Verdant Tea

I don’t generally review a tea more than once. But the circumstances around this latest brew of one of my favorite Laoshan greens compelled me.

You can read my previous review of this tea to get a sense of how I steep it, as not much has changed. I still use a 2 part glass tea infuser with small slits in the inner glass brewing chamber, the only difference is I decanted into my Finum double wall cup. It’s just the perfect size for me. Somewhere along the line I transitioned from drinking tea like it was trucker coffee in 16+oz cups to going smaller and more refined. I do however still go down and dirty at work with a portable jar system, like the guys I saw on the train in China on a visit years ago. There’s something to the 1/2 day steep. I rarely will do that with my more temperamental teas, otherwise I feel like I’m throwing them away. Speaking of throwing them away. This is why I felt I needed to post today:

So I had a good solid nights sleep, woke to some of my Teavivre Organic Longjing and then went about my day. A few steepings of that tight Dragonwell, carried me through to the afternoon/early evening, when I was inspired to enjoy something different. Having slept so well, I wanted to take care with caffeine content late in the day. I didn’t t want to go into the week unrested. So I’m looking at my teas, and thinking maybe a black on a cooler evening… or maybe I’ll pull out a sample and give it a shot; all too caffeine unpredictable. I briefly consider an oolong, but then think maybe this Autumn Harvest Laoshan from last year would be nice. Kinda vegetal for a cool winter evening, but what the heck.

I’ve got it in a nice double-lidded tin that really seems to keep it fresh. I pop the lids and find to my dismay there’s really not much left, maybe 1/2 a cup of leaves. Tea’s meant for drinking though, right? So I consider my brewing options and decide to go with what I know works.

I grab a spoon to measure out a couple teaspoons. Somewhere between taking it out of the container and transferring to my brewing system I catch an edge, and a heaping teaspoon of my precious Laoshan Green gets dumped on the floor. And this is where I contemplate, “I can save this.”

Mind you I’d spent a good part of the day noticing how filthy my floor was, how the fur balls from my cats were rolling around the joint like tumbleweeds. I’d thought to myself, we really need to clean this place. With our work schedule, my wife and I had spoiled ourselves with occasional visits from a cleaning service. I was thinking, A) We both needed to clean up ourselves more (I never once judged my wife) or B) Occasional visits by our cleaning service needed to be more frequent.

But there I was looking down at a filthy kitchen floor, partially covered with dirty laundry piled neatly according to color & fabric type, wondering how much of this tea could be salvaged. It would take much longer than 3 seconds. I could possibly sift some of the dirty bath towels into the sink and get some fairly reasonable leaf, but the floor, not so much. Between the crumbs, dust and cat hair, not to mention whatever I couldn’t see, I had to accept this was a loss.

That’s the kind of tea this is. The kind of tea you’ll consider steeping off the floor. Need I say more?

I just love this tea. That it’s been on clearance, and I was able to squirrel away 4 oz. for a very reasonable price, makes it all the better.

I originally was introduced to it through Verdant’s Green Tea Sampler, also a good value. At the time it was 3 teas: this Laoshan Green, Dragonwell Style Laoshan & a Sun Dried Jingshan Green. The latter and Dragonwell didn’t work for me so much, but this one really grew on me.

I think Verdant Teas require one to slow down and pause if you want to truly appreciate what they have to offer. Drinking as much tea as I do, it’s easy to fall into the routine of just brew and drink. But like mindfullness meditation, when I’ve steeped a tea as exquisite as this, I have to pause and breathe into the moment.

My preferred method for brewing this tea is in my glass tea infuser. The infuser is a 12 oz. pitcher with inner glass cup. One brews the tea in the inner cup and then you slowly lift it out. Pulling the inner cup upward creates a vacuum and the brewed tea drains into the surrounding pitcher through small slits at the bottom. The yield is about 8 oz. of tea per steep.

I follow the Verdant instructions and brew this tea with about 175 °F water. Sometimes the temp may be a little lower, as low as 165-170. Either way the results are satisfying. I introduce about a teaspoon and a half of tea on top of the water, and using glass allows one to really observe the tea as it drops, unfolds and lightly dances.

