Laoshan Black

YAY so glad you got to try this. It’s one of my favourite blacks.

Bah I wish I had gotten on ordering this one! I procrastinated and missed out on this batch..Hopefully the next batch is as amazing as this one sounds! =) Thanks for your review!

So far this tea and their handpicked spring tieguanyin are probably my two favorite teas. (My review on tieguanyin is coming soon) Unfortunately they’re rather expensive so I can only afford them for special occasions but they’re worth it. :)

I completely agree about their spring TGY. I have the autumn version and it does’t completely blow me out of the the water like the spring version.

Awee Missy I bet you were a little cutie! :)

Still is ;)

lol thanks. I have far too much hair to do that now. I bet that took a lot of patience. I was in the terrible twos for some of it. ;)

“Gringo Steepings”… Hahahaha…

Dylan said that once and it has always tickled me, so I use it. :D

Oh my! Is this the first time you’ve had Laoshan Black?!

yep :)

I don’t think i’ve had one from another company and I know this is the first time from Verdant, I guess it’s that weird that I’ve never had one? must be popular, i see why :)

I’m guessing it was “Day-yum!”

got to try this one!

I can’t believe you hadn’t had this one!! It is so fabulous; I hope it’s around forever!

mrmopar I’ll send you some!

I’m glad you liked it. I always think that the best way to be introduced to something is with a prime example. Verdant is currently my favorite tea distributor, and I wouldn’t expect a lesser reaction really. Anyway, glad you enjoyed it.:3

I still really want to try this one. It sounds so unique. If you ever want to swap a small sample, let me know. Thanks for posting your review :-)

I’d be willing to send a few teaspoons your way, should you want to try some. I’ll PM you!

Bravo!

You have intriguing taste! Enjoyable!

Thanks Bonnie. I love your evocative reviews.

Who’s Doug? (I’d rather be provocative sometimes!) …don’t listen…I’ve had 4 hours of sleep…the smoke is keeping me up!

Doug is a sleep-deprived father of two boys (4 and 2). I decided to switch from Triumph to my given name. No reason to hide!

Hi Doug! Nice to meet you! I am even more amazed you write so well with wee ones pulling on your legs!

Thank you Bonnie. My reviews would be longer, but I rarely have time to allow my thoughts to unfold. I’m jealous of those people who can patiently infuse their teas 15 times! I’m pretty much a western brewer—except for my shu pu-erhs.

I had 5 little boys here last night and the 7 year old bipolar one was on a high! (3 adopted and 2 foster of my daughter’s 8 ). I collapsed on the couch and fell asleep as soon as they left! I raised more than my 2 also so I sympathise! Although, I am enjoying my alone time! :)

I prepared a sampler box for someone today and this was one of the included teas. It smelled SO SO good. Like straight chocolate!

I love it :)

Me too.

Azzrian – It does smell delicious! :)

Terri and Bonnie – It is a VERY good tea. I just hyped it up way too much in my mind and I can’t taste the notes as much. Hey, it may even be because I overdid it (having like 6 or more cups because I was so excited to try it.) I’m going to try another cup this morning and see if I can pick apart more notes.

That’s funny, your description of the smell is EXACTLY what I thought about Read My Lips from DavidsTea. xD

I’m not sure where you’re getting the sour from though, because I shorted my cup too (I did one 1tbsp in 16oz. lol Yet it still tasted strong and hearty. 1tbsp in 8oz seems like such a waste)

Maybe try it again when you have the egg salad taste out of your mouth?

I had it from the chocolate phoenix chai as well. I was actually so not into tea this morning, that I got a latte. Idk. Maybe today is just not a tea day.

Oh, it definitely is strong and hearty though. It’s beaten my irish breakfast blend in a fight for strength, that’s for sure. I’ll try it again sometime this week. :)

Yeah, perhaps today just wasn’t the day for it. I’ll have that too, where I think “I thought I remembered this tasted better” then I’ll have it a different day and I’m just WOWed.

Random, but let me know if Anxi Fo Shou works well for western style? :) The website recommends gongu to the point that I don’t think it even offered instructions for western. xD I’d be more than happy to drink gongfu at someone else’s house, but I’m just too lazy to do it at home; I just make big hefty cups. xD

The handout that came with it says half a packet for western. I’m guessing it’s for 3 min, but i was going to see what other people on here said about it. Just… not today. I don’t think i could handle any more weird sour teas today! I sort of do gongfu.

yes, probably best to give your tastebuds a rest for the day. xD And thanks. :)

One thing about the Laoshan (this is probably because of the leaf shortage though) is that it doesn’t re-steep as well as people seem to say. Everyone says the second cup is very cinnamony whereas for me it tasted the same as the first except VASTLY weaker. The third I just dumped. Not pleasant having the tongue coating sensation but no taste. :/ The first cup I had was still incredibly amazing though. Maybe I’ll try in a 12oz cup next, maybe that’ll be the difference.

Apparently i didn’t finish. I sort of gongfu using a soy sauce container from Daiso. Pour water in, pour tea into mug, etc, until the mug is full. :) The container is very tiny so i don’t have to use much tea.

