Laoshan Black

bittersweet dark chocolate that is deep and rich- drizzled with honey, mixed with dark roasted chestnuts and lightly burnt whole wheat toast. amazing. i only add a little honey to this which both draws out & sweetens the chocolate and honey notes, turning this into a decadent dessert. but it’s light enough where you can enjoy several cups. it didn’t once occur to me to add milk to this and i couldn’t imagine doing so!

a delicious black tea with the most amazing nuances. i love the cocoa in this. burnt toast with unsweetened cocoa spread and honey in the background. with no additives the ‘burnt chestnut’ note is more pronounced, but chocolate is still there. this has a wonderfully ‘chewy’ texture to it, i think because the toastiness of the flavors creates the semblance of dryness- but literally this is a dry, smooth tea with no astringency at all. it is just a genre unto itself.

i see why everyone raves about this. for a straight tea it is genuinely impressive.
reminds me of my beloved Black Dragon Pearls but with lots more body & depth!
ordered 4 oz. for my first blind buy of this & i don’t regret a thing.
in fact, i plan to order more, as well as Mr. He’s 1st picking Laoshan Black, Laoshan Roasted Oolong, and Laoshan Black Chocolate Genmaicha.

i always get 2 solid infusions out of this & each one is lip-smackingly delicious!

A perfect choice for my first cup of the day. I’m still working away at my first pouch of this guy, from over a year ago. Maybe closer to two years, now that I think about it. It still tastes lovely and fresh, with those wonderful warm and toasty cocoa notes. One of the few straight black teas that I truly enjoy. I also love that I get several steepings out of each serving, which is likely why it’s stuck around my cupboard for so long. It’s a nice treat that I get to enjoy occasionally but thoroughly.

Every time I open my pouch I’m always so impressed at how gorgeous the leaves are. Such long strands that are delicately curled and silky; almost glossy looking. You can certainly tell the quality by sight alone, which adds to the anticipation of a great cup of tea. So much respect for the care that obviously goes into the growing, harvesting, and preservation of these truly stunning leaves.

From Marco Polo TTB. Thank you to Verdant for supplying samples!

I really admire that Verdant supplied some of this tea, because it’s not an unknown in the community and it is highly lauded as being great. I think they supplied it because they are kind :)

I pulled out a sample before sending the box on, and enjoyed it this morning. I love traveling tea boxes but I like not feeling the pressure to try everything before I send the box out. This one was strong and delicious. I can’t think what it tasted like. I know it wasn’t sweet potato, it wasn’t malty. No muscatel. Not honey. What does that leave? I liked it, whatever it was!

This one deserves to be number one, because it is.

Try it. PLEASE.

It smells like baked bread and raisins…and tastes just as good and is surprisingly sweet. Not sure what it is exactly, but it is nice.

Friends, it’s finally happened. I got my hands on a sample of Laoshan Black! It came from Miss B ‘s tea sale of awesomeness. Thanks so much Miss B! I was beyond excited when I pulled this out of the package. Anyway, THIS TEA. Amazing! I’ve had other teas that had cocoa notes to them, but this actually tasted like chocolate with a toasty taste mixed in. It almost reminded me of a chocolate croissant, but not quite. This had zero astringency and just a tiny suggestion of tannin. Ugh, just so damn good. I got 5 steeps out of it too! This description is kind of falling flat. I can’t do this tea justice. Verdant, please stock the regular LB before I drive over there and buy the expensive one like a fool. K thx bye

Ablagard. Abloobleh. Schmoo.

Hold on, I need to recompose myself.

I knew from the start that this was going to be epic. As soon as I opened the bag I was taken aback by how strong this tea’s chocolate aroma is. Very malty as well. I’m drooling.

As I pour the liquid into my cup and smell the leaves, I want to cry a little. This smells exactly like thick chocolate cake and freshly baked bread. Gaaaww…

Fudge. This is like fudge in a cup. It’s malty with strong cocoa notes. I also detect wood, and something vaguely similar to tobacco. There is a slight bitterness at the end, but these flavours really make up for it. I feel like I’ve had actual chocolate that doesn’t compare to the chocolate notes of this tea.
Caile I love you for sharing this with me and I am SO grateful.

I hesitate to give any tea a perfect score, yet here I am! A huge thanks to cavocorax for sending a sample of this to my wife! I love stories, especially stories about what’s behind my favorite things, how movies are made, how books are written, and how tea is grown. Verdant does it’s customers a great service by not only supporting local growers but also telling their stories. I would love this tea even if I knew nothing beyond the fact that it was a black tea, perish the thought but I’d even love it in a tea bag! The taste, oh that lovely chocolately goodness, so deep and complex. It’s like drinking a brownie, or a malted milk shake, or a chocolate donut. But it’s more than a sweet desert tea, it’s full body tells a story just as rich as Verdant does. I feel as though I taste the land of Loashan, the rain that fell, the sun that gave it life… It’s a remarkable experience from a remarkable tea!

Pretty good with a nice strong chocolate flavor. This is a lovely tea, but for some reason I’m just not enjoying it as much as everyone else.

Restock: Not for me, but my family love this so I might get some more for them.

This one was calling my name this morning. It’s not something I would reach for everyday but I do really like it.

I had stashed it in the small basket Hubby keeps his favorites in and he will tell me to randomly put things in it for him to try. He doesn’t like rifling through the samples I have very often and would rather pick something out quickly. More often he asks me to make something for him and to “surprise” him. Anyway, he had better hurry if he wants to try some of this on his own because I believe there is enough for 1 cup left. I did put it back in his basket, so we’ll see if he drinks it before I go looking for it again.

Today I wanted something black, rich, & different w/o all the added flavors. I do reach for plain once and awhile, although I can’t say that for greens or whites yet (although I’m not sure I’ve tried a plain white). I remembered this being malty & rich with a bit of chocolate. Just as I recalled… still yum with my bit of sugar.

The first cup I added a touch of raw sugar and a splash of milk. The second steep was an oopsie…. major oversteep, but somehow it still came out good w/a touch of sugar. Dare I try for a third steep? I just might have to eek the goodness out of this one :) or poor Hubby will miss out unless I go for an order sometime. Thanks again CelebriTEA for sharing a sampler of this one!