Verdant Tea

Just revisited this tea to give it a proper note.

>Dry Leaf Appearance/Aroma
Large thin twisted leaves with long stems. Dark in color with some light brown. Very aromatic, with notes of honey, oranges, and nuts.

>Brewing Method
4oz gaiwan, Boiling water, gong-fu style with 2 rinses. 10 infusions.

>Liquid Appearance
Clear light golden color, which eventually transforms to a deeper orange/golden color.

>Taste/Aroma
The first two cups were similar. Light in taste with a very subtle honey sweet fragrance. Subtle notes of red apple, maybe some nuts, and honey.

Starting from the 3rd cup, the aroma in the tea began to have a gentle spiciness added to it. While the tea itself remained mostly the same, a dry citrusy finish began to emerge. This “finish” eventually culminated in the 5th cup, where the tea left your mouth with a dry feeling similar to that of biting into a dry orange rind. I also noted a slight mouthwatering sensation.

In the 6th and 7th cup, I noted the texture getting a little more velvety, with the citrus notes more noticeable but without the intense dryness from previous cups.

From the 8th to 10th cup, the texture of the tea became so good. Verdant describes it as “dessert tea” and I agree with the spot on description. Creamy, sweet, citrusy, velvety, honey… can’t think of any other words that can appropriately describe the texture during these late steepings.

I ended the session after 10 steeps.

>Wet Leaf Appearance
LARGE long leaves. Leaves now were in a brownish-green color.

>Overall
While I did enjoy this tea, especially towards the end, I have mixed feelings on this one. Described as a “shapeshifter,” the changes were very subtle and mostly in texture. It also takes many re-steeps to see the tea evolve, making it a slightly time consuming process. I steeped this tea 10 times hoping to explore most of what it had to offer, but reading over Verdant’s tasting notes, I’m not even halfway there. This means that despite the relative high price, this tea keeps on giving and giving, even during my last infusion I felt like I was just getting to know this tea. This is definitely not a bad thing, but I feel its not a good thing either.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that, this truly is a tea you have to dedicate yourself to. You have to give yourself time and patience to properly brew this to fully explore its offerings, and even then, the flavor profile might not suit your tastes for the time spent on preparing it. I personally enjoyed this one and would like to drink it a little more. But considering the price per ounce, I might just bring it out every now and then, probably just for long gong-fu sessions with friends or when I feel like it. Otherwise I feel like I’m not really making a good use of this great tea.

Part of my recent Oolong order from Verdant.

This note will be more of a first impression. I loved the aroma of the dry leaf, reminded me of autumn, scents of nuts, dried oranges, and a touch of honey.

Taste-wise I really enjoyed this tea, again this reminds me a lot of autumn. First few infusions were nutty and subtly sweet with a touch of red apple. I then noticed a dried orange note in later infusions. Like biting on a small piece of orange skin (with dryness in the mouth and all). It was pretty pleasant.

So far so good but I just did 5 steepings. I will revisit this tea with a longer gong-fu session to fully explore what this tea has to offer.

Tieguanyin time!

Truthfully, this tea is the sole reason that I made my order at Verdant. I knew that I had my monthly tea allowance to spend so I decided to just save some money and spend it all at one place. Needless to say, however, I’m super excited for this one. I feel like I ramble on too much during my infusion notes so I’m going to try and make this one as brief as possible.

First Infusion
Rinse with 208F for ~15 seconds, steep with 205F for 1 minute. The second I poured the water on the leaves, a strong aroma of fresh spinach filled my nostrils. That quickly faded a certain fresh aroma that I can’t place has somewhat masked it. This is really good! I can see why David described this as the Essence of Spring-it definitely tastes very fresh and floral and almost like that new smell in the air that you associate with spring. This is super good!

Second Infusion
208F for 1 minute and 15 seconds. Again I got a spinach-like aroma that dissipated really quickly. This infusion is a bit grassier than the first, but there’s a super sweet rock-candy-esque aftertaste. As this one cools, the floral notes come out more. This one is yummy too!

