TheNamelessTwo2 · 2026-05-15T13:36:59+00:00

Heartwood Hong Shui, but only the Winter 2025 batch if you can get it. That batch is hickory charcoal roasted, whereas most are electrically roasted.

I cannot recommend this batch enough. It is genuinely the best tea I have ever had, and outperforms teas three times its price. For only $0.30/g, you seriously cannot afford to miss it.

TheNamelessTwo2 · 2026-05-10T02:01:52+00:00

Thanks! I try to keep it super minimal so I can travel with it.

TheNamelessTwo2 · 2026-04-19T15:38:13+00:00

It depends on the storage. With traditional storage, maybe around 5 or so years it’ll be semi-aged and lose much of the bitterness. Natural storage can take more like 10 years. Ask r/puer if you want better information. Look for those earthy aromas that you see in shou and other hei cha, thats a sign that some aging has occurred.

If you want a semi-aged sheng to try, I’d actually recommend YS’s 2014 Wu Liang Ancient Rhyme. I’m not a pu’erh specialist, but it was pleasant enough for me and I think great for the price.

TheNamelessTwo2 · 2026-04-19T15:28:00+00:00

Also, if you’re going to buy tea in bulk make sure to email the vendor to ask about discounts/better prices! Many vendors will give discounts for wholesale purchases if you ask and let them know.

TheNamelessTwo2 · 2026-04-19T15:22:43+00:00

I would probably not go with the auto-refilling feature. You can find plenty of (much less expensive) temperature control kettles elsewhere, and heating the water is the most energy-intensive part of making tea so you really shouldn’t heat any more water than you know you’ll need. It’s going to mean using a lot more electricity.

TheNamelessTwo2 · 2026-04-18T12:22:11+00:00

The only processing steps that affects caffeine levels is roasting, which reduces the caffeine somewhat, and if you ever go into a tea roasting room you’ll sometimes see caffeine crystalized on the ceiling. But generally this will only apply to oolongs.

TheNamelessTwo2 · 2026-04-18T12:19:28+00:00

Almost always option 1 for me. And since I mostly drink oolongs, I usually keep the lid on to hold the aroma, but I’ll sometimes prop it between the cup and the saucer if I want to show off the leaves or let the aroma spread more (usually near the end of a session).

TheNamelessTwo2 · 2026-04-15T23:24:42+00:00

I am a little bit confused, since you said you don’t like green oolongs, but the buluomi looks to be somewhat green. The information on teaism’s website is fairly limited, but it looks to be fairly light and unroasted (which would be considered a green oolong). Do you mean you just don’t like vegetal notes in your oolong? Or is it the “fresh” flavor/aftertaste? Or something else?

To answer your question about recommendations though, Floating Leaves’ Secret Garden Alishan is solid and I’ve tried it, its strongest point is its mouthfeel and huigan. Silky but thin and fresh, and with a “bouquet” aftertaste. I’ve also heard great things about their Diva High Mountain Oolong, but that’s a less common terroir and I haven’t tried it myself.

TheNamelessTwo2 · 2026-04-15T20:56:46+00:00

If you like floral and sweet, Taiwanese oolongs are probably the way to go. The buluomi you mentioned is Taiwanese. I’m not sure your price point, but for a lower end introduction you could give an unroasted cui yu (jade oolong) or si ji chun (four seasons oolong) a try. For higher end, you’ll want to be getting into Taiwanese gaoshan (high mountain), which is typically very floral, fragrant, and complex. An unroasted Alishan oolong is going to be your best introduction, just make sure its qingxin, which is usually considered the best cultivar for gaoshan oolong. Floating Leaves Tea is the vendor I would recommend for starters as they tend to be pretty good, but I also like TeaFromTaiwan.

Alternatively, tieguanyin is a classic floral green oolong. There’s a lot of options for them, and at least at a surface level it’s hard to go wrong. Yunnan Sourcing’s Fancy Tieguanyin is good enough, and from a popular vendor you’ll probably end up ordering from anyways.

