Scatterbrain

It’s safe to say that this is my favorite green tea, and it never ceases to amaze me. There’s nothing more relaxing to me than a properly prepared mug of this stuff. Soon I’ll be trying Teavivre’s Superfine Pre-Ming Dragonwell and I really look forward to it.

This is one of those teas that would be great for drinking on a stormy night. It’s flavor is toasty and deep with notes of dark chocolate. There’s a little bit of a tang to it on the aftertaste, and it almost seems a little bit acidic (but in a pleasant way). I also get little hints of pepper like in Verdant’s description. I am loving this tea. It’s so “dark” tasting and complex, it’s the kind of tea that gets you a little buzzed purely off of the excitement of having such a great cup available to you. This is tied with the Golden Fleece for my second favorite tea I’ve tried from Verdant, right behind the Cornfields Shu.

The description for this tea sounded incredibly enticing, so I could not resist. The people at Verdant are by far the best company at writing tea descriptions that make you swoon. I was surprised by just how strong the aromas of cinnamon and vanilla cream were in the tea as it brewed. I didn’t have to try hard to find these flavors, they really stuck out clearly. The earthiness of this tea is there, but it is very light and smooth and as I sip I get faint flavors of cinnamon and malt, and there is a tingling sensation on the finish. This is a very clean, smooth and delicious pu-erh. I’m so glad I was brave enough to try pu-erh so early on in my tea adventure, because I now know that it’s going to be a life-long love.

Mmm, this is good. It tastes like a combination of a green oolong and a plain ol’ green tea to me. There is a slight floral aspect, but it’s very mellow. There’s a bright, fresh “green” taste to it with a little nuttiness and strong notes of fruit, with a slightly creamy texture. Thanks for the sample, Fong Mong Tea!

My samples arrived today from Fong Mong Tea, many thanks to them. After I dealt with the mailman who seems to be a bit suspicious of a seventeen year old repeatedly receiving packages from China and Taiwan, I immediately sliced open the package in the most haphazard and self-endangering way I possibly could. I thought to myself “What’ll it be, a roasty highly-oxidized oolong or a floral and sweet green oolong?”; I concluded that today was a green oolong kind of day.

It was a warm and sunny day, I had just finished my last day of finals and I was now out of school…which in my mind warranted something reminiscent of summer, and to me a green oolong is the best representation of summer in a cup. For one, it’s deep green like the trees and other plant life now thriving in the absence of winter’s oppressive cold. And, of course, the sweet floral goodness that only a green oolong can provide.

This oolong was pretty much what I was expecting as far as its characteristics were concerned. Floral, check. Sweet, check. But it exceeded my expectations as far as just how WELL it actually pulled those things off. As I held the mug up to my face, I was transported to green fields in some vague yet familiar countryside filled with rolling hills and vividly colored flowers. I do love when a tea can fill my head with pleasant imagery. The sweetness was natural and balanced. And my favorite part about this tea, man it was MILKY. It felt very thick as a swished it around in my mouth and I just love that in a tea. You could cut it with a knife.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this oolong experience and I want to say thanks again to Fong Mong for the samples.

I was surprised to see this at a local grocery store and I had to try it (I’ve been having serious earl grey cravings lately). For the price, it’s very good. It was only five dollars for a 100 gram tin. It’s very very smooth, the bergamot is light and tastes natural. Very satisfying bargain cup of earl grey.

I’m still inexperienced with oolongs so I was happy to see this included as a sample with my order. I read over the tasting notes on Verdan’ts site and they really hit the nail on the head. INTENSE, intoxicating scent of sandalwood incense in the steeping leaves, I never imagined such a thing in tea but with each new experience my eyes are being opened up to the many different dimensions of tea. I also smelled a jammy scent, apricot maybe? And along with that Ican definitely sense honey like the site mentioned, along with the typical roasty oolong smell. At this point, I’m excited. This is right up my alley.

I followed the brewing instructions word for word because I’m confident the people at Verdant know their stuff. As for the taste, I’m really liking it. Late nights are great for drinking tea, and this one just feels like a night time tea. It’s dark. It’s mysterious. And most of all, it’s roasty. I really can’t fully describe the taste, the only word I can think of is roasty. But it’s much more complex than that, it’s just outside of my tasting vocabulary. As for the texture, it’s smooth like silk or “buttery” as I normally call it, and that’s one of my favorite things in a tea. I will be sure to do at least three more infusions and see what happens.

Infusion number 2:
As always, I smelled the tea as it was brewing and I got so lost in the scent alone that I zoned out and oversteeped it by about fifteen seconds. The sandalwood aroma is more intense than before, as well as the aroma of honey.

