Verdant Tea

Been so bad at logging teas lately, though I do have a long list of teas I’ve drank, including snippets of what I thought (in some cases). Maybe I’ll get to them, maybe I won’t. I am managing to drink through quite a bit of tea, though, which is good!

AND I got a new kettle, guys! My ever-wonderful boyfriend bought me a Black&Decker stainless steel variable temp kettle. (I picked that particular one after reading a bunch of kettle reviews). For the price, I’m super happy so far. It likes to beep a lot (when pressing buttons), and LOUDLY, which is annoying, but on the plus side, it beeps when the water is ready! Which is great. The lid doesn’t open as far as I would like, but really, it’s not that big of a deal. And it seems perhaps a touch slower to boil than I would expect, but to be fair, it was probably boiling water straight from the fridge at the time I measured (it took about 8 minutes for a full 1.7L). Anyways, I’m now into the world of variable-temp kettles! Exciting!

Anyhow, drank this prior to heading to the CNE yesterday. It was delicious. That is all.

Backlog.

Opened my new bag of this a couple weeks ago. Ahhhhh, I had missed it. So deliciously roasty and chocolatey. Quite a treat to have in my mug (and of course, I got a few more infusions from it too).

Sometime in the last few months, I finished off my last 2 ounces of this tea. And it was delicious, and I had missed it quite a bit. And now I am logging the sipdown… while I have a new batch already in transit. So, yet another fake sipdown, as I call them, when it’s really just a restock. Anyhow, looking forward to a fresh batch! And fingers crossed, my beloved Laoshan Black Chocolate Genmaicha, once it reappears too!

Had a delicious travel mug of this one this weekend. So malty and satisfying. Unfortunately, though, it was so humid out that I really wanted iced tea, not hot tea, so I didn’t get to finishing it all. Sad.

Haven’t had this tea in ages! I felt like I needed something strong and bold last night after having to deal with some not-fun stuff, and this worked perfectly.

So as for the not-fun stuff… in the last 2 weeks (literally), three couples that I know have broken up, all of whom dated for between 1-2 years. And, in each case, one of the members of the couple was roommates with either my boyfriend or I (we collectively have 4 roommates… which means 3/4 are no longer in relationships). It’s a bit nerve-wracking, to be honest! :( Anyhow, I had to deal with many tears last night (#3 occurred yesterday), which was kind of stressful… sigh. And I’m anticipating potential nasty fallout from this one too, that it looks like I may have to be involved in. I won’t share details, but it’s not going to be a fun time. Anyways…. yay tea?

Brewed up a bunch of this quite strong for icing – I’ll see how that fares in the morning! In the meanwhile, I’m enjoying a second infusion, which, possibly because it’s more than double strength, tastes much like a regular first infusion.

Anyhow, I used 2 tbsp of leaf for about 10oz and steeped for 1 min, then diluted that with probably another 10 oz. of cold water and stuck it in the fridge.

ETA: Yum!! Not only was it pretty darn delicious cold (very dark chocolate), I added sweetener (yep, maple syrup is the current sweetener of choice for cold beverages as it’s the only liquid sweetener I currently have), and I sucked back the cup in no time. It didn’t necessarily need it, I just wanted it to be sweet. The maple syrup really brought out the dark chocolate notes, so it was very satisfying. I’ll have to try some other blacks this way! I haven’t been drinking as much tea lately (only want cold drinks) and my water/liquids intake has been dwindling… iced tea is clearly the remedy.

:‘( I had a nap this afternoon, and woke up feeling terrible. Headache, sore throat, weird lump in my throat when I swallow, runny nose, unhappy stomach… I hope I’m not getting sick, but all signs point that way.

Anyhow, I thought I’d brew up some tea to see if it would make me feel better… unfortunately not. It’s all tasting great, but I absolutely hate how it feels when I have a sore throat and swallow, so I’ve pretty much wasted 4 good cups of tea (well, I’m trying to drink them, but the tastiness is strongly overwhelmed by the unpleasantness of swallowing).