Third Infusion
208F for 1 minute and 30 seconds. This one is a lot more floral! Wow, this tastes like flower juice! I’m 98.6% sure that this is my favorite out of all of the infusions so far. This is magnificently floral and sweet, and it does taste like spring in a cup! I’m getting exhausted and (although this tea is extraordinary), I’m ready to change teas! This one has lasted me practically all day!

So far, all of my teas from Verdant have been AMAZING! I’m so glad I have two more to try but I’m going to try and space out my trying of them so I don’t ware them all out at once!

*Thanks to Krystaleyn for letting me know I posted the note on the wrong page. same note as earlier just moved to 2012’s spring pick page.

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While I did say I would be taking a break from detailed notes, I just had to properly review this tea. So here it is, Spring 2012 Tie Guan Yin!

>Dry Leaf Appearance/Aroma
Tightly curled up jade leaves. Smaller in size than most TKY’s I’ve had (consistent with autumn 2011 pick). The dry leaf was very aromatic. Even a single leaf gave a delightful floral fragrance.

>Brewing Method
Gongfu style using a small 6 oz Yixing pot dedicated for Tie Guan Yin only. Using freshly boiled water and short steep time as recommended by Verdant tea (3-6 secs).

>Liquid Appearance
Clear bright golden green.

>Taste/Aroma
My first two cups were delicious. Sugary sweet, floral, and with a nice floral aftertaste that originated from the back of my throat. While the dry leaf was very aromatic, the liquid was not as strong but noticeable when drinking the tea.

On the third cup, the tea became deliciously creamy, with a silky smooth texture that felt very nicely filling your mouth. All this while retaining its sweet floral taste. I noticed this “thicker texture” was more noticeable when the tea was hot, not so much when it cooled off. The fourth cup remained mostly the same. The aftertaste of this tea haunts me as I boil more water, as if my mouth is telling me “more, more, more!”

Surprisingly by the 5th cup, the creaminess is completely gone, but basic taste remains there. I do notice a slight “green” hint but not too bothersome. The 6th cup required a longer brew time, as flavor was getting weaker. Tea was lighter in taste, but still very good.

By the 7th cup, there was no aroma, but the tea was still very tasty retaining its slight sugary sweetness. While I’m certain this tea can take more than 7 infusions, I ended my session there as it is too much tea for me to drink in one sitting.

>Wet Leaf Appearance
I was a little surprised here. The tea contained many broken and damaged leaves, lots of small pieces, and quite a few stems (even found a 3 inch one). Unbroken leaves ranged from really tiny ones to very large ones.

>Overall
This tea was truly a journey. While I only re-steeped the tea 7 times, that was more than enough to convince me of the quality of this TKY. Comparing it to Autumn’s pick I’d say this is truly a better offering. It is very tasty(sugary sweet and floral), creamy, and with a truly haunting aftertaste (something I found lacking in Autumn’s 2011 pick). I did notice that Spring’s 2012 pick was a bit weak on the aroma of the brew, but the amazing taste made up for it. Definitely a must try if you love Ti Kuan Yin!

Sipdown! 224/365!

Jeebus. Unless the bags say the year of production, I kind of wish there would just be a single entry for a type of tea… I haven’t the faintest idea which year this tea is from, though it could feasibly be 2012, or possibly 2013.

Anyways, this has lost flavour, but it’s still pretty enjoyable. And it has been a rather long time since I’ve had a floral oolong like this, so I’m enjoying it quite a bit. The vast majority of what I have in my cupboard is roasted or aged or… not green. Haha. So it’s a nice change. (I badly need to get some more baozhong/pouchong…)

Yum yum yum, tasty in a travel mug. I know it’s kind of a waste to drink such amazing tea that way, but I crave oolongs at work/when I’m writing, and I have surprisingly few green ones (which is ok, but that means the more expensive ones get used like this). I do still re-steep, though, so have had one additional delicious mug this afternoon :)

Two infusions of this one today, both quite delicious. Didn’t really make notes on the first, but the second has a lovely caramelly oolong finish.

