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Working on a paper, and drinking this wonderful old friend. I haven’t had much time for tea lately, and I’ve missed it. It’s 31 humid degrees Celsius outside, but the air-con is on, and this tea is sweetening this difficult task.
If I had to recommend buying one tea from Verdant, it would be a tough call between this and their wonderful Laoshan Black. Laoshan would probably win by a small margin, but this is still a highly, highly recommended tea.
I had a food literature course this semester (yes, English lit is that fun), and I brought in this tea for a tasting. It was a hit success, even in sub-par brewing conditions, and no sugar (Israeli’s usually like sugar and Moroccan mint in their tea).

To all my Steepsterites that don’t like Ceylon – try this tea!
This is now not only my favourite Ceylon, but also one of my favourite teas. It smells wonderful – rich, nutty, fruity, with a slight smokiness to it. It tastes like rich juicy plums, chewey nuts, and brand new office supplies – newly sharpened cedar pencils, a brand new notebook full of possibilities, a shiny new bag, waiting to be filled with all matter of goodness.
Yes, it is astringent, but in a wonderfully pleasant way.
A tea that is an experperience, filled with depth and taste.

A colleague asked me to brew this, when we were mussing over which tea would do best for our mid morning brew. He has a penchant for strong teas, particularly Assams, and so the choice was not surprising. A strong, heady tea, with a great bass of a maltiness, this tea promises and delivers a is a heady kick of caffeine to the hiney :)

No other Earl Grey that I’ve had holds a candle to this tea. Had a cup of this in the afternoon, and rebreed it three more times (for colleagues). A tremendously good tea.
It reminds me of the first spring movement in Vivaldi’s Four Seasons for some reason – light, cheeky, joyous.

I popped into Palais des Thes after work today to buy two cup and brew basket sets for friends. I of course, made the mistake of checking out their highest ranked teas in Steepster first. Woe is me :)
I bought two plain black teas (one Assam and one Yunnan), and since I was feeling adventurous – this coconut flavored tea.
Why adventurous? Because I don’t like flavored teas. But this didn’t smell overly sweet or artificially flavored. It was actually so pleasant that the other sales attendant dropped her gift wrapping and came for a sniff.
How is it?
Delightful. It’s a Chinese black tea base, with a bit of astringency and dryness, and has a great, juicy taste of coconut, that isn’t overpowering or artificial. It lingers slightly in your mouth, and makes you think of palms waving in the wind, on the white shores of beaches lapped by aqua blue waters.

A big bold assam blend that was dirt cheap, and yet is pretty good. Drank it plain, and made four cups easily out of one tsp. Malty, slightly spicy, well in the strong range of teas.

The twisted black leaves of this tea smell like raisins and plums when dry, and the promise of stone fruit and sweetness is fully fulfilled when brewing. Surprisingly, this tea brews rather light, and doesn’t take on the bitterness that purple tea takes on when brewed carelessly. This is a free spirited and gentle tea, that allows for mistakes, and rewards with a juicy fruitiness that, while not mind-blowing, is very comforting. A good mid-morning brew to share with work colleagues, or while relaxing and reading the newspaper.
A great introduction to purple tea, and great value for the price.

This is the first tea that I picked out from my large Yunnan Sourcing order box, and I drank it almost exclusively for about two weeks, making a large dent in my order. It is a good quality Yunnan black tea, with a strong malty and chocolatey flavor, and great depth. The shape of the leaves is fun and unique, and really justifies the black and gold in the tea’s name. A good breakfast and noon tea, with more kick than a “normal” Yunnan, and also more flavor.

I brought this in to a university seminar on food. I made close to 20 cups from about a quarter of a brew basket of leaves (no way to measure in class), and it was a smash hit. People came for seconds. The leaves are of superb quality, whole, unbroken, with a powerful buttery aroma and a strong creamy buttery taste. They unfold beautifully, and are worth spending time with.

It’s been a long time since I’ve had time to post or read reviews, or, which is worse, to properly drink tea. You know, without rushing it. With letting the tea leaves have time to unfold their secrets and speak to you.
But I have some time now, so best make the most of it. My latest purchase from Yunnan Sourcing, months ago (one upside of being so busy), was stunning. A real winner. And this was the second tea that I slipped out to try from the batch.
This Dian Hong costs a fraction than Verdant’s Golden Fleece, and while not as good, is nevertheless very good. Smooth, silky, chocolatey, with hints of maple syrup. A really wonderful afternoon treat.