Verdant Tea

My first impression of this tea is that it’s really, really good. My first experience with shu went pretty bad, but this is so much better. Unfortunately, I don’t have time for a full review, I have a double-header of exams tomorrow, and I need to review. I’ll reserve judgement until I have some time to really reflect on this tea.

After hours of studying and several (I lost count) cups of tea, I have to say that I do not in any way regret buying this tea. In all honesty, it’s actually a nice break from the Yunnan blacks that I’ve been favoring recently. I’ll try to post a more substantive review later this week, probably Thursday or Friday.

AMAZINGLY good. So incredibly good. OH my!

The dry leaf is incredibly aromatic, with strong “green” notes – green as in fresh grass clippings and dark, leafy green vegetables. Sweet and fresh and vibrantly green. The brewed tea maintains that strong green scent, although it is softer than that of the dry leaf.

The flavor is sweet. It has a thick (think velvety thick … and soft!) mouthfeel, with a delicious creamy note that melds beautifully with the sweetness. Easily one of the creamiest, sweetest “pure” (aka unflavored) green teas I’ve ever tasted. Smooth and rich and silky, with a mild vegetal tone. There is some astringency to this, but I find that most of it is softened by the creaminess, making the sip from start to finish remarkably smooth and well-rounded.

This may sound weird, but, this reminds me of fresh milk. Not fresh from the grocery store milk, but fresh from the farm milk … not a dairy farm, but, a small, family farm that allows its cows to graze on meadows of grass. Milk that hasn’t been processed or pasteurized or homogenized or any other such thing – just pure, fresh, unadulterated milk where you can still taste hints of the grass. I haven’t had milk like that in many more years than I care to admit to, but, the flavor of this tea brought those delicious memories of visiting my childhood friend’s farm back to me.

Backlogging:

At first I thought I had picked the worst day to review this tea. When I woke up I felt fine, made a cup, enjoyed it, steeped again, fell asleep. I will bring this back up later in the review but for now – on to the tea!

This tea in dry and steeped from smelled the same. Malt was the very first flavor I could smell. A wonderful slightly chocolatey sweet malt. If you have ever had Carnation Instant Milk in Malt flavor that is what it reminded me of! The leaf was stunning to look at and had this powdered substance all over it – when I first opened the bag it sort of poofed up as I was smelling it and I almost got a big snort of tea powder. The tea itself is not powder of course but rather they are delightful twisted brown and golden leaves.

The first sip made me smile really big. I am sure I looked like the Cheshire cat! This was bliss in a cup! A soothing melody of earthy sensations!

In case no one has noticed I am fine with metaphors!

The day before I had this horrible day of tea samplings, almost everything had this watered down “where’s Waldo” seeking for the flavor experience! Today – to begin my day with THIS tea was a gift! So refreshing to have a tea that is so full of flavor, complex, and unfolding like a story book that makes you want to keep turning from page to page, chapter to chapter! That is how I felt with each steep! This is a tea I could gulp down far too quickly, I had to keep reminding myself to sit back, relax, breathe, be peaceful, and enjoy! I was just so excited with this cup!

There were deep tones such as woods, spices, malt, and chocolate, but yet this tea had such amazing juiciness as well, with a slight peach undertone. The aroma is roasty and toasty and went perfectly this morning with my scone, clotted cream, and cherry brandy preserves! Later in the first cup I noticed almost a sweet potato flavor although it was subtle.

When the cup was empty I immediately went for steep two! At this point I noticed something strange. My teacup was heavily stained. Not only did it have this light stain all over the inside of the cup but also a spotted leopard like pattern of darker stains within it! I have never seen this before so I decided to soak my cup in some water with lemon juice and baking soda. Grabbing another cup I thought I had better brush my teeth with the same mixture when I was done with my multiple steeps of this tea.

On the second steep I increased the steep time by 30 seconds. I am not even sure this was necessary as this cup was darker and richer than the first! I was throughly enjoying this cup of tea lazing on the sofa when I realized that I did not get nearly as much sleep as I had needed the night before. I had only awoken as early as I did because my mailman made my dogs go crazy as he brought a package to my door! I am however pleased that I was woken up because this tea was in that package! I decided to allow myself to drift, leaving my tea on the table. About an hour later I awoke again, to cold tea. The smell of the now cold tea was robust and chocolaty so I decided what the heck and took a gulp. So good! The chocolate notes did come out more when cooled! This was an enjoyable steep similar to the first with more chocolate notes.

