55
drank Laoshan Black by Verdant Tea
122 tasting notes

This sample is one I’ve had for a while. I wasn’t particularly fond of it, so I hadn’t taken the time to review it until my newest tea-convert frisfries wanted to start trying tea.
First infusion: 30 sec. A bit salty and smokey, with just an undertone of coffee breath. Maybe a hint of chocolate. I just can’t get over how much it smells like my SO’s coffee breath!
Second infusion: 45 sec. Stronger coffee breath. Still salty. Not a fan, but maybe I could see how others could be? It may be because I don’t like coffee OR chocolate.

Flavors: Cocoa, Coffee, Malt, Salt, Smoke

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 tsp 6 OZ / 177 ML

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Bio

I started drinking something other than Sleepytime in my first year of grad school, 2011. Enabled by a few decent local tea shops in a big city, I amassed a small cupboard of teas that I now find harsh and bad (haha, I’m getting in too deep!). With my move back to the US and subsequent geographic isolation from tea shops, I recently discovered the world of online tea vendors.
My cupboard is slowly growing but still small. Regardless I am interested in swaps, if you find something in my collection that you would like to try, ask away! I just can’t guarantee yet that I have a lot of it!
I’m very into Jade oolongs and anything that has a floral character (especially jasmine, rose, violet, and lychee scented things!). Most green teas, excepting the extremely bitter, are good in my book, and again I seek sweeter, fresher, greener types, though nutty/savory teas have their place (as long as they don’t tip over into salty!). I then to shy away from smokey or overly roasted teas and for this reason and the fact that I am not a fan of chocolate, everyone’s favorite blacks and wuyi oolongs tend to fall flat for me. White teas are alright but I don’t tend to reach for them unless they are floral scented. I rarely drink herbals, chamomile and I do not get along, but a basic vanilla rooibos, or some flavored green rooibos’ can be interesting.
In general, it could be said that I tend toward floral and sweet oolong, sheng (as well as moonlight whites and yabaos), matcha, and green teas.

As of now my rating system follows the school grading scale in terms of how well the tea performs and how well I like it (100-90 A, 89-80 B, etc.). Anything above 90 will eventually end up in my cupboard, though it’s fine to keep a B student around for daily drinkers!

Location

Athens, Ohio

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