Verdant Tea

Once again, I find that my procrastination has left me with one day to do all of my work. Therefore, see my previous notes for more about this tea.

I’ve got a big test on posthumanism on Monday and I needed something potent to keep me focused. My day will be filled with Philosophy, extra-strong black tea, and KPop. Sadly, this means that I don’t have time to go into the details for this tea, so check out my previous notes.

See previous notes for more information.

My newest shipment from Verdant just can in today, and I was very excited the try this tea out. My previous experience with Verdant has been excellent, with teas that outshine their competition

This is by far the best Yunnan golden bud tea I’ve had. The first infusion was the perfect balance of sweet and creamy, and not nearly as harsh as some versions of this tea that I’ve had. There was also a hint of cinnamon as a bit of foreshadowing for the second infusion.

The second infusion was still sweet, but the cinnamon flavor had strengthened considerably. The creamy flavors are surprisingly weak, but other than that, this is a delightful cup of tea.

The third infusion was mellower than the previous two, and – like the description said – reminded me of a Tie Guan Yin. It wasn’t fruity, but it had the same feeling. I was also rather impressed that the tea was still this strong, as most of the black teas that I’ve had waned more bu the third steeping.

The forth infusion was similar to the third, but weaker. This was also my last infusion, so I have a few closing remarks: This was a remarkably good black tea, and I’m really glad that I got 4 ounces of it. Also, there was no astringency in this tea, so I’m planning on experimenting this weekend to see if it can be brewed grandpa style. Regardless, I can’t wait to have this tea again.

First review from a generous sample that David included with my Verdant Tea order.

This is my 100th review Woo Hoo and a big thank you for all encouragement and comments to a newcomer to the tea community especially to David at Verdant for personal notes and samples and Angel at Teavivre for samples both companies being highly regarded!*

I’ve only ever tasted really good Jasmine tea which is fortunate so I was looking forward to this Yunnan White. The timing on my steep was 3 minutes which produced a lovely blush pale golden tea. Some Jasmine’s knock you down with floral scent but not this one. It’s more refined and gentle…a peach, jasmine, paperwhite floral with a hint of pine finish, if you can imagine such a thing. There is a creaminess and spice tingle on the tongue. We’ll see on a further pour what develops. Very delicious.

Second steep Oh My this is a bit fizzy on my tongue when hot and still lovely and creamy floral but I got distracted and put my cup down. The tea cooled. Oh well, it’s probably ok, I thought. OK? it was GREAT cool! No longer fizzy but just short of buttery and definately SILKY SMOOTH oh yes it is! Sometimes we all know how tea cools and goes all bitter, but this stayed lovely. I didn’t steep more than 3 minutes so that is important also. Quality tea has to be respected for potency… zillion proof tea needs restraint compaired to fluff and dust. I’ve been drinking so much tea that I’m going to get wicked and slice a 3 inch California strawberry and plunk it in a tall glass with the remains of the second cooled steep and a few ice cubes. Be right back…….pause…..ummmm ummmm that’s good!

I could be wrong, but this tea seems to be not composed of just buds, but also some leaves. At least, when I compare it to Rishi’s Golden Needle, after that has been brewed, it appears to be only buds (there are no open leaves at all…). Whereas, after brewing this one, the leaves seem to open, and there is also a good amount of broken/leaf parts present (nothing small, but it isn’t as homogeneous as Rishi’s GN).

I don’t know if that translates to the higher astringency that I’ve been getting from this tea, especially on the first infusion (and somewhat the second), but it does have a noticeably stronger astringency present than two other Yunnan Golds that I really enjoyed (Rishi’s and Life in Teacup’s). That being said, there is something earthy about this one that makes me really feel like it is from Yunnan (unlike the others)…. it is something about the aroma that reminds me of pu-erh, which is really cool. This was a unique experience for me – having a tea that helped me to understand regional characteristics, because of what it has in common with a completely different tea, but from the same area.

By the third steeping, the smoothness and honey-sweetness that I love or have come to expect about this kind of black tea does come out. I enjoyed the sample size that I’ve now finished, but this particular version of Yunnan Gold didn’t impress me quite the same (as others that I’ve found from different vendors).

