Verdant Tea (Special)

I’m SOOO happy TerriHarplady sent me some of this in my box! Thank you Terri! :D

My absolute favorite green teas of all time are from the He family in Laoshan. I’ve never had the honor of trying some of their more special offerings like this one. It does not disappoint! Buttery, creamy, and vegetal like all good Laoshan greens but with a hint of roastiness/nuttiness and a bright freshness about it. Very very good nom nom nom!

I guess I should consider joining Verdant’s TOTM club, but honestly $30 a month is more than my ENTIRE tea budget and there are other things from other sellers I want sometimes, you know? I’m sure I would love it though :)

I’ve been eyeing this tea with much trepidation. Sil has nicknamed it Tea of Doom, & included it in my box, heh. I had company this morning for a little while, company that enjoys tea. Company that actually prefers flavored teas, so I whipped this one out & served it, LOL. I used half of the sample, & the rest is going to Dag :)
Of course, I am not a fan of bergamot, although on rare occasion I can tolerate a few sips, usually from Tony’s mug.
I do love lavender in my garden, in a bath, on insect bites, on a cotton ball in my ear if I have an earache, or in little dream pillow in my bed. I don’t like it in tea so much, it’s like drinking bath water. I tried cooking with Herbs de Provence, which includes lavender, & it pretty much ruined the meal for me, although everyone else ate it.
So how was it? Both of my friend adored it. One even asked where she could get more.
MOAR???
Interestingly, it didn’t gross me out as much as I thought it would. It kind of tastes a little nostalgic, like the hippy herbal teas of my younger days, but it isn’t something I’d ever want to drink again.

I am so sorry, but all I can say…this is one hot mess that I cannot even drink :-(

This sheng impressed me from the start. The dry leaves had a grapey aroma, reminiscent of a first flush Darjeeling. The grapey aroma lightly carries into the flavor along with a smoky aftertaste. This is a mellow sheng, even with only one year of aging. The musty, woodsy flavors are not prominent at all. This is a great sheng to start with if you’d like to try pu’er tea.

So strange! This is like drinking a mild cup of patchouli with some vetiver added in. I don’t know how to feel about this. Kind of pleasant, kind of odd.

This is a sample and sip down
I brew the whole sample in 8 oz mug 205F
The taste was interesting but not something I like. I added splash of milk and spoon of maple syrup. It was very tasty spicy chai. I felt that I was missing some coconut and added tiny amount of coconut oil. I was very happy with the result. It was comforting.

Thank you for sending this to me, MissLena!

I was really worried that this got contaminated at first. What’s up with the spiciness? I was expecting creamy orange! Instead, the dry leaf smells overwhelmingly of cinnamon and, weirdly, clove. There’s a touch of vanilla at the end of the sniff. The brewed tea has a more balanced smell – equal parts cinnamon, vanilla, and orange.

The taste is sharp cinnamon and woody rooibos with a tart aftertaste. It actually reminds more of a chai than any kind of creamsicle. There is a nice sweetness that comes out at the bottom of the cup. If the whole brew tasted like this, I’d probably be a bigger fan.

sipdown

Sweet Licorice, Cinnamon, Mint & Fennel…
I love fennel in your blends.
I am not much on minty teas usually
But this is a perfect minty tea for me… love it

I am particularly fond of this blend of Green tea, Citrus, Bergamot and Lavendar.
The lavender is not fully present in in the cup or the nose,but lingers lightly in the aftertaste.
There is a lingering taste that is somewhat like pine to me and yet is very pleasant.
I have not seen other great reviews on this blend and yet, I love it.

So I’ve had a few cups of this thanks to Verdant Tea’s Tea of the month club bundle and oh god this one is sooo good!! This is right now a tie with Butiki’s Good Morning Sunshine for my morning tea… so now it comes down to whether I feel like minty goodness or lemon~y goodness. (head explodes) yep too many tea decisions for the morning I better pick the night before.

Caffeine Free Tea Box

Tulsi strikes again! I thought that I just didn’t like the Tulsi Rose tea, but know I think I just don’t like Tulsi. I liked everything about the tea, but the tulsi flavor ruined it for me.

Having a bit of a lazy day, I didn’t pick up any tea until lunch… Shockers!

I’m not sure I would have picked this one up on my own. I really enjoy mint teas, and cinnamon, although I don’t think I’ve had them together yet.. before now. I’m not much for floral blends, and this has lavender scattered through the blend.. Hmm.. I can smell it in the dry mix too. Smells of mint and lavender.. but favoring the mint. I will have to admit I’m having a bit of trouble with smelling this blend due to the fact that I started a cold brew of 52teas grape iced tea blend and my hands smell of that.. even though I’ve washed them.. thinking that’s going to be some really grape tea!

Steeped, and with a less than my normal amount of sugar-I tried to hold off but I always add sugar to mint tea, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I get peppermint with a bit of floral from the lavender. Nothing is overstated. I can’t pick out the cinnamon or the rooibos, and don’t know what to look for for birch, but I imagine they come together to tone down the peppermint and blend the lavender into a nice smooth cup. Peppermint can be harsh, but in this blend it is smooth and rich tasting.

Thanks CelebriTEA for sharing this with me.

Backlog:

A very special Pu-erh. A young one, so definitely one that I’ll hold on to for a while before I drink the rest of it. Let it age a bit.

Very little earthiness here, as I would expect from such a young Pu-erh. It is more vegetal than it is earthy. The vegetative taste falls somewhere between steamed spinach and kelp.

