Verdant Tea

Brewed per @VerdantTea instructions. Very pale yellow liquor. Big sweet cream aroma. Bordering on warming cream/milk in a saucepan. Reminds me of English custard. Some fruit notes. The flavor is a bit strange as the aromas are also present as flavors. So I almost forget I’m drinking a tea, and I expect a thicker mouthfeel. The tea however has a wonderful texture. Very smooth. Nice floral notes. The aftertaste is drying on the front of the tongue but has a lingering sweetness on the back.

This note is for the 2nd steeping of this tea. I was too tired last night to type it up (first day of a rigorous exercise regimen!) so I am doing it now :)

The first steeping was crisp and autumny, bright and malty. With the second steep however I found to be smoother, richer even. The malty quality comes forward ever so slightly as the roasted grain notes are more subdued. It’s warm, complex and flavorful. A comforting cup that helped me to unwind and relax

I was pleasantly surprised by a knock on the door from our postman today. He had a package for me from Bonnie that was a TON of teas to sample! It was like Christmas on the 14th of June! Thank you so much for the package Bonnie, I cannot wait to try all of the teas you sent!

I found myself unable to decide on what tea to make first, so I sniffed around and finally picked this one. I’m reading a riveting book right now & I thought the aroma suited my mood. Complex. That’s the first word that comes to mind when I breathed in this tea.

After steeping it in my little white teapot, the aroma was bright and roasted, warm & autumny. Like going outside as the hot air turns cooler and breathing in the last of summer. The taste was just the same. Notes of roasted grains, bright and ever so lightly malted.

I was right to choose this tea as it perfectly suited my mood and I look forward to the second steep as I am finishing up my cup now. I will most certainly be purchasing some more of this! Thank you so much (again) to Bonnie for sending this!

Jasmine is subtle, I can also taste the rose. This is lovely! This tea has smooth almost aquatic quality. If I hear “rose” in a blend, I’m sold!
I’m having this with square of raw cocoa and goji berries.

It smells like orchid,roses, honey and dried apples. Taste: bright, rich, smooth. I had it after a meal and it was perfect.

Steeped per the brewing instructions provided by Verdant Tea. 4g of leaf in 4oz of water. Boiled then cooled to 170F. The aroma of the leaves is intoxicating in the bag and only becomes more so after a wake up rinse, steep, and decant (I’m using a gaiwan). With a 5 second steep (second infusion) the liquor decants a very pale straw yellow, very clear. I get a lot of sweet green pea in the nose, some other young green vegetables, and a zingy aroma that reminds me of the smell of raw sugar. The flavor seems quite delicate; some slight sugar sweetness, faint young green vegetables. The body is more substantial then I would have thought. This tea coats the mouth, and only dries out a tiny bit on the finish. Very refreshing.

Update: 9 infusions and it’s still tasty

I have more Verdant Teas on tap! Here’s one that was a nice surprise…but then again…most of them are from Verdant!

It’s light in color – a light brown with a touch of tangerine color.

The aroma is earthy/sweet-woodsy with maybe a bit of gentle smoke underneath.

The taste is gentle, too…velvety, very slightly sweet, a bit nutty – like walnuts, it sort of reminds me of a gentle mist or fog. This is a wonder! This is mighty-fine! Thumbs up!

I am going to miss this – I only have enough for one more cup!

Today instead of my usual milk and honey, I stirred in a generous tsp of sweetened condensed milk – I had lots left over from my bread pudding recipe last night, so in the tea it must go!

Such a great light and summery chai! I suppose it’s a good time to finish it off, but I will miss it dearly.

I am loving this one – it’s such a smooth blend.

The Yunnan base provides such a nice change compared to my usual chais. This chai is lighter (golden!) and I find myself craving the slight kick from the ginger. The brew is sweet and delicious on it’s own – but with a bit of milk and honey it warms me fully from the inside out. The fennel and citrus play together so nicely – they seem to dance over my tongue and make it tingle. Feels like a warm hug from a missed friend.

I can’t say anymore – what is it about Verdant tea that always makes me speechless. Makes for tough tasting notes anyways!

