Verdant Tea

Since Verdant said you can get 20-25 infusions on this tea I wanted to do at least 2 infusions as part of my infusion test – and was considering moving on to my next tea after the 2nd – but after the first sip of my second infusion I will be doing a 3rd infusion for sure!

2nd infusion…
THIS IS Morph-a-riffic!
Totally unexpected! The overall taste is more intense – more strong – than the first! The notes have changed and here is what I taste this time around…

It’s a sweet wood and a bit grassy tasting – not overly identifiable as apple like in the first infusion but I am picking up something reminiscent of…peas, perhaps, and a peppery flavor that is surprising and neat at the same time!

Looking forward to the 3rd infusion…

I think I am going to do an infusion test with this one today…

My first impressions of the LOOKS of this tea DRY was that if Oolongs were to have a Needle – this would be it! Many of us have seen Silver Needle Teas before – for example – and have appreciated how the leaves look all straight-arrowed and standing strong! I guess the only difference in the “looks” would be there isn’t that fuzziness to it. These leaves are very dry and very strong they are on the verge of being wiry but haven’t quite gotten there yet. Like I said – or should I say – rambled about – it’s just the first impression that I got looking at these leaves dry – don’t take me literally, I guess! LOL

Anyhow…

1st infusion…
VERY nice experience! The flavor is nice and even…it’s that of a sweet wood and apple. Not actual apple flavoring – but natural apple notes are what my tongue picked up! I can also taste natural citrusy notes as it cools at room temperature a bit. This is really nice!

The leaves are forest green colored, tiny and curly just like the picture Verdant Tea displays. This is my new favorite green tea! The flavor is smooth and creamy with a hint of vegetal flavor at first but finishes with butter.

I use two teaspoons, water shy of boiling, and steeped for three minutes.

I am very impressed with this tea. The appearance of the leaves is very curious-thin, curly, like they were extruded to make pasta instead of plucked. The dry aroma is a of dark chocolate, the steeped aroma is spicier. The cup is unusually light for a black tea- everything about it is new and fascinating.

The flavor tops off the impression- I pick up dark chocolate, a little mace and it finishes with the buckwheat flavor note mentioned in other tasting notes.

I brewed this up perhaps a bit weaker than others might advise – the wet leaves about half filled my yixing pot, or 4.5g leaf to 120ml. However, the resulting tea is just right for me – not overwhelming like I’m used to from pu-erh. The shiny silver coated dried leaves are actually quite gorgeous, and the rinsed scent is sort of mushroomy. There is a slight greenish astringency to it, but I love the sweetness that takes over the sides of my tongue a moment after I’ve sipped it. The actual tea has more of a vague woodsy feeling to it, but not smokey or offensive. Really a nice every day tea, actually – good price, easy to brew, goes a long way and has a lot of flavour profiles hidden away in it.

Finishing the last of my Verdant Yunnan White Jasmine tea that I had squirreled away for a day when I needed a real treat. My last few grams reminded me why I love this tea so much. Creamy, floral, and rich without being heavy. A perfect light cup to start this humid, warm morning. Every steep a revelation of flavors.

Another wonderful tea full of flavor and complexity. I can’t add anything to what so many have already said, except that this truly is an exceptional Jasmine White!

Tastes like good Silver Needle, but the Jasmine is too strong for me.

I received a generous-sized sample of this in my first order from Verdant. About a month ago, I was able to do my first tasting (gaiwan brewing) and again got to have a cup via gaiwan brewing a couple of days ago. And I still have about 3g left, which I will try the western method.

The description of this tea, as with other teas from Verdant, is very accurate. What is really neat about Verdant’s descriptions of their own teas is that the flavors/aromas they describe are specific, but usually flavors or aromas that aren’t too out-there. Meaning, most people are familiar with those things and could actually imagine how they taste.
So when I’ve tasted their teas, I feel like I’ve been able to identify with their description… which is nice! Either they take good notes and their teas are just that good/distinct!