This is my first Big Red Robe. The aroma is rather toasty/nutty.
Reminds me of roasting pine nuts when I was young, only without any of
the sap. The flavor is less toasty, but still nutty, and a bit like
salted butter. As the tea cools, the salt fades somewhat, and a
sweetness makes an appearance.

This is a difficult tea to rate. The flavor isn’t really what I want
in a tea. But there’s something about the taste that keeps calling
for a deeper exploration, as if, should I taste it just once more, I’d
realize that salted butter and toasted pine nuts is exactly what I
should want tea to taste like. It seems you can have good teas, and
interesting teas, and they’re not necessarily the same. This is an
interesting tea.

I really love this shu. It just knows what it’s doing. No heavy nonsense. No murky bitterness. No sickly saccharine. Just balanced and fair and sweet and transluscent.

It’s classy.

I want to write more about this later. This is more a reminder to drink again and take proper notes. The scribbles I do have are useless in helping me describe.

I can’t believe that it’s only been a few months since I reviewed this pu’er blend the first time. It seems like ages. Maybe there is some time warp when you’re a tea drinker (I swear I’m getting younger and I’ve also lost 20 lb’s in the last 3 months).

This week I turn 64. Yes. Those birthdays keep a-comin…year after year and there’s nothing you can do about it. The good thing about being 64 is that you don’t have to worry about your looks anymore and I don’t have to go out and get a job or worry about getting pregnant. I can say what I want and stay up late and sleep in. Not bad. So, my daughter Annalisa took me to an Eritrean dinner (a fundraiser for African Charities) at her church last night and we had a great time…I dressed in my Eritrean dress and I danced and had fresh roasted coffee. (Ethiopians and Eritreans roast and serve coffee in a ceremony that is closer to a tea ceremony and can last all day).
Here’s a photo of Annalisa and I http://www.flickr.com/photos/disabilitea/7243230384/
and the coffee…http://www.flickr.com/photos/disabilitea/7243230558/

So this morning I was sore! My legs hurt from dancing just a bit because of my fibromyalgia but it was worth it. You’ve got to live!
I really wanted a shot of good Pu’er with a wake up kick. I hadn’t had this Spiced Elderberry Pu’er is months and it sounded just right for soothing the after effects of spicy lamb, chicken, greens and injera bread from last night. I was so right!
How soothing the ginger and elderberry would be. Now that I’ve tasted several of the alchemy blends from Verdant, I delight in the restraint used when creating each blend. There is caution used so that no one herb or spice overwhelms another. This blend is warming and sweet while comforting to my stomach (a good thing) because of the mellow Pu’er. Um, this is a blend that I should be drinking more often (making that note to self).

First Review. I must compliment David at Verdant for great service since I was trying to order during the transition to the new website (which is fantastic) and had trouble with the payment screen not working…so he added some extra samples and shot me a nice email. You can be sure I’m coming back to such a service oriented company (great tea too!).

I followed the instructions to the letter for steeping but the tea was just too weak. I let it go 5 minutes before pouring. Next time since this is a blended Pu’er I may need to make sure there are enough pieces of actual Pu’er in the basket so the brew is stronger (note to self). The Pu’er is like chocolate colored chunks of tree bark and there are small pieces of orange peel and ginger, small tart elderberries (almost raisen taste) and galangel (spice/heat). You really smell ginger. Golden cocoa brownish orange colored liquid. Note* I did not read any reviews before I made MY notes and tasted the tea myself.
First impression…more like regular black tea than a Pu’er. No earthiness and the ginger is not as strong tasting but somewhat lighter than I expected. A nice floral orange blossom bouquet but no elderberry flavor or scent at all. Where is it? Hidden in a cloak of ginger? There is heat at the tip of the tongue from galangal that is nice…not too hot. Children can drink this and not have too much spice. I added some sugar which brought the richness of the spice out to a lovely fullness. As the tea cooled a bit I could smell a slight smoky earthy Pu’er note that the sneaky ginger had hidden with it’s strength when heated. I went back to my glass teapot and drank some of the cooled tea which was very nice and much less gingery. This tea will be soothing when stressed or not feeling quite well. I need to try this again.
*Second steep…really good…still ginger and spice and enough body with no earth or fish whatever. What I notice though is that long after I’m done the flavor lingers. I have this wonderful refreshing taste in my mouth that is so good that I want to go back and brew some more…(I’m getting a bit sloshy though).

