Verdant Tea (Special)

Drinking this iced right now and it’s actually really good! Thank you MissB for sending this to me a while ago!
I taste chamomile in this, even though I know there isn’t any. Reminds me a but of Stephen Smith’s No. 39 Fez with the minty/touch of lemon taste, but the rooibos rounds it off nicely. Doesn’t have the woodsy rooibos which I do enjoy!

My first sip ever of the esteemed LB and did someone ever mention CHOCOLATE! Wow, can’t wait to see how this cup finishes, but from one sip I am a fan. Yes, this is on my keeper list.

Picked May 18, 2014

Method: 1.5 tsp in 8 oz at 205 degrees for 4 min, French Press

My boyfriend made this as our breakfast tea while I was getting ready for work. There are no instructions on the bag, but I think he did pretty well, considering.

I’m basing my review on his method, but I will try this again using the instructions on the site for the tea, and update as needed.

Aroma: I did not yet experience the dry aroma, but the finished tea aroma was STRONG. I walked downstairs into the kitchen and I immediately smelled a very roasty aroma. For a minute, I thought he brewed a genmaicha, but when I looked in the mug, I saw that the tea was too dark for that. The tea smells like toasted rice and dark malts. I did not pick up any of the sweet or fruity flavors from the description.

Flavor: To me, this tastes like it smells. Toasted rice and dark malts take center stage. I did not find the tea to be bitter of astringent when hot, but it did pick up a tinge of astringency as it cooled. Nothing outrageous. I am hoping to try this again when I get home from work, using short steeps. Maybe some of the other flavors will come forward at that point. I’m not unhappy with the tea, but I feel like it has more to give.

Update 1: Dry leaves smell like burny chocolate. Tried this brewed western style to the specifications on the website. I think it was 1 tbsp to 8 oz at 3 min in boiling water. That was a mistake. I called this brew: THE BURNINATOR. Burned malt, burned chocolate, burned molasses. I wasn’t sure if it was the increase in tea leaves or the temp until later, but it was definitely the temp because…

Update 2: Tried 5 g in a small gaiwan at 205 degrees. 20 sec, 25, 30, 30, and 35. Poured those all in a mug. The smokiness is there, along with a little chocolate and molasses, but it’s definitely better this way.

I think that heavily smoked/burny teas just aren’t my bag, baby. This reminded me of brewing a porter, with the dark malts that impart a smoky flavor.

Samples Only TTB
Back log
This was a very, uh, interesting tea. My mouth couldn’t really understand what was going on, there was cocoa notes with flowery, fruity notes with with minty. Too much contrasting going on for my taste. Love the name though.

Another tea from Terri HarpLady :D

This sheng brings to mind fresh cut wood, as well as slight hints of golden raisins. Strong aftertaste on my tongue. Decent enough sheng but as I’ve been drinking a lot of different ones lately I can tell you this is NOT one of my favorites… but it is hard to pinpoint why exactly. Perhaps the woodier ones are not for me? Still totally drinkable though and I will steep the heck out of these leaves :)

This tea was just not for me. Yuck

Meh…
Thanks to Sil for sharing anyway.
Sipdown!
383

Oops, another tea I am at the end of and haven’t written a note on! Well it was a tasty enough tea to finish relatively quickly haha so that says something! :D I believe this is the second rooibos that Verdant did, the Rooibos Tulsi is still my favorite of the two (possibly my favorite of all time) but this one was okay as well.

Usual steeping parameters were 1-2 minutes with boiling water. This blend is mostly cinnamon and rooibos to me, not much in the way of vanilla or orange, maybe they add to the richness of the blend. However I did find the rooibos a bit more woodsy and strong that I usually like, but at least it’s not a terrible flavor. The cinnamon and orange probably add to the warming qualities of this blend, as it really is a warm, cozy tea, a bit spicy and very comforting. There is a bit of creaminess present too.

Overall, a tasty little tea, although quite heavy on the rooibos flavor. Warm and comforting though, perfect for sipping while I watch the 5th Harry Potter movie for about the millionth time. :D it’s on TV tonight haha.

Samples Only TTB

Well third tea from the TTB today.
This one is… interesting. It tastes like I’m drinking a flower garden.
I’m not sure I like it. I think the chamomile used in this is probably German chamomile which I’m decidedly less fond of than Egyptian. The aroma is strongly buttery flowers. The tastes are buttery chamomile, sweet floral notes and a lingering sweet, tangy flower that’s probably rosehips.