My mom enjoyed the sips she had of the first infusion, but thought that the second was a bit too strong, so she got the cup of Sichuan Caravan instead. I’m leaving the remnants of this package of tea with her, though!

Backlog from Friday. I’ve been throwing this one in the Timolino a fair bit lately too. Seems to work ok, and an oolong is so refreshing next to a black tea, which is what I usually bring (I have been borrowing a travel mug from my roommate so I can bring two teas at once… need to purchase/ask for a second Timolino or other leakproof mug for Christmas!) The only bad thing about this tea is that I feel guilty for not following the appropriate infusion parameters… I just want oolong flavour, so the first infusion is definitely longer than it would be if I wasn’t taking it on the go, as the light, nuanced flavour doesn’t hold up well for me. Ah well. I still have a fair bit of this one…

I thiiiink this is the one I brewed up today. Just threw it in the thermos. It tasted good, but not mind-blowing or anything, but I suspect this one really needs to be a) attempted gong-fu style, and b) consumed more quickly after harvest.

See my other two Verdant green oolong notes; it’s comparison time! This post is for the second 2012 spring harvest. I’m brewing them each up identically, using 1.5 tsp of leaf in 125mL water, with the leaves allowed to roam free in the cup before being strained out.

First infusion (208F/30s):
Also similar to the autumn harvest with a buttery, green, and floral flavour/aroma. Perhaps the “greenest” of the three.

Second infusion (208F/30s):
This time this harvest falls between the autumn and spring first picking in terms of flavour. It actually is probably my favourite of the three. I’m getting a bit of a citrusy aftertaste in this one… kind of orangey/lemony. Can’t blame that on food, since I’ve had nothing of the sort in the past few hours, and didn’t taste this with the other two. Oh – that’s a lie. I’m getting it with the first spring harvest two, whereas the aftertaste is more of a sweet caramel with the autumn harvest.

See my other two Verdant green oolong notes; it’s comparison time! This post is for the first 2012 spring harvest. I’m brewing them each up identically, using 1.5 tsp of leaf in 125mL water, with the leaves allowed to roam free in the cup before being strained out.

First infusion (208F/30s):
Quite similar to the autumn harvest. Buttery, green, and floral. Maybe a bit more oolong flavour here. I’m also finding the flavours to be a bit more intense (but that could be attributable to differences in the amount of leaf, as although I was careful, I wasn’t precise to the 0.01g).

Second infusion (208F/40s):
Whoops, this one got an extra 10s because I got distracted. It’s definitely stronger and greener tasting than the autumn harvest. Almost a bit of astringency, and I can’t see that 10 seconds would have done that, but the strength is definitely affected. Still tasty though, with lovely floral notes.

This is for the first harvest of 2012 Spring Tieguanyin. I’m attempting a bit of gong-fu style steeping here with my new pot. Infusions are about 10 seconds long, from the time the water touches the leaves to the time most of the water has been poured out (apparently oolongs are drippy… who knew?!) Water is approximately boiling, but I did the first four infusions in succession, followed by another four, so the water probably cooled over each set somewhat. 5g of leaf in my more-than-4-5-oz pot.

First infusion: I didn’t do a rinse; this probably should have been it. Light in flavour, a bit creamy and floral. Regardless, I like it, because I love these tieguanyins.
2: Liquor’s a bit darker, expecting a richer flavour…. yup. This time there’s… something different there. The same basic floral/creaminess, but there’s something almost rich and woody in there. Also, it’s a little bit vegetal. Green bean was the flavour that my mind is conjuring up, but given that I read reviews of the Laoshan greens today, it’s hard to know whether that was just already in my head or whether I actually tasted it.
3: I definitely feel like there’s a greener taste to this one. The floralness is disappearing already… I miss it. Still great though. The aftertaste lingers more on these second two infusions, no surprise.
4: Rather similar to the third. I feel like there’s something different at the end of the sip. Maybe a bit of fruitiness? I feel like I’m losing flavour though; going with 15 second infusions from now on. (Also I’m feeling rather full suddenly from sipping from four cups back and forth in succession… boo.)
5: Ok, 15 seconds ended up being 20 for each of these. It happens. Although it’s still creamy, I definitely feel like we’re moving into the woody, more vegetal phase here. Oolong aftertaste is intense here, just how I like it.
6: Similar to 5, even less floral.
7: Likewise.
8: Oh, starting to get something different here. Reminds me more of the Wuyi Mountain oolong I had last night. It’s good too, but I think I prefer earlier infusions.