Either way, I’ve missed this one. Haven’t had it in a while. Malty, chocolatey, just overall yummy. A hint of fruitiness as well. I wish I was enjoying it a bit more though (it would be awfully inappropriate of me to swish it around in my mouth then spit it out, wouldn’t it…) Sigh.

Hadn’t been drinking this one lately, so decided to indulge in a cup. Yummy as always, and it tasted like I was drinking hot chocolate for a moment, which was awesome :D

Backlog from Tuesday (how I missed this one, I’m not entirely sure!) Brewed it up for work, and for some reason it tasted quite salty while I was drinking it. Robotically drank the entire thermos during my morning meeting though, so couldn’t check later to see what was going on. Not sure if it was the tastebuds or the water. I highly doubt it was the tea, since I’ve already had a cup or two from this new bag.

I feel like my thermos is a little contaminated today… probably because I decided yesterday that a full, thorough scrubbing of my travel mugs takes too much time to do daily, and so just rinsed it out… ah well! Not too bad, just tastes a bit… like banana… which wasn’t an ingredient in either of the possible teas in this thermos prior, so who knows…

Anyhow, 12 teas to go! And…. less than 12 hours. Yeah I don’t see this happening…

Uh…. so I received my (restock) order of Laoshan Black earlier this week, and was thrilled to brew some up for today’s travel mugs. Not particularly noteworthy… except that I just took a sip, and got the most intense sweetness I’ve EVER had from a straight tea! Like, straight-up sugar. So sweet that I actually did a double-take, of sorts (AKA a second sip), with the same result. Sure, I’m tasting malty, chocolatey Laoshan Black, but never ever before has it tasted so incredibly sweet! It’s not a bad sort of sweet either; doesn’t even taste like I added sugar, the sweetness tastes natural. But it is crazy.

I’m wondering if it’s because I brushed my teeth over half an hour ago… but my mouth doesn’t taste “minty fresh” anymore, and usually toothpaste makes sweet things taste unsweet, instead of the other way around. I will have to see whether this sweetness is maintained over the afternoon, or whether it was merely a function of my tastebuds (in which case I am totally brushing my teeth before drinking this tea again, hahahaha).

ETA: It wasn’t as sweet when I finished the mug later, but a re-steep later in the evening ended up producing similar sweet results. I wonder if this is a harvest difference, and there are just more honey notes this time around. Delicious!

Sipdown, woooo!!! Although this will be extremely short-lived, as I’m making a necessary 2 oz. order of this tonight. Or tomorrow. Very, very soon. Today I mixed a couple batches’ worth together, some from my very first sample of Laoshan Black, when I thought I hated all straight black teas and requested David Duckler to send this one as my sample tea just so I could try it, and the last of my 1 oz. packet from a few tea purchases ago. The tea was delicious as always, even steeped directly in my new travel mug today. :)

I think I have a bit of Zhu Rong (Rhu Zong? I can never remember…) left, along with Teavivre’s Fenqing Black Dragon Pearls, to tide me through this horrible lack of delicious chocolatey black morning teas. Hopefully I don’t have to resort to picking through my Laoshan Village Chai to find enough of this tea for a cup!

ETA: WOW. My second infusion of this one, which I left for about 4 minutes, tastes almost exactly like dark hot chocolate. Holy incredible deliciousness. I am not kidding at ALL. I wish this cup would last forever… it tastes like at least 200 more calories/cup than it is…

I’m down to only a cup’s worth (if that!) left of this. So sad. Brewed it up to see if I could convince my mom to like black tea, but no dice. She said it wasn’t bad, and definitely noticed the chocolatey flavour/aroma, but still wasn’t a bit fan. She also mentioned that it smelled or tasted like hay??

Anyways, I happily drank it up… while Christmas shopping :D

I made the horrifying discovery earlier this week that I’m nearly out of Laoshan Black! I think I had only ordered 1 oz., and have been drinking it in my Timolino, which takes a double helping of leaves… and I just made a huge Verdant order. Argh. I guess I know how I’ll be spending my voucher!

Oh, and this was delicious as always. Still can’t believe that a straight black tea can taste this amazing.

Perfect tea to drink while spending a weekend at Brownie camp! Tasted so much like an unsweetened, rich hot chocolate. Mmmmmm.