Astringent horses, astringent horses, I miss riding, astringent horses… Oh hey! Looks like I should be using 195 F water, sigh, that’s better. See previous note.

So I brought this to work yesterday and brewed it side by side with Teavana’s only straight pu-erh (Nan Nuo Shan) which is limited to an expensive gift set that is currently sold out after being on sale. I let everyone smell the dried leaves of this and the other Verdant sample packs. They were impressed that they didn’t smell sickening sweet like Strawberry Slender. However when it came to tasting only one of my co-workers liked them. I should have used less tea, rinsed twice and done short steeps (but i couldnt connect to the website in the back room). I rinsed once and did a 3min steep and both the teas were bold, bitter, bitey and dry.

However this one had a nice smoke thing going on and I had to do a second infusion, this time only 30 sec and the results were much better. The smoke was still present and there was a nice creamy mouthfeel with just a hint of butter. I get the redwood and on my third and forth steep I got the licorice root and mint so yay! I do like this and have just enough for a second session. I probably won’t be repurchasing soon for the price but I would probably buy another sample for a tasting. Next weekend we’ll try the two other shengs and the silver buds Yabao.

Edit: drinking a fifth infusion this morning and I must say yumm!

this tea is deliciuos
little malty, honey, flowers.
now it’s my preferit black (red ) tea
steeped 3 times
1 90° 2.30 min
2 90° 3 min
3 90° 4 min

Brews a kind of peachy-orange color. Tastes of light earth/fresh wood that grows upon further steepings only to gently fade out. There is a smooth rock sugar overtone that makes the tea very pleasant. Some grape on the tip of my tongue. A mild but unique Shu.

After getting used to this tea and having an idea of what to expect from it, it didn’t excite me the same way some Japanese greens do each time I prepare them, but it was very nice to find a green tea that I enjoyed this much from another region.

The first steeping always has a nice honeysuckle sweetness; it isn’t a strong flowery aftertaste, but the initial part of the sip tastes like honey that is soft and sweet like the smell of honeysuckle (maybe orange blossom honey?).

Further steeps are greener, more like chestnuts, or snap peas. It was a good one.

Thanks to Lindsay for this one. My first Orchid Oolong. Now I’ve seen Orchid’s, Licorice, Ginseng oolong, and King’s oolongs and they seem to be synonymous with each other. Or so I thought. Check out the package no coating on the dry leaf really like you might see on some licorice oolongs(that candy coated like shell). Brew up the first cup. Eh kinda of a semi roasty nutty flavor to it. I didn’t get that sweetness though till the end of the cup. I didn’t really enjoy the first steep. However, in consecutive steeps afterward this tea really begins to unfold like an orchid. In the second steep is where I’m starting to detect the orchid. It reminds me of jasmine scented teas, but you can definitely tell that it is orchid and not jasmine. Then you have that sweetness at the end of the sip. This I enjoy quite a bit. I might be wrong but there has to be a little bit of ginseng in there or licorice root to produce that sweetness. If I am wrong…fabulous. I am thoroughly enjoying this tea. So with steep 3 and 4 I combined it with a sample of Teavana’s Dokudami Umami. The combination with licorice root in the umami was fantastic. I can’t wait to finish the rest of this, and try more to come!

Thanks to Dinosaura for this sample…

I think I might like darker oolongs better than most people but wasn’t sure what to expect with this. I have been doing my steepings in the gaiwan for around 30 seconds or so.

First steep: very roasted quality, aroma is a bit like burnt sugar and vanilla but flavor is lagging, I don’t think my water was hot enough either

Second steep: the sweetness is starting to come up a bit more along with some nuttiness. reminds me a lot of buckwheat or roasted barley and a bit of the hojicha I had a few days back. There is some tobacco is the aroma for me. Interesting.

