Erin

I think this may be my first-ever straight pu’erh. If not, it’s at least my first sheng. Excited! The Verdant site says that this was picked in 2001, when I was 10… it’s strange to think about.

The dry leaves have a pleasant musty smell that makes me think of venturing into my grandparents’ basement when I was a kid. It’s almost eerie how spot-on it is.
I’m using my gaiwan and after two rinses, the leaves smell amazing. I tried really hard to think of words to describe it, but I can’t. You’re just gonna have to try it yourself, lol.

First steep – Definitely nutty, and there’s something spicy about it too. Something leather-like in the taste. I can’t help but feel calm with this tea. I feel a lot of stress slipping away while I drink it.
2nd – The texture is silky smooth and there’s a surprising sweet aftertaste! I actually did a double take. It takes longer to emerge on some sips.
3rd – The musty-ness is receding slightly and giving way to a clear, light kind of sweetness.
4th – The best steep yet. This is definitely a complex tea and probably one that I’m not really experienced enough to comment on yet… I feel like I’m trying to play a song on guitar and messing up all the notes. It’s amazing though!

I got up to around 12-14 steeps (I lost count). I want to try more pu’erhs after having this! Maybe after experiencing a few more I’ll be able to give better reviews.

Mehh, this kind of tasted like a lot of flavoured black teas I’ve tried. The caramel was there but I didn’t get the salt. Nothing special. But then on the second steep the salt really came out in a weird way, with this saltwatery aftertaste… blehhh. Maybe I’ll try it as a latte.

I’ve been loving a lot of unflavoured teas recently, and flavoured ones haven’t been doing much for me… I may be moving into a somewhat straight-teas-only phase. I blame Verdant.

Bleh. The dry leaves smelled fairly peachy and just a little weird, but the tea smells totally plasticky and off to me. Maybe it’s the yogurt bits? I’ve heard this is better if you take them out. So I’ll try that next time. But yeah, the taste is plastic and weird too. I’m not even really getting any peach at all. :/
After it cooled a little I started eating some mint chocolate with it and it actually tasted better. Huh. Still hopeful about this one, gonna try it iced too.
EDIT: The second steep was much nicer and lighter on the weird stuff, but still not all that great :\

Of course I ended up buying some! And now I am finally trying it. I’m using my little gaiwan and I even took a bottle of filtered water from work to use with it (my first time using non-tap water lol, I knoww… but I think Toronto tap water is actually quite good as far as tap water goes). First I did a rinse.

First steep – I have never had a tea like this! This seems to be my first impression trying every tea from Verdant, lol, but it’s true. There’s something earthy about the smell of the dry leaves that makes me picture a forest after the rain, and it comes through in this first steep. When I close my eyes I see the forest from Totoro.

2nd – This steep is a little lighter. I can taste the same soft pretzel-y baked goods flavour I’ve found in other Yunnan teas. And there is a definite sweetness in the finish, mmmm. Almost like icing.

3rd – The sweet flavour is really coming out, it’s a bright, sugary taste, but subtle too. I had no idea what to expect with this tea, but wow. It seems like it would be right for any season, any time of day, as long as I had time to sit down with it.

4th – Slightly spicy, still sweet. The forest imagery has been staying in my mind the entire time. I feel like I have to comment on the texture, it feels somehow soft and makes me think of mushrooms. Everything comes together to create something I feel lucky to have experienced.

I got up to 7 steeps and it’s still going strong. I have to go somewhere but I’m gonna save the leaves and come back to it when I get home… I don’t want to waste any! This is obviously a really amazing tea, it’s like a secret place I didn’t know existed but am totally in love with.

Mmm. This is helping me after a long night of essay writing.
Normally jasmine is too flowery for me, but this tea is serene instead of cloying. There’s something nice and sweet in the background. Yes… I am too tired to write any more, lol. But I wanted to update since I hadn’t posted in so long! Plus I like this tea.

I cold brewed a pitcher of this and when I took it out of the fridge everyone in the room recoiled in horror. I hugged it to my chest and said “IT’S CALLED COLD BREWING, IT’S SUPPOSED TO LOOK THIS WAY! THERE’S A FILTER IN THE PITCHER! IT TASTES LIKE PINA COLADA!!” No one would try it so I have the whole pitcher to myself, which is awesome because it tastes amaaazzinnnggg. I was expecting to have to sweeten it a little but I totally don’t have to at all, it’s naturally sweet and creamy. I would love to try it as an iced latte! The pineapple flavour is really pronounced. Unfortunately I used up my whole bag making this pitcher, so I’m gonna have to go back and get a tin of this!