Anyway, this tea does start off sweet… not like the sweetness from fruit or vegetables, but more sugary-sweet. Rock candy isn’t too far off. It’s not an intense sweetness like gyokuro, but it is quite good. There is a floral aroma too… I would have guessed it’s like orchids, and that too, matches their description.

From steeps 3 and on, and especially later ones, it becomes very juicy, and the initial taste that hits your mouth is very much like lime. I think it is this lime-like flavor, which is just a bit astringent, that makes the tea feel juicy, or mouth-watering.

Somewhere out in steep 5 I felt like I was drinking apple juice. It came out for just one cup and was gone by the next, but it was a delicious surprise.

On the brewing I had a month ago, I distinctly remember somewhere later (maybe steep 7) the cup tasted just like smooth, sweet cream. It only lasted for one cup, but it was really nice!

I think I’ve gone about 10-12 steeps each time..maybe more. It could probably keep going, but for me at least, it had lost interest. I don’t feel compelled to buy more of this tea for myself, but I’m really glad to have tried it.

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

Age of leaf: Stated as harvested in autumn 2011; I received this sample of tea in late autumn and brewed it up not long after.

Appearance and aroma of dry leaf: Tiny, tightly-curled, wiry, dark-brown (almost black) leaves and buds, very similar in shape to the early summer Laoshan green. It smelled incredible: it reminded me of a few Wuyi Oolong teas I have had—which I guess I would characterize as roasted—but somehow better (possibly sweeter).

Brewing guidelines ~4 tsp = 4 cups water. Glass Bodum pot used with with leaves floating freely (I acknowledge that this particular thin glass pot is probably not the best to use for a black tea, due to it not holding the heat very well from more than a couple of minutes, but I wanted to watch the leaves brew and be able to see the color—which I really enjoy doing, especially the first time I brew up the tea). Stevia added.
……….1st: boiling, and slightly warmed pot, 2’ (I ended up only using 2.5 cups for the first steeping)
……….2nd: boiling, and warmed pot, 3.5’
……….3rd: boiling, and very warmed pot, 5’
……….4th: boiling, and if possible, even more warmed pot, 7’

Color and aroma of tea liquor: dark brown; < later on the aroma >

Flavor of tea liquor: Oh … my … goodness; when I first tried it, the taste—as with the aroma of the leaves—reminded me vaguely of a Wuyi oolong, but once I really started to savor this tea I realized that it tasted like nothing I have had before. I admit that I still feel like a child when it comes to discerning the various flavors and aromas in a tea, but amongst all the other flavors in here, I think there is some caramel (I really enjoy any kind of caramel flavor in my black tea). The leaves held up very well through four steepings with great flavor, and no astringency—even after having been steeped over 7 minutes. Based on my notes below, I think this could have yielded flavor for up to at least five steepings; alas, I stopped at four and composted the leaves before I really took the time to taste the tea liquor.

Appearance and aroma of wet leaf: Very high quality: very few broken pieces, and very consistent color throughout; about the same aroma as the dry leaf, but possibly not as sweet smelling.

Value: expensive for me, based on my current budget, but still worth having on occasion; and great to give as a gift.

Overall: For various reasons, I generally enjoy drinking green teas, and I brew up a black tea on occasion. So far I have been VERY impressed with all of Verdant’s green teas, and I had an opportunity to try a sample of this black tea from Laoshan, the same village where most of Verdant’s green teas are harvested. Once I opened the package, and smelled, looked over, and tasted the liquor that I coaxed from the leaves it didn’t take long for me to be impressed with everything about this tea. It is the most unusual tasting black tea I have ever had (I don’t just value good flavor, I also value uniqueness). And yet, I was not certain whether or not to buy any (especially after dropping some $$$ on Teavana’s sale teas). But something finally tipped the balance. stay with me, if you can On the evening of the day I brewed up this glorious tea I remember absentmindedly (that’s kind of an oxymoron, isn’t it?) reaching for my cup, sitting half-forgotten on the kitchen table (do any of the rest of you have various cups just sitting around with different kinds of tea in them, ones you didn’t get a chance to finish, and then simply pick one of them up later and sip at it to see what’s in there?). And then, whilst sitting at my computer, I took a sip and, WOW! I was amazed at the flavor! It was the forth steeping, and tepid to boot! So I thought, “If it still tastes good like that, this is a tea worth having around!” Then I found myself thinking, “You already have enough tea, you dope.” And then my next thought was, “Shame on you for even thinking of denying yourself something this incredible (and for calling yourself a dope)!” That is what tipped the balance, and why I decided to finally dip into my not-so-deep coffers and buy this tea (I think my better part won out, don’t you?); the fact that buying from David, and knowing where the tea comes from, is more more rewarding for me than buying from some-big-chain-tea-retailer-that-largely-makes-it’s-home-in-malls helped make the decision even easier. Hurray! For small farms, small online tea retailers, the He family, Verdant Tea, and great tasting tea!