I can’t tell you exactly what the brewing time has been. I’ve mostly based my timing on color and the action of the leaves. The first steep is probably about two minutes or less I’d guess. Most of the leaves settle immediately, while about a quarter remain stubborn on the top. The lower leaves start unraveling, expanding and stretching out, while the color reaches a lovely yellowish green glow (but not too deep). After a few of the stubborn upper leaves begin to descend, I decant the resulting infusion.

And what a lovely result it is. To borrow from Verdant’s description, there was indeed a similar mouthfeel one might get from a smooth matcha, as well as kind of grassiness, but less like wheat grass and more like rich butter lettuce. I get this whole “green bean flavor” people talk about with Laoshan greens, and I particularly appreciate it here. As far as there being any chocolate notes, I’m afraid they are lost on me.

The way I brew it, there is a wonderful back of the mouth tingling and mild memory of astringency. If there’s any bitterness, it goes by a different name here. Finally my palate is left with a subtle lingering sweetness, almost saccharine, if saccharine was a good thing.

The subsequent steepings (upwards of 3 or 4) continue to expound on what’s been introduced. I tend to steep shorter on my second steeping, as I find the wet leaves, after sitting between cups, are fairly ripe to steep. The vegetal qualities begin to wain and each infusion tends to get dryer for me. With that the mouthfeel grows more intense, going from softer and rounder in it’s feel to more vibrant and alive. The tingling on my palate expands from the back of my tongue and spreads around the periphery, leaving me wanting more.

The caffeine punch is so far from a punch, and much closer to a warm hug than anything. I’m gathering the theanine content of this tea, if tested, would be fairly high. I’m left alert, and aware, but calm and relaxed. For an “Autumn” tea, this is somewhat contrary to my understanding of theanine being higher in spring teas, but I’ll leave that to the scientists.

The 3rd steep usually means reheating my water, which then requires me to bring it back down to temp by pouring it back and forth from the pitcher to my drinking glass. My steeping time returns to about 2 minutes, but I depend more on smell now. As the tea is fully expanded, the color is hard to identify at this point. When decanted it retains it’s glow.

The experience of the 3rd and 4th steepings verge on a totally unique new tea, and that’s one of the characteristics I love about this Laoshan Green; such a complex profile. These latter steepings retain the subtle sweet aftertaste with every sip, but just grab hold of your taste buds and pull on them. A grassy nose remains, but it’s more about the dry notes which feel as though they are wringing my taste buds out. Here, a kind of bitterness might enter the equation, but I don’t mind. Combined with the mouthfeel and physical play on my tongue, it all comes together.

24 oz. yield, over multiple infusions, from about a teaspoon and a half of tea, is pretty good in my book. I’d dare say 32 oz. but maybe that’s pushing it. I’m happy to push it.

This is one of those teas that would be great for drinking on a stormy night. It’s flavor is toasty and deep with notes of dark chocolate. There’s a little bit of a tang to it on the aftertaste, and it almost seems a little bit acidic (but in a pleasant way). I also get little hints of pepper like in Verdant’s description. I am loving this tea. It’s so “dark” tasting and complex, it’s the kind of tea that gets you a little buzzed purely off of the excitement of having such a great cup available to you. This is tied with the Golden Fleece for my second favorite tea I’ve tried from Verdant, right behind the Cornfields Shu.

Ohhh wow this… is… incredible. Simply yet ever so complicatedly incredible. As in my tongue and my nose do not believe what they are tasting and smelling. I have never had an orchid oolong and I wanted so very much to try this when I saw it on Steepster a couple months ago. I inquired first with David as to if it would be returning, when it seemed not, I turned to Steepster and used it for what it is: a community, a community of very generous tea lovers. So I asked around, starting with the locals and those who didn’t care as much for this one. The good lady Angrboda who is in no way local, answered my plea and sent me this and some other lovely samples from Europe! Thank you so very much for giving me the opportunity to try this, I am so grateful.

The teas from Ang arrived a couple weeks ago, but alas I had a sinus infection and put them off. However if I had known what this tea was going to do to my throat ans nasal passages i probably would have drank it right away. It is so cooling and cleansing and tea gods don’t strike me down, but it does remind me of my brew of Throat Coat and Twig Tea. However I am glad I waited to take the time to fully savor this, I probably would have thought I was crazy for that observation then anyway. For today I have the house to myself, a rare blessing, as my mother has taken the toddler to a parade. I took a shower, lay down for awhile and treated myself to this very special tea for my 99th tasting note and after this I think I may do some art!