Steep three offered a choco-nutty aroma – milk chocolate. Yum! The malty notes were laying nicely in the background and the honey notes were more noticeable to me now, or maybe the grain notes were evolving into a more honey flavor. This steep was amazing as I realized there were sparkling dancing bubble like notes bouncing around on my tongue! Love it! There was a very light peppery flavor present but it did not remind me so much of peppercorn as it did that dusty loose pepper you can get in the tin can in any regular grocery store. Still it offers a lovely, light, non-confrontational pepper zing.

I also found that this tea is very refreshing for a tea with so many deep, earth, flavor notes! It is thirst quenching and I will definitely be taking this tea with me when I go out and about. I will even ice this tea and take it on the go when doing sporting activities! I find it unusual for me to think this of a tea with so many “heavy” type notes!

I sat my delightful brewer aside to reconnect with my lovely Jin Jun Mei later in the day but so far three of three steeps have been wonderful and I know for sure I will get at least three more! Not one of these steeps had any astringency, bitterness, or any flavor that was anything other than perfection! This is one of my favorite teas of all time, of all types, straight, or with additives, “flavored” or not, thus far on my tea journey!

I am working on a review of this tea but its slow going as I am not feeling well today. I am wondering however if anyone else has noticed how badly this tea stains your tea cup and teeth! LOL it is an absolutely wonderful tea – one of my favorites now, but dang it stains!

It’s been a while since I had this tea, so I figured that I could do a quick not about it. Today is actually a day for work, since I have several midterms this coming week, and I need to manage my remaining time this weekend carefully.

Anyway, the first cup was prepared with boiled water (I read an interesting guide on how to make tea the Russian way recently, and they made a great distinction between water that had at some point been boiled and “raw” water. It was really interesting, see link at the bottom.), and was let to steep for 15 seconds. The result was very pleasant, with that amazing juicy quality that I love so much. I don’t really “taste” sandalwood, but it’s certainly an importnat part of the aroma of the tea and one of its unique characterisics. Also, I just love how naturally sweet the tea is! I didn’t realize how much I missed this tea until I tried it, so I’ll probably try to drink it more often.

Right, I got really busy with the studying (there was a lot of material to review for Abstract Algebra…), so I didn’t actually take nots on the other steeps, other than I messed up a lot and oversteeped every single one of them. I’m actually impressed, that is extremely unusual for me. Regardless, it was very delicious, and remained sweet the entire time, and I actually remember tasting the snadlewood after one of the steeps. Sure, I’ve never licked sandalwood, but that was the best description of the taste that was present. All in all, it was a sucessful session, alveit high;y unusual.

Music of the Day – Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin, conducted by Bernstein while playing the piano!

Link – http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0DD4766829A4B9A8

This is actually a playlist, since the piece was broken up into two videos. Regardless, Bernstein does a great job, and the piece really comes alive under his expert guidance.

Russian Tea – http://home.fazekas.hu/~nagydani/rth/Russian-tea-HOWTO-v2.html

An interesting guide to tea made in the traditinoal Russian manner. I’m going to have to experiment with this at some point…

Alright, after surviving my last two exams and helping a friend move out, I finally have time to actually post a note. This is actually my second cup of tea, as I was really nervous this morning and made myself a cup of fukamushi sencha to calm down. Anyway, I went into this tea with kinda low expectations, as I really didn’t like the last dancong I had, but I was pleasantly surprised by this tea. This one is also juicy, but the flavors present seem better to me. This first cup displays evidence of something woody/spicy, and is a bit sweeter than I expected. I can’t wait to see how it develops.

To clarify, the previous cup was a bit rushed, and was interrupted frequently as my suite mate was moving out. That’s why I was a bit vague. Anyway, the second cup was really, really good. I actually got a chance to check out the aroma while it was still nice and hot, and it was simply astounding. The sandalwood seems to envelop me, making everything seem more peaceful and relaxing (which is amazing, considering I’m in my dorm room in the middle of packing, and there is stuff thrown everywhere). There are some other aromas present, but my allergies are acting up a bit, so they’re hard to catch for me right now. Anyway, the tea’s taste is also wonderful, with a bit more fruitiness than last time, but still retaining the juiciness of the previous cup. There is also a nice spice flavor developing, but it’s still a bit muddled.

