Verdant Tea (Special)

I’m back at my parents place with wifi now, so I can log more than hot toddy recipes lol. I am having a teapot of this in my new pot tonight, I added some honey and while it’s sweeter, it’s still mostly yabao haha. And the new little bamboo strainer smelled weird tonight lol, I think it’s the water used for washing here, very sodium rich well water. We don’t drink it anymore at least, we have city water in the cooler. Anyways, decent cup, but eh, I think I need more variety in my teas again…I’ve been drinking the same bunch for about 2 weeks…I need some 52teas and more davidsteas….and more of my Verdant teas haha. Sorry to whine haha, I miss my big collection! See previous notes on this tea.

Second Christmassy tea on this fine Christmas day! I have been wanting to try this one since I saw the preview on Facebook haha :D I love Yabao, and any tea that is supposed to taste like a cookie sounds good to me! I also made a cup of this for my mom, some oolong for my bf and A&D’s Mount Gray for my dad. Tea night!

This tea smells very much like Yabao dry, with a nice ginger undertone. I adore ginger, so this is a lovely smell! I steeped mine and mom’s cups for 3 minutes with boiling, both cups smelled different, mine more Yabao like and cinnamon, and hers was Yabao and ginger. Both yummy in different ways, I love that the tea can be the same kind but smell soo different!

As for the flavor, to be honest, this is mostly Yabao to me. The aftertaste is sugary though, so that is where the cookie likeness comes from. But it mostly is Yabao haha. I really like yabao, so this is ok, it might also have been the blend in the spoon. I just tried mom’s, and hers is much more like a cookie, it had a lot more coriander and ginger in the spoonful. Both tasty, although I will probably shake up the bag for the next cup. I also really want to add either brown sugar or honey to the next cup. Hooray for tasty tea!

And a sad sipdown here, but I will wait and maybe request this one next year..it was definitely a winner of the blends club for me! And yes, I made it as a real “blueberry” tea tonight (aka Grand Marnier and Disaronno added plus stirred with a cinnamon stick) and it is delicious! This tea made the best hot toddys and now the best blueberry tea! Haha much better experience tonight that when I had an allergic reaction to either the one beer I had to celebrate the bf being home, or something weird in my A&W burger. Puffy face, itchy eyes, Reactine needed..weird, don’t have those that often. Anyways, this is not making me allergic at least. A much needed unwinding, it’s only Tuesday and I’ve had to stay late at work two days..and more to come. Gahhhhhhh going to be one of those weeks! At least the bf is home and I have good tea! ANYWAYS, I’m getting off topic again lol, see previous notes on this delicious EG variation!

So it snowed in my hometown and at my parents today lol. It’s a mere 3 degrees C here today, so out come more cozy teas! I am very close to finishing this one off, I keep saving a little bit to have one last hot toddy, and then don’t feel like making myself one lol. Maybe tonight! Anyways, having this just as tea at work today and it helped warm me up while it was warm, now it’s all cold but still flavorful. Citrusy and chocolatey, with the bergmaot noticeably present today, so it actually tastes quite EG-esque. Have to decide if I want a cozy rooibos or EGC this afternoon to ward off the cold. See previous notes on this tea!

ETA – now I really want just some plain Zhu Rong Yunnan Black. Le sigh. I should have brought that to work. Oh well, I can have it when I’m at home lol. Might be a black tea day..hopefully I don’t overcaffeinate!

Ahh this tea is still quite tasty, citrusy and bright with chocolate notes from the excellent base teas. At first when I had it out of my travel mug today it seemed weak with a strange flavor, but as it cooled off and was exposed to air it seemed to get back to it’s original goodness. It’s still much better brewed in a mug, or as a hot toddy, but it’s still tasty from the Timolino. Now I want a hot toddy at work, haha, definitely not happening. At least it’s warmer in the office after the lighting contractors turned up the heat with an Allen key :D +19 rather than +12 in the office today. Let’s hope the rest of the day flies by, it’s already almost Friday! (/optimism) See previous notes on this tea which I am close to sipping down and will miss!

This tea still makes the best hot toddy. Had it with some dark rum, Grand Marnier and honey before bed, soo tasty! Such a lovely rich, spiced tea. Delicious. Over halfway through this busy week! See previous notes on this tea :)

An excellent before bed cup of coziness on this dreary snowy night, albeit a caffeinated cup lol. I’m much too burnt out from work this week for it to bother me though. This is a fine spiced cup of yum, definitely can taste that laoshan black in there
A very good tea that I’d like to finish off before spring hehe, and also good as a hot toddy, although no rum in my cup tonight. Reminds me of Christmas time! See previous notes on this tea :)

This tea makes a wonderful hot toddy! Brew about 1.5 tsp in 3/4 cup of a mug, add spiced rum, Grand Marnier, honey, lemon juice and cinnamon. Soooo good, and very warming after ice fishing in a – 17 C blizzard, wind chill – 25! Cozy by the fire at my parents cabin now, have been drinking tea but not much Internet to log them. But had to share this one!

Merry Christmas!! I hope everyone is having a fun-filled day with loved ones and close friends, eating delicious food, and drinking excellent tea! This is miraculously only my second cup of tea today, I had some decaf Tetley at my grandma’s when we had a delicious lunch! So I made this in my new teapot, a gift from my brother for Christmas, it’s a beautiful little ceramic one with a bamboo handle, just enough for 1 cup in it, and a strainer to filter the leaves after. So cute, I love it!