Upon opening the pouch I was met with an unexpected aroma, true I didn’t know what to expect, but definitely not dark grassy Gyokuro. I have not found this grassy note in the cups I have brewed and infact it changed as soon as the leaves hit the warm mug, to something strange and culinary I just can’t put my finger on. I did the quickest of steps with water just off the boil and the smell changed to something more earthy and illeagal, the word hash sprang to mind, though I only have one vague years old memory that. The aroma of the liquor shape shifted in the cup as the taste did in my mouth, starting out sort of charcoaly and morphed into that cool almost medicinal brew (medicinal in the most natural herb and root sense).

I was worried at first that I had scorched the leave as it started out toasty, then came a slight sweetness, then a coolness at the back of the mouth, developing into candy and flooding my nose from the inside out. I have never had ginseng oolong, but I can understand the comparison as this is all ginseng and anise and only the slightest bit of floral, candied flowers, orchid concentrated, sweetened and made into a cough drop and a nasal spray and I love it. Yes it is sweet but it’s also intense, almost harsh at moments, but with a self-soothing mechanism built in.

So I can understand why a few didn’t care for it, but I immediately want to share it, in a tasting with Yabao and the ‘04 Yanxin’s Reserve Shu Nuggets. Me thinks this would have to be the last tea tasted though. I wish I had enough for that and a cold brew, but sharing wins out. But for now I am going to see if I can draw out more that these first five infusions, it’s getting a bit ashy, but I think there is still life in them yet. Thank you Angrboda for sharing this and David Duckler and Verdant Tea for supplying and sourcing it!

The description for this tea sounded incredibly enticing, so I could not resist. The people at Verdant are by far the best company at writing tea descriptions that make you swoon. I was surprised by just how strong the aromas of cinnamon and vanilla cream were in the tea as it brewed. I didn’t have to try hard to find these flavors, they really stuck out clearly. The earthiness of this tea is there, but it is very light and smooth and as I sip I get faint flavors of cinnamon and malt, and there is a tingling sensation on the finish. This is a very clean, smooth and delicious pu-erh. I’m so glad I was brave enough to try pu-erh so early on in my tea adventure, because I now know that it’s going to be a life-long love.

What a crazy last few days it has been. New home purchase had to be inspected and appraised, busy busy at work with the district people coming down this weekend, hail the size of golf balls pounding from the sky between tornado watches, my daughter learned a new word – and that word is "no"… just plain crazy.

Into this maelstrom comes a small window of sanity where I am alone to just breathe it all out after Zoey is down to bed and Leanne is off at the hospital making people whole again overnight. I read Lynne-tea’s review of this sought after Oolong and decided the time was right. Thank you Bonnie for giving me this sample of solace!

I found that my notes more often went sharply toward the intangible and read like “tree house” and “caught in a summer shower” as opposed to “grassy” or “tastes like buttery flowers?” as I went back through what I scrawled in my journal over the 22! steeps that poured out from the 6.8g that eventually overcame the confines of my little 4oz gaiwan like a slow growing vine.

Being 8 years young, sitting on the second step of our old, tattered, halfway screened in porch while my ankles and feet swing through too tall grass that leaves the earlier afternoon’s downpour sticky and sweet in my lungs. Pillaging an old mason jar and hounding after lightening bugs in the humid dusk to doze next to after dark. This tea doesn’t remind me of that time, I close my eyes and can relive it.

Oh yeah. It tastes good too.

I finally decided to heed Geoffrey’s advice and steep this in the gaiwan with a very large quantity of leaf.

First infusion: Steeped for 45 seconds. Aroma is very roasty. Got a thick, yellow liquor that reminds me of buttery honey, a definite bitterness in the finish.

Second infusion: 45 seconds. Leaf is now filling up half the gaiwan. I am still getting lots of bitterness although my water temp. is around 180F. I wonder if I used too much leaf but when I used less leaf I could barely taste anything at all. The only other phoenix oolong I have had is from the Tao of Tea which was much less fussy and high maintenance than this. The aroma of it is awesome but the bitterness is not appealing to me.

