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Cold steeped this time after a comment from Amy-oh. Just enough to make a 12oz mug. I added a little bit of brown sugar to it like I do for all my cold-brews and let it sit overnight.

Drank it first thing this morning and boy was it good. The coconut seems a little sweeter and crisp and the pouchong tastes a little greener. There is still a very distinct creaminess to it but it’s not exactly buttery, it’s more like milk now.

The aftertaste is a little odd, I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s like an acquired taste. The first couple sips I was just like meh, then it wasn’t too bad and I didn’t mind it. It wasn’t astringent or bitter, but something along the same line.

Except for the aftertaste I like this better cold brewed, the flavors seem to pop a little more.

Thank you Teavivre for this sample!

This is my first time with a milk oolong and I’m very glad I get to try it after reading so many good reviews about it. I like green oolongs and was afraid of following the directions by using boiling water on this tea, but I did and the results were surprising good!

Little green balls that smell creamy and floral. Wet they smell very very rich and creamy. The infusion was pale yellow-gold with hints of creamy vegetables. I brewed this gaiwan style. I was too afraid to do it western style with boiling water.

Taste: Cream, creamy, creamy! Creamy taste with a nice creamy texture with some sweetness. Hints of floral notes of orchid taking a backseat to the creaminess but letting themselves be known. There was a slight hint of juiciness, of what I couldn’t pinpoint. The aftertaste was creamy at first then had a sort of drying effect in the mouth.

In later steepings the creamy notes waned a little, and vegetal notes started appearing. The drying effect became a little stronger in the aftertaste as well. It reminds me of a tiequanyin without the heavy mouthfeel and lasting aftertaste. I prefer this over tiequanyin simple because this lacks that super thick, heavy mouthfeel and aftertaste.

Backlogging from last month.

Thank you Teavivre for this sample.

The dry leaves are dark green, long and thing, and smell like dried out seaweed…not the nasty smelling stuff you find on the beach, more like the kind you use for making sushi. The infusion smells of asparagus lightly cooked in salt and butter.

The taste reflects the smell of the infusion: steamed asparagus coated lightly in salt and butter. There are some notes of corn bread with a sweetish aftertaste. This tea I found to be a bit more bold than most green teas I drink yet it contained no bitterness. Thank you Teavivre for letting me try this yummy green tea!

Backlogging from last month.

I’ve been a little slow to updating my notes. This was a sample I had received from Teavivre, thank you. Now, I’ve only had one other Pi Lo Chun before and I didn’t care for it so I decided to try another from a better vendor, so here we are.

The dry leaves are a curled mix of darker green leaves and fuzzy white ones and smell vaguely of the sea. When brewed up the wet leaves have a sweet, smokey vegetal scent to them. The infusion was light and had a hint of smoke to it.

Upon tasting the first infusion I got notes of sweetness, smoke, salt, and vegetal. Kind of reminded me of a savory miso soup, fascinating. As it started to cool a little I started to get roasted/grilled corn notes. As the infusions went on, I got to 5, the corn notes came out a little more but it didn’t really change, but I wasn’t expecting it to either.

This is a decent green tea, unfortunately I don’t care for smokey teas…I’m a wimp when it comes to that and I’m sure Bonnie is going to say something! I’m glad I got to try this and broaden my horizons a bit, but I’m going to refrain from rating this one because of my dislike of smokey teas. Thank you Teavivre for letting me try this!

A generous sample from Azzrian thank you.

I like coconut and I like pouchong, so I couldn’t really have a problem with this one, and I most certainly did not! I can smell the coconut before I even open the bag, this is not a bad thing, I promise! The coconut mellows out a little when steeped, not quite as strong as the initial dry smell. Toasted coconut/coconut macaroons with a buttery texture and hints of vegetal. Absolutely wonderful tea.

The only problem I have with this tea is that most of the teas I have are light and delicate and this one is very potent in smell, so I have to keep this one away from the rest of them. It looks at me all by itself with puppy dog eyes wondering what it has done to be separated from the rest. I always reassure it that it’s because it’s special in a very good way.

Again, thank you Azzrian!

It’s wonderful weather out there today, nice, cool, somewhere in the 50’s…no sarcasm, I really enjoy the cooler weather. So I decided a nice autumn green tea was in store for today. The leaves are dark green, slightly curled and smelled like a lighter version of gunpowder to me. Wet the leaves smelled very creamy, milky and vegetal…kind of like a cream of soup or green beans that have been simmering in milk and butter.

I brewed this gaiwan style 175F starting at 5 seconds. The first and second infusion were incredibly creamy, milk and butter, with hints of green beans and hazelnut. A decent mouthfeel and a nice sweet creamy aftertaste. In the third and fourth steep I had a little bitterness and more green bean flavor. The creaminess wasn’t as strong but was definitely present. I probably could’ve shortened this note and just wrote creamy and been done with it!

I’m surprised how much different this one tastes compared to the Spring harvest. It doesn’t seem like it’s much different, but this one is much more rich and creamy. I have to admit that I much prefer this which surprises me because typically I like floral notes over anything else. This one was just so wonderful though.

Tightly rolled little green balls that smell floral, creamy and of parsley. Wet they smell like greens sautéed in butter. The infusion smells floral and creamy. Brewed this gaiwan style at 208F for about 5-6 seconds after an initial rinse. I always forget how much these little balls open up and I ended up putting in a little too much leaf (I don’t have a scale) and had to take some out for later use.

Initial cup was wonderfully floral and creamy. The next few infusions I could taste lilac and orchid with the tingling mint feeling on the tip of my tongue. As the infusions go on the creaminess got stronger. Around cup 4 I flipped the leaves around and then tasted vanilla and the mouthfeel became stronger. A juiciness came into play around steep number 6 as did the parsley I was smelling earlier. Around #8 the floral notes were gone and the creaminess and parsley notes were stronger as was the mouthfeel.

I stopped for a little and came back to it but after the floral notes completely fade and the mouthfeel becomes really rich with a mouth coating aftertaste with a silky texture. I really love the floral notes with this and how I can pick out actual flowers other than orchid.

Upon opening the bag I see a dark green tea. I get whiffs of a creamy, vegetal tea with a hint of smokiness. Brewed this up gaiwan style at 175F. The wet leaves smell sweet, vegetal and creamy.

Taste reflects the smell. There is first a sweetness that hits your tongue and a wonderful green vegetal taste with a creaminess coating your tongue. At the end of the sip is a slight saltiness with a hint of smokiness.

In later steepings I started to get hints of something else and couldn’t quite put my finger on it (or would that be my tongue?). Searching though other tasting notes I found what I was looking for…walnuts. I believe I found that in Amy Oh’s tasting note.

This tea by no means blew my mind like most Verdant teas do, but it doesn’t mean it’s not a good tea. I just find Verdants green teas to be a little less mind-blowing than their other teas.

What a rainy day. They are saying there is a tornado warning for some counties but nothing too bad other than a little rain and wind. It’s still kind of warm but a lot cooler than it has been the last few days and stocked up on some library books to help pass the dreary day. I wanted to try some of my new green teas from Verdant but I didn’t feel like sitting down and really focusing on tea today, I wanted something I already knew I liked and ended up pulling this off the shelf.

I brewed this in, what I now know is, my Italian mug. Some of the leaves are a little smaller than the holes and quite a bit does get through, but I’m not too worried about it. I love how this is so soft and light with wonderful creamy floral notes and hints of pepper lasting into the aftertaste. Good tea to go with a good book on a wet, overcast day.

Cold brewed this again with some brown sugar. I absolutely love this tea, this is quickly becoming my favorite.