At this point my tiny little teapot is completely full of opened leaves. I might see what I can do with it tomorrow but seriously, my tummy is DONE for the night! I really need to figure out what size the little pot is; I think the tea tasted a bit dilute because 5g of tea was meant for a 4-5oz. pot, and I think it’s at least 8oz.? It was good, I just could have done with more flavour. Still need to compare this to the autumn version sometime soon! But perhaps not until I have the mental ability to describe things as more than just “wow, it’s different now!” Haha.

Uh oh, first to review this one? Eep.

Dry tea smells quite vegetal. Almost overwhelmingly.

First infusion (204F/30s)
Smells floral. Smooth, light, buttery. Delicious. I think I’d prefer it to be stronger, but it is delicious.

Second infusion (204F/1min)
A bit vegetal, and there’s a bit of a sharp spicy almost astringent flavour that is quite lovely. That flavour is familiar, but not always as strong in other teas. Still somewhat floral, and an oolong aftertaste.

Third infusion (205F/1min)
Less floral, again I think I’d like it a bit stronger.

Fourth infusion (205F/1min (I think))
Losing flavour, more of a fruity, round sweetness with lingering oolong aftertaste. I think if I continue steeping I’ll bump up the infusion time. Nearly did it earlier.

Ooh, returning to the first sip, it’s definitely sweeter. Mmmmm. I take back my comment about it being too weak. Retrospectively, the second infusion is actually too strong.

Oh, this is fun. I’m sipping back and forth between my four cups, tasting them all in and out of sequence. Yum yum yum.

I think next time, I’ll go with 30, 45, 60, 120 seconds for my infusions.

I have to admit that during steeping, when smelling the wet leaf, I was very worried that this was going to be intensely vegetal, but only the second infusion was a bit.

Man. This was good. I’m going to have to compare it to the Autumn Tieguanyin, and the one from DavidsTea. I don’t know whether a “good” oolong is judged by its longevity (i.e. how many good infusions you can get), or its flavour. I’m not sure I’ve yet had a “bad” oolong. Or at least, not a bad green tieguanyin-style one or milk oolong.

I just read this over and apparently I am incredibly scattered tonight! Ah well. I was in lovely oolong land. Forgive me :P

ETA: Love how I reviewed this, and was promptly followed by two others :P I guess everyone received their orders last week and waited to try things until the weekend! Fifth infusion (203F/2min). The aroma is wonderful – I don’t know if this is because the leaves sat overnight, or what. But Yum. All oolongy and floral. The flavour is surprisingly strong for a fifth infusion. I am getting some grassy notes and astringency along with – oh, there it is, the oolong aftertaste! Nom nom nom – the rest of the deliciousness, but they’re manageable. Looks like I should be taking this to a sixth before throwing out the leaves so I can try my shu nuggets…

Unofficial sipdown, because I finished this off within the last year but have no real recollection (I found a stash of empty bags that were waiting for tasting notes but got forgotten. Sad times.) One of Verdant’s blends I’m sorry to no longer have access to!

Drank a random cup of this in my Timolino at my boyfriend’s place the other day – it was pretty good. Kind of chocolatey, minty, and cinnamon. Pretty much the same as I remember (cinnamon toast!) Not a favourite but a nice change from artificial flavoured teas.