Thank you so much Jason for sending me a sample of this special tea!

Finally, my spirit was calm enough to drink this tea and appreciate it fully. The time had to be right. So much chaos lately, with little rest.

I didn’t want to rush a rare tea that I couldn’t gather up for myself again. This Yabao is gone. No longer available. ( Psych Joke is on me! I thought this tea was gone,but it’s NOT! So I’m dancing in place (tap, tap, tap! Love happy endings!)

The dry leaves looked like large daggers of wheat and when wet turned bright green, cream and toast.
Smelling like newly sheared grass on a warm Spring evening. Sweet floating scent carried easily on the wind.
The liquor through these 15 second steepings in my Gaiwan, were very clear. Pristine.

1. My first taste was a gentle mist of honeydew melon, light and airy. The juice sparkled then thickened at the very back of the throat. This startled me. How could this be a Pu’er? My mind was stunned not knowing how to process what I was tasting.

2. This cup became a vision of pine trees around a pool of water with light reflecting off the surface. Glistening, sugary bursts heady and intoxicating. Looking down from a point above the pines, gliding on silk…the taste so smooth, fluid and lasting.

3. I didn’t want to admit to it. No! But, I did smell snickerdoodle in the leaves. Ah, yes. Spice and rock sugar, sweet and juicy with some of the pine trees hiding in the background like a trip to a fabled Fairytale House filled with much craved treats.
The best was indeed yet to come.

4. There was an odd smell in the leaves that made me crazy! I wanted to know what it was?! I loved the smell!
This steeping took me on a journey back to the Sierra foothill town of Paradise. One way I heated my home was by woodstove. Being a woman alone with 5 teenaged girls (only 1 was mine…the rest were “throw away kids” that nobody wanted) we had to cut wood and stoke the stove to keep warm in Winter. I remembered the smell of cutting down trees…the smell of the center of the wood and fresh sap. Even though we used cedar and oak, Christmas meant Pine tree cutting.
This Silver Bud Yabao on infusion #4 was smelling like fresh cut pine wood, and sweet like rock sugar, juicy and silky at the finish.

Magnificient! Stunning!

Thank you Jason!

Oh my. oh my oh my. I am somewhat speechless. This is … wow. I feel like I’m drinking the soul of lilacs, young grass, ripe juicy peach and plum. It is the bounty of Mother Earth coming to life even as the last patches of snow are melting away. The taste lingering on your tongue is exquisite. I don’t know if I want to keep drinking this tea or just savor that peachy flavor in my mouth. There’s also something like apple.

I’ve been drinking Tieguanyin all my life, but this is different from any other I’ve had. Is is fair to put this tea in the same category? I suppose this is the freshest tieguanyin I’ve ever had. Picked this very season! I wonder what the leaves tastes like fresh off the plant?

The leaves are much greener than other tieguanyin as well. The smell of the tea was so vegetal at first I was a bit put off. But the flavor of the tea really takes a few sips to unfold. Then you slowly realize what a treasure you have in your cup.

Lovely.

I like to believe that I have an unbiased opinion when trying a new tea. When this tea arrived, I was still new to teas and had only tried about 5 different kinds of white teas. I have to say I was taken in by this on my first pot and it didn’t hit me until my second infusion that this tea might be the one. 3 months later, I know that it is.

This is my #1 white tea of all time and has accompanied me on my romantic dinners, sweet moments, and rough nights. This is literally my go to tea. In fact I’m currently drinking it as I write this.

I just wanted to test the waters and make sure that this was as good as I thought, so I went to about 10 different tea websites and purchased every white jasmine, jasmine pearl, and jasmine silver needle I could find. From jasmine pearl master teas, to superior grade silver needle, this tea has no equal.

I have almost tried to oversteep and bitter the tea, understeep and not obtain flavor, and over cook with 212 degree water but all to no avail. This tea is not only delicious, but will withstand any and all mistakes you might make in the brewing, still coming out like a champion. I recently bought my second batch and will absolutely get a third.