No notes yet.

I’m trying it iced today (double-strong-then-ice method) and it’s actually really good! I usually only like fruity iced teas but this one is more sweet and creamy. I added just a little agave to bring out the flavours. It’s actually pretty refreshing. I think it would be even better as an iced latte. (Unfortunately I have no milk foamer thingy and am still latte challenged)

I’ve never had a green tea like this before! It really does seem to sparkle in the mouth.
First steep – So bright and clean. A sort of light green flavour. I can’t get over how clear and pristine this is.
2nd – Whoa. This one is stronger and I’m getting an almost citrusy taste. Nice! As it cools it turns more green bean-y.
3rd – I started eating dinner (maple salmon!) here, so I think my taste buds are a little preoccupied (I know, I thought the salmon would take longer to cook!). But this steep was very enjoyable. :)
4th – Okay, done with dinner! Although keep in mind that I did… just eat dinner. But this steep seems more buttery to me.
5th – Super sweet! I’m getting a definite cinnamon-y note.

Mmmm. Sorry this note is so scattered/bad lol. But this tea really is unlike any other green I’ve had. And it changed a lot from steep to steep! Definitely going to have this again, separate from dinner!!
(Also, I see that there is still Golden Fleece available… should I order some?? Hmmmm…)

Most. Chocolatey. Tea. Ever. Augh. SO GOOD. This is even better than I remember it being. It gets even better as it cools too!

Morning tea! I find this one naturally pretty sweet, with a musty sort of background. It’s not the brightest black tea, but it’s pleasant. A nice start to the day. I did a second steep for 5 minutes and it was good too.

I’ve been trying to eat healthier, and am using dessert teas to curb my dessert cravings… cause I have a massive sweet tooth. If I still want dessert after I finish my tea, I’ll eat it… but I’m usually good with just the tea! This is one of my favourite dessert teas :)
So yeah if you see a lot of dessert tea notes from me… you will know why haha.

Mmmm. This tea.
There’s the spicy, warm-you-up-from-inside quality, balanced by this awesome creaminess that comes out at the end (probably the coconut?). I forgot how freaking delicious this tea is. I wonder if it would be good iced? (Now that it’s summer I’m wondering that about EVERY tea!!)

Just because it’s almost summer doesn’t mean I can’t drink pumpkin chai!
I’m having it straight up tonight, no milk or sugar or anything. It’s making me allllmost wish it was fall. Well, I wish it would be fall for only as long as it takes me to drink this cup.
It has been waayy too long since I last had a cup of this. It’s an excellent after-dinner tea! Once I finally figure out how to make tea lattes this one will be first in line.

Well I cold-brewed it for quite awhile, 14 hours at least, and the bitterness and astringency are both definitely gone. Unfortunately, so is most of the flavour… The creaminess kind of comes out in the finish I guess, but otherwise it’s kind of like strawberry-scented water. I put in a good amount of leaf but maybe I’ll try it with even more. And I’ll try it brewed double strong then poured over ice too. I want to make this work!!!

First time trying this tea! I’m brewing it in the gaiwan.

1st steep – Jasmine aroma with a background resembling a milk oolong. Beautiful light, sweet floral taste. There seems to be the beginnings of a richer taste floating around in the background. A smooth and silky feel. I was having kind of a bad day but this just makes me happy with everything. :)
2 – Pretty jasmine-y up front, with an interesting sweet background. Maybe caramel-y? I’m still pretty bad at identifying flavours __ There’s some nutmeg taste going on too.
3 – Still floral but slightly greener. As it cools I get a distinct vanilla aftertaste. Mmmmm
4 – Quite nutty, the floral taste is still there though. Slightly caramel-y too. This steep was a little light so I’ll give it a few more seconds for the next one.
5 – Very sweet! Kind of toasty now.
6 – Light and very slightly grassy. This steep makes me think of a big meadow on a clear sunny day.
7 – Sweet and caramel-y. Sooo goood. One of the best steeps yet.
8 – A rich green taste with a natural sweetness.
9 – Intense sugary sweet taste up front, with the leafy green in the background. Yum.
10 – I did the thing where you flip the gaiwan over so the leaves are balanced on the lid, then put them back in with the bottom ones on top. Actually they ended up going back in kind of sideways… I’m still not very good at this whole gaiwan thing. I’m not sure if it made much difference, this steep tastes similar to 9 but less sweet.
11 – Ah, there’s the sweetness again. Light and sweet like nectar.