I’ve been drinking Laoshan Black Tea for almost two years and it’s a one tea that I prefer brewed western style a little overloaded at 2-3 minutes. As a staple I add a little to herbal blends like Winter Ginger Sage or my own creations (a little goes a long way).

Ah i do prefer to use lots of leaf, but this time i wanted only a single cup :)
I would really like to learn how to make my own teablends :)
I am a bit overzealous when it comes to food containing only natural ingredients.

My local teashop has an herbal wall (all natural) so I’ve made a box of ingredients for blending. There are two spice shops in town too…within walking distance of the teashop that have natural ingredients and are sticklers for freshness. Colorado is big on ‘organic and natural’! So I have tulsi, dry ginger, several kinds of cinnamon, goji berry, burdock root, different citrus peel, I grown and dry my own mint, and other items. I buy organic cocoa hulls also. For tea, I try to buy the best I can afford. I also buy from people who I know have quality tea and who don’t use artificial chemical flavoring. (I have allergies so I’m careful) Most of the time, my blends are used for puerh blending with fruit or herbs or spices. Now and then I’ll get crazy.

I drank a cup of this while fixing breakfast today :)
Glad you got a chance to try it!

I do that too. I automatically just assume that new names are out of reach, although I tend to be mostly hung up on shipping fees. It’s quite rare that I actually go and look them up. Sometimes I get a pleasant surprise when I notice that it’s actually a place I can shop at. :D Discovering a new shop is always twice as fun, though.

I am a bit scared of customs – it´s not paying the 6% or 23% (yikes, harder) but the whole fuss and flat fees. European Union is OK, out of Europe, a bit scarier.

I still got plenty from your sample (thank you! a treasure indeed) and I am going to enjoy it very much but I just might bit the bullet and order from then when this is back on stock. They have free shipping on orders above 70 dollars IIRC? Did it work well?

Terri, it is a small world! Loved it.

It seems to depend on where you order from. I have more frequently been asked to pay customs on something coming from the US than something coming directly from China (although that has happened once as well. A TeaSpring order was held hostage for a WEEK before I got it). There is a small number of American vendors that I will shop with. Verdant is one, but I only shop there very infrequently and primarily because of this tea. I’ll try the others when I’m buying this one, but probably wouldn’t shop there otherwise. It’s one of those special cases. I can’t remember if I ever pushed it above $70 for free shipping, though.

I am definitely considering ordering this when it is on stock – though 70 dollars worth of it no!

Here the post is pretty relaxed about duty, as long as it’s not much over the allowance, which is something like €45. But woe to you if you have a package from outside the EU shipped by UPS or FedEx. They are just MEAN and charge a massive handling fee for paying even a small amount of duty. You could always use my address if you want to order from Verdant and I’ll pop it on to you. They ship USPS so it would not be a problem!

Angrboda I’m so much less sensible than you about US companies – I got so sick of having to check shipping policies every time I read a tempting tasting note that I devoted a little notebook to it! I’ve already got info on about 30 or 40 companies. :) Not all US, obviously.

Hallie, oh that is a good trick! Though sometimes companies change policies – I ordered from Harney in early 2012, decent shipping, checked again one year later, shipping was 3 times as much (40 dollars or something. And nothing worth it).

And I just checked with verdant, shipping was a reasonable $8.50 , so I did a pre-order of the laoshan black while bravely ignoring everything else. When it arrives, I will have to send you some – though I think question is, when, it will take some time I guess. But could not resist (thank you Angrboda, it was indeed fantastic!)

Ugh, change of shipping policies is mean, as is $40 shipping. Though that’s about Dammann Freres price to Ireland, which still makes me crazy cranky. Thanks for the offer, but have to admit I tried some that sil sent me, and I wasn’t that keen. Will try to explain later when I’m not doing one-handed typing!

Yep – though I think teas can change a lot from batch to batch and their reaction to local water is always different.

And you are posting a lot already, am amazed! But it can surely wait!

True, and I gather there’s a big difference between the autumn and spring harvests for the Laoshan blacks.

:) you’re not seeing how very long it’s taking me!

And just to add, that is some nerve from Dammann! 40 euros to ireland, and they are not even that good – Mariage Frères and Thé-o-dor (both of which are better tea companies in two very different styles) have about 25-30 euros shipping to Portuga. And they have much more varieties of rooibos – this is quite silly but I am so picky about rooibos and have been drinking a lot of rooibos lately and getting new good rooibos is also a deal breaker for any tea order. If I am going to spend money on shipping I want to get food rooibos as well. One of these days I will indulge in a biggish Theodor order. Mariage Freres I can get here, Theodor no, and I am jonesing for more Carpe Diem and more Milky Oolong and a lot of other stuff on my wishlist.

Happy 300!

An excellent tea to celebrate a milestone with! Happy 300!

YAY!! Happy 300!!

Congrats on 300! Sounds like a nice way to celebrate too!

Happy 300! Your tea party of one sounds great :)

I was trying to figure it out by your tasting note… but do you know if this is from the old batch or the new that you included in TeaboxB?

hey tea sipper. this probably isn’t the sample from the ttb. i’m pretty sure it’s a sample i had bought a while back.

Hmm… I wanted to try it if it was the older Laoshan that everyone says tastes better, but it is the same sample I have, I wanted to save it for others to try. thanks!