Laoshan Black

Initially, this tea smells a little like the ocean, kinda salty, but with underlying roasting tones. I also smell a little bit of maple syrup. I know more about beer than tea, and if this tea was a beer it would be something akin to a honey nut brown ale.

Sipping down this tea with a friend as we samples some more black teas since it’s the type of tea I generally stay away from. This black tea is quite mild compared to many others that I have tasted and it’s almost like a weakened warm honey in a way as well. We actually finished the pot off which means I didn’t pour it out, but once I was done with my fourth cup I came to the conclusion that this tea doesn’t really offer a taste that I would consider chasing after- though as a black tea it isn’t bitter and rough toward my taste buds, I just don’t see myself desiring to brew the rest of my Laoshan Black anytime soon.

A bit expensive but great tea

very good tea, well worth $5 an ounce. I definitely taste a chinese black tea with a hint of cocoa. It has a similar body to a chinese keemun but there is no smokeyness just a taste of cocoa. Not real sweet but definitely could drink this everyday. I have respect for this tea.

My breakfast tea. Oh, this smells so nice. I get a lovely scent of chocolate. There is a bit of graham cracker in the flavour. And it’s a bit on the sweet side. Overall, very good. Glad I decided to try it today. Having another cup while playing some Harvest Moon.

Huh. So I just got my 5 for $5 Verdant Tea sampler in the mail and decided to try this first. This is good, and maybe it’s because I’m not as sophisticated a tea drinker as most of you, but… I’m not really blown away by it the way I expected to be after reading your reviews. It’s nice, and definitely not at all bitter. I’m on the 3rd steep, and I do think it’s improving as I go. I followed the Verdant Tea directions for brewing, starting out at just 30 seconds. I’ve quickly shifted to 90 seconds, and it’s an improvement. I thought it was too weak after the first steep, but it’s much better now. I also added a small amount of rock sugar — it’s not crucial, but it rounds out the flavor a bit for me. I think I’d appreciate this more if I were eating it with spicy foods — it’s very, very much like the black tea we would be served at a Chinese restaurant my family frequented when I was a child, but I haven’t had anything like it since. Maybe that’s why I’m feeling like I need something savory and spicy with it rather than the sweet breakfast I’m eating. eat I’ve got 4 g. left, so I’ll try to leave a better note next time I try it.

Also… I’m using unfiltered water. Actually… I’m doing that in general because I have very good tap water. Maybe the flavors of this are subtle enough that unfiltered water really would make a significant difference. It’s definitely not as strong as most of the teas I like, but it’s… I can tell it’s very good quality as you all say. Just maybe not my favorite type of tea.

But after this tasting… The tea’s good, but I’m unlikely to pay a premium to try it again after this.

(Autmn Plucking)
This is a tea that I am quite familiar with so I felt comfortable brewing more casually. Feeling lazy so threw in a my hong cha yixing. It been a while so I almost forgot what this tea tasted like so after a little anticipation of rinsing the vessel I threw in the leaves. The warmed pot gave off a wonderful smell, started off burnt sugar to the next huff smelling bitter cacao to the final whiffs turning into fruity dark stewed fruits. With all autumn teas it was more bark than bite and I hate a tease.

{side note}I have been using spring water for about a week now and really started to notice it brought out a lot of fruity sweeter qualities in teas and less bitterness, I am starting to miss a pleasantly bitter taste.

This tea was no different every steeping rather than the caramel toasty chocolately tastes I remember and just smelled from the leaves all I got was fruitiness. Im still pretty confident my yixing having a low pitch will take a while to season properly and as a result is a flavor sucker. I only got 2-3 good brew out of it strangely enough and couldnt get much out of it body wise, although I am impressed with the quality of tea/processing I don’t think I had any tea scum(white bubbles during a rinse) on any steepings which is rare for chinese teas especially hong cha.

Almost done with my sample bag before I reach the bottom I will take my time to throw it in a gaiwan and test out my yixing flavor sucker theory.

A beautifully tasty black tea! I got this from Verdant to try as part of the 5 for 5 (what a great deal!) I am on the 8th cup and the tea just keeps brewing.

Laoshan Black brews with the aroma of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. This tea is delicious with flavors of chocolate cookies and a hint of currant or cherry.

This tea is one of the more interesting ones I’ve tried, I got it from the 5 for 5 deal on verdants site, which if you haven’t checked out you should. The first thing I tasted sipping on the first infusion was a somewhat fruity taste, which quickly gave way to the taste of grains. Altogether it almost was like drinking a fresh bowl of cereal with strawberries on top. The third infusion wasn’t as good as the first two, it tasted somewhat metallic. I think that may have been my fault as I left the leaves in my brew basket overnight. Altogether I’d say this is definitely a high quality tea, but I’m not sure if it’s one I would drink regularly. It’s surely worth trying, especially considering it comes with verdant’s amazing five teas for five dollars deal.