A light, refreshing Pu-erh, sweet and slightly floral, and there is a creaminess to this that took me by surprise. A distinct nutty tone and a bright citrus note too.

A really interesting pu-erh, I’m glad I got to try it. Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/03/16/master-hans-2013-sheng-pu-er-tea-verdant-tea/

Sipdown in my travel mug of this this morning! This tea was very good while it lasted, and now it’s gone. I am okay with this, as it definitely is an early summer blend and I haven’t been feeling it around this time of year, but this last cup was still tasty, lots of cocoa notes and a shadow of the grape/raisin flavor I enjoyed. Sadly this is suffering from Travel Mug Syndrome, so it is not nearly as flavorful as usual, which is disappointing since I also slightly overleafed to sip down the final bit of this tea. Nevertheless, it was good and I am very happy this one was included in the blends club! See previous notes on this tea :)

Backlog – I had a lovely cup of this yesterday morning before doing a lot of Christmas shopping haha, both online and in stores. It was a busy day. I am finally getting back to earth after my 9 day vacation, albeit much more relaxed than before I left. Which was exactly why I went :P happy that Christmas is coming and had a productive, satisfying weekend getting ready for it. This tea hit the spot. See previous notes on this one – I’m very close to sipping it down too!

The latest BOMC box arrived yesterday! All the blends look delicious and exciting as usual, although I was a bit wary of the mate blend, definitely not a before bed blend! After smelling all the teas, I decided this one was the one I needed to try first. It smells deliciously of dark chocolate! It looks like there are whole cocoa pieces in the blend, or cacao, whichever it is, along with goji berries and the famed Zhu Rong base. I steeped this for about 2 minutes with 200 degree water. The resulting dark liquor smells of raisins and chocolate. Interesting!

As for the flavor, mmm this is reminding me of a lovely red wine with chocolate. The main flavors are a dry grape-like flavor, raisin like but not as sweet, it reminds me a bit of how Master Han’s Yunnan black tastes, a hint of olive oil in there too! There is also that lovely dark chocolate flavor, a rich flavor that melds with the mild astringency and raisin like notes wonderfully. There’s a sweetness in the middle of the sip that could be attributed to the vanilla as well, although it is faint and not a huge component, just smooths things over.

Overall, this is quite good. It’s rich but light, fresh and filling. All the flavors blend together quite well into a dark chocolate, grape tasting tea. It mainly reminds me of Master Han’s Yunnan Black, but with chocolate added. Very tasty, a perfect tea for a day like today – blanket of fresh, wet snow overnight and temperatures just over zero melting it away. Spring snow day tea!

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @90C, no rinse, steeped 3 minutes.

Forgot to rinse.

After a disastrous two attempts to make something potable out of DavidsTea new First Flush Darjeeling (Chamong Estate), I turned to this beautiful oolong. Not rising the leaves gives this infusion a heaviness and a savour I quite like. This is a complex tieguanyin with lots of nuance, worth every penny.

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @90C, second infusion, steeped four minutes Western style.

I made a cup of this for my husband yesterday, because the tea’s name in trigged him. He loved it. I saved the leaves for a second go.

As I’ve noted before, the second steep gives more mineral notes. The scent is sharp and floral, that classic tieguanyin aroma, so enticing. Some cream in the finish. Such a beautiful tiguayin, lots of nuance.

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @90C. Second infusion. Steeped 4 minutes 15 seconds.

I want some black tea, but I have these glorious leaves left over from last night. One does not simply steep an oolong a single time.

Floral in scent — wildflowers and grass. The taste is more mineral on the second infusion, but also stronger on the florals and cream, especially in the finish. Some stonefruit. This tieguanyin has been lightly roasted, just enough to bring out some depth. Liquor is pale gold.

A stunning tieguanyin.

I can’t “like” anyone’s tea notes. This is irritating me. Whatever browser I use, I can’t “like” anything. GAH.

Back to tea …

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @90C, rinsed, steeped 3 minutes, then steeped 4 minutes.

Both infusions gave me an exquisite tieguanyin, with sharp florals, a touch of cream, faint vegetal notes, even, I thought, some faint and light musk, a light toastiness that just coaxes everything else out a little more, and so much oolong beauty that I have trouble writing about it. This tieguanyun needs, and will reward, your full attention.

The cinnamon has a brighter taste…at least on the first steep.
But this tea is truly lovely.
Each of the essences are combined in such a harmonious way…
You definitely get the Pu -er taste, but in laid back, more refined way…
This has me singing “it’s easy like Sunday mornin”
This quality pu~er blend has a lot more to give…
perhaps some of those other ingredients will shine in successive steeping
I am going to be drinking a lot of this…

Backlog:

I was really quite happy with this tisane. I’m not usually all excited about a chamomile blend, but all the components in this very busy blend work together quite nicely. I like the way the minty/basil-y notes of the tulsi unite with the apple-y notes of the chamomile and the sweet floral notes.

There is a distinct lime note to this as well, and I liked that tangy contrast, and I like how the lime-y flavor brightens the overall flavor. Sweet, warm, tangy, crisp … all these words come to mind when describing this tisane. I do wish there was a bit more from the cacao, but that should come as no big surprise, right? More chocolate always equals better!

That said, I liked this one.
Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/03/09/love-joy-tisane-verdant-tea/

Second time drinking this one. The tea itself tastes pretty good, all the flavors are things I like and they harmonize nicely… but it smells like unbaked bread dough to me, which is majorly throwing me off. Especially because I keep forgetting about it. >.< I guess we’ll see if it’s something I can get used to…