Be warned. If you try this tea you might not like the others jasmine teas as you once did. Happy drinking!

This is by far one of my favorite black teas. I had to go through 4 different tastings on 4 different days with multiple people each time to make sure I wasn’t crazy. Something about the complexity and the aroma pull me in every time. Mind you this is even before I drink my first cup.
I can’t fully explain the complex flavor, but I can say that through the 3 steepings, this tea is just flat out amazing each time. I promise you will not be disappointed. Even if you dislike black tea you have to try this. It is that good.

This green tea is something of a marvel. I usually don’t prefer green tea late night, but this was an exception. The flavor was grassy but with a hint of sweetness though all 4 infusions. For anybody that likes green teas, this is a must try.

This Tieguanyin is nothing short of amazing! Upon opening the bag, the smell was incredible and I knew I was in for a surprise. On the first infusion, it was creamy, floral, and mixed with multiple layers of flavor.
The second infusion was just as good if not better and now that the leaves have opened up.
The taste was slowly fading but still very noticeable and lasted through 4 western style infusions. Very highly recommended for anybody that likes Tieguanyin.

This is certainly a tea you can over brew. Unlike some teas, in my experience, once it goes bitter, no amount of additional water will dilute and save it. Treating this like a traditional Longjing Dragonwell would be a mistake. I prepare this tea in my double wall glass tumbler using about 175 °F water. Most of the time I leave a root with my Longjings. In my opinion, as with the other Laoshan greens that I’ve tried, this needs to be fully decanted.

I think Verdant Tea’s brewing instructions are spot on, and see why they include a demonstration video. This tea is finicky. The 1 min steep recommended in the written instructions? I’d venture to say even that is a bit too long. As you’ll see in the video, he’s working in seconds, not minutes. Also if you wait for the leaves to drop, which I found was very slowly (if at all), you’re again asking for trouble.

It’s certainly a beautiful tea to look at, both the dry and wet leaves. The color of the brew is lively and vibrant. It shares many of the qualities of the Laoshan Greens that I’ve tried, though the pan firing Dragonwell preparation introduce a bit of cinnamon nose and first taste impression. But honestly, I’m not going to go into more detail here because I’m just generally put off by this tea.

I’ve wanted to like it. I had the same reaction to the previous Autumn Dragonwell Laoshan. I respect Verdent and appreciate what they offer and how they operate. But, in the end I think this tea is just too much work. I believe you can get a wonderful result under certain circumstances, but I’ve been more disappointed than rewarded. Maybe I lack patience. Maybe I just prefer a tea that’s a bit more forgiving.

I was very pleased with this sample after having a bum session with Songyang White yesterday, though I have plenty of leaf to revisit it another day. While they do not taste similar they leave the same feeling on the tongue, a bit dry and tingly, what I am learning to identify as lineny, a trademark of Yunnan teas, this one even reminds me of some blacks. I am even beginning to appreciate this texture for what it is, though I personally prefer teas to leave my mouth buttery, juicy, sparkling or cool.

Taste wise they are very different teas, while the Songyang was very quiet for me, this one is vibrant and evokes several tea memories for me. The first steep is mildly perfumey (in a nice way) with a touch of cocoa, it reminds me most strongly of Golden Jade and now reading the description I can relate this to sweetgrass. It gets more interesting in the second steep, which is all piney and rosemary and calls to mind more pungent white teas, even Yabao. The third steep is a blend of the first two with a nice sweet kick at the beginning and gaining an artichoke note, though I totally get the basil and lime. The fourth is less sweet but just as bright.

Unfortunately I had to move on to dinner and was a bit tea-ed out, I’m excited to try the 2012 picking and all these Verdant Yuannan black teas. I also think I shall pick up a bit of Lavender Earl Green with my Alchemy Blends order. 100th tasting note, woo!

Update: Yesterday I tried the sample David sent of the 2012 first plucking thank you. I could tell as soon as I poured the water that this was different. It smelled so very vegetal, even though the steep was only 5 sec and rendered a perfectly clear liquor. The first two infusions tasted more like Laoshan green. The third through fifth reminded me more of last years Jing Shan but I wouldn’t draw the Golden Jade or Yabao comparison this time. It still has that same Yunnan texture to it but is so much more green and I dare say a bit sweeter! So it tastes like itself only more, if that makes sense. In the end I’d say its a very well balanced and delightful green.

