Laoshan Black

Malty, yes, but not harshly so. It’s very light, and keeps the smooth bean notes of its green counterpart. An excellent “straight up” black tea…I can’t imagine diluting this with milk. This may be disappointing for those that like a robust, astringent kick in the teeth, but as a relaxing, silken black tea this performs perfectly.

EDIT: Just opened up my container of this lovely tea and got smacked in the face with chocolate scent. Yummmmm!

I finally broke into my sample of this tea tonight. I can totally see what the hype is about with this tea. It’s malty, roasty, and dark but not too heavy. I didn’t even need sweetener with this but I wanted to treat myself with a teeny bit of brown sugar. :) Hopefully I can get a few re-steeps of this so I don’t go through my sample too quickly!

I just wanted to say that I tried Verdant’s western brewing suggestions from their website today, and I thought that 3 minutes was far too long to steep this tea, especially starting out. It came out pretty bitter and one dimensional.

Wooo! Now THIS is a BLACK TEA!

Roasted, malty, chocolate….yum. A great breakfast tea for sure!

Now off to get a waking baby from his crib.

So I’ve heard nothing but good things about this tea and I was really curious to try it so I ordered the 5 samples for $5 from Verdant. First of all, the smell of this is so yummy, almost like a brownie. The taste without sweetener is pleasant but I’m not getting anything other than tea. With sweetener, it is sweet and light. It’s just enough smokiness but isn’t dry or seem too acidic (one of my major issues with some black teas). After it’s cooled down a bit, it almost tastes nutty which is very pleasant. I’m a bit undecided if this is worthy of a purchase. In my current tea journey, I’m more into flavored teas.

Another adventure with my gaiwan! Dry, this actually reminded me of the chocolate milk in tiny cartons that would come with school lunches. After the first steep, however, it smells more like tortilla chips to me. The second steep smells peppery. It tastes a lot like unsweetened chocolate.

Without much research or thought I did something kind of silly…I made iced tea with this sample from Verdant. I poured myself a glass to take to work and I was not very happy with the results. It tasted chocolaty! Well, low and behold that is all over the description and tasting notes. I’m sure it would be delish hot, but not cold….I guess I will warm the remainder that I have iced and enjoy!

Lovely, rich and malty. A favorite staple. Although it can get a little astringent if not brewed long enough, and I’ve not been able to get more than three really satisfying steepings out of it. I’m steeping in a gaiwan with about 4.1 g.

By the way, the first picking, reserve version of this tea is incredible. I even more highly recommend that one — it’s even richer, more satisfying, and thicker.

I had the pleasure of trying this as a sample packet that came with my shipment of Golden Fleece, and it has most definitely lived up to Duckler’s high praise. It is a very mellow black, with the taste of boiled milk. It is delicious and wonderful. Will probably order some with the Immortal Springs white and the new Dragonwell they have up on the site. Thanks!

The descriptions for Verdant’s Laoshan green teas mention a distinctive green bean taste in those teas, and that it was I taste most prominently in this one. This one is rather sweet, and has a very nice smooth and yet crisp texture, but that green bean thing is just not what I’m looking for in a black tea. Or, really, any tea. (I have notes for Verdant’s Elderberry Spiced Pu’er and Big Red Robe, and I liked both of them! I don’t dislike everything, I swear!)