Mmm, the third cup displays delightful development for the spice flavors. It tingles on my tongue after each sip. It’s also warming, which is nice since the weather took a turn for the worse and it’s raining right now. Anyway, back to the tea, it’s remarkable that it’s such a “warm” tea, yet is still tastes so juicy. It’s a very pleasant combination.

The forth and final cup was really nice, much like the third but more mellow. The spicy tingling has been reduced to a much weaker sensation. It’s kind of hard to describe, but it’s less and a tingle, but there is still a sensation involved. Anyway, it’s very pleasant, and I’m glad that I had a few hours to really do justice to this tea.

This was my birthday tea on Friday. It was the tea I woke up with, and it seemed to be the theme of the day. My husband called tieguanyin my “birth tea” (like a birth stone, only tea!), and I find it’s more and more appropriate as time goes by. He’s certainly right, if only for the fact that the time of year lines up perfectly: the past couple of days, the big lilac bush has bloomed and it literally hits on in the head with that delicious smell every time we walk in the kitchen door, leaving us craving Guanyin’s nectar..

I woke up with this tea. My husband woke up before me (to decorate the living room with streamers! and also herding our cats so they didn’t /eat/ the streamers) and he brought up our raku tea bowls filled with this beautiful spring tieguanyin. Drinking it was like coming alive. At first, I could only smell. Opening sips were warmth soothing my throat and, gradually (as my sense continued to adjust to the waking world), that gorgeous creamy texture. Aahhh.. spring. Finally, around sips ten or so, my tongue came fully online and started sending me information about all of the lovely tastes. Definitely a great way to wake up to your birthday day off in the spring time: coming alive again with this tea, sense by sense.

Breakfast continued on the theme with perfectly ripe cantelope melon, apples dipped in local MN honey..so floral and wonderful.. and a selection of light cheeses from the Seward Coop. Yummm. We didn’t eat these with the tea, but the textures and particularly the melon/honey/apple flavors synergized extremely well with what the tea has already laid out. Home-made (did I luck out or what??) lunch included an incredible piece of salmon, marinated in soysauce-wasabi, cooked up just so with cilantro and ginger.. the texture- it just fell apart in your mouth! So sweet and mouthwatering, with a real feeling of nectar.. you wouldn’t think it would be so, but it still fell very in line with my tieguanyin day.

We continued drinking tieguanyin throughout the afternoon, and we could do so freely, because my birthday present included 8oz of this spring picking!! It makes me feel free to indulge and have the good stuff more often. Instead of saving it for a special night, we will have it and make the night special as a result. Open the windows, let the lilac pour in, drink it up from the thimble cups.

This tea makes me think of many things. With the fan running on low, it makes me want to play hooky all day and lay out in the freshly cut sweet grasses. It makes me feel like I’m in a spa, and I want to light candles and run a lilac bubble bath with intense moisturizers. It is so fine fine fine.. a classy lady that’s just gorgeous /and/ sweet. Dessert. The creamy flavors, the smooth and lovely textures that feel like you’re being wrapped up and taken care of… It could only taste better if I were drinking it in Hawaii.. on the rainy side of Kawaii, looking out over ocean cliffs, plumeria in the air.

It’s decadant nd fine, but it’s not blowing loud and brassy horns in your ear. Instead, the flavors are all soft (yet strong and impossible to ignore), full and bouyant: melons, creamy whipped florals, exotic melon-berry nectars (juice is too thin and tangy a word). It’s downright sensual. Be careful- you might have to resist the urge to kiss whoever’s drinking with you.

Spring spring spring. How lovely. How do these TGY’s keep being so good? It’s ridiculous. As chadao wrote a little while ago, these tieguanyin’s feels scandalous- like you’ve been slipped a sample of something that should have cost a fortune and is instead just under the price of Rishi’s Citron Oolong (in a tea shop… $10). I think I’ll always prefer autumn TGY’s secretly, just because they feel a little more complex, but not in this particular situation. It has all the oomph and depth I would want from Autumn, but wrapped in the lovely honey-soft touch of spring. Ridiculous. I am so lucky to be able to drink this whenever I want, plus I still have several ounces of Autumn left.

