Gone gaiwan. 5g sample, 100mL, 212F, 10s rinse followed by 10 steeps.
Spring 2017. Dry leaf smelled of roast, honey crystals and cocoa. Warmed leaf became brown toast, coffee and honey. A 10s rinse brought out a whiff of orchid with an undertone of orange. The tea started off very fragrant, thick, oily and strong in the mouth with tastes of roast, wood, orchid, vanilla, honey crystals, cocoa, unplaced spice and savoriness in an alkaline mineral way. Verdant claims this to be a very fruity tea with a note of juicy orange. The orange seemed more like an impression, a bright base note with some sourness that carried through all the way to the end. By the fourth steep the flavors really mellowed out, leaving a smooth brew that was still bright in the mouth with some fleeting maple and caramel, and butter and popcorn showing up on the finish. Reminded me of the Jelly Belly buttered popcorn jelly beans though obviously not as in-your-face.
The roast is still strong at the time of this review, so the tea would benefit from longer resting. After the initial delivery of all that sweet orchid, the tea mellowed out nicely. The liquor had a great fragrance, mouthfeel, minerality and level of astringency but there were points mid-session where I felt something was lacking. It’s a good tea but the price doesn’t justify a larger purchase.
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I’m one of those people that can’t stand the Buttered Popcorn Jelly Bellies. I still remember taking an all-white Jelly Belly from the bag, so it should’ve been tasty Coconut, bit into it, and… it was somehow a Buttered Popcorn that didn’t have any of the yellow spots on it. I couldn’t get the taste out of my mouth for hours. Yet my friends think I’m the freak because I’ll get a pound of Black Liquorice Jelly Bellies, and I’m the only person who will eat them. I say that’s just smart thinking, it keeps everyone else away from my jellybeans.
I’ve never known anybody besides my mom that likes black licorice jelly beans. Put out some weird Finnish salmiac licorice candies and I’d fight for them.
Though, like with you and those JB beans, it likely won’t come down to that because most people are repulsed. Moar4us.
Since you come down this way from time to time, have you ever stopped at the JB factory in Fairfield?
No! My friend did mention doing that once, and we never managed to fit it in. We did go to one of those Jelly Belly exclusive shops, though. I remember it was in the fall and I was able to get a mixed bag of dat sweet sweet Black Licorice with Pumpkin Spice (a flavor not normally offered) so I had a pound of black and orange beans, which amused me. And I got a few bags of the ‘flops from the shop for coworkers and friends. But we still haven’t been to the factory proper.
I’m one of those people that can’t stand the Buttered Popcorn Jelly Bellies. I still remember taking an all-white Jelly Belly from the bag, so it should’ve been tasty Coconut, bit into it, and… it was somehow a Buttered Popcorn that didn’t have any of the yellow spots on it. I couldn’t get the taste out of my mouth for hours. Yet my friends think I’m the freak because I’ll get a pound of Black Liquorice Jelly Bellies, and I’m the only person who will eat them. I say that’s just smart thinking, it keeps everyone else away from my jellybeans.
I’ve never known anybody besides my mom that likes black licorice jelly beans. Put out some weird Finnish salmiac licorice candies and I’d fight for them.
Though, like with you and those JB beans, it likely won’t come down to that because most people are repulsed. Moar4us.
Since you come down this way from time to time, have you ever stopped at the JB factory in Fairfield?
No! My friend did mention doing that once, and we never managed to fit it in. We did go to one of those Jelly Belly exclusive shops, though. I remember it was in the fall and I was able to get a mixed bag of dat sweet sweet Black Licorice with Pumpkin Spice (a flavor not normally offered) so I had a pound of black and orange beans, which amused me. And I got a few bags of the ‘flops from the shop for coworkers and friends. But we still haven’t been to the factory proper.