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Finished off my sample of this tea recently. Even though it was nearly a year old, it still tasted amazing. Verdant tea’s higher grade Dan Congs are really underrated around here. They are generally quite refined and exquisite.

I followed my usual method of brewing Dan Cong oolongs: 1 g per ounce of water, flash steeps using boiling water. Out of the bag, the tea smells woodsy with notes of tobacco and roasted peaches. Wet leaf brings out honey aromas and more stone fruit.

Tea starts off a bit woody and fruity with dried fruit and prune notes. As it steeps, it develops a honeyed sweetness and presents interesting notes of licorice, roasted fruit, and saffron. Subtle florals and nectarine appear along the way. Reminiscent at times of a peachy Mi Lan Xian.

Overall, a smooth and elegant Dan Cong with lots of subtlety and evolution of flavor over 8 steeps or so. Another winner from Verdant!

Backlog.

This was a pretty forgettable TieGuanYin. It had that generic TGY floral taste, but lacked the depth and intensity of really good TGYs. Also seemed to be past peak freshness. Tried it hot and cold steeped and didn’t care for it either way.

Backlog.

The second shincha of 2020. Working out the brewing times and temperature for this tea was a rollercoaster of sorts. I don’t know if it’s just me or whether Japanese greens are really that finicky but I went through 50g – half the pouch – before I finally got it dialed in.

This tea shows different faces depending on how its brewed. At low temperatures, it’s umami rich and earthy, reminiscent of shaded greens. Japanese green tea connoisseurs tend to favor fairly high leaf-to-water ratios (0.8-0.9g per 1oz) but this can taste swampy and brings out a lot of bitterness. I got the best results by underleafing and brewing western style, just a teaspoon and a half of leaves in a 185ml teapot. The brewed tea is smooth, grassy, and almost fruity with a bit of sweetness and a robust mouthfeel. I can taste a bit of those citrus peel and grapefruit notes too. Good for 3 steeps.

A solid sencha and between this and my other shincha, Kirishima Asatsuyu Sencha, this was the better of the two.

Spring 2020 harvest. Grandpa steeped 1.4g in my 10oz tea thermos @ ~180 F.

Yum, this was a really good dragonwell. A lot better than the first flush version of the same tea.

I knew it was going to be good as soon as I opened the pouch and took a whiff: rich, creamy aromas of sweet pea and matcha that linger in the nose. The flavor was buttery smooth, crisp, and refreshing. Spinach and radicchio on the first sip with a touch of pine-like minerality in the finish.

This tea has held up remarkably well given how late I received it. I can only imagine how incredible it must have been when it was fresh.

Posted for the wrong tea. See my updated tasting note.

Backlog.

This is one of the teas from the great Steepster freeze of 2020 that I’m getting around to logging now. My memory is a little hazy because I only had a couple of sessions with it, but I remember it being a solid SLX with the usual alpine florals and tropical notes. A little lighter and lacking the full mouthfeel of previous harvests. Good for 6-7 steeps.

Mediocre Ali Shan. This one is big on aroma but flavor just isn’t there. Intensely fragrant with notes of honey, orange blossom, and vanilla cream in the wet leaf. However none of it comes through in the steeped tea which is fairly bland and has a sort of mild/generic floral flavor. Once again, cold brewing came to the rescue and helped salvage an otherwise boring tea.

I’ve tried a number of TTC Ali Shans now and they all seem lacking. I’ll continue to buy my other high mountain oolongs from there but skip this one next time.

Spring 2020 harvest.

Another past its prime green tea that like the Long Jing I ordered, suffered from Covid induced shipping delays. Nevertheless, there were unmistakeable echos of what made this such an outstanding tea in the past. Warm, toasted notes of fennel seed and soybean with a faint sweetness in the finish. Hints of toasted grain and nori. Lacks of the zest and richness this tea usually has but still a good cup.

Spring 2020 harvest.

Finally got my Verdant spring greens order last week. It’s crazy how badly Covid has disrupted everything. Spring green tea is arriving when the autumn harvest is normally expected.

As one might expect, a 5 month delay affects a tea that’s best enjoyed at peak freshness. This tea isn’t stale by any means, but it’s not as good as the same tea I had last year. It’s sharply vegetal, bordering on bitter. First sip is sweet but it quickly turns savory and has an almost bitter finish. Doesn’t have the subtleties of early picked tea.

Got this as a sample with my Yunnan Sourcing order. It’s not the type of green tea I would have picked out for myself. Normally, I avoid Yunnan green tea because the assamica cultivar grown there, intended for puerh, is different from the more delicate sinensis cultivar used in normal Chinese green tea. As a result, Yunnan greens tend to be more savory and pungent than their counterparts grown in other parts of China.

This one reminded me more of heicha and sheng than green tea. It starts off like a white tea, with corn silk and hay aromas. The flavor is something like freshly washed linens and has the texture of soft cotton. Sweeter with more hay and white tea florals on resteep. Tastes like sheng but without the bitterness. A little smoke as it settles.

Mind you, this was a year old when I received it so it’s obviously aged and the flavor has changed in the past year. Good for what it is and I prefer to think of it as a white tea instead of green as that’s what it tastes like to me.

Not usually a big fan of bug bitten teas but this one is really nice. I’m struck by how much it resembles Darjeeling. Notes of rose, wood, and muscatel. Light malt and a hint of Dian Hong sweet potato in he finish.