As I sip the warm tea I am sure to inhale a breath of the vapor with each sip. I am stoll lost in the aroma. But it’s more than the aroma, as the scent enters my nose and the fluid enters my mouth, the smell melds with the velvety smooth texture of the tea in perfect synergy. This is an experience.

More to come tomorrow.

This was another one of the samples that Bonnie kindly sent me. I was very excited to try this as I love pistachio ice cream (well, pistachio anything really). It had a more delicate flavor than I expected, but often times with green teas I’m finding it’s all about appreciating subtlety. The green tea base tastes fantastic, it’s very light and there are delicate flavors of cream and then stronger flavors of pistachio. Very good, it reminds me of Joy’s Teaspoon’s Enchanted Forest (probably because it’s the only other tea I’ve had that used nuts as flavoring). Butiki is definitely going on my list of places to buy from when I get more cash (along with Joy’s Teaspoon, PuerhShop, Den’s Tea, Fusion Tea Room and a slew of other places…).

I’m feeling good right now because it’s a monday night and I have the day off from school tomorrow, so I can sit back and relax and know that I can drink as much tea as I want without having to worry about getting to sleep on time (it’s a daily struggle choosing between that last cup of tea and a good night’s sleep). It’s a nice, cool day here in eastern Pennsylvania. It’s been raining quite a bit and the air is nice and crisp as a result, I just love the smell and feel of the air after rain, and it’s setting the perfect tone for drinking this tea.

First of all, I just LOVE the way the downy buds of a silver needle look. I love the look of any bud-only tea. I also love the texture of silver needles when you drink them, that funny drying feeling on your tongue as the little hairs of the tea buds mingle with your taste buds.

Rishi’s silver needle is one of only two silver needles I’ve had previously to this one, and it’s definitely my favorite and is far sweeter compared to the other one that I had which was from Teavivre. As I imagined, that sweetness works really well with the flavor of jasmine. The sweetness of the buds blends perfectly with the intoxicating aroma and sweet taste of the jasmine, but the tea base still has enough oomph to it to balance it out (in the odd way that white teas can have oomph).

Right now, with this cup of tea in my hands, with the scent of sweet, floral jasmine wafting up at me through billows of hot steam, I am happy.

I was craving bergamot and I had this lying around (untouched for ages) and out of desperation I brewed some up. Now I remember why I left it sitting. This stuff tastes how I imagine lavender scented perfume would taste, with a slight aftertaste of soap. On the bright side, I’m re-watching a fantastic documentary called “Wild China”. It shows different regions in China and explores each regions nature, wildlife and culture and let me tell you, it’s a BEAUTIFUL country with amazing people. On my list of top 5 places to visit in the world, China would be number one (with Japan and Canada following). But now I’m rambling a bit. But if you’re bored or looking for something with substance to watch and you have Netflix, you should definitely stream it or rent the discs. It’s a great documentary about a beautiful and culturally rich place (and, of course, the motherland of our precious tea).

Man, a little jasmine tea is good for the soul. Nice and smooth with that fragrant and relaxing sweetness that only jasmine possesses. Not quite as sweet as other jasmines I’ve had, but it’s very good. The leaves are beautiful (albeit not quite as beautiful as pearls) and have little pieces of jasmine petals scattered throughout.

Divine silky broth sliding through my lips gracefully and dancing on my tongue, fading away with a nutty tingle until the next compulsive sip to bring me to a state of zen.

Alright, I’ve been playing around with it and the best flavor came on the second one minute steep at around 170 degrees. Nice and vegetal with a silky mouthfeel, a mineral flavor, and a trace of sweetness. There’s also a bit of a mouth-coating effect. Not mind blowing to me (that usually only happens to me with Japanese greens), but it’s very good. I just placed an order for the Yanxin’s Reserve ’04 Shu Nuggets, Yunnan Golden Buds, and Zhu Rong Black so I look forward to trying those.

Having my last few steeps of this one and I’m sad to see it go. Definitely my favorite pu-erh now. I’m looking to buy more of their pu-erhs and blacks, what do you guys think are their best ones?

This sample was generously provided to me by Bonnie (still haven’t figured out how to make words bold). I was very curious about trying a smoked tea, and just a bit apprehensive. The aroma of the dry leaf is INTENSE pine smoke.

My dad makes his own venison jerky in a backyard smoker using a combination of pinewood and hickory, and that’s what the smell of this tea reminded me of.

The flavor proved to be more mellow, and I have to say I liked it a lot. I didn’t expect to like it this much. It was smooth and surprisingly light, and there is something very refined about it. It reminded me of grilled vegetables and a good cigar. Thanks again, Bonnie!