Fascinating tea. Again Verdant continues to amaze me with their complex and different teas. Upon opening the bag I didn’t really smell anything at all, I smelled a little bit of cardboard but I was trying so hard to smell something that I could have been smelling the cardboard for recycling behind me. The buds are fat and short and fuzzy, they kind of remind me of a Beech trees buds in the way the scales overlap but shorter.

The wet leaves smell was like walking through a wet mixed forest in fall after the leaves have fallen. It was a very wet woody scent. The infusion was more or less clear and had that same woodsy scent with stronger pine notes and a slight floral note.

Taste was clear and bright at first sip followed by pine and cedar notes with the wet woods. There was a spiciness I picked up, like black pepper and a sweet minty like aftertaste. In later steepings the pine/cedar notes take dominance with some sweetness, the floral notes fade, the minty aftertaste kind of hangs around but you have to look for it and the black pepper note disappeared around the third steeping. I’m interested in seeing how this ages.

I steeped this so far about 5-6 times and am about to make another cup. Steeping method is a 5 oz cup with an infuser basket with short steep times with 205F water. The first infusion was about 10 seconds and now I’m steeping about 20 seconds for the 6 or 7 steep.

This is really nice! Definition of SPRING for sure! It’s creamy, green and springy, hints of berry and gentle floral notes, but incredible clean and pure! I’m LOVING this the more i drink it and will do multiple infusions. Thanks David! This is a treat!

Currently pairing this infusion with All Along The Watchtower ~ Jimi Hendrix

Backlogged; not the faintest idea if this is the right tea or not, though. I recently bought it (mid-2015), and it’s part of the Li Xiangxi Collection, just called “Big Red Robe”. Either way, as with many teas I’ve had recently, I really don’t remember my thoughts on it… at all. I typically enjoy this type of tea, though, so probably enjoyed it.

First attempt with this one. I’m using my new glass “gung-fu” teapot from DavidsTea! The only downside I’ve noticed is that it took about 8 seconds to pour the tea out, so my attempt at a 15-second infusion turned into more like 25 seconds. Hopefully that won’t be a problem. I used 3g of leaf for the pot (however many ounces it is – I will find this out later.)

First infusion (~208F/~25s):
Omg omg. I took a sip of the still super-hot tea and I think it tastes sweet and fabulous! Thrilling! Have to wait until it cools to really talk about it though. I kind of burnt my tongue…

Argh, obligatory Mother’s Day phone conversation means my tea is extra-cool now. Well, I can say that it’s sweet and tasty with a toasty aroma and flavour. A bit like a genmaicha, strangely??

Second infusion (~205F/~25s):
This one’s even sweeter :) But also completely cold. Sigh. I do have a few infusions to get to yet. Thankfully however, I didn’t screw this one up like I did the other oolong from Verdant. There’s a lingering aftertaste of… juiciness? I’m not sure. It’s good.

Third infusion (~208F/45s):
Just a bit of a toasty aroma. Again, sweet and delicious. I’m not catching any flavour nuances to be honest, but I’m definitely enjoying this cup/this tea. Although I’ve gotta admit that after cheese panel, one can get rather tired of analyzing things. (I must say, there’s a lovely aftertaste here though!)

Fourth infusion (~205F/53s):
This is too weak. I thought that as I poured it out and it was considerably lighter in colour. I’m pretty sure a longer infusion for a fifth steep would revive it though. Might try.

Overall, this is good, but I’m just not catching subtleties in the infusions. Also, I’m pretty sure that for the duration of this cheese panel (mid-late June), my palate just isn’t going to be up to figuring out differences due to palate (and mental) fatigue! So I don’t think I’ll properly be reviewing any straight teas for a while, although that doesn’t mean I’ll be drinking them.

Mmmm… nummy! Azzrian, you did it again! Another winner from my wonderful swap partner. This tea is so refreshing. It’s got a savory vegetal quality like asparagus or raw green beans. It’s toasty, but barely. It’s also somehow sweet and fragrant like citrus flowers. Beautiful lovely tea. It is a bit light though. I suppose I could use more leaf or less water next time.

Also, not really a good tea to go with food! The flavors are so delicate!

Thank you to David Duckler for this fantastic Sample. Latest issue of this fine Pu’er

One of the stories I read on the Verdant website was the idea of buying a newer brick of Pu’er when you get engaged, and spend half of the brick (so to speak) with the people who attend the wedding, and the rest of the brick little by little piece on every anniversary for the rest of your life. The point being, that every year the Pu’er and the marriage will age,mature and get better. I love that way of thinking. You can apply this to other occasions…a birth and so on. This Pu’er is that kind of brick. The one you would want to choose for lifelong celebrations.

