Eight Treasures Yabao

This is a beautiful tea. The colors! The lovely sweet floral aroma! It’s a tea for fairies! I love the pinkish tint in the brew. Possibly from the goji berries? The final brew is jasminey and nectary. There’s the herbal flavor of the flower petals. A smooth and subtle tea for sure. It reminds me a bit of a concoction my mom makes for me when I am sick. Chrysanthemum, goji berries, dates and honey. Good for chest colds, I’m told. This version from Verdant is more sophisticated of course. It leaves you tasting your cup over and over trying to figure out the nuances.

On an unrelated note, started watching Downton Abbey. I’m finding it both fascinating and frustrating. I usually hate shows about social politics. Why can’t we all just get along? There are enough lovable characters to keep me watching though. For now. If it gets too much more frustrating, I’ll have to stop. Can’t wait for Sherlock to come back!

My 200th Tasting Note!

This is my last sipdown of the evening, and I am very, very sorry to see this go! I received a sample of the Laoshan Black with my last order, and mixed them 1:1 at something like 1-1/4tsp each in my 16oz mug.

Ohhh…

Forget the sipdown. This is going on the shopping list. The chocolate maltiness of the Laoshan Black is just dancing with the Eight Treasures Yabao in the cup, and making something new and graceful.

Now, I adore their Bergamot Rose Laoshan Black blend, but this may actually give it a run for its money. I might actually, dare I say it, like it a little better because it has even more layers and a balance I just couldn’t anticipate when I dumped the blend in the cup.

I had more plans this evening, of other things I wanted to do, to organize, or to clean, but they’re sliding from my mind like clouds burnt off by the sun. Mmm…

Totally going on the shopping list.

I plucked this sample out of my basket o’ teas on a whim — I just wanted something warm after a cold wet night or running errands. 2 scant tsp in 8oz of just less than boiling water for 3 min. I am impressed that it did not taste overbrewed! (At first I thought this maybe was an herbal, so I didn’t pay close attention to time and temp.)

The jasmine, vanilla, and citrus notes were strongest when it was hot. As it cooled down towards lukewarm, I noticed the black pepper and rose (?). Noticing 5 out of 8 flavors without even trying is very good for my lazy undisciplined tastebuds!

I cold brew resteeped it, and will report on that later in the comments.

This tea is so pretty! And it smells so good. I love the mix of things in here. Smelling it hot, I want to try it iced!

I get a variety of flavors in here. Toasted marshmallow, roses and orchids, jasmine, goji. I’m starting to really enjoy floral teas after finding out I actually do like chamomile, and this is definitely floral.

Definitely getting a glass of this cold steeping in the fridge ASAP. I may just have to steep this again!

Backlog:

Delightful! I’m never disappointed by Verdant! They always live up to the very high expectations that I’ve placed on them, and more often than not, they exceed those expectations.

Sweet, creamy and very delicious. Beautiful floral notes contrast with the sweet vanilla tones. Berry. Woody, cooling, crisp … and just … delicious!

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2013/08/23/eight-treasures-yabao-tea-from-verdant-tea/

Ok so first off…apparently i forgot how hot my tea traveller keeps hot water, so I kinda of burnt my mouth on this one. That being said, i do NOT like this tea. Rather than it being the jasmine that’s throwing me off, which I thought might happen – it’s the rose petals. They are coming on strong! I almost feel like this is a rose petal tea more than it is anything else.

I’m glad i got the chance to try this in sample size before it was discontinued. I feel like i might enjoy the winter 8 treasures yabao so I may give that a shot since it doesn’t have the rose petals.

I actually wish it tasted more like the initial scent of this tea. That smell was so promising when i opened up the package!

Yum yum yum – this is all sweet and fruity and delicate and full-flavored at the same time. Like a good flavored white tea! I might have to try the Yabao on its own, because I’m having a hard time tasting the difference between it and a good white tea. The dry leaf is gorgeous, very fluffy with all the flowers and fruits and big buds.

Has anyone else had the Raspberry Champagne White tea? I know Red Leaf sells it, and a few other companies – this is like what all of those are trying to be :D That’s really the best description I can think of at the moment. I’m really glad I ordered this, and sorry it’s already gone… oh well. Out with the old, in with the new!

8oz water, 2 tsp tea, 3 steeps so far

Sipdown #50

The dry leaf aroma is mostly berries. Catching a whiff of the brewed tea aroma, I was immediately hit by jasmine. But this isn’t a jasmine tea. Odd. I kept sniffing and slowly the aroma transformed into something floral and gritty, tugging at the edge of my memory. Honeysuckle? I think the floral aroma is honeysuckle.

First sip…the immediate taste is rose and rock sugar…then it ebbs into that grittiness from the aroma. I’m guessing that’s the cedar note. Then slowly it transforms again into a lovely floral aftertaste very reminiscent of honeysuckle. The goji berry melds with the floral notes so that I can’t quite separate its distinct flavor.

I should add that what I describe as “gritty” is really my way of trying to describe a flavor, not a texture, that I haven’t come across before and therefore lack the vocabulary to portray properly. This tea is very smooth.

Overall, I’m very impressed with this tea! It has a nice progression of flavors that I haven’t encountered often. I believe that’s a characteristic of the pu’er coming through. I don’t have too much experience with pu’er, but it’s the only tea variety I have tried that morphs in your mouth like this.

It’s a naturally sweet blend and much more yummy and drinkable than I had anticipated. Too bad this one is all gone now too. Alas, my Verdant tea blend samples are all drunk. But there’s still the straight ones to sample!

Had this with dinner tonight. I love jasmine and this tea had a nice smooth jasmine taste. I didn’t need any sugar with this tea. I was very excited about the jasmine so I didn’t pay enough attention to the other flavors which I will do next time.

I’ve never had a tea from Verdant that wasn’t good!

Another tea which came to me via JustJames during our epic swap.

This is actually the second tea I’ve run across in the last month from Verdant that I’m allergic to. This time I think it is the marigold or perhaps honeysuckle that is causing me trouble, even my scalp is itchy, stupid allergies. I won’t rate this because I only managed about 2 sips before I started having problems.

Looks like I’ll have a fairly large amount to put in the swap box because I ordered a sample of this awhile back.