Side note: I take my SAT’s tomorrow morning, wish me luck!

Another tea from my second round of samples provided by Teavivre. This is my first time trying a bi luo chun and the reason I chose it was honestly just that I thought the leaves looked cool, hehe. It’s definitely a beautiful looking tea. I wasn’t a HUGE fan of the taste, but that’s not to say that it’s not a good tea, I’m more casual with my reviews and usually rate based on whether or not I personally liked it. This tea was just a little flat tasting for me.

I definitely agree with what Ian said about the “saltiness”. There’s a definite alkaline taste to it, and other than that all I’m getting is your typical vegetal green flavor. All in all, I’ll happily drink it every now and then…it just didn’t captivate me in any way. Still a big fan of Teavivre, many thanks to them for the samples.

I’ve been drinking this a lot, the aroma of the dry leaf is out of this world and the taste is smooth and complex. I wish that Verdant would print individual tea steeping instructions for the specific kind, because on the label it says three minutes but on the website it says one minute and it’s MUCH better following the website’s instructions. Anyways, great stuff.

I’ve enjoyed the other teas from Verdant so far very much, but I’m gonna refrain from rating this one as I feel like I HAVE to be brewing it wrong. Don’t get me wrong, I like this tea and I think it’s quite a good one, but I’ve been trying hard to see why everyone seems to be blown away by it and why I paid so much for it, but I can’t. To me it tastes very similar to the dragonwell that I have in my cupboard. I’m really not trying to be critical, I just want to figure out if it’s my fault before I waste the rest brewing it incorrectly. Any suggestions?

Another sample from Bonnie. I like this one much better than the chocolate cake from David’s. Nice and sweet with some pleasant tartness (I’m a BIG fan of sour things, Sour Patch Kids are by far my favorite candy). Fresh, juicy berry flavor…I’m sure this would be great iced. Thanks Bonnie!

This is another one of the samples Bonnie sent me, and as always, I’m extremely grateful. It’s awesome to be able to have the opportunity to try new teas. The dry leaf of this one smelled delicious. It smelled very rich, chocolaty, sweet and promising…but the brewed tea was a bit of a letdown. I don’t quite understand the good reviews on this one, because I’ve found that no matter how much leaf I added or how long I steeped it, it was a watery, flavorless mess. I sincerely hope you don’t take offense to this, Bonnie! I’m still very grateful for the chance to try it as I was actually considering buying some, so thanks again! I’m just not a fan of this one.

Still loving it. In later steepings, I’m getting fresh spearmint notes and a bit of a tingling sensation. Interesting. On a side note, I’ve been thinking that for every pu-erh I get, I’m going to save just a little bit of each kind and store it somewhere and then drink it a few years down the line to see how it affects the characteristics of the tea. Does anyone know what the ideal environment would be to properly age it in? (It’s not like I have a cave in my backyard). :)

Wow, this stuff is amazing! I wouldn’t have expected it but the corn flavor is very prominent and it works damn well in combination with the pu-erh’s light, mellow and clean base. Super smooth, a little sweet. This is a very satisfying and “clean” tasting cup of pu-erh.

I just received my first order from Verdant and I’m very excited to try out all of the teas I received. After reading the extremely fond, well written reviews I was most excited to try this one. I don’t have what you would call a “refined” palate, I’m sure there’s a lot that I miss in my inexperience but I’ll try my best. Let me start off by saying that the dry leaf smells fantastic. I honestly cannot think of proper words to describe the smell, but it was more pungent than I had imagined and very pleasant. Once brewed and allowed to cool off a bit, it was time to taste this wonderful tea. After reading the reviews, I knew I had to pay close attention to the texture of the tea, something I’m not used to doing. To me, it seems best described as a little bit thick or syrupy, and it’s a very pleasant sensation. On top of that, I get a drying sensation like that of silver needles I have tried. It’s as if I feel the little downy hairs of the tea buds dancing around on my tongue. The taste is primarily malty in a “bright” kind of way, with honey flavors comparable to Teavivre’s Yunnan Dian Hong Golden Tip. I’m enjoying this tea very much so far and I feel lucky to have been able to try it.

Bonnie graciously sent me some samples, thanks Bonnie! This was one of the first ones I decided to try since I love genmaicha and I’m extremely curious about gyokuro. I’ve gotta say, I liked this a lot. It had the same basic flavor that I’m used to with genmaicha (the flavor of the toasted rice is always by far the dominant flavor), but there was something different about this one in that it had a nice level of sweetness on top of the toasted flavor. I like it a lot, thanks again Bonnie.