Third steep: Very toasty, a bit smoky… I am still getting these burnt sugar/honey like flavors but it isn’t evolving into much more. It does have a bit of a bitter aftertaste…

I’ve enjoyed it but probably is not going to go on the must purchase list. I can’t help but wonder if I would appreciate this more on a cold and rainy day, I think I’ll save the rest of my sample for a time like that. This was fun to try but sadly, I’m losing interest. It tastes like someone charbroiled it, which is kind of the point, really but maybe not what I was in the mood for just now.

Tommy The Toad was kind enough to send me some samples to introduce me to unflavored pu-erh, this being the first of them I decided to try. I can’t thank him enough for helping me branch out. To be honest, I was a little scared to dry it when I smelled the brewed tea, but I kept an open mind. There was definitely a little bit of that “fishy” odor that I had heard about, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. When I tasted it, there was no fishy taste whatsover. It was just an earthy, smoky kind of taste that made me think of fall leaves, campfires, and dirt (I never thought I’d drink something that reminded me of dirt, but really it wasn’t a bad thing). This was a very new experience, my mind was not fully prepared for what my taste buds experienced, and I’m glad I got to try it. Once I get used to the taste a little more, I can see myself becoming a pu-erh fan. The whole process of making pu-erh is very intriguing to me. The amount of effort and expertise that goes into creating a good pu-erh is something I can really respect, and I want to experience all of the different facets of the tea world. When it all comes down to it, tea in general is a form of art and allows me to feel a spiritual warmth and a connection with the nature. I am consuming the ESSENCE of nature, and at the same time the product of a rich culture of my own human race. As you can see, I’m getting a bit contemplative…and that in my mind the greatest quality of tea. It gives me a few minutes out of a hectic day to truly feel centered and be able to THINK and BE in the moment. I truly enjoyed this new experience.

First of all, thank you to Amy Oh for sending me a bit of this chai. This is one I’ve been wanting to try since I’ve seen the tasting notes here on Steepster… and thank you, Amy, for this opportunity to try it.

As some of you know, I used to blend and flavor tea. My most popular blend was my Masterpiece Chai, and this is a chai that I took well over a year of testing and tasting to get the recipe just right. I’ve tried quite a few chai blends from other companies since that time (and even before that time, as my thinking was that if I could find the “right” chai made by someone else, I needn’t invest the time to create my own blend, you know?) My findings are that I’ve discovered many wonderful chai blends since I’ve closed my business, but, before I started blending to create my blend, there were very few that that I tried that I would consider “good” and none that were just what I was looking for which is why I decided to embark on my own.

Since that time, I’ve tasted many really good chai, but, I still have yet to find one that lives up to my own. (Gosh, I sound so humble, do I not?) And this one is REALLY REALLY GOOD. But, I can’t compare it with my own, because this one is quite different. I did not put saffron in my blend and that makes quite a difference, as does the burdock root.

But, this is REALLY good. I love the interesting flavor that the burdock root and saffron offer this blend. It is so well-rounded; a very pleasing sip from start to finish.

I really like this.

I’m very tempted to give this a perfect score, but seeing that this is my first tasting note, that’s probably bad protocol.

David generously sent me a sample of this and the 2008 Xingyang Shu nuggets as an introduction to Pu’er. The 2008 Shu was a fantastic horizon-expanding first, but this… I’ve been drinking this pretty continuously for two straight days.

With the 2008 Shu, I could see why a lot of people are turned off by Pu’er. My friend tried the Shu with me, and it was his first Pu’er as well. He simply described the smell as “fish” and the taste as “tree”. Overall: “best cup of tea I’ve ever had”.

With this Sheng, however, I can’t imagine why anybody would dislike it. The aroma it puts off reminds me of the aroma inside of a sauna. It’s just this excellent, warm, cedar-ish scent. I don’t really know how to describe the taste. I suppose the taste is pretty similar to the scent… Just imagine wood, but not in the musty, moldy, or damp sense. More like if someone were to refer to a nice Scotch as “woody”.

My favorite part of this, though, is the aftertaste. It realllly lingers in your throat, and you can taste it as you exhale. It’s surprisingly powerful, considering that the upfront taste is pretty subtle.

I know my review isn’t very useful. I’d say just try it for yourself!