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Kittenna drank Laoshan Black by Verdant Tea

6119 tasting notes

This tea is insanely chocolatey. Even more so than the Zhu Rong Yunnan Black, where the chocolatey notes aren’t initially apparent, they’re present here right from the first taste to the last bit of flavour lingering on the back of your tongue. Like I mentioned in the Zhu Rong review, this one is unbelievably smooth without even a suggestion of astringency of bitterness. None whatsoever. The two teas are fairly similar though; this one’s also a bit sweet, with a roasted flavour (although it’s a bit less dominant here; the chocolate really reigns supreme in this one).

I’d have to say that the Laoshan Black is my favourite of Verdant’s black tea offerings that I’ve tried (the only one I haven’t is the Wild-Picked Yunnan Jin Jun Mei). Zhu Rong is similar, but I’m partial to this one as it’s more chocolatey. Golden Fleece may yet change my mind, although I think I’d choose chocolate over sweet, and I’m not a big fan of the Yunnan Golden Buds.

Upping the rating; I am only now coming to realize how delicious and amazing this tea is. Sacreligious perhaps, but I’m wondering what this one would taste like with the flavourings Frank used for his Pot O’ Gold tea… Butterscotch with an amazing chocolatey base?? That might just be the best tea EVER.

(More notes to come on subsequent infusions.)

ETA: Second infusion, boiling/3min was fabulously chocolatey as well. I may actually have to order some of this…. Third infusion, same parameters, also delicious. Fourth infusion, boiling/some ridiculous time like 10 minutes or more, still has the chocolate notes, and remarkably no astringency or bitterness, but it’s too weak for me to really enjoy. I should note that I typically reduce the amount of water I use for additional infusions of most teas (especially blacks) just to amp up the flavour, as I often find good flavour that’s simply too weak!

Preparation

Boiling 1 min, 30 sec

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2 comments

Scott B
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I actually tried adding spearmint to the Autumnal Harvest, but was not happy with the results. I think the earlier harvest is more chocolate-y.

Kittenna
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I think I’ve read that – can’t even imagine that, because I was getting a lot of chocolate from this one, and it was delicious.

I’m not a big mint fan, so wouldn’t try that sort of blend, but a bit of vanilla/caramel/butterscotch flavour seems like it would work really well. Drooling just thinking about it, haha :P

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Comments

Scott B
Delete

I actually tried adding spearmint to the Autumnal Harvest, but was not happy with the results. I think the earlier harvest is more chocolate-y.

Kittenna
Delete

I think I’ve read that – can’t even imagine that, because I was getting a lot of chocolate from this one, and it was delicious.

I’m not a big mint fan, so wouldn’t try that sort of blend, but a bit of vanilla/caramel/butterscotch flavour seems like it would work really well. Drooling just thinking about it, haha :P

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Bio

I have always been a tea fan (primarily herbals and Japanese greens/oolongs) but in the last year or so, tea has become increasingly more appealing as not only a delicious, calming drink, but as a relatively cheap, healthy reward or treat to give myself when I deserve something. I should clarify that, however; the reward is expanding my tea cupboard, not drinking tea – I place no restrictions on myself in terms of drinking anything from my cupboard as that would defeat my many goals!

My DavidsTea addiction was born in late 2011, despite having spent nearly a year intentionally avoiding their local mall location (but apparently it was just avoiding the inevitable!). I seem to have some desire to try every tea they’ve ever had, so much of my stash is from there, although I’ve recently branched out and ordered from numerous other companies.

I like to try and drink all my teas unaltered, as one of the main reasons I’m drinking tea other than for the flavour is to be healthy and increase my water intake without adding too many calories! I’ve found that the trick in this regard is to be very careful about steeping time, as most teas are quite pleasant to drink straight as long as they haven’t been oversteeped. However, I tend to be forgetful (particularly at work) when I don’t set a timer, resulting in a few horrors (The Earl’s Garden is not so pleasant after, say, 7+ minutes of steeping).

I’m currently trying to figure out which types of teas are my favourites. Herbals are no longer at the top; oolongs have thoroughly taken over that spot, with greens a reasonably close second. My preference is for straight versions of both, but I do love a good flavoured oolong (flavoured greens are really hit or miss for me). Herbals I do love iced/cold-brewed, but I drink few routinely (Mulberry Magic from DavidsTea being a notable exception). I’m learning to like straight black teas thanks to the chocolatey, malty, delicious Laoshan Black from Verdant Tea, and malty, caramelly flavoured blacks work for me, but I’m pretty picky about anything with astringency. Lately I’ve found red rooibos to be rather medicinal, which I dislike, but green rooibos and honeybush blends are tolerable. I haven’t explored pu’erh, mate, or guayasa a great deal (although I have a few options in my cupboard).

I’ve decided to institute a rating system so my ratings will be more consistent. Following the smiley/frowny faces Steepster gives us:

100: This tea is amazing and I will go out of my way to keep it in stock.

85-99: My core collection (or a tea that would be, if I was allowing myself to restock everything!) Teas I get cravings for, and drink often.

75-84: Good but not amazing; I might keep these in stock sparingly depending on current preferences.

67-74: Not bad, I’ll happily finish what I have but probably won’t ever buy it again as there’s likely something rated more highly that I prefer.

51-66: Drinkable and maybe has some aspect that I like, but not really worth picking up again.

34-50: Not for me, but I can see why others might like it. I’ll make it through the cup and maybe experiment with the rest to get rid of it.

0-33: It’s a struggle to get through the cup, if I do at all. I will not willingly consume this one again, and will attempt to get rid of the rest of the tea if I have any left.

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