Hand Picked Autumn Tieguanyin (2011)

This tea is very warm and yummy. It’s not that aromatic but it does have a bit a flowery flavor. I like this because it’s nice and savory with a tiny bit of sweet. Very good overall.

Edit: As it cooled down it became a little bit more open and airy. Quite nice.

Worth buying for the dry smell alone, this tea starts off with delicious sweet juicy vegetal and sour green apple flavors with hints of citrus, and in later infusions transitions to an intense overwhelming floral aroma

The tightly rolled nuggets smell grassy and sweet. Slightly buttery, a little like a green tea.

Brewed according to Verdant’s western brewing method. Rinsed with 208 degree water and then steeped for 25 seconds.

The wet leaves smell very grassy and clove like. The light yellow liquor scent on the other hand is absolutely amazing. I have never smelled a tea so complex. Granted, I’m still new to loose teas, especially oolongs, but this is blowing my mind. I can smell butter, grassy scents, citrus and then a super sweet floral scent hit me. Really caught me off guard. I haven’t even taken a sip yet because I can’t stop smelling it.

Alright, here we go…

Wow. The feel of this tea in my mouth is very wet. It’s so smooth. This is going to be so hard to describe. As soon as I take a sip its like a light buttery grassy taste. A few seconds later it starts to change before I swallow. It starts to get sweet and flowery tasting. I can’t really describe it. The after taste though… It tastes so much like citrus. It’s convincing me that I have just ate some type of citrus fruit.

2nd steep (20 sec):

The scent of the 2nd steep is even more floral smelling than the first. I could smell this tea all day. The mouth feel is so good with this tea. It’s tasting sweeter this time around. Maybe a more buttery flavor at the initial sip, but this cup is tasting so close to the first (and I have no problem with that ;P). The after taste is still very similar, but now, beside the citrus I’m tasting a green bean flavor. That’s probably just my untrained palate though. Haha.

3rd steep (20 sec):

I’m going to call the floral scent of this tea honeysuckle. That’s what it smells like to me. So sweet smelling. The third cup has a bite to it. Still delicious though. I’m kind of getting a vanilla flavor. Very nice.

This has been one of the most complex and memorable teas I’ve ever drank. I’ll definitely be ordering more soon. I urge anyone and everyone to try this. I’m very new to tea and this has showed me something I’ve never experienced before.

Cheers.

I can only describe this tea as transcendent. Beautiful, delicate, floral, buttery smooth transcendence.

Caveat theae potor – overcooking this one makes it lose its delicacy. The leaves are also huge, so you need to give them lots of room to expand.

Making it western style in the Breville, though convenient, just isn’t the best idea. The basket just isn’t big enough, and the minimum 500 ml makes it difficult to rebrew and take advantage of the evolution of the flavour. Gong fu that baby, you won’t regret it.

I’ll post again with more details in a couple of days, as I somehow lost my tasting notes for this. But yes, it’s beautiful and I love it so much!

Yet another tea from my swap with Dinosara.

This is Verdant’s autumn tie kuan yin from 2011. Its funny how their packaging is totally different! I got some really great fruity notes from this one.

Okay, I was drinking this tea wrong. That’s all on me, Tieguanyin!! I decided to give it another try at work today in the late afternoon, after being high on Laoshan Black all day. While it was steeping (in a tea ball, because I got a tea leaf stuck in my throat yesterday) I completely forgot about it when I got an idea and started typing away. I remembered later, not sure how much later (but the tea was still warm), and it tasted AMAZING! I think I wasn’t steeping it for long enough! I was so impressed with the taste after a long steep that it gave me an idea.

I noticed the tea leaves had greatly grown in size inside my tea-prison of a tea-ball. I remembered reading on the Verdant website how Chinese farmers have a hot cup of water and simply put the leaves in the glass. I was inspired to liberate my leaves and I am so glad I did! The dry leaf looks, well, scrunchy. It greatly expanded in my glass and looked a little like seaweed — I could almost imagine a little seahorse curling his tail around a leaf in there. After fully expanding it looks green and delicious, like a liquid salad.

The taste continues to be amazing, even into my resteepings. I was going to go home, but I had to log this experience! Also, drink more of this tea. The smell and taste continues to be delicious, though somewhat diminished of course. I have to dodge tea leaves a bit as I drink, but the visual effect is worth it. I heard tea leaves are good for you — perhaps I’ll even munch on one.

Another win for Verdant! I love you guys.

So apparently there was this survey thing when Straight dudes were polled to see who they thought were the top fifteen hottest male celebs. I had a really good laugh reading the results. Hugh Jackman was number one. Do you guys agree or disagree? I’m gonna look for the thingy…

I should have saved the bookmark.

Tea: Floral (Orchid/Lily), Sugar Snap Peas. I oversteeped DRASTICALLY but it help up really, really well. This one is growing on my so quickly, and I never expected it to even a little. Raising my rating.

EDIT: Here it is!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/summeranne/the-hottest-male-celebrities-according-to-straight-guys#1k7ciib

This was my first tea that I ordered online. I was a bit worried about the fact that the tea itself would be effected by the long travel through the post but in the end it was all ok.

I have had about 6 cups thus far and so far its really great tea! Thanks!

I’ve sipped this tea before, but this is the first tasting note. It seemed like I didn’t steep it correctly the last time. This is a sample from the 5 for $5 Verdant samples.

Steep # 1 // couple minutes after boiling // 35 second steep
I rinsed 1 1/2 teaspoons of leaves. The flavor is still the same as I remember, just better. Certainly no aging of the leaves! I’d say the main flavor profile is like a silky milk oolong that is also floral, but neither flavor is too strong. It is NOT grassy or fruity (peach, pineapple). It’s very nice, I just like my oolongs with slightly more flavor.

Steep #2 // couple mins after boiling // 50 seconds
I think I went a few seconds oversteeped, getting a hint of a flavor that shouldn’t be there. BUT this tea is so lovely. Creamy, silky, sweet, LOVELY. More milky florals. This is certainly good enough for my oolong crave today! The flavor just lingers.

Steep #3 // 1 min after boiling // 50 seconds
Another really nice cup but I think the magic was with the first and second cups. This one isn’t as creamy or floral. I still have ONE serving left to treasure!

Also, I just realized the oolong I have the most in stock is my very favorite! Teavivre’s Iron Goddess – an entire flower garden in a cup. I guess I thought my favorite was another sample from Teavivre, but no, it’s the oolong I bought without even trying first. I never do that!

This is a great oolong, but less fruity and sweet than I thought it would be based on Verdant’s description.