This tea smells enticing dry. Oh, I picked up my BOMC yesterday when we got back from the states, so this is the first of the three I am trying! It smells like cinnamon with the unmistakable LB scent and a few spices. I steeped for 2 minutes, not just one haha, with boiling water from my mom’s new variable temp kettle (a gift from me :D ). The steeped smell is cinnamon and spice, with laoshan black maltiness.

The flavor is very nice. Smooth, malty, spicy..yum. This, to me, is almost like a mild chai, but the citrus is present in a bright, cheery way. Jolly Earl indeed! I get the likeness to EG as this has a similar LB flavor as in Bergamot rose, another blend from Verdant. This is yummmmmy!! From the first few sips, I would probably pick up some more of this. Thanks Verdant, for a wonderful Christmas blend!

I usually hate tea with cinnamon in it but I put in 2 full spoonfuls of sugar to make it not awful so this is not awful. I can’t say I like it very much but I will give it that it is tolerable which is more than I can say for most cinnamon teas. The fennel is very strong as well and the mint is faintly present, also briefly in the aftertaste.

My mother said it tasted like cinnamon gum to her but my cup was steeped and sugared to my taste and not hers. I have more of a sweet tooth.

I have seen reviews that say the second steeping is stronger cinnamon so I might skip that. If I don’t, I’ll come back and edit.

It’s nice enough I suppose, but I still don’t like Laoshan Black. Enter: honey. Honey makes (almost) every tea palatable.

I wasn’t getting much of a chocolate note until I added some black tea. Now its the perfect chocolate mint tea I’ve been looking for.

Too bad it’s all gone now…

Thought I’d try this again, since I found it when I was cleaning up yesterday.

Smells like coriander and pine forests.

Umm.

Anyone whose address I have want it? I have the 1oz blend club pack and I’ve tried it twice. It needs to go to a home where it will be appreciated.

(steeped twice)

Hmm.

Today I’m getting more baked cookie, but there’s still that underlying current of pine forest. I’m not quite munching on the needles, but it’s darn close.

Definitely interesting, but I prefer the fairy tea they have with yabao in, whatever it’s called. I know I have some around here somewhere… ;)

This will be steeped many times today. I’m curious as to how it changes, even with a cold!

It, umm, smells like I’ve stuck my face in a spruce tree out in the forest. Cold, icy, woody, frozen tree pitch. I haven’t had the yabao before, so I’m not sure what part is giving me this scent.

When I think of snickerdoodle, I think of a vanilla cookie that has been rolled in cinnamon sugar then baked. Is that not what a snickerdoodle is? That’s not what this tea is.

The tea tastes like the forest. All bundled up on a crisp winter day, pushing through the forest, looking for the perfect tree. It’s quite herbal under there too, almost medicinal. Quite earthy, as well. And I feel the warmth of the ginger.

So. Weird.

sipdown! since the last of this will be heading over to terri to try. Still not a fab of this one. it’s just kinda…well..boring? I steeped it for 4 mins and while that mafe the bergamot finally present in the steep it didn’t mesh all that well with the other tastes going on for me. aah well, can’t win them all!

EG this is not. This is zhu wrong and LB….and maybe a couple spices thrown in. Again 1 min steeps is stupid. lol Pretty much feeling like i could just toss the two teas together and get mostly the same blend. Will try to play with this a bit more later. still like it..but feel more like this is like other teas than being an EG blend.

nothing to say about this one really…tried again with it and it still isn’t any sort of yummy for me. I don’t much like yabao and after a few cups of trying this out under various conditions it’s still nothing i’m enjoying. the last little bit of mine is off to terri to see if she can pull some delight out of this one.

meh. 1 minute steep is stupid. i will rant more about that i’m sure. Drinkable but as not a fan of yabao…esp silverbuds yabao, i wasn’t hoping for much. it’s ok but i’ll have to play a bit more.

sipdown!(178) with the last little bit of this off to terri for her to try. I didn’t mind this one. it’s a pretty decent mint blend if you’re in to that sort of thing and as i’ve mentioned before, it’s different enough from stacy’s peppermint patty that both could hang out in my cupboard.

I’ve got som backlogging to do and no idea how long my internet will be up to let me do it. While we have power here at our place which i am SUPER thankful for, the internet is still spotty and having issues.

Let me preface this by saying i HATE that all verdant’s blends seem to have a steeping parameter of boiling, 1 min. The teas never taste delicious and wonderful until you change those…and really? every tea needs boiling? hmmmm

This one is from yesterday. It’s tasty, but nothing to write home about. That being said, I would also be fine having this AND stacy’s peppermint patty in my cupboard as they both bring something slightly different to the table. :)

This is delicious and I’m hoping it helps my immunity since we’re flying up to visit my parents this week! Curious to try it with cider or wine as suggested.

Wow, I absolutely love the smell of this chai dry and steeping! Thanks to the carby sweet potato quality of the base and the ginger it smells like a pan of freshly baked soft gingerbread. The flavor then surprises you by being quite peppercorn-y. I’m trying this steeped like standard tea, but I am pretty sure this will love being made with honey and milk. Very nice. One of the best chais I’ve tried, I love the spices and the balance.