So this was the tea I wanted to try the most. Mainly because I still have some of the Sun-Dried Winter Yabao still left. I wanted to put them side by side and to taste them both. Yabao is a tea that I have been trying to find out more about. I have been to the Verdant website and read everything, but there is really nothing else that I can find on the internet about the tea. Different types? Health benefits?

I put the Winter in my gaiwan and the Silver in a tasting cup. Let it begin…

The dry leaf:
Winter- cedar with some spice
Silver Buds- sweet mustard

Wet leaf:
Winter- cedar
Silver buds-floral sweetness, marshmallow,baked peach.

Color:
Winter-dark yellow
Silver buds-Clear

1st steep:5mins, 2nd steep:10min, 3rd steep:20mins

Winter: woody and light, became sweet through the steeps.
Silver buds: marshmallow sweetness, became more floral after each steep.

I like them both, but the Silver Buds was the one that I would give to someone that is not a tea drinker and I wanted to show them something new and complex. I loved it! I ordered 2oz of the silver buds and Im glad that I did.

To bad I can’t add a picture of my tasting…:)

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

Age of leaf: Stated as harvested in autumn 2011; I received the tea in early winter and brewed it up not long after (I also included notes about their spring harvested Dragon Well style tea in this review). I slightly updated this on 6/5/2012.

Appearance and aroma of dry leaf: Looks beautiful! Light and dark green bud sets (or sparrow’s tongues), with some yellow color mixed in here and there. Very mild, but fresh, aroma.

Brewing guidelines About 5 tsp = 5 cups water. Glass Bodum pot used with with leaves floating freely. Stevia added.
……….1st: 175, 1’
……….2nd: 180, 1.5’
……….3rd: 182, 2’
……….4th: 183, 3’

Color and aroma of tea liquor: light amber color; good, fresh aroma.

Flavor of tea liquor Fresh, sweet, chocolate-y, tasty; it has what I think is called a full mouth/full bodied feel. It had great flavor up through and including the forth steeping.

Appearance and aroma of wet leaf: smells fresh and very aromatic; all whole beautiful looking leaves, buds and bud-sets; no broken pieces.

Value: expensive for any tea by my standards: (as of 6/4-2012) it is roughly $10 / OZ when you buy four ounces of it; but it’s worth having some around for special occasions, and great to give as a gift!

Overall: Although, as LiberTeas pointed out in her review of this tea, it is not technically ‘DragonWell’, it is by far the best ‘Dragon Well style’ tea I have ever tasted (it tastes as good as the Laoshan spring harvested DragonWell); and with one or two exceptions, I think it is the best green tea I have ever tasted. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but there was something different about the aroma and the taste of this tea than any other green tea I’ve had. The leaves remained on top of my Bodum for every steeping, which seems to be a good indicator that this is indeed a quality tea. I really like the contrast of the light and dark green colors of the dry leaf; it is clearly one the the highest quality teas I have ever seen. I love the complexity, the sweetness, and the unique flavor of this tea! You go, He family and Verdant tea!

When this arrived in my December box o’ teas from Verdant, I was really smiling. I love ginger, I love Thai food, and the blend of ingredients sounded just fantastic. I didn’t have a chance to try it right away, but after a day of sniffles and sore throat thought this would be the “cat’s whiskers.” And it certainly was! Energizing, warm and cozy — and I haven’t even had a chance to try it blended with tea.

