Ian Krouth

The first time I had this tea it was iced, and I was shocked by how buttery it is. It manages to be incredibly creamy, even though it’s also super light.

Hot it is very ‘typical green’-tasting, but angelic. It manages to be well-rounded without being heavy or full-bodied. Later steepings bring out more back-of-tongue richness, almost wheat-like. It is well balanced but not bland or equivocating…as someone else said, it is similar to Jade Cloud, but with more personality. It’s an “every day” tea without being…everyday.

Just tried this much-anticipated tea for the first time with Verdant Tea founder and importer David Duckler. I am a HUGE fan of the Spring picking, so I could not have been more excited.

When I smelled it dry, there was something I couldn’t identify…something sweet but not floral. The wet leaves smell like, no kidding, spinach and asparugus sauteed in an INCH of butter. It is SO rich and sweet and dark green. The Spring is light-footed and fancy; the Autumn is a down-to-earth older brother.

It’s far more vegetal than floral, a change that floored me (considering the extreme orchid and lilac of the Spring). The butter is rich and sweet but never overpowering. There is a slight metallic taste; David and I debated about the best way to characterize it, because it’s absolutely not a negative quality. It’s more like the metallic taste in the mouth when one drools, or the mouth is watering. That really threw its weight behind the asparugus and spinach experience.

Malty, yes, but not harshly so. It’s very light, and keeps the smooth bean notes of its green counterpart. An excellent “straight up” black tea…I can’t imagine diluting this with milk. This may be disappointing for those that like a robust, astringent kick in the teeth, but as a relaxing, silken black tea this performs perfectly.

EDIT: Just opened up my container of this lovely tea and got smacked in the face with chocolate scent. Yummmmm!

Pleasantly sweet without being grassy, this tea was just the thing for a gloomy late-summer Wednesday. The bean notes manifest almost more as a texture rather than a flavor; it lends a very silken, waxy (not in a bad way), protein-y/nutty feeling to the undercurrent, while the top layers of tea are very calm and settled. It seems like a very content tea, very satisfied with its lot in life.

The first time I ever had this tea, on the fourth (or so) steeping I said “It tastes like a campfire!” and David added “Yes, but one with silken pillows to sit on, and an elaborate cloth-of-gold pavilion in the background.” (paraphrased, of course) And since then, I’ve used “posh campfire” to describe this.

Don’t get the wrong idea: this is no Lapsang. Its campfire notes come from a sweet woodiness and a silken roasted flavor, not an overpoweringly thick smoke. (Can you hear my biases? Sorry.) The first steeping or two are relatively light but hit at the back of the throat; the flavor begins to settle and softly wrap your tongue after several steepings. By the fifth steeping the liquor is stunning, rich mahogany, and the flavor is in a comparable “full swing”. It gets drier, nuttier, and mustier as it goes, like embers burning down to cakes of sweet ash.

Silky. This tea is like running your hands through a foot-high pile of satin and silk fabric scraps, letting them slide off your hands in waterfall cascades.

Oh, and it also tastes like corn. Did anyone mention that yet? SO MUCH CORN.

The smell of the corn in the dry leaf covers up any possible impression you could form about the tea itself, so you really have to drink it to get a good sense of the flavor. The corn stays light, up at the top of the palate, almost airy, while the pu-erh settles comfortably around your tongue. It’s never heavy, but the second and third steepings are the best once the corn is less dominant and the pu-erh can really unfurl. The corn is sweet but not sugary; it keeps everything very smooth and mellow. I was pleasantly surprised by how smooth the whole experience is; there’s no empty space between the two flavors. It’s a perfect union.

This tea is like the perfect party guest. It saunters into your mouth casually and says “Hey…I’m Chinese green tea…what’s up?” It’s not demanding; it mingles with the other guests without any legwork on your part, cleans up after itself all night, and doesn’t overstay its welcome.

In sum: not too grassy, not too nutty, not too creamy…not TOO anything. Perfectly balanced, very light and laid-back. A thoroughly inoffensive, if not quite charismatic, green tea.

I don’t usually like Jasmine, but whenever I’ve smelled this one I noticed how sweet the jasmine seems, not cloying. And that impression was correct! I blend this with everything for a little sweet lift. It’s especially good with peppermint. Plain it’s nice and soothing, not too harsh floral and not too earty white. It’s an excellent balance. There’s no pungency or soapiness that I’ve experienced with other jasmines. I may have just been converted to jasmine, if they all taste like this from now on!

I really wanted to like this, because: I like Honest Tea, I like peach, and I looooooove Oolong.

I don’t know why, though, this just didn’t impress me. It was very “meh”. Honest Tea’s “Organic White Peach” blend is much better if you’re looking for a slightly sweet peach iced tea. This one isn’t a BAD tea, specifically; I just don’t think it’s as balanced. Just enough tea taste to make it taste funny with the peach, but not enough to just be plain tea. Eh.