I am enjoying this cup well enough, but won’t seek out this tea for stocking. If someone were serving it, I’d say “Sure.” But I’m not overly impressed. :)

Wonderful!
I have always adored peppermint and the mix with licorice and cinnamon worked well. The tea had a sweetness to it that reminded me of honey.

Perhaps i would like to try to add some silver needle to this blend ^^

PURE HEAVEN! Thank you so much Terri HarpLady for letting me try it.

I’m pretty sure this is last year’s, because I just checked on the website and it seems that this year’s harvest is in pre-order mode right now. It is taking all of my willpower not to order some RIGHT NOW. I have a full ounce of summer harvest Laoshan green from last year I haven’t even opened yet…must be strong. This is top notch though. SO SO GOOD! Everything I love about Laoshan green but even more concentrated :)

Last bit of this in a cold brew. This was never my favorite blend (too much fennel, I think), but as a cold brew it worked pretty well, especially since hot root beer isn’t totally appealing to me. At the same time, the tieguanyin in this kept it from really reminding me of a sarsaparilla soda or root beer… just a bit too vegetal, even with the traditional TGY.

I actually added a pinch of rose black tea to this cold brew, and I like the rosey flavor added to the blend. It’s an herby blend already, and the rose makes it a bit sweeter for me. Of course, I think almost everything could use a bit of rose. Yum!

The other day I thought about this tea again and it dawned on me that it might make a great cold brew. Root beer is usually drunk cold, afterall.

It came out pretty well. The sarsaparilla flavor was nice, although the cold brewing brought out a bit more vegetal-ness from the oolong than I would have preferred. I may drink the rest of this up via cold brew this summer; it might also make a decent tea soda.

So, this tea. I was a little apprehensive about this tea because although I love tieguanyin and I love sarsparilla, the smell of the dry leaf was a bit off-putting. So much fennel, why?? Also I was unsure about hot root beer (essentially).

But brewed up, it’s much nicer. Not so much fennel. It reminds me a touch of Master Zhang’s Genmaicha in the scent, but it’s not so toasty in the flavor. At first it mainly tastes like tieguanyin, but as it cools, the distinctive note of sarsparilla makes itself known. I don’t mind it hot, actually. It’s not a blend I would want to buy more of, but I also won’t have trouble drinking it up. Just wish the fennel was absent.

BTW, I got an email recently saying that my flavor suggestions (from ages ago) have been added to the database, and I’ve noticed a ton more flavors lately!

This tea is the perfect example of why I didn’t continue the blends club. White Peony Bouquet sounds like something I would like, and initially the ingredients seemed to confirm that: white tea, roses, marigold… check… then we get to peppermint? why?? plus lemongrass?? (citrus and mint are two things that should never go together in my mind) and then top the whole thing off with star anise… blech! The dry tea smells like licorice and mint. Note that I plucked the star anise out of my brew basket before steeping.

After steeping it does not smell pleasant. It’s familiar but I can’t place it. Over cooked spinach? Like really cooked into the ground so it gets that super vegetal sour smell? That’s what this smells like. I think it’s the mint and lemongrass working together. I can almost pick them apart in the aroma, but they are also blending in an odd way. It’s hard for me to take a sip.

Yeah, this tea is super not for me. White tea can be hit or miss for me as it is, and the mint and lemongrass do NOT bring out the flavors I like in this. Also it still tastes faintly like licorice. For those concerned about rose: don’t worry, it’s undetectable (rose seems to be a flavor that can get overwhelmed by others easily). I will say, for those who enjoy licorice, mint, and lemongrass, this would probably be good. But this tea for me can be summed up by this gif: http://www.reactiongifs.com/nope-nope-nope-octopus/

I know that was a super ringing endorsement, but if anyone wants this it’s going into my stash sales post.

Sipdown of this one! I was portioning this out this morning and realized that there wasn’t a ton left after taking out my two scoops, so I dumped the rest in and steeped it for half the time. Worked great! This is definitely a weird blend, but it’s a tasty blend. Spiced, malty, a bit piney… it works. And it doesn’t taste too much like trees for me. :)

Here’s another of my blends club teas that I am trying to drink up. I really did not expect to like this one… too many “weird things” in the blend. Not to mention that one of the base teas is a Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong, which is listed as “smoked” and I hate smoke in tea! But it turned out really tasty! Consider my horizons expanded.

No smoke flavor in this one, just a tasty blend of spices and malty black tea, with hints of cream and a bit of piney-ness (but not too much!). It honestly reminds me more of fall than spring, but it’s almost fall anyway. A nice blend!