This is my 3 session with this tea and I must say I like it,but I don’t love it. I notice the texture that everyone is talking about and it is interesting. I am not getting any astringency from it which is a nice surprise from a black tea. It is a very smooth tea and it has a nice morel mushroom taste to it. I get the cinnamon in later steepings. I am happy that I got to try it.

I’m back to San Francisco after spending a portion of my weekend at Harbin Hot Springs. The sun and splashing around in the hot water definitely seemed to make my arm feel better. Coming back to SF, it feels foggy and FREEZING! High temperature today of only 61 degrees?!

Anyway I thought I’d brew up some of this sample I got from Verdant. I don’t remember how long I have had this, it could have been years already. I usually appreciate yunnans and this is good this morning, very mellow, no astringency just lots of malt and chocolatey goodness. See previous notes for more details.

I had written a review of this and then my computer died and I had to restart and lost it. Boo!

Anyway I had one longish steep of this, about 4 minutes or so, I thought this tea was malty and very grainy. Definitely reminded me of toast and had a sweet flavor with only a tinge of bitterness. I thought that might be related to the longer steeping time.

My second cup I re-steeped the same leaves for around 3 minutes and got a nice mahogany colored tea liquor. Now I think it reminds me a bit of the dark German rye bread that I get sometimes and it’s also a bit like a golden monkey.

This is a tasty tea but I will probably not feel a burning desire to order more because I already have a few teas with similar flavor profiles. I enjoyed it though!

It was as if David and Co. over at Verdant were reading my mind when I placed my last order for Sun Dried Jingshan…because I almost ordered some of this too. I’d tried and LOVED the Autumn picked variety so I was really curious to compare the two. Well, guess which sample turned up in my order!!??

This one is also fantastic! Very light and refreshing, the perfect tea to end my evening with. I’m loving the buttery/creamy flavor too. Clearly you can’t go wrong picking up either fall or spring oolong. I fear another order may be placed a little too soon! The bigger problem would be trying to hid it from my husband. ;)

Thanks David, for the wonderful sample of Laoshan White you tucked into my most recent order! Bonnie mentioned how cute this is dry: like little ringlets of green leaves. I picked up a pinch with my fingers and it clung together in clumps like hair. Very fun.

I did a regular brewing with this (my gaiwan needs washing) and it’s just as wonderful as the previous reviewer says. I used filtered water and got a sort of greeny-gold liquor; the first taste yields sort of the hearty/vegetal taste I associate with gyokuro (or the yummy Laoshan Green I got in the same package from Verdant), but it goes on from there: lightness, coolness, expansiveness, and then maybe a little bit of astringency, which I admit may have come from my western-style brewing; I’ll have to try gongfu with the last of the sample. There is a sweetness all the way through the cup that is sort of vegetal (sugar snap peas? I dunno, I’m not fond of them, but I can kinda see where that description comes in) but reminds me more of the taste of fresh air after rain, if that makes sense. All in all, this has aspects of the brothiness of gyokuro or Laoshan Green, but without any heaviness.

This is really unlike any white tea I’ve ever tasted. I normally expect white tea to either have very little taste, or to be kind of a “lite” version of a black or green tea. This is not “lie down and be submissive” tea; this is white tea that can hold its own without extraneous flavorings. Laoshan White grabs the taste buds, yet it’s very, very drinkable; I could see drinking this all day and feeling not that I’d been drinking something on autopilot, but that I’d had a really nice day!

It being summer, I wish I could try this iced; I think it would probably not change in character (hard to say—I hope not, anyway), but it’d be VERY refreshing. Unfortunately the price of this, and the fact that I just spent too much money on two really lovely teas from Verdant, will keep me from ordering again anytime soon. But at least I can share my impressions so others will hopefully want to try this. It’s absolutely worth it.