Another tea I’ve probably had too long, though it’s still tasty. Cinnamon sugar toast!

Crazy. I still can’t believe that I like this one, given that it has my three top despised ingredients in it! It’s a bit overly minty for me tonight, but I’m still appreciating the absolutely amazing chocolatey base and flavour combination. The aftertaste is absolutely to die for here (I think it’s primarily Laoshan Black that I’m tasting). I’m really not getting the cinnamon in here tonight, unfortunately, but it’s enjoyable nonetheless.

Aaaand evening tea time commences! A whole load of new teas tonight, because I got a bit carried away!

Starting off with some of my brand new Verdant Tea! (Yes, I realize I have yet to try some of the ones I previously received, haha, just too excited about the new ones!)

I was admittedly rather skeptical about this one. It has multiple ingredients I typically dislike… in fact, I think it contains all three of my least favourite tea ingredients! Mint, chamomile, and fennel/anise/licorice. But my curiousity (haha) got the better of me, and the reviews intrigued me.

The smell of the dry tea has me a bit worried. It smells minty. And I can smell fennel, I think. Crap. I was really hoping they wouldn’t be predominant in the blend. Oh well.

And then…. it gets wet. WTF?! Cinnamon sugar toast? That is ALL I am smelling! It smells marvelous! This is entirely NOT what I was expecting! I noted down that it smelled extra bready as well, although that has disappeared a tad as it has cooled, and I feel like I can pick out the barest hint of mint.

Wow. This is so complex. I can taste the mint, but it’s tempered enough that I can handle it, the fennel/anise/whatever is present but only just barely, which is quite acceptable, it seems. And the finish is a lingering, lovely chocolatey flavour. Of course, I’m failing to appropriately identify the flavours in amongst those. There’s sweetness, yeasty bready flavours… so many. This was definitely worth the try! There’s a bit more peppermint than I would like, but everything else is delicious. I’m really loving the lingering aftertaste.

I have to admit that I’ve tried neither the Laoshan Black nor Wuyi Big Red Robe (although I have both), so I should probably do that before trying this again; perhaps it will help me elucidate some more flavours.

Overall, very satisfied with this blend! I might try it stronger next time; I brewed it cautiously tonight, with maaaaybe 1.5tsp of leaf, which was pretty “fluffy”.

ETA: Second infusion (boiling, 3 or 4 mins, I can’t recall), day after. The steeped tea still smells strongly of cinnamon sugar toast. Today, I feel like I’m tasting some cinnamon, and some sweetness. The peppermint is tamed more today (yes!), and other than being a bit weaker than I would like, this is really tasty :D

ETA: The second day after. I probably shouldn’t be re-steeping at this point. Ehhhhh… The aroma is still cinnamon-toasty. Before it cooled, I was getting some stronger peppermint aromas, which turned my stomach a tad. Today, it tastes… oh man, choked on my tea for the second time tonight… sweet and cinnamon toasty, with an undertone of peppermint. It’s rather mild, even though I steeped for four minutes. This is probably as far as I’d bother taking this one in the future.

VERDANT TEA NUMERO DOS!

I actually have no idea if that’s how you say the second because I take French not Spanish :P. I was going to try and make the Spring Tieguanyin but I don’t have enough patience or the right environment to do that in right now, so I figured I’d make this one! I’m realllllly hoping that this ends up tasting like the reviews say it does because they make this sound like heaven in a cup.

I’ve never seen a tea like this before. I am familiar with pu-erh bricks and I’ve seen those before, and I’ve seen loose pu-erh, but I’ve never before seen a nugget…. They’re actually kind of cute in a way! I’m brewing this one western style as I still have not gotten my hands on a gaiwan or a yixing teapot, but I do know that Teavana has yixings (alright, well not true ones, more like mass produced ones, but a yixing is a yixing right?!?) and I’ll be near one when I go to Pennsylvania next weekend, so I plan to pick one up while I’m there! Anyways, back to the point at hand, I put two full sized and then one little baby nugget in the infuser basket and did a double rinse with 208 degree water, both for ~15 seconds.