Third infusion: 20 seconds. I am finally getting something closely approximating a decent cup of tea. Aroma is roasty and buttery, smells better than it tastes but at least it isn’t bitter now.

4th Steep: 30 seconds or less. Just measured my water temp and it’s around 140F and still bitter. Does this tea think it’s a gyokuro? Maybe I just need to try cold brewing the rest.

Conclusion: ??? Not sure if Dancongs are not my cuppa or if there is something more to be done to make this more palatable to me. The first time I tried it with less leaf I thought it was flavorless but perhaps there is something between that and this bitter thing. I have one or two coming from other places so soon I will be able to make a better determination. I see Krystalen had to try this three times before she finally found a way to make it appealing. Gah! :(
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I just went to Verdant’s website and watched the video of how to brew this tea so I will try it again.

New Leaf! lots of leaf and did a quick rinse. 10 second steep and it is better than the ones above but I swear I can still taste the bitterness. Phooey. I’m kind of… OVER IT! God knows I have done my due diligence with this one.

Give me a wuyi yancha, please…

I’m holding off on rating this for now. I steeped some up this morning in the gaiwan and I just don’t get the appeal of it particularly with all the extended verbiage everyone else has used to describe it. It’s okay, but??? Am I missing something? Any helpful advice?

This is my sipdown of this morning…

I may have overleafed this today because it sure does seem strong, with notes of tobacco reaching almost epidemic proportions! I don’t quite remember it tasting so bitter before. I see that Verdant is not selling this anymore on their websit. I have enjoyed it…

Hope all my Steepster friends have a great weekend!

Tea of the morning here. I forgot I had this one and in my stupor this morning I accidentally steeped it for too long (3 minutes). Even so, it is still good and reminds me of bittersweet chocolate. I will have to remember to steep this one for less time next time. I need to get into the habit of writing a note or putting a sticker on my teas for the optimal and preferred steeping time. I hope everyone has a good weekend. :)

My latest order from Verdant arrived and no, I do not need any more caffeine today but I couldn’t resist this anyway. mwa ha ha! By the way, thanks to David for answering my anxiety ridden e-mail about where my order was. I am paranoid because the mail person leaves our office packages in an unsecured location.

I read other people’s tasting notes and I wasn’t sure how to make this but in the end I decided I would have it Western style today and gong-fu it at home.

The aroma of the wet leaves is definitely malty and peppery! I’ve heard about this peppery quality before but have never experienced it myself.

The first cup I steeped for 3.5 minutes which may have been too long (because my cup is very dark), but this is pretty tasty. My first impression is of a slightly bittersweet chocolate, it’s very rich and full. I am getting the fruity element as well that others have remarked on. I can see why Verdant likens this to a lightly roasted coffee because I feel the same way about it, except it isn’t bitter like coffee can be. In the finish I’ve gotten a bit of tannin and peppery element which then slowly is transformed into sweetness, how odd. I am hoping the tannin will decrease with a shorter steeping time.

I decided to do a second steep for 2 minutes and got a medium reddish brown cup, so this is probably closer to what it should be. Definitely a rich and smooth cuppa. With the shorter steeping time I am getting more fruity notes and more sweetness in the finish, which I kinda like (okay, I am a wimp). Now it’s a bit more like caramel. Someone just commented that my tea smells like tobacco. Interesting… complex and full of flavors. Perhaps a tad bit heavy on the tannins for yours truly but we’ll see what happens when I gong fu this. :)

This is a very pretty tea, tightly rolled green balls with jasmine flowers ans little pieces of orange rind. It doesn’t smell much different than a regular tiequanyin. The extra pieces don’t seem to add much in smell.

Taste starts out floral, orchid and jasmine, but the jasmine is very soft like it’s part of the tea, like the orchid is, and not like a scented tea. There is the buttery texture with a rich mouth-feel lasting into the aftertaste. The orange rind adds a slight citrus note that compliments the floral and creamy notes quite well during the main sip. It also adds a bit of a sparkling quality on the tip of the tongue in the aftertaste. There is also an extra bit of sweetness to it, i might be from the saffron but that’s a wildcard for me.

The oolong is still very predominant and the extra add-ins compliment and enhance the tea.

This is another tea (#98) that I love the flavor of, but I just don’t crave lately. I can’t believe how well this white jasmine tea has aged. It is still fresh and delicious.