Because this tea will reach 18 infusions I would not attempt to write about each one and fill pages with notes. I know you are relieved! Me too! I’m going to have to lump some information together and hope it makes sense.

First, all steep times were 4 seconds to begin with and 6 seconds after the 8th infusion.
1tsp dry Pu’er
4 oz. clay Gaiwan (la tee dah)
Spring water at the boil
I did a 2 second rinse first and washed my hands in the rinse to remove any other scent.
Every steeping produced a light brown (more beige) liquor.

Wet Leaves:
Steeping:
1. The most fantastic smell of any leaves ever! They smelled like the drippings from a roast! And sweet like the sweetness of artichokes!
Later steepings: No leather smells at all until steeping #5 and then a bit vegital. Before that there was some smoky scent that had developed. I loved the really good smelling, beautiful, big dark green leaves.

Flavor:
1. The first pour was full and warm like cedar wood and sparkled. I smelled a floral note but could not tell what it was.
2. Jasmine right up front and then dryness like the skin of juniper berry…but then WHAT IS THIS? Sweet smoky ceder with a bacon flavor! Couldn’t be, but it was! I didn’t notice it at first and went back to smell the wet leaves…uh huh…there it was…smoky little leaves! Very juicy too! I loved the smoke!
3. Not as smoky, more like cedar but more tannin. Hum.
4. Same as #3
5. Now, this pour was beginning to get more floral, sweeter, sparkling and juicy. There was a creaminess at the end and jasmine flowers that brightened the cup. It tingled.
6. Unbelievable, apple and citrus came to visit…light and refreshing with something else. That taste was cinnamon to me. Not sandlewood or cedar…cinnamon. It had the warmth and spice to compliment the citrus.
7. Again, spicy and floral. The citrus coming and going. I think it was shape shifting. I had 11 more infusions to go!

What I had enjoyed was the hide and seek…the playful quality of this Sheng. I certainly had never smelled leaves like this. Incredable! And such depth of flavor with a consistant 4-6 second contact was amazing to me. What the future holds for those fortunate few who possess a whole brick of this Pu’er…well…what a grand thought! I have more infusions to go!

Just a FYI This is the first tea that Verdant Imported when the business was started. Very Special!

My latest order from Verdant arrived today oh joy!

Sometimes I’ll order and ounce of a tea and get hooked, which has been happening lately with the alchemy blends. The are soooo good!

Ginger lovers pay attention to this blend because it’s something special. The ginger is spicy like biting into fresh ginger…with heat to it. The orange, galangal, fennel, cinnamon and pepper (etc.) are blended so deftly that no one flavor stands out alone. This is smooth, warm and comforting tea.

Here is the favorite way I like to drink my Thai Ginger Fire Tea:
I always have coconut milk for my breakfast cereal and often use it in my tea. It’s so naturally rich, sweet and nutty. What a perfect milky addition for the spicy tea along with some sweetening. Thai dishes are often prepared in this sweet coconut spicy way that I love. Very delicious. Caffeine free too!

I know this is going to be fantastic iced.
My favorite iced tea’s are 1. Verdant Alchemy Blends (all of them so far!) 2. Pu’erh’s from Verdant, Teavivre and a few others. These make hearty iced tea’s that revive the spirit on a hot day!
This Ginger Fire will be a great mixer with juices or 7-up! I’m going to try steeping some simple syrup or honey in a little bit of tea, strain… and serve on cornbread with buddah!

I am impressed by the size and the beautiful appearance of the dry leaves. The nose (both of the dry and wet leaves) isn’t particularly strong, but the liquid is flavorful (though I wish it were a little bolder).

The second steeping however is like a dry red wine, in that your mouth actually feels dry after each sip. In order to quench my thirst I found myself drinking the second steeping faster…which obviously doesn’t work when each sip gives that feeling.

All in all, it is a nice tea, though it lacks a wow factor.

This is a very fickle tea, but if you are willing to put the effort in it will reward you. The nose of both the dry and wet leaves is outstanding, with a strong smell of salt and brine. The flavor is much more mellow, but it is delicious. Just make sure your water temp, timing and tea/water proportions are exact. I’ve made it three times (first infusions) in the last two days, and I am still playing around with the brewing, as I know I haven’t reached its full potential yet.