First Infusion-205 degrees for 3 minutes. This is interesting because it didn’t brew up to that dark color that every other shu I’ve had (not that I’m experienced, because I’m not by a long shot!) has done. It looks more like a regular black tea, with a deep amber color, almost like maple syrup. It smells somewhat earthy, maybe a little hay-like. Oh my goodness (on a side note, I can’t handle how many times I’ve said the phrases “OMG,” “oh my god,” and “oh my goodness” in these past few reviews, it’s actually getting kind of ridiculous). This tea is so amazing. There’s nothing added to my cup and yet it tastes so naturally sweet. I can see why this would be compared to angel food cake! There’s a nice graininess that lends itself to the actual cake, and then there’s a nice sugary note that sweetness the entire thing. I am not disappointed at all. This is so incredibly interesting and delicious. I could easily see myself drinking this all day but unfortunately until I have a method of gongfu brewing, I can only really make 4-5 infusions with one set of leaves :(. le sob that’s actually so upsetting because if I used a gaiwan I suspect that I could easily make this tea all day without the leaves ever running out of steam. But, regardless, there’s no use crying over spilled milk (or in this case, there’s no use crying over milk that you don’t have), so I will have to live with my (more than functional) current brewing vessels.

Second Infusion-208 degrees for 3 minutes and 30 seconds. I just noticed how much I rambled on the first infusion notes and I would like to apologize for making you read my incoherent babbling :P. This infusion has a lot more of an earthy feel to it, though there is still a nice sweetness. I don’t know if anyone else has gotten this, but I get a wine-like flavor as an aftertaste…. Maybe it’s the elderberry that David mentions on the website? I’m not familiar with elderberry so I have no idea, but there is definitely a dark, fruity flavor. This is also really nice. It’s pretty late and I’m beat so it looks like this session will only get two infusions, but this was SUPER good, and I’m so glad I asked for this! Thanks again David and the folks at Verdant Tea!

This is exciting for two reasons: It’s the free sample that came with my most recent Verdant order, and it’s my first Dancong Oolong. My first impression of the armoa is that this tea is way different than my usual fare. The aroma is both fruity and spicy, completely different than my usual Wuyi Oolongs. In a way, it’s refreshing. The taste of the first infusion is also very different, bu also amazing. A mineral taste – similar yet different than the signature Wuyi aftertaste – dominates, and after a bit, apricot flavors make themselves known. The tea reminds me a bit of these cookies that my grandmother makes, which made the tea more enjoyable.

The second infusion has some sort of spice present. The tasting note on Verdant’s website say that it’s cinnamon, but it’s overpowered by the mineral and apricot right now, so I can’t verify that. This cup was also a bit sweeter, which made the apricot more assertive.

Quick word of advice: DON’T LET THIS TEA GET COLD! Man, astringent apricot and cold water does not work.

Anyway, the third infusion was much less fruity/mineral, and the cinnamon has developed nicely. This was much more like the Oolongs that I am used to, but it is still uniqe, with a fruity aftertaste that is less subtle and most.

The fourth and final infusion continued to develop complexity, but things were still in transition, and flavors were a bit indistinct. Sadly, I can’t drink more tea, or I won’t go to sleep early enough. In the end, this is an interesting tea, with new flavor profiles and intriguing development patterns, but it’s not really my thing. Don’t get me wrong, it’s very good, but I don’t think I could drink it regularly.