Maybe I am just not craving fruity and floral teas because it is winter. Who knows. I have to force myself to drink them, but when I do, I love them.

This is another quite old tea in my cupboard, and as a white tea it’s probably one that should be drank up sooner than later. Fortunately it has aged very well; this tea is still as creamy, sweet, and deliciously floral as it was when I first got it. I would probably restock this one as my straight jasmine tea (as opposed to a jasmine pearl) just because I love the white base so much.

In that mythical time when my cupboard has been pared down to a small number of essential teas (plus a few rotating samples), this will likely have a home. I have a few more servings of it that I will enjoy before it’s gone!

Mmmm, it’s so nice when a tea ages well. This one is one of those! Still lovely jasmine, with a nice substantial white base. I brewed it a little hotter today just to see how it behaved and I think I like it this way best. I love a white tea brewed at 190°F–195°F, where it has more body and flavor. This cup was sweeter, and even slightly creamy in texture. I slurped this one down super fast!

Second tea of the morning. I have all these teas that I’ve only tried once! This is from the previous harvest of this tea. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a jasmine tea, and my mouth is watering in anticipation.

Mm, this is definitely a nice jasmine tea. It’s not quite sweet in the way that some jasmine teas can get, but it is very fragrant and delicious. The white tea provides a nice background for the jasmine, which is very fresh tasting. I think I could have used a bit more leaf in this (tough to dish out teaspoons when the leaves are so long and spindly!) but that can be easily remedied for the next!

When I made my order for the Golden Fleece I threw in an ounce of this as well since it was labeled as “low stock” and I always wanted to try it. Western brewing as instructed on the Verdant site. Unfortunately I don’t have time to wax poetic about this tea today but safe to say I would if I could! It is a really delicious tea.

The dry leaf smells jasminey in a sweet, fresh, honeysuckle-y way, and the steeped tea smells a little more pungently jasmine. The flavor on this one is so sweet and fresh. It’s almost juicy, which is mind blowing from a jasmine tea. That’s really the most prominent thing I take away from this tea, that lovely juiciness. There is definitely a good amount of natural sweetness to this, which really brings out those honeysuckle notes. It is super smooth and silky in the mouth, and altogether a real pleasure to drink. Yum.

Second Review

Feeling in a blue mood today and one of the best remedies is going through my big stash of tea’s to find just the right cure. What I’m looking for has to be at the top of my list of all time favorites, somewhere in the top 10!

Frankly, I don’t have many white tea’s but this Laoshan White is something unique. Something really special. This is the one!

I would advise not to drink white tea on an empty stomach because it has caffeine. But, you might feel a sense of centerdness which a high quality tea can provide and is a pleasant feeling.

I used a Gaiwan and kept my steeping time at 20 seconds which gave me a rich tea broth and very fragrant light green liquor that smelled like salty buttered green beans and spinach mash. It was a wonderful smell.

When I brought the liquor up to my mouth to drink I inhaled deeply and my sinus’s almost seized up…like an old vehicle…clanging “Wha’z this Bonnie?”..clunk clunk…! “Ouch!” The scent was soooo intense that it hurt! I have to be more careful!(It did smell good though and opened everything up for the tasting session ahead!) Wow!

I took a single sip. Water, like drinking hot tea over ice crystals and the melting ice slippery like little daggers then gone.
The flavor was young, sweet (but still vegital enough) snap pea’s and green beans.

Ah, Grandma’s pole beans. (Did you really think I could get through a review without a STORY?!…OH NO!)
WHEN I was a little girl my family lived so close to the San Francisco Airport (in Milbrae,CA) that when Jet Planes were NEW and flew over our house the TV would go out. AND we had a lot of SONIC BOOMS! You can imagine. I’d be looking for frogs or building a fort and BOOM!, then on my bike BOOM! Mikey Mouse Club, BOOM! NO TV!
My rich grandmother would come to our house every Spring and plant pole beans in the backyard. For some wierd reason her name was LOLITA (not a common Scots name)! (My middle name is LO. Just LO and no more because of her). Anyway, we had beans growing everywhere in long rows filling the whole yard instead of lawn. When I wasn’t busy digging a hole to China (and trying to avoid wherever the devil was), I was picking pole beans or eating the sweet young ones raw..snap…crunch. So good!