As for their suggestion to eat the spent leaves, well, I wouldn’t recommend that. My tasting notes for the spent leaves are bitter grass.

Editing this note after my fifth try: this tea could win an award for its fickleness. I think I am closer to reaching its potential (still not there), and the flavor is very nice. It has a light salt/brine taste that was present in the nose. Using a thermometer and timer with this tea is a must, and even then be prepared to experiment

Last edit: having finally figured out how to consistently brew this tea, I’m definitely giving it a bump in the ratings (I previously was holding it down, because I wasn’t a fan of wasting tea with a 50-50 brew success rate). It is flavorful, it is fantastic, it is exactly what I am looking for in my green tea. Hopefully you just hit the right brewing combination before I did. I found not exceeding 45 seconds works best for my first brew, and then about 25 seconds on the second.

Second Review

My favorite tea’s become jewels that I drink when I want to celebrate, or as a way to beat the blues.
Last night the local wild fire smoke came down as a fog again with ash and grit. I got a huge migraine and couldn’t sleep until the wee hours. I awoke at 6 AM…too early. Four hours of sleep was not enough for me! I went back to bed, and woke up at 10:30 ready for a PU’ER! I went for this Verdant Pu’er which is one of my best tea jewels!

My mood was not fussy. I really had no patience for Gaiwans or teapots!
(Thank you David Duckler for making plain old cups and brew baskets cool to use!)

All I had to do was boil water, put the Pu’er Shu Nuggets in the Finum brew basket, rinse the Pu’er Nuggets 20 seconds(once), pour and steep 20 seconds (it’s what I did) and drink! Duh! So easy! You do this over and over and over (18 times).

My love of this Pu’er…let me count the ways…
You can’t get more smooth and mellow than this Shu. It’s so clean and cinnamon tingly on the tongue. Every steep is juicy and flavorful, rich with vanilla and pastry delight. The earthiness is in the light maltiness. (You can transform the malt into a bit of caramel if you prefer a morning latte with a bit of cream). I like the saltiness of this Pu’er and added a little sweet to add contrast. That’s the way I love my Pu’er!

Like a big footed Bengal Tiger the flavor meanders slowly along steep after steep…looking back at you now and then, keeping you aware that there is excitement along this path and you want to keep going. 18 steepings is a journey.

Now why would I liken drinking tea to a Bengal Tiger walking down a path? What a dumb thing to say!

But wait!

If you take time with tea for 5, 10, 18 steepings… it will open you up more to yourself. It’s beautiful and dangerous like a Bengal Tiger.
Worth the small effort if you’ve never tried this before!

I’ve been waiting for the right time to brew and taste this remarkable Verdant ’04 Shu. You know, waiting for the peaceful mood and amount of time without any interruptions. Then, last night I had a night of rest without pain! I woke up with a prayer looking forward to whatever God has in store for my day, being mindful to be thankful for whatever comes.

This is not a sample tea! I bought enough to have over and over again. Oh the delight of it all!

My brewing method for Pu’erh’s has become my Yixing purple pot that looks like a bird. It’s very easy to use. It has a handle and filter in the spout that looks like a bird beak. I am having some steeping adjustment issues! The Western style that I used before had much longer steep times…and the Yixing method is shorter. Also,the Western method might give 5 steeps and the Yixing 18! Who drinks 18 cups by themselves?! I know I can’t do that much drinking all at once so I devised my own plan of 5 infusions and then transfering the leaves into my Gaiwan for later since it isn’t porous. I don’t want any mold in my porous Yixing pot! I hope this is useful information to anyone else just starting off with a Yixing. Cut the steep time down like the instructions say!

Rinse the Nuggets 10 seconds and do this twice. Use Spring water (especially if you have a clay pot!).

1. I blew the steep time on the first infusion…ha! It went about 3 minutes. Old habits are hard to break! The liquor was very dark and sweet smelling like linen and cake. This is the most linen scented tea I’ve had. The Pu’erh was juicy and smooth without tannin or bitterness. When I went back to smell the leaves, they were still a hard clump of bark and also sweet smelling like the tea but not earthy or malty.

2. This time I only steeped 8 seconds with good rich brown color in the liquor. This was much better tasting. The flavor had not opened up yet but it had become creamier and less linen like. The leaves were still hard in a clump and black brown.

