April Showers

Here’s Hoping TTB (round 5)

This has to be the coolest looking blend I have put in my tea pot. This tea looks like something an alien would brew up. Unsure how this would taste, I brewed it up and found out it was semi chai’ish which was quite amusing. An interesting tea, a nice experience, but not something I would call ‘my cup of tea’ but I can assure you that it is bound to be a hit for some (or wait, Verdant is done with blends?)

I’ve had this one for a long time lol
Anyways it’s still pretty tasty :)
I love dandelion alot which is probably why I enjoy this one, nice yummy cinnamon notes too, I can’t taste the yabao inthis blend but hey it’s a year old and still pretty damn good.

Here’s Hoping Traveling Teabox Round #3 – Tea #7
Oh, happy to try this blend! It looks to be yabao which I don’t particularly love mixed with a black tea… I have no idea what else, but it seems like some spices. I used around two teaspoons, a few minutes after boiling for 3-4 minutes. The color of the cup is a very light brown. Really, I thought there would be more flavor than what there is. First, there is an odd flavor, I can’t tell from what… maybe the yabao. The black tea itself doesn’t give much flavor at all, certainly no smokiness. Otherwise, the flavor tastes faintly like a spice cake. I don’t hate the blend, but I wouldn’t care to keep it around. Maybe Verdant’s blends would get better reception if anyone actually knew what was in them. The blends are never on their website, the ingredients aren’t labeled on the bag, and really, the only hints are what Steepster accumulates on the tea pages for these Verdant blends.
Steep #1 // 2 tsps. // few min after boiling // 3-4 min
Steep #2 // just boiled // 5 min

HHTTB Round 3

I don;t think I’ve ever seen a black white tea blend. I was confused by that, but just went with the steepster suggested time and temp and was definitely happy with it. I had then a few days ago and forgot to log it, but it was a nice cup and I remember finding the cinnamon in it to be very comforting and didn’t think anything about it was super overpowering. I would definitely drink this again. It was a good rainy day tea.

Here’s another of my blends club teas that I am trying to drink up. I really did not expect to like this one… too many “weird things” in the blend. Not to mention that one of the base teas is a Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong, which is listed as “smoked” and I hate smoke in tea! But it turned out really tasty! Consider my horizons expanded.

No smoke flavor in this one, just a tasty blend of spices and malty black tea, with hints of cream and a bit of piney-ness (but not too much!). It honestly reminds me more of fall than spring, but it’s almost fall anyway. A nice blend!

It’s been a busy weekend of gardening, yard work and cleaning haha and finally we got our first couple thunderstorms today! And rain :D finally don’t have to water the flowerbeds, garden and lawn today lol. Anyways, May showers called for some rainy day tea..this one (April showers, but close enough lol).

I read the ingredients list and was a bit apprehensive about how many ingredients were listed. Also, I keep thinking I’m going to have a terrible allergic reaction to the birch and dandelion in the teas, as both of these make me sneeze horribly in the spring AKA right now haha all the pollen :( but as they use the root of the dandelion and birch bark, I seem to be ok so far with teas including these ingredients lol. I will also be trying chicory later with the other blend club tea this month, Cask Strength. Anyways, rambly aside over, onto the tea!

Dry, this smelled, well…intense. A bit overpowering. My nose didn’t know what was up lol. Cinnamon and cacao and wood..definitely wood. I also looked at the leaves and thought hmm! Roasted oolong or black tea?? Decided to steep and see if I could figure it out.

I steeped for 2 minutes with boiling water, as it also has Yabao in it which usually needs boiling water. The steeped smell is woody like crazy. I was unsure if it was all Yabao or something else…so I quickly searched Zheng Zhan Xiao Zhong on Verdant and found out it’s a smoked black tea!! Ahhh a type of Lapsang??? I have had bad experiences with the one Lapsang I tried (DavidsTea, highly do not recommend lol) so I approached this with a lot of caution. And I also was pleased my nose could pick out the pine notes from the scent :)

So as for the flavor..my first expression was actually kind of baffled. What is this…then my brain was like “damp campfire in the woods after a rain” and I spoke it aloud to my boyfriend and he’s like “Be sure to put that in your review!” So there it is. This definitely evokes a rainy feeling..and to be honest, it’s not an overpowering smoke, it’s more like that hint of smoke on the cool breeze after a rain and the ashes of the fire are close to being out but still slightly smoldering. Not at all unpleasant! It also has a certain sweetness in there too, later in the sip and in the aftertaste..maybe the vanilla? Most definitely that. It keeps it interesting!

Overall, a very earthy, interesting blend. I didn’t think I’d enjoy it all all from the dry scent, and was still unsure after steeping. But it’s not too bad actually. Probably not a favorite, but I do like the camping memories it brings about. And very true to the name, it’s a rainy day blend! Happy to have had the chance to try this tea, another exciting one from the blend of the month!

My Verdant club teas arrived today :) This was my the first tea I tried from the club I’m in both blends and pure clubs), purely chosen as it’s not April any more but we are having May showers here in Leicester. It smells like hot cinnamon and aniseed, spicy but sweet and earthy. Very nice, in a way it does smell like rain.

Flavour wise I was met with delicious thick cinnamon and light brown sugar with a sour cocoa after taste that mists and lingers. Also a hint of wood.

It tastes similar to a spiced Oolong I’ve had from Tealux. Really liking this blend.

I am so sorry, but all I can say…this is one hot mess that I cannot even drink :-(