Exciting tea world news for Ian: I made my Verdant Tea order today and I’m super excited AND to top it off the Steepster Select box that I won came in the mail today! So, if you’re looking forward to trying the teas and you haven’t gotten your package yet or haven’t tried them don’t read this because THERE ARE SPOILERS
So, this is weird-the steeping instructions say boiling water even though it’s a green and the one other review on here said the same. So, naturally I went with boiling water and did a 2 minute steep time. The dry and wet leaf smell……….. not good. Kind of like cigarette smoke, which may possibly be my least favorite smell in the world. The tea itself smells slightly better, though there is a slight cigarette hint in the smell.
This is actually okay, despite the smell. It has a toasty taste, but not in the way that you would think. When I thought of toasty I thought of sort of a genmaicha-esque flavor, but this is not like that. It’s very hard for me to describe the taste but the only way I can put it is like a non-disgusting ashtray. Not that gross ashtray taste that you get from burnt gas station coffees, but reminiscent of that. I know that probably sounds absolutely repulsive to most of you but it is somewhat palatable.
Overall this is okay. Not something I love but I don’t really hate it either. I look forward to trying the other teas in my box!