Overall I really enjoyed this oolong. It made my day a lot better!

I tried this one iced today (cold-steeped overnight). It’s such a pretty clear red but it’s way too tart and there’s a weird aftertaste… I think it might be because of the hibiscus. I’ve never tried a hibiscus tea iced before but it really takes over everything. Blehhh. I’ll be drinking this one hot from now on. It smells nice though.

Dry, this smells like strawberry drumsticks (like, the ice cream kind of drumstick). It brought back vivid memories of when I was a kid going to visit my dad’s Seattle apartment, eating drumsticks and watching Star Wars or Star Trek OS with my brother. The brewed tea kind of smells like that too, but with more of a strawberry-tea smell.

It started off as an excellent cup of tea, amazing strawberry taste and sweet and slightly cake-y. But there’s this bitterness/astringency that seems to build up the more I drink it. The good far outweighs the bad though… I still think this is awesome. There’s so much strawberry taste but at the same time it doesn’t feel like a “fruity” tea. I can’t wait to try it iced… I will definitely cold-brew it and hope that the bitterness/astringency is gone!

Cold-steeped for about 14 hours… wow! This is a lot more tart than I was expecting. Then the vanilla really moves in for the aftertaste. Weird! I think… I think I like it? I’ll try it hot next and see how it works out. I was expecting the pear taste to be more like pear jellybeans, but I think it plays off the apple and becomes quite sharp.

Due to forgetfulness I let this cold-steep for a little over 24 hours.
Oh… my… goddd
This is amaaaaazing. It is incredibly sweet without having to add anything to it, and I usually don’t like watermelon but the watermelon taste really comes through here and I don’t know, it’s just amazing. Perfect for summer cause it’s so refreshing and fruity and did I mention amazing.
Also this is the first tea with beetroot in it that hasn’t bothered me! Maybe it’s because it’s iced?? I can’t pick it up at all! Yayy!
Brb, going to buy a huge tin of this.

2nd note
I added some milk to this tonight but it actually took away from the flavour. I thought it would go perfectly with milk! It’s still nice and sweet and creamy but it’s bordering on too artificial this time, even for me. Oh well, it’s still a nice dessert tea. And it’s making me really tired so it was a good pre-bed choice. Yay for not being affected by caffeine… except that I can’t use it to my advantage to wake up in the morning/stay up late either .__.

I let this cold-steep from yesterday afternoon to this morning and am having it now post-gym. It’s much better when iced!! The mediciney taste is gone and the ginger/strawberry/hibiscus all blend so beautifully. I can pick out each flavour but none of them are overpowering. I added a little agave but it was great without too. It’s a lovely pinky red colour and it smells so sweet. Does anyone know if they’re gonna make this permanent? If not I may need to stock up before it disappears.

Edit: I just realized this is my 100th tasting note!! Yay!

Ugghhh I’m so tired… I pushed too hard at the gym and work was stupid. I’m gonna pass out in bed after finishing this pot of tea. Good tea can make anything better! And sleep. Sleep is good.

This tea is alright. It’s sweet and fruity but also kind of… creamy? And unmistakably a green. It turned out a little bitter but that may have been due to steeping errors. It’s kind of weird when something is sweet and bitter at the same time. This tea seems somehow thick, kind of the consistency of whole milk? I think I like it alright, but not enough to buy more right away.
There’s only a bit left in my bag so I think I’ll cold-steep it later cause I’d like to try this iced. I hope that won’t make it bitter… I’m kind of new to the whole cold-steeping thing.

Okay, goodnight!!

I’m brewing this western-style since I only have one gaiwan, and I’m using it for oolongs. I hear you are only supposed to use a gaiwan for one type of tea?

First steep:
Wowww, this is so good! My only other encounter with a Yunnan black tea was Davids wild yunnan or something, and it tasted like baked goods, like soft pretzels or something. This is like that too, only with more natural sweetness and a strong honey note. The aftertaste gives me the impression of a very dark chocolate. I haven’t had a cup of tea this nice in awhile.

Second steep:
This cup doesn’t have as much of an aroma as the first one did, but the taste is just as intense. The baked goods taste is still there, and the sweetness, but less honey. I think I like this steep better actually! There’s something almost cakey about it, and I can pick up a bit of the cinnamon people were talking about.

I know this would be good for a couple more steeps, but I have to go to work :C
MASSIVE SADNESS.