My second steeping was better than the first. Sweet. There was something floral…but not…then I thought there was a strawberry fruitiness…but no…ah some honey in the snow peas. Yes, a little honey! Clover honey! And saltiness.
Even though this is such a juicy tea it’s not really creamy. I don’t mind. Everything is so fresh and clean.
There is a draw, some sort of mystery that comes from drinking this Laoshan White. I feel the addictive longing for more. EEKS!

Finally, the third steeping while I am still fairly sane, is like walking through fields, row after row of tended beans along the Watsonville, Santa Cruz Coast in the early evening… right after late watering is done. The fog is about to roll in from the Pacific and I have picked a handful of dripping crisp beans. Snap. I pop several into my mouth to crunch. There is nothing fresher or sweeter.

This last drink reminds me of this coolness and juiciness. Fresh. Sparkling.

I can sit for hours in a beach chair sipping this tea, observing nature and enjoying how the tea makes me feel. So relaxed and centered.

This tea is not to be missed! I’ve upgraded my rating!

Thank you to Geoffrey and Verdant for this new Laoshan White sample!

Most of the time, tea is an experience to share with a friend or a time to reflect on scenes from my life. The places I’ve been and the sweetness of life that I sometimes have forgotten about.
Like a magic key, drinking tea unlocks those special memories in a mystical way that I accept as just being the way things are. I can’t explain it.

When I received this sample, I was so pleased. The packet looked stranger than any White tea I had seen before. Green, green little tightly curled rings of tea that looked like thin noodles. I think I chuckled with delight.

This morning I began with a small glass pot, spring water, 1.5tsp tea. 30-35 sec. steep at 175f 6oz water and will record here 3 steepings. (It could go to 5) The liquor was pale yellow green, then golden and finally pale yellow. (I drink from a small sipping bowl)

My experience with this Laoshan White had a place in mind.
I was immediately taken visually somewhere familiar in my life. I lived in Northern California. My father was from Napa, my mother born in a logging camp. Being close to the Monterey Coast and the bounty of fruits and vegetables…with the fog cooling the fields of lettuce, beans, squash, grapes, artichokes, berries…you feel that life inside you. For some reason, the picture of the fields, and the fog rolling in as it did every afternoon was in my mind as I drank this tea.

My first sip had an immediate startling impact. Wow! Wow! “What is this?”, I spoke aloud.
There was a sizzle, a sparkle and instantly a coolness. I thought about the vegetable flavor that was present and could not figure it out. There were no notes on this tea yet to help me. Thinking of the freshest vegetables on the Coast with a delicate flavor and sweet skin…I thought of yellow summer squash. Sliced at an angle and cooked al dente
in unsalted butter…creamy but the sweet tender flavor intact. Juicy, fresh.

I was left with the feeling that I had finished a good meal. Lingering flavor and rich mouth-feel.

Second steeping.
The smell of the wet leaves were strong! Meaty! I wanted to eat them!
This bowl was sweeter and more floral and like the fog it was a vapor cool in my mouth…drifting by. There was a slight bitterness and less of a vegital taste. I was moving so fast like tea speed dating. I Paused……
When I slowed down, I was able to notice heat on my tongue and an aftertaste that was good…but I couldn’t tell what it was. Somewhere in this second steep I was meandering…wandering and got lost. Maybe the tea was in transition. Maybe I was.

Third steeping.
The wet leaves had fully opened up to a vibrant green. They smelled delicious.
The sip from my bowl was exciting! My mouth lit up, fully awake and tingling. There were wild clover flowers, sweet juice on a carpet of cream. “This was where the tea was taking me…and this is a fine place to be,” I said. The lingering taste of the tea is outstanding. For the longest time you taste the flavor. You want more and more. The tea is addictive.
At that point, I realized I had consumed 18oz. of the finest White Tea in short order and was feeling the effects. What is called a “Centerdness” among other things, a little tea buzz. Really nice!

This is a curious review for me. I have no background in White Tea, no guidelines, no instructors. I know what I like. The experience of where this tea took me…to a place where my children and I picked berries, where I bought artichokes off the farm. Where I worked with migrant children years ago on the farms. This vision with the tea was special.