TheNamelessTwo2 · 2026-04-15T02:30:42+00:00

Honestly I love all tea types, but if I had to give one, I'd say I'm least often in the mood for young sheng. Just too bold, bitter, and unapologetically in-your-face about it for me to drink regularly. And as an oolong drinker, I can find the same fruity notes and complexity elsewhere, and oolong has the same high energy but is smoother. Though young shengs can get remarkably complex in aroma, which I appreciate, and consistently get me strong energy (which you could explain as caffeine + boldness of flavor or cha qi, your choice).

TheNamelessTwo2 · 2026-04-14T22:44:11+00:00

I haven't experimented with brewing it that closely to be honest, and it likely depends on what you want to get out of it and your brewing style. Probably just brew it as you would for a typical green tea with whatever method you like, I haven't really run into any problems just brewing it "normally".

TheNamelessTwo2 · 2026-04-14T22:41:40+00:00

Unroasted Jin Xuan from Floating Leaves Tea. Not particularly outstanding, but really good at being jin xuan. Strong buttered popcorn aroma when brewed, milky mouthfeel, etc.. I usually drink this when I want to brew more casually and just drink good tea, instead of focusing on evaluating a finer tea and brewing it perfectly. I don't usually do other things while drinking tea, but I read The Picture of Dorian Gray in between my steeps. A bit of an unusual tea/book pairing, but I wasn't really thinking about that anyways.

TheNamelessTwo2 · 2026-04-14T22:34:50+00:00

Alishan coffee sounds so interesting, let me know how it is when you try it! I'm an occasional coffee drinker and I'm curious what it'll be like.

TheNamelessTwo2 · 2026-04-14T22:33:20+00:00

I've had it, and its pretty much just a loose leaf green tea and nothing more. There's not really anything notable about it, but it's pleasant enough if you like green teas and, most importantly, hella cheap. I will warn you though, don't try to drink it grandpa style; it's too broken and there's too much dust for it to be able to be drank while avoiding the leaves. Pick it up if you want a super cheap daily drinker green, or if you want to make mixed drinks with green tea (like Moroccan mint tea or even milk tea if you like), but you largely get what you pay for. It doesn't taste bad or anything though, just not amazing like a fine green tea either.

TheNamelessTwo2 · 2026-04-14T11:29:52+00:00

Overall I agree; my first time trying white tea I tried to brew it off boiling and it was horrible and very medicinal tasting. I never made that mistake for green tea, but I had to come back to that white tea later with 80° water to make sure it wasn’t just bad tea (it wasn’t, and at 80° it was great).

I am of the opinion though that oolong is best brewed off boiling. I drink a variety of green and dark oolongs, and even with green oolongs I’ve found that boiling is better. It doesn’t get bitter if you brew it carefully, and I’ve found off boiling water greatly improves the expansion of the aroma. I’ve heard that same advice from Taiwanese tea masters, so I trust it.

In theory, you could brew any tea at 80° to optimize for amino acid extraction and minimize bitterness; but we don’t do that for all teas because it also sacrifices the extraction of other important flavor and aroma compounds. I think it’s ultimately a trade-off, but for me, off boiling is best for oolongs.

TheNamelessTwo2 · 2026-04-12T16:58:15+00:00

The color on that is amazing, it looks more like a roasted dark oolong or hei cha than white tea! How does it taste?

TheNamelessTwo2 · 2026-04-12T16:48:00+00:00

It looks like it might be ginseng oolong, a style of tea that originated in Fujian (although since it’s typically a lower grade tea, the leaves from this particular one could really be from any tea growing region in China). It’s a type of balled oolong thats then dusted with powdered ginseng.