Backlog from Friday. I am absolutely burning through this tea. Ever since I discovered it tastes great from my thermos, it’s been a go-to in the mornings. I should have ordered more than one ounce, but I don’t imagine it will be going away anytime soon (fingers crossed???) so will wait until I actually run out to pick up more!

Morning cuppa that I took in the Timolino! Yum! Never fails to disappoint :D I really need a second leakproof mug though, so I can bring along two teas, for those days where I’m stuck in the building in which I have no office…

Wanted something strong-ish and flavourful tonight (and not a new tea to review, as my nose is out of commission), so picked this one! I can smell the delicious cocoa-y notes and taste them well enough, although I think I underleafed/understeeped the cup. Ah well! Still delicious, as always. This is from a different batch than the sample I had previously received, but I’d probably be hard-pressed to find differences, especially when I don’t brew gong-fu style. All that matters is that it has the same overall flavour profile, which is most certainly and deliciously does!

I’m so impressed…. I re-steeped the leaves that my roommate and I first used on Sunday morning with breakfast for a fourth time, and I’m still getting a delicious cup of tea! And these leaves have been seriously abused – first off, a normal 1-minute infusion. Then, probably about 5 minutes or so of sitting in a ~70C cup of Chocolate Phoenix Chai. Then another 5+ minutes of Chocolate Phoenix Chai at a hotter temperature. The flavour isn’t super strong, of course, but the rich cocoa-y flavours are unmistakably present, and absolutely delicious. Whoever would have guessed that I’d actually fall for a black tea?!

And since I’m writing this… my roommate felt the exact same way. I gave her the choice between this and Chocolate Phoenix Chai that morning, and she picked this one, saying “this is an unflavoured black? You said, unflavoured?” Needless to say she was quite surprised to find that she really enjoyed it! She’s more of an oolong girl, as I am, but I’m glad to have introduced her to something new!

Read too many notes about chocolatey black teas tonight, so indulged with my second last cup of this. I’m hoping I can hold off on another Verdant order until I’ve finished a few more things…

Anyways, I used the same parameters as last time and it’s a delicious cup. A bit on the weak side because I think I used a bit too much water (or possibly a side effect of my current cold-like illness), but it’s still pretty tasty. Same deal with the second infusion, for 3 min. It looks like I may yet be a black tea convert!

This tea is insanely chocolatey. Even more so than the Zhu Rong Yunnan Black, where the chocolatey notes aren’t initially apparent, they’re present here right from the first taste to the last bit of flavour lingering on the back of your tongue. Like I mentioned in the Zhu Rong review, this one is unbelievably smooth without even a suggestion of astringency of bitterness. None whatsoever. The two teas are fairly similar though; this one’s also a bit sweet, with a roasted flavour (although it’s a bit less dominant here; the chocolate really reigns supreme in this one).

I’d have to say that the Laoshan Black is my favourite of Verdant’s black tea offerings that I’ve tried (the only one I haven’t is the Wild-Picked Yunnan Jin Jun Mei). Zhu Rong is similar, but I’m partial to this one as it’s more chocolatey. Golden Fleece may yet change my mind, although I think I’d choose chocolate over sweet, and I’m not a big fan of the Yunnan Golden Buds.

Upping the rating; I am only now coming to realize how delicious and amazing this tea is. Sacreligious perhaps, but I’m wondering what this one would taste like with the flavourings Frank used for his Pot O’ Gold tea… Butterscotch with an amazing chocolatey base?? That might just be the best tea EVER.

(More notes to come on subsequent infusions.)

ETA: Second infusion, boiling/3min was fabulously chocolatey as well. I may actually have to order some of this…. Third infusion, same parameters, also delicious. Fourth infusion, boiling/some ridiculous time like 10 minutes or more, still has the chocolate notes, and remarkably no astringency or bitterness, but it’s too weak for me to really enjoy. I should note that I typically reduce the amount of water I use for additional infusions of most teas (especially blacks) just to amp up the flavour, as I often find good flavour that’s simply too weak!