3. I could taste a tell-tale Pu’erh-ness that I love on this pour. Sweet earth and cinnamon biting my tongue. The tea was juicy and I tasted waffles warm and nutty.

4. Now I did a 5 second steep and pour. The leaves had opened up quite a bit now and smelled more leathery. The liquor was dark and malty, rich and smooth. There was a definate sweet bakery undertone with peppery cinnamon filling my mouth. The linen was gone but not the juice. I could feel the coolness with the pepper which was an interesting sensation.

5. I think this was my favorite pour. Short and sweet, peppery spice up front with a little linen scent and dry but juicy (if that makes sense). I gave the tea my best winery tasting- room slurp to the back of the mouth, rolling it around your palate test. Sweet, slightly malty, vague salt, super smooth, sweet yeast bread dough, cool cinnamon bark with pepper finish.

6. (I added a little sugar which brought out a vanilla yammy taste due to some subtle malt I suspect).

At this point there were still some hard parts to the leaves that must open up in the water! I have 12 infusions to go! Whoa!

I love Pu’erh…love, love, love! This was so good already! I’m not even half way done with the first tasting and it will go on all day! How much Pu’erh do you think I used for these 18 infusions? 1.5 teaspoons! Crazy Wonderful!

This tea has really grown on me and has developed into one of my favorite teas. Every time a new shipment becomes available, you can count me in for an order. Fortunately I was able to grab some of the last of the Spring edition about two weeks ago before it sold out.

Sipdown! And about time.

This was old when I got it and it hasn’t improved with the 2 years I’ve owned it. It no longer tastes of delicate limes. Okay, it does, but only a hint. Mostly vegetal now. Still pretty smooth and enjoyable. I’ve acquired a bit of a sore throat so this hot cup is exactly what I need to feel better. :)

In other news, I just had to toss a quart sized jar of homemade apple sauce due to improper canning. sadness. The next jar we opened was perfectly fine though. Awesome!

This tastes amazing cold brewed. Citrus and vanilla. Sweet and refreshing. It tastes cleansing and pure. This might actually be my favorite green tea.

OMG. Is this really green tea? I’m brewing this in the little yellow pot I usually use for oolongs and I suspect I’m somehow drinking an oolong instead of a green. Is it possible for green tea to have such sweet complexity and floral savory smoothness? This lightly colored liquor is absolutely lovely. It’s got this bright exotic citrus zestiness and an underlying vegetal deliciousness. Mmmm…

Steep two is more vegetal with a ghostly hint of limey flowers. It’s pleasingly drying. Mmm..brothy…

I can imagine this being so good lemon pound cake or thai food. versatile and so very good. I totally get why people are crazy over these Verdant Teas.

Hey! This is my first Verdant? I think I’ll have to explore further…
Thank you Azzrian for this delicious sample! so good!

I put off writing a review of this blend until every leaf was sadly gone. My wife and I have nearly swapped tastes as I am leaning more toward tea after years of coffee and she is doing the opposite. (I guess working 12hr nursing shifts in the emergency department overnights can quite reasonably do that to a person!) This is absolutely one of those brews that went from a full bag to completely gone in less than a week even with us both trying to pull 4 and 5 steeps out of it throughout the days we enjoyed it together!!

small plug for a company I have no affiliation with other than loving their product – Ambrosia Honey Company’s raw honey from Longmont, CO blends AMAZINGLY well with this tea for breakfast, especially when it’s already on your biscuit with a smidge of butter..

I started out on my tea experience as an exclusively black tea drinker, so I am admittedly partial to the noir. This one warms my heart as it brings in a bawdy and rounded zing that really delivered on setting things in motion on days when I had a full plate or buzzing my head soft to enjoy the WSJ on my day off. It’s like it knew what I needed it to be. That’s weird, and creepy, and crazy, and true. Try it if you are looking for another diversion for black breakfast, but be warned – you may end up with pounds of it in your cupboard!

Travel-mugged… it was tasty in spite of its age (pretty sure I have the 2011 autumn harvest). I have a lot of greens and such to finish, so I’m glad that as long as I’m careful (by adding some cool water prior to putting the tea in the mug, and by drinking them fairly quickly), they’re ok to drink this way. Sure, I miss some nuances, but I imagine that said nuances are probably long gone by this time. The point is that I enjoy drinking the tea, IMO.