A quick side note. Growing up in Miami, we had lots of ginger growing all around. It was brought from Asia to the Caribbean and is a mainstay in the cuisine and drinks. My friends from Jamaica and Trinidad always had homemade ginger beer and ginger ale. Galangal, which makes up a large portion of this blend, tastes similar to ginger, but has a more pronounced peppery flavor, and less of the ginger “heat” or “bite.”

The fennel, saffron and burdock were ingredients I had never tried with ginger or galangal, and they add so much to the brew. In fact, they add an aroma that is not unlike Thai Pandan tea…hmmm, could this have influenced the naming of this blend?

This week I have had this blend hot, cold, and room temperature — mostly without sweetener, but once with just a little honey (yum). I have not found a way in which I did not enjoy it! In fact, I used a bit of the leftover tea to flavor some steamed rice and callaloo stew. I am sure it is going to pair nicely with black tea or pu’er too.

Every time I make a pot of this tea, I find something else I like about it. Sweet, spicy, soothing and interesting. Loving the notes of graham cracker and saffron which jump above the slight berry nutty goodness. Finishing yet another bag of this, and still have not tried it with any milk or sweetener… just too good all on it’s own. Next time you order from Verdant tea, try some of this as a nice comforting treat to sip when the world is getting you down.

Every year I get a special gift around the holidays, passed on to me by a friend or family member, and best known as the common cold. Ugh! It messes with my ability to appreciate the taste and aroma of my beloved teas, and makes me quite grumpy. This year, I have found two teas that not only make me feel better, but woke up my taste buds again and make me feel alive again… Verdant teas Thai Ginger Fire, and this wonderful Laoshan Village Chai.

The base to this brew is a great tea in it’s own right, and the pairing with these spices is truly artful. I have never heard of saffron or burdock in chai, and it gives extra special layers of flavor and aroma. I have been brewing this using an infuser in a glass tea mug, and didn’t add anything the first time around. I kept inhaling the steam, and sipping the tea, and could feel the good energy seeping into my body. By the second steep, breathing easier and sore throat soothed, I added a touch of really dark local honey. Nice! :)

I will eventually try this with some soy or almond milk, but for now I am just absorbing the flavors and aroma — enjoying this fabulous blend.

I tried cold brewing this last night and at first I liked it better but I still can’t quite dig the aftertaste. If anyone wants to swap please let me know. I’ll probably end up blending it with something else to mellow it out.

Hmm this is very interesting. From the look of the leaves it reminds me of the Blue People Oolong I’ve seen recently from the Aroma Tea Shop which was fermented with licorice and mint. I am getting way more licorice than orchid here.

First infusion: steeped in the xi ying teapot for 2 minutes after a quick rinse. Although the leaves smell incredible, this is really way too sweet for me.

Second steep: I only went for 60 seconds this time. It is much more subdued and the floral notes are coming through but still pretty sweet and I can’t quite get the overwhelming taste of licorice out of my mouth.

This is ok but really not my favorite thing from Verdant by far…

First smell after brewing this tea, it’s a very pale yellow/ green color and it smells very earthy like grass and artichokes. The taste is very smooth, the mouth feel is very nice. Tastes sweet and just like artichokes to me with a bit of an acidic aftertaste.

A truly delicious tea! I used about 4 teaspoons with 1.5 cups of water for a medium-strong flavor, and resteeped 4 times before I had enough. There is a LOT of theanine in this tea, the sweetness of the theanine is apparent in the first few brews. The taste was slightly fruity, floral, earthy, and complex. It was not “toasty” tasting like I’ve come to expect from anything below black/puerh in the tea oxidation spectrum. This tea was very relaxing and I didn’t feel much caffeine. I’m glad to be an early adopter of this amazing tea variety.

Tastes like Yunnan.

