Rarely has my experience of a tea differed so sharply from the vendor’s description as with this tea. I purchased this tea expecting something fruity, sweet, and spicy. I got that experience briefly in the first sip, but it quickly faded into something wholly different.
I brewed this tea according to the vendors instructions, leafing a little heavy and starting with a 6 second steep, adding 4 seconds each round.
The smell of the leaves after a wash was very vegetal, with notes of spinach and green beans, backed with light floral and caramel notes. The liquor is a fairly pale yellow throughout the session. The feel is thick and buttery, it coats your tongue and lingers on it. The first infusion started things off with sweet notes of fruit, jasmine flowers, and toffee. However, as the cup continues it turns to a green bean, vegetal character.
And as the session continues that’s pretty much where it stayed — very strongly vegetal. Grassy, spinach, and green bean notes, with hints of butter and mineral sweetness.
I don’t feel qualified to rate this tea — I tend to stay away from strongly vegetal brews because I know they just aren’t my thing and I struggle to find nuance in them. If you like them you might enjoy this tea, but I’d be wary of Verdant’s tasting notes, because my personal experience was nothing like the caramel, spicy, fruity brew they describe.
Flavors: Butter, Floral, Fruity, Grass, Green Beans, Spinach, Vegetal
If anyone had been wanting to try this tea shoot me a message, because it’s one of their pricier teas and I’d hate for it to go to waste if someone who follows me had been interested in giving it a taste.