I love bottled iced tea. I don’t know why, exactly, but I LOVE cold, sweetened tea…when it’s out of a bottle.

And this…this is the best. So many RTD iced teas are absurdly sweet; they taste good, but not like tea. I like that Honest Tea doesn’t overload, and even has teas that are entirely unsweetened. This blend in particular is well-balanced. It tastes like white tea, and peach, and just a hint of sweet, as it should be. All the flavors come together and none overpower.

So many lightly-flavored teas are floral, and so many “spiced” teas are heavy. Spice of Life hits right in that tiny niche that is neither. It’s a very very light flavor, and while it’s not spicy in the “cinnamon/cloves/pepper” sense, it’s definitely a savory, nutty blend. It’s excellent by itself, though it mixes well with rooibos or honeybush for a somewhat heavier, earthier taste. It’s a good change of pace from white teas that are either fruity or straight up, and is subtle enough to keep the white tea flavor noticeable rather than knocking it out with a chai suckerpunch.

I lovingly refer to this as “fake Dragonwell”, which pisses David off to no end. :-P It’s far greener than a normal Dragonwell; I find that they are usually nutty and subtly bitter. This is very green and refreshing…I even drink it iced! (Normally iced green tea just tastes like grass to me…yuck.) It’s almost a “cool” flavor, even drunk hot. It still has some distinctive brothiness like other Dragonwell styles; very thick mouthfeel. But it leaves a much cleaner sensation.

This tea is totally insane. At first sip it tastes like a good, standard, par-for-the-course green oolong. Then you swallow, and BAM! Candy sweetness in the back of your mouth and across the tongue. It’s not even specifically floral-tasting, just…clean and sweet. VERY sweet.

Love this tea.

Not liking this as much as Teavana’s original Thai Tea blend. This is much spicier and less nutty. It is still an excellent tea, but personally I don’t like it as much with the milk and suger and ice that makes a “thai tea”. I add Honeybush Hazelnut to it to round out the nutty flavors when I want it cold. Hot, it is a very calm chai. It’s spiced, not spicy.

I don’t really like Earl Grey. Bergamot just isn’t the flavor for me, though I don’t mind the smell. I don’t hate Earl Grey either, but it’s really a “take it or leave it”. I will drink it if I am served it, but I don’t seek it out.

That said…I drank this tea every morning for all of last winter. The vanilla really softens the harshness of the citrus while leaving the distincitive smell and deeper flavors. It’s excellent with a dash of milk and sugar; the black tea body is just strong enough to make a “full”-tasting mug without kicking you in the teeth with malty or “dark” flavors.

Bottom line, this is Earl Grey without the teeth. Take that as you will.

Well, my original paper notes went something like “Hand-picked Spring KY: !!!!!!!!! Buttery flowers! Holy cow! :) :) :)” I say this as someone who is very cautious about floral teas. Heavy flower flavors are not my style. But multiple tastings with multiple infusions have certainly borne out my initial impressions!

One of the shocking things about the leaves, once they uncurl, is how very GREEN they are. They’re rich, spring, on-the-tree green…none of that dark or pale shadowy green in this tea. And they stay that way, 20 or 30 infusions in.

It is so very light. At first you feel cheated because it’s just hot water…and then a fairy comes along and breathes ever so lightly into your mouth, and hits the “top” of the palate. You feel it more in your head than in your throat…it’s buttery without being thick, floral without being cloying, and above all, sweetly clean. The flavor continues admirably through loads of re-steepings; over time it becomes slightly honey-like, and hits the throat just the tiniest bit.

Definitely an A+ tea.

EDIT, 8/11: Just showed some friends this tea, and was shocked by the strong tastes of lilac that came up. Previous tastings had come up with much stronger orchid and cream flavors, but the lilac was overwhelming this time around (in a good way!). It reminded me of that first warm spring day when you walk under a giant lilac bush and the smell envelopes you softly. The “white flower” taste of the first steeping or two gave way to that strong, sunny, “yellow and purple flower” sensation. (Seriously. It tastes purple. It’s bizarre.)

This is the tea that made me like tea. The “original recipe” (green oolong and raspberries) was the perfect subtle balance. It didn’t specifically taste like raspberry, but there was definitely a little something extra to the leaves themselves.

If you’ve tried the “new version”, I’m sorry. Teavana has added strawberries to it, and has shredded the fruits instead of leaving them as whole dried pieces. It looks like Special K, and just about tastes like it too. Luckily enough people have complained, and in October or so it will be going back to the original!

My ratings are for the “old” version. It’s light, and less floral tasting than a Tieguanyin, but with the flavor of dark green like a forest after rain. The smell is very clean, with just a little sweetness at the end.

Just talking about it is working up my appetite. After I finish this mate I’ll have to go fire up my Yixing for this tea. :)