Backlogging and based almost entirely on my notes

Experience buying from Verdant Tea http://steepster.com/places/2886-verdant-tea-online-minneapolis-minnesota

Date of Purchase/Amount of Leaf/Age of Leaf/Date of Steeping: I received a 15 grams sample of this from David in the fall of 2011; I believe it was harvested in the spring of that year; I steeped this on 12/10/2011.

Appearance and Aroma of dry leaf: All I remember here is that the appearance and aroma of the leaves reminded me of the best qualities of an expensive spring green tea I tried from a local Asian market months earlier.

Brewing guidelines: < no notes here, but I vaguely remember using most of the sample with six cups of H2O, and I probably steeped it loose in my glass six-cup Bodum, with stevia added >
……….1st: 165⁰F; 1’
……….2nd: 180⁰F; 1.5’ (“180F was intentional due to it being a sun-dried tea.”)
……….3rd: 185⁰F; 2’ (“Much later in the day.”)
……….4th: 188⁰F; 2.5’

Color and Aroma of tea liquor: Pale yellow color; < no notes on aroma >.

Flavor of tea liquor (by steeping):
1st:… mild, but good flavor;
2nd:.. a little more flavorful then the 1st (probably due to the higher temperature)
3rd:.. still good, but very mild
4th:… minor flavor

Appearance and Aroma of wet leaf: No notes here other than, “Leaves were on the top during all steepings.”

Blends well with: I tried blending the remaining amount of this sample with another green tea, but unfortunately it didn’t turn out well; my guess is that the other green tea had different brewing requirements. Needless to say, I make it a goal not to mix samples any more (I was bummed, as I really liked this tea)!

Value: This wonderful green tea is about as expensive as the other green teas Verdant Tea offers (as of 6/5/2012 it is on clearance, but I believe it is normally about $40 / 4 OZ); it’s too expensive for me at regular price, but I may decide to acquire some if I can get a ‘deal’ on it at some later date (i.e. during a sale) when the fresh stuff comes in, or possibly as part of a sampler pack.

Overall: It’s been over seven months since I brewed it up now, but I do remember thinking at that time that this was one of the best tasting green teas I had ever had. Although I have enjoyed tasting all of the green teas he carries, I think I liked this one the most. “It reminds me of a Teatrekker tea that tasted like artichokes. I like it!” Notes on 2nd steeping: “I think I should have done the first steeping hotter. Slight astringency (bite/dryness) here that was absent on the first steeping.” My understanding is that since sun-dried green teas are processed a little differently than the Chinese green tea processing methods normally used (basket or pan fired) it needs to be brewed a little differently. I think I would start at about 175F-180F the next time I brew this one up. I am hoping to be able to get my hands on some of this great Tea again sometime in the near future!

This is the last of a full one ounce sample that Jason sent me about 4 months ago. The Chai is very Gingery and got mixed reviews depending on how you feel about ginger really. This is my final cup (sigh).

I’m a fan of ginger. It makes me feel better when my stomach is upset (happens often). The taste of this Golden Chai is not sharp but sweet and mellow. Ginger can be bitter but this tea isn’t even after re-steeping several times.
I love how my body feels warmed from within like a soft glow when I drink this Chai.

I brewed my tea early which was comforting when I turned on my computer. I had slept in a bit, wrote a tea review then went to my email and read some sad but not unexpected news.

The Godmother to my grandchildren, and dearest family friend Terry Beck passed last night after her 5 month battle with cancer.

I’ve spoken of her before. Her 60 foster children, 5 adult children and 5 adopted. She leaves her Husband Fr. Andrew Beck and 2 adopted sons 4 and 8 still at home.
So Memory Eternal to my friend!

I made this tea and looked at pictures of Terry holding my naked Grandson Micah at his Baptism… all smiles. Then I looked out my window and the snowflakes were just beginning to float down.

For about an hour, a steady quiet snow fell.

When she became ill, Terry had a tea time once a week at her home in the Redwoods. Ladies (and a few men) from the neighborhood and the Church would come and make tea and visit. My daughter met with her for tea on the internet and they chatted and laughed.
She communicated to everyone her joy and gratitude for life.

Tea, life, gratitude. I can drink tea and practice gratitude in her memory. I’ll have to work on it since I can be a grumbler.