I drank this one yesterday while grading exams, but forgot to log it. Initially I was apprehensive about this blend because it has a lot of odd herbs and barks and stuff in it, but I wanted to give it a try. The dry leaf smelled pretty decent, like chocolatey black tea and yabao, which is to say slightly spiced and slightly resiny.

I actually really enjoyed this tea. It was sweet, chocolatey, and mildly spiced, with some added interest from the yabao. I will have to drink another cup when I’m paying attention more to really figure out what’s going on, but right now I’m digging it. And I’m glad that I didn’t remember that Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong was a smoked black tea. I tried a subtle roast version back in the reserve club days, and it was too smoky for me (which is to say, it was smoky at all), and yet I got no smoke at all from this blend. Hope I don’t taste it now that I know it’s supposed to be there.

This one got me doubting my withdrawl from the blends club, but I have a feeling that the next one (sitting next to me now, waiting to be drunk) will cure me of that.

Oops lol here I am at a sipdown and I haven’t logged this tea yet! Well, it was tasty enough to be sipped down in 4 months out of all my teas lol, so there’s that! Its a very soothing tea, I drank it a lot when I had that terrible cold as it feels amazing on the throat. It’s a herby, cinnamon, licorice blend, with the mint being cooling but not sharp, more of a cozy mint. The licorice smooths everything and really makes for a lovely mouthfeel. I like that the flavors blend so well! I remember when I first had this tea, I wasn’t overly impressed, but it grew on me and has ended on a good note. I might (probably) will reorder this at some point, especially because my mom really likes this tea, she had one or two cups while visiting me :) a nicely done herbal, nice for evenings!

Here’s another sipdown from Sil. Quite honestly, I was avoiding this one, but it’s actually pretty good if you sweeten it!
286

Another Blends sipdown from Sil
Another tea I don’t really have much to say about. It wasn’t bad, but there wasn’t really anything about it that piqued my interest. I’d rather just drink a plain old Puer.
At least I’ve been knocking out a bunch of sipdowns today!
296

Another Blends Club tea from Sil.
I don’t hate this one, & I feel like I should love it, because it has so many of my favorite herbs in it:
Burdock – I actually eat burdock root in stir fried & stews, & it’s regularly featured in my homemade root kimchi concoction.
Elderberry – How I love my Elderberry tea, my favorite anti-viral, so much so that I planted 4 bushes this spring, although none of them are showing any signs of life so far… I think I may have to contact the plant place, because I think they sent me dead bushes.
Lemon Verbena – the aroma of lemon verbena used to be a popular perfume. It’s the best aroma therapy I know, which is why I have it growing in my herb garden.
Lemongrass – I usually grow it too, although I haven’t planted any yet this year.
Rooibos – meh
Tulsi – double meh

Anyway, I’m not really in love with it, but this is an ok blend. I can’t really think of anything else to say, except I can taste all of those herbs in there. None of them really stand out, so I guess I can say they are pretty well blended, right?
299

My first sipdown of the day, sent to me from my tea sister Sil.
This is, without a doubt, my favorite from the verdant Blends, but only because I have a long love of licorice root. I’m not really so much of a fan of Fennel or Mint in my teas, but my guts are achy this morning from poor choices over the weekend, & both of those herbs are helpful for this sort of thing, so there you go.
300

Another Verdant club sample :)

The blend smells exactly like Christmas pudding, it’s remarkable! It has an orange, raisin, malt essence that is the spit of Christmas Pudding, I have never sniffed anything that is a perfect match before. It should perhaps be known that I thoroughly enjoy the smell of Christmas pudding but am not a fan of eating it, so I opt out each year. That will make this an interesting tea to taste. But when you think about it a Christmas pudding is usually coated in whiskey and set alight so perhaps that is where the whisky part of this comes from? Bourbon and whisky being very similar and both favourites of mine.

Steeping 5g of this into my 200ml gongfu (which is just under 8oz) with freshly boiled water.

The tea colour is golden brown (much a like bourbon/whisky) and has a sweet yet roasted scent, reminds me of rooibos.

Flavour is of medium strength with a touch of smoke and malt which dominate a sweet rooibos base. After taste is sweet like vanilla or almond, more than just the rooibos, and it lingers on the tongue. Also has a light leather taste after a few sips. As it cools it picks up a sour tone and becomes honeyed.

Does it taste like bourbon? Honestly no, though I would say it has a some resemblance. It’s an enjoyable blend and I am very happy to have tried this one. I would buy this one. I find it tastes better as it cools, becomes more bourbon like when it’s luke warm. :)