Well, wow! I am not very experienced in oolongs, so please comment with any tips or advice to really get the most out of them. I found that this had strong cocoa notes, and a bean-like aspect. I noted that it reminds me of Golden Snail, and in general seemed similar to a number of high quality black teas that I’ve enjoyed. Done in my gaiwan and wee little double walled teacups. Excess tea used to “season” my tea feet (also from Verdant, love them!)

Steep 1 – Water cooled for 2 minutes after boiling, 30 second steep. Rich and robust, lightly sweet without any bitterness. I got chocolate in the aftertaste. Very enjoyable.

Steep 2 – Water cooled for 2 minutes after boiling, 45 second steep. Leaves are still very closed, liquor is light amber. This steep has less cocoa and is less complex. Still beany, very nice. The beau says it is “earthy green.”

Steep 3 – Boiling water, 1 minute steep. Leaves still tightly rolled, the aroma and flavour are slightly weaker yet again. This is nearly astringent, with a slightly dry mouthfeel. Cocoa flavour is back with a vengeance, the beau says this is his favourite steep.

Steep 4 – Boiling water, 1.5 minute steep. I found this still enjoyable but weaker than I’d like. This will be the last for now.

Very enjoyable experience, a wonderful tea to help break my way into oolongs. Thank you Verdant for including this as a generous sample in my order!

I knew this was still on my desk staring at me for a reason! I had a cup a while back but didn’t have time to give it a proper first review. I remember REALLY liking it – so – I am jumping into this one again! Here we go!

Dry aroma is airy and pleasant. I LOVE the flat spear shaped leaves :)

Once infused it’s a very warm garden type smell…not flowers, per say, but greens! It’s lovely! There is a bit of sweetness and a little nuttiness to it and I think it’s wonderful!

The flavor of this is remarkable. It’s clean and sweet but not too sweet. It’s slightly nutty. I didn’t really pick up on the banana notes until I re-read the description…and as a BANANA HATER I would say it’s more of a Plantain comparison than Banana for me…maybe because it’s just a hint of banana and not an actual flavoring…not sure…but this is a terrific green tea! (AND NO – I know there isn’t actual banana in this tea! I had someone ask me what I meant by that…it’s just a taste on the tongue I could pick up!!) It also has a lovely aftertaste that lingers and almost seems to freshen my breath!

lovely!

This is an excellent chai!
Obviously, as others have said, the base makes a huge difference.

At first, the dry leaf smelled quite strongly of ginger…while I like it a lot, my wife and I were a little concerned it would be overpowering.

The aroma of the leaves after the first steep (when I focused away from the spices) was just like chocolate, and also some kind of grain… I think barley or buckwheat.
But with the whole combination, it really smelled just like Lebkuchen. If you haven’t had Lebkuchen, you are missing out. My wife is from Germany, and she thought of this too… she thought it smelled like some kind of Christmas candy she would eat every year.

Contrary to our concern about the ginger being overpowering, this was not the case at all. It was a very delicious, balanced chai, and remained strong for 2-3 steepings.

The leaves were beautifully long, dark, and continued to look nice after every steep… they invited me to just keep steeping (all western style brewing) several cups after the tea started being weak. (We probably steeped it 5-6 times, even though the last three weren’t as good, I just couldn’t bring myself to dump the leaves out, which is unusual for me).

Verdant Tea rocks my socks, not only for their amazing teas, but also for their out of this world customer service. I feel like David Duckler is a personal friend of mine, and that’s an awesome feeling to get from a company.

Like my wife said, we both got six months subscriptions to Verdant Tea’s tea-of-the-month service for each other, and David has wonderfully agreed to combine them so we get ten months of glorious tea. I see this being a subscription we definitely keep up with, we’re already so impressed!

Included in the package were two straight teas and an herbal to mix with the other two, a very detailed and incredibly interesting letter explaining a bit about the tea and helpful hints on how to combine them, and tasting notecards for each tea. Just lovely.

We tried this tea on its own last night and it is delicious. Spicy with a touch of sweetness, I was sad when I found my cup empty. I look forward to resteeping this over and over and being continually surprised by the full flavor coming from a tea that gives such a clear liquid.