David very kindly included this, at my request, as a sample in my last Verdant order. I’m not sure I’ve ever tried a straight black loose-leaf tea before, so this will be a new experience! I really felt like trying it tonight because of the Chocolate Chamomile Curiousity Brew I had yesterday and today that has Laoshan Black as an ingredient.

I accidently brewed this with less-than-boiling water; hopefully that won’t be an issue. I’m not sure what the temperature was exactly, but somewhere around 200F. ~5g of leaf in my 250mL infuser.

The aroma of the steeped tea is very malty and bakey. Perhaps slightly sweet, but only just. I’ll admit that when I initially smelled it steeping, it almost smelled icky and fermenty to me. I’m not sure where that was coming from, and I still get a hint of it, but I can deal with it.

The flavour is definitely very baked-goodsy, ending with a sweetness that reminds me of… malted barley? Beer? Oh, perhaps that roasted malted barley they use for “chocolate” beer? (I did try some, on a recent brewery tour.) Actually, that’s kind of what the whole sip tastes like. I’ll say that there are some hints of flavour that remind me of, say, a standard bagged black, but it is much different, and a pleasure to drink unaltered.

Oh – I should note that there is not a hint of bitterness or astringency. None.

Also just realized I lied :D My first loose leaf straight black was actually from the DavidsTea advent calendar – David’s Organic Breakfast. Although I think that was a blend.

Anyways, this exceeds my expectations for a straight black tea! It’s complex and interesting, malty and a bit sweet. I don’t think I’d be likely to order this or keep it on hand; I’d more likely go with a flavoured black, but I’m SO glad I had the chance to try it and know what all the hype was about! I can definitely see why black tea lovers like it; my palate just prefers oolongs and greens :)

ETA: Figured I’d go for multiple infusions the next day. Why not! Second – boiling water, 3 minutes. The flavour is pretty similar, just a bit weaker, but still quite tasty. I’m definitely getting a burny sort of flavour this time; don’t recall it from last time, but my memory isn’t great. This is also still quite smooth, except at the end of the sip there’s a lingering sharp bitterness in the back of my tongue/roof of my mouth. Haven’t experienced that before. It’s a little odd. Third infusion – boiling water, 4 minutes. Considerable loss of flavour, although it’s still the same flavour that’s there. Same weird lingering bitterness. I should note that it’s not a problem though, and it’s nothing like the bitterness from oversteeping, although that could be the cause? I don’t think this tea has anything left now though, but I think it’s good for two solid infusions!

I finished off the last of my stash of this tea last night. Just coming off a rather bad stomach flu, so I decided to celebrate the end of my insanely boring bland diet of the past few days by making this.

I brewed it Jingshan style, which is by far my fave way of making greens. 7g of tea (in a brewing basket) to 12oz of water in a tall glass. Brewed five times, starting at 20 secs and increasing as I saw fit. I split the tea with my sister, who was at my place last evening, and saved a glass for sticking into the fridge.

Dry leaf smells deeply vegetal and crisp. Impossibly dark green and curled little leaves. Wet, the vegetal note expands into a buttery goodness that is just mouthwatering. My sister actually ate some of the wet leaves. “Tastes like the tea,” she offered. Well, not entirely specific, but it made us giggle.

And the flavour, oh the flavour. This is definitely a tea to brew correctly – oversteeped the taste is a little bit overwhelming on the vegetal notes, and the sweetness doesn’t come out to play.

But I was firing on all barrels last night. Vegetal, yes, but buttery and even nutty. I was reminded of biting into a salted (and perfectly buttered) corn on the cob. The tea itself isn’t salty, mind, just an image in my head. You’ve got the savoury vegetal notes at the forefront, buttery and delicious, fading into sweetness as the sip ends. I’m not sure I ever picked up on the cocoa, but that hardly detracts from the beauty of this tea. It’s more that I’m still training my tastebuds to find things. ;)

Not sure how I EVER confused the Laoshan Black with this, by the way – the liquor is a perfect clear and light jade. Everything about this tea is so green and beautiful!

One of those teas I need to keep in my stash at all times, I think. Though I may wait for the spring harvest to arrive before I reorder, and the anticipation is already killing me!

~

PS – I have to thank Krystaleyn for the word “savoury” for greens! Definitely apt.