Making tea is a good excuse to look out of the kitchen window and try to see what the landlord is doing in the other half of the building. Fact about this house: It was built in the 20s if I recall correctly and the flat that I live in used to be a grocery shop. Upstairs, I imagine is where the grocer lived with his family and downstairs is the cellar. Adjacant to the building there is this empty space, also separated into two or three floors. I’m not sure, I haven’t actually explored it all that much. I assume it has been storage facilities or possibly stables originally. Fact about my landlord: He’s a builder. Lately there has been a lot of noise from the other side of my wall, so clearly his working on doing something with that empty space. Right now I think he’s been taking out the concrete flooring. I wonder if he’s converting it into more flats perhaps? So yeah, any excuse to peek out the window while pretending I’m not actually super curious, I’ll take it. :)

Perhaps this is the reason why I’m stupid! No really, any person who can’t tell seconds from minutes can’t possibly have that many brain cells to rub together, can they? That person, ladies and gentlemen, is your very own Ang. How hard can it be to set a timer? Very.

This tea was another one that Spoonvonstrup shared with me, writing something along the lines of ‘I know greens aren’t really your thing, but I thought I would share it anyway’. Funny really, considering I had just got a bout of green tea inspiration only a few days before the package arrived. Certainly it must have been after it was sent.

It was a generously sized sample, enough for two rounds, so I thought I would try to do it once in the western style and once in a more gong-fu-ish method (to the best of my abilities). Deciding to start with ten seconds, I… yeah, see above. It took nearly six minutes before it occurred to me that something wasn’t right. I can’t even save it by calling this the western style attempt because the leaf to water ratio is all stupid for that. I only use half the amount of water to the same amount of leaf when I attempt these short steeps.

So obviously the first steep yielded a very strong cup, but surprisingly not a ruined one. There is evidence in the flavour of it having gone rather wrong, but it’s by no means undrinkable. Just… strong. It’s got a silky soft and very fat flavour, kind of buttery but not completely. There is a vegetal note to both the aroma and the flavour which reminds me of a bit of cooked spinach. And then of course a bit of a prickly ‘you-got-me-wrong’ reminder behind it all, which I get a clear impression shouldn’t have been there. “Idiot proof” Spoonvonstrup’s post say. Well, then I came along…

But! All is not lost, so let’s try again and see if we can’t get it right, yes? This time I succesfully differentiate my seconds from my minutes and the aroma is a lot crisper. It still has that spinach note but there is also an additional note of something kind of citrus-y. I’m thinking lime, mostly because that’s the colour association I’m getting with this aroma. That colour is more or less the same colour Chinese green teas tend to give me. Japanese greens are much darker in hue in my head.

The flavour is more crisp as well. Not so fat and butter-y, but still with the spinach-y note and a whole lot of citrus. There were no citrus whatsoever in the first botched steep. Interesting, this citrus note. It’s all refreshing and nice tasting and it doesn’t give me that sour aftertaste that green teas sometimes do.

How enjoyable this second cup is! I really like this citrus aspect.

I thought the third cup would be the same as the second, but it appears my initial whoopsie has taken its toll on the leaves because already now they appear to be fading. It is more or less the same as the second cup, same spinach and same citrus, but it’s somehow diminished. More transparant.

I say ‘more or less’, but actually there is some difference in the spinach notes. It seems to be going faster than the citrus-y note, so it appears like the citrus is stronger this time. I don’t think it is, I think it’s just more on its own this time.

This diminishing of flavour shouldn’t happen so quickly in a green tea, I don’t think. I can only imagine that it’s the initial very long steep that has been at play.

It’s still quite an enjoyable cup, though. I just rather miss the spinach.

Unpertubed however, I continue. Weirdly this seems to smell like the second cup. I would have expected it to be even more transparant and for that to only get worse from now on. There is a thick butteryness to it now which I don’t really feel was there before.

The flavour solves the puzzle. It’s not that the spinach has come back like it was in the second cup. It’s that with the further increase in steeping time, the spinach and the citrus is once more in that same balance. The increased steeping time have then given it time to get a little stronger than it was in the third. Even though the third cup was increased with five seconds and this cup has been increased by a further five seconds, so logically it still ought to have been more of the same.

I shan’t complain, though. This is like a rerun of the second cu- oh dear, mental image. Unfortunate phrasing. Let’s call it a do-over rather than a rerun, shall we.

This is going rather well! Let’s do another.