I’ve gone all over the place with this review. Some people might think this is not appropriate on a tea site. Maybe so. Just don’t hit like and carry on. I’m not offended if people don’t like me. Just be kind to others…that’s when I get upset!

For the end of this discontinued Chai, and the first snow…

…and Terry! http://youtu.be/p3iYnHx8P0s

Time to revisit this spicy smooth yummy Chai.
Why?
I have a movie to watch and a Dark Chocolate “Love” bar with Crystalized Ginger from Boulder…(Oh Bonnie is a very bad girl)!

I love pairing Chai tea with chocolate. Black malty tea’s taste great with chocolate or with a spiced cookie like I had yesterday with a chewy ginger cookie.

Sometimes people think Chai is only for Winter. Ha! (I love hot Chai year round.) Then again, cold Chai is refreshing.
This spicy tea is packed with so much flavor…I mean really, packed with the best tea base… then the freshest spices layered on top. When you add your favorite milk (or almond/soy addition) and honey or sweetening of choice… you’re set. In the Summer, chilled this is the best! Tasty!

I wonder, what would this be like chilled in the freezer? A real slushy Chai steeped in milk and frozen then blended in the blender? (I’ve got to try this!) What an idea!

I vote for MORE CHAI PLEASE!

Keep making more and more Chai Verdant Tea!

Thanks Jason for this Chai Sample

All of this morning I’ve been drinking a new White Tea. At 18oz. I had a pretty big tea buzz and had to take a break. And, I was hungry! (I don’t eat anything before drinking a light tea. Whites, Oolongs…need respect!)
I reheated some turkey meatballs from last evening that had curry, fresh mint from my patio garden, cilantro and garlic. Tasty.
I was ready for tea again…I couldn’t drink a light tea because of my meal. A Chai, on the other hand, stands up to almost any food. I picked the sample from Jason out of my stash of “to be reviewed” tea’s and set a pot to brew.

Chai is supposed to grab your attention and sweep you off your feet like a bull fighter.
You don’t have to slurp and walk around a dainty cup or worry about “should I add milk or honey or sugar?”….Chai says “Go ahead…do whatever you want to with me…I can take it…I’m strong!” So, if you’re looking for a muted tea experience, this might disappoint you. Then again, it might excite your senses!

I love bold! Pu-erh, Black Tea, Chai, the biggest flavorful White and Oolong and Green tea’s that I can get my hands on!
This Chai has no cardamon and doesn’t lead with ginger. The first impression I had was heat. Heat from galangal and cinnamon, followed by ginger and fennel. There was a tingling in my mouth from the cinnamon that made me think of melting Red Hot Candies…which I liked so much as a little girl.
I began to notice the Holy Basil. It’s refreshing. Somehow my mind wandered (not a stretch at all) to the flavor of an apple pie turnover…the crust part when the top is hot and has granulated sugar on it and you can crack it…take off a piece and pop it in your mouth. I can taste that in the tea.
I put my nose into my half empty mug and inhaled/exhaled…several times steaming my glasses. The fragrance was like the cedar in a sauna. The mineral scent of wet rocks, the warm sensual smell that comes from the damp wood.

I have the Verdant Chai with cardamon, a strong cinnamon Chai from Butiki and I really like this Yunnan Golden Chai without the cardamon and without the heavy cinnamon and ginger. All 3 supply me with the types of Chai suited for different moods. They stand up to strong foods and remind me of comfort, like a hug or down blanket.

Thank you again Jason!

I know, I said I was going to be more active and post more often, and then I disappeared. I was kind of in a tea funk? I immediately got kind of bored with my cupboard run-through, and a lack of desire to drink one tea that was next (which I was supposed to drink today and STILL DID NOT DRINK) led to me kind of giving up for a while and just drinking some DF teas that I wanted to drink.

At least the intervening tries to get myself back on track led to me drink this tea (#99; I got rid of a sample in the intervening time so my cupboard dropped a number) multiple times? I’ve probably drank it more in the last month than I did all of last year.

I enjoy this tea. I don’t looooove this tea like I used to, but I am leaving the rating. I think I am in a more flavored tea swing, honestly. I just want to drink flowery French things all day. I guess I will be happy when I get to that part of my cupboard. But I did enjoy this cup, and really have no complaints.