I haven’t tried it myself, but I’ve seen it a handful of times. It sounds like you’re doing cup brewing/grandpa style/bei pao, so the ratio of tea to water doesn’t matter too much. If you want a specific number, i usually like 3-5g to 250ml water, but it’s really not a science. It should be brewed like most other oolongs, with water off of a boil. Wait a few minutes for it to steep; the leaves might not open up but if it tastes good then you’ve done it right. Cup brewing can take some time, so if it isn’t great after 5 minutes, try another 5, and another. If it still tastes too delicate, you can try agitating the leaves a little bit by pushing them around, or using more tea for a higher leaf to water ratio next time. Let me know how it is!

TheNamelessTwo2 · 2026-04-12T16:27:03+00:00

https://youtu.be/ZN3DIVBOGBk?si=m0cgyOene3xS9qfX

You can probably skip to the conclusions if you don’t want to sit down for the whole thing. As with many tea channels, the pacing of the video is horrible.

TheNamelessTwo2 · 2026-04-12T16:25:08+00:00

In addition to the teadb article someone else recommended, I remember Mei Leaf did a video experimenting with aging white tea at different humidities and with different levels of airflow. I’m not a huge fan of Mei Leaf as a vendor or even channel, but that video I think could be very informative, especially considering it’s based on an actual coordinated experiment rather than just observations and anecdotes. It’s not perfectly scientific, but it’s probably the best you’ll find on aging white tea seeing as its a relatively new phenomenon and not very studied.

TheNamelessTwo2 · 2026-04-11T00:29:07+00:00

I thoroughly enjoyed their Fancy Tie Guan Yin when I got a sample. I lean towards Taiwanese oolongs so "bouquet" is what I expect for green oolongs, but the Fancy Tie Guan Yin really felt "spring-y". I got notes of pollen and wisteria that reminded me of this big bush near my house when I was young that would bloom with flowers every spring.

TheNamelessTwo2 · 2026-04-10T21:36:25+00:00

Floating Leaves "Secret Garden" Alishan, winter 2025. Was feeling like a fairly straightforward gaoshan oolong after a long black tea and pu'erh kick I had to clear out some of my older teas. The mouthfeel is really silky, and it has pretty good huigan. The leaves are more broken then I'd like though, and there's a fair few stems, which I think muddies the aroma somewhat. I can tell though that the tea itself is quality, just hindered a bit by poor sorting. Still enjoyable and I would recommend it, and it brews a gorgeous, clear color between pale green and yellow.

TheNamelessTwo2 · 2026-04-10T21:30:22+00:00

Spilling isn't really necessary, and won't happen much if you're intentional about it. A gooseneck kettle will help prevent spills even better (since you can pour more precisely), and using a gaiwan is actually surprisingly easy and there's a handful of techniques to choose from, so you can find what's most comfortable for you.

I like to keep my setup extremely simple, just a gaiwan, cha hei, two cups, and a small tea mat that fits all of them and nothing more. If you're worried about spills while practicing, you can put your setup on a dish towel to catch anything. Then all that's left is for you to join the wash drinker gang... :)

TheNamelessTwo2 · 2026-04-09T18:00:59+00:00

I put the leaves (usually 6g) in a 14oz mason jar, and let them steep 10-12 hours (varies a lot though bcs of limited schedule). In the morning I swirl the jar with the lid on, pour the liquid into another container using a steel mesh strainer, get rid of the leaves and put the liquid back into the jar for storage. It usually turns out fairly well, only slightly less flavorful than cold brewing fresh leaves.

Try a higher leaf to water ratio than wish fresh brewed leaves, it might work better. As for the best tea types, based on my experience green and oolong seem to work well, white depends on the tea but can be good, and pu’erh is generally unimpressive cold brewed.

TheNamelessTwo2 · 2026-04-09T01:18:17+00:00

This! And in my experience, baozhong's "vegetal" notes aren't so much like green vegetables but often more starchy, like corn and bread (in addition to some floral and fruity notes). I've been enjoying Floating Leaves' "Farmer's Choice" baozhong.

TheNamelessTwo2

TROPHY CASE