Normally at this point I would start thinking the flavours were fading and I would be getting bored. This particular tea, however, appears to be surprisingly entertaining. I was hoping for another cup like the second and fourth, with a nice spinach and citrus balance in it, but now it seems the citrus-y bit has taken a step back. It’s still there, it’s just hanging out in the background this time. There’s something else, though. Something sweet. Just a smidge of it. It’s not sugar, it’s more like fruit sweetness. Hmm… interesting. Nah, I think I prefer the citrus/spinach balance.

Perhaps that’s an every other steep sort of thing? Let’s try again!

Nope, this is the nearly the same as the previous. Strong on the spinach note and a non-fruity fruit-like sweetness. Hm. Does that mean that the citrus note is completely finished? That’s the only difference. The citrus-y note has changed characteristics and now comes over more like a green apple of some sort of tart variety. Granny Smith perhaps, or similar. There is an apple-y aftertaste at this point as well.

And I think that will be the last cup, unless I decide to do another one later tonight, but although I should have liked to explore that nice apple-y note that has come out, frankly this is doubtful. I’m not bored with it, and I’m sure there is lots more life in the leaf, but I’m full. I can’t drink any more.

It was a dark and stormy night….

We’ve all heard stories that began like that one. Well last night, I had a scary long and stormy night and Steepster was not available to comfort me! Being alone in a storm…eeks!

This is a backlog review!

I was watching “So You Think You Can Dance” and over and over the storm warnings kept streaming by…more and more frequently…tornado warning…tornado warning. Then the warning ticker turned red…TORNADO WARNING…STRONG STORM…FLASH FLOODS…Yikes! Then the warnings listed the area where my friends live and a Steepster person I know about 2 hours South of me. Then…then warnings began in MY area. The sky was filled with Lightning! TO THE GROUND!
I’m from California…we don’t have WEATHER in California. (the ground moves now and then…no biggie)

What to do, what to do?

I made tea!

Holy Basil Spa Blend and a prayer for all the people in harms way to be safe! Yep!
I rushed in case the power went out. Brought down a nectar-like Colorado Raw Honey (the brand is Ambrosia)from the cupboard and my big 16oz mug.
The combination of mint, basil, burdock, fennel, ginger and honey was warm and cooling in the mouth…like jumping from a rope swing into the water on a hot Summer day. Totally refreshing and as warm as a towel when you get too cold. The honey is perfect with this tea.
I looked at the weather report for this morning…more storms later today. Eeks! I have to get used to the Rocky Mountain Weather.
I’m glad I live 1 block from the base of a mountain so that no tornado will come my way. But the lightening to the ground part…that is so freeky!

Holy Basil Spa Blend is my new “I’m scared to death” comfort tea of choice!

Glad to “see” OO all of you again! http://youtu.be/Q7RPCFfudmU
(You’ve got a friend…James Taylor…)

Tonight, one of the 5 tea’s that granddaughter Schey and I tasted was this alchemy blend. I knew that Schey is fond of mint so I saved it for a cool 4th tea tasting right before the finale 5th tea (Laoshan Chai). I was correct in my thinking that this would appeal to her. The peppermint is not overwhelming and the flavors are blended in subtlety. No artifical flavors. No caffeine. This tasted really, really good!
I told Schey that I had often made this particular tea iced which was refreshing. Later I showed how several blends work well together. I often take some Holy Basil Spa Blend and mix it with a bit of Pu-erh and bottle the blend for on the go iced tea. Yum! So rich from the pu-erh and cool at the same time from the mint. The combination is great for curbing hunger and lagging energy during long drives or shopping trips. I just stick a bottle or two in a cooler sack and off I go.

Next, we watched a Verdant TV Video about how to serve tea showing the equipment to use, and how to be considerate to guests when serving tea.
The shared moments that I have with my lovely, bald (cut her hair off in support of her Godmother who has cancer) 18 year old granddaughter are priceless!

Happy Mothers Day to my tea friends, and Happy Grandmothers Day to a few oldsters.