First Review. My Verdant Shipment Arrived! I’ve been watching the mailbox and it’s here with this tea, the new 2004 Pu-erh the Laoshan Chai and 2 samples of new tea’s with a nice handwritten note (now who does that anymore)?! I am so excited. I’ve been out getting a hair trim and could use a good strong black tea this afternoon. This one sounds like such a perfect choice.
I checked the steeping time first…3 minutes, 2 TB. for my glass teapot size and boiling water (I know, filtered!). Tic, tic, tic, ready.
I like to watch the tea steeping in my glass teapot basket. I’m like a kid watching fish in a fishbowl and my nose is going to get burned one of these days. These tea leaves are gnarley and dark and when steeping they look like inky octopi dancing about. The liquour turns to the color of root beer an smells malty. Time to pour and sip…slurp.
This is full bodied, toasty with some remote almond or hazelnut taste. There is malt but not the brewery malt, a bakery maltiness without sourness. I was a doubter about the buckwheat comments. Really? Buckwheat? Seems a strong flavor. I had to see for myself. I went to my spice cupboard and picked out the Buckwheat Honey and poured a little in some hot water. Sniff, sip, taste the tea now and… right-o… BUCKWHEAT! Straight up this is tasty tea. Add sweetening…which many of us do….and this is really a good dessert tea.
The Chocolate has not been addressed yet. I have not found Dark Chocolate notes as yet. Some Milk Chocolate I can grant… but I am a Dark Chocolate LOVER! I do not taste Dark Chocolate! Maybe I will some other time, who knows.
What I have to say about this tea is…BRAVO! I hope this tea becomes available on a permanent basis because if so, it will be a staple for my cupboard. An Awesome Tea!
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it is awesome isn’t it?! if it weren’t for the shipping… THIS would be my tea home ;)
I have buckwheat honey at home, and it’s gone untouched for almost two years now because I dislike it so. I’ve been scratching my head as to why I love it in tea!
I plan on making an order from Verdant this weekend an words can’t describe my excitement! David was so nice an allowed me to create my own custom sampler pack of the teas I wanted! If the teas are even half as good as the customer service than I can die a happy man!
Buckwheat honey and beer is great to slow cook meat in…like a roast. First you brown onions and brown the meat, then put in the beer, honey and beef broth and slow cook it. Really good. I think I did this with some short ribs for my son-in-law. I hardly ever eat meat. I made steel-cut oatmeal in the crockpot with dry fruit last night…let it go all night on low…should have added some buckwheat honey to that! ***I-Bloom…if you order this month $10 off deal that would offset shipping. I wait and spend $25 so that shipping is free in the U.S. so this month I got both deals…which was nice!
ahh yah that is tempting… but my tea budget… well I can afford that in about a month! lol
(it doesn’t help that I spent triple my budget last month, so I’m making up for it now!)
I’m not giving you my address cuz you’d mug me ;-)
Great note, Bonnie! Laoshan Black is one of my absolute favorite teas in the world, David will tell you… Pretty much my main go to tea each morning. I always get sad when we’re sold out of it for short periods. I’ve tried all three iterations of it, and I do think this latest one is the best yet! I can’t wait to try the next spring batch of it. One comment that came to mind reading your mention of the chocolate note is that this particular harvest is a tad less bold on the chocolate notes than previous batches. They’re all so wonderfully different but similar enough to remain completely fulfilling every time. In this harvest, I find a a note of sarsaparilla hinting on the tail end and in the aftertaste. Really nice!
Anyway, I’m always happy to see when someone discovers this for the first time and loves it. I was sure this tea was going to make a big splash the first time I tasted it… and how it has done so! Happy drinking to you. I really like your tasting notes.
Thanks and the pleasure is mine!
it is awesome isn’t it?! if it weren’t for the shipping… THIS would be my tea home ;)
I have buckwheat honey at home, and it’s gone untouched for almost two years now because I dislike it so. I’ve been scratching my head as to why I love it in tea!
I plan on making an order from Verdant this weekend an words can’t describe my excitement! David was so nice an allowed me to create my own custom sampler pack of the teas I wanted! If the teas are even half as good as the customer service than I can die a happy man!
Buckwheat honey and beer is great to slow cook meat in…like a roast. First you brown onions and brown the meat, then put in the beer, honey and beef broth and slow cook it. Really good. I think I did this with some short ribs for my son-in-law. I hardly ever eat meat. I made steel-cut oatmeal in the crockpot with dry fruit last night…let it go all night on low…should have added some buckwheat honey to that! ***I-Bloom…if you order this month $10 off deal that would offset shipping. I wait and spend $25 so that shipping is free in the U.S. so this month I got both deals…which was nice!
ahh yah that is tempting… but my tea budget… well I can afford that in about a month! lol
(it doesn’t help that I spent triple my budget last month, so I’m making up for it now!)
I’m not giving you my address cuz you’d mug me ;-)
Great note, Bonnie! Laoshan Black is one of my absolute favorite teas in the world, David will tell you… Pretty much my main go to tea each morning. I always get sad when we’re sold out of it for short periods. I’ve tried all three iterations of it, and I do think this latest one is the best yet! I can’t wait to try the next spring batch of it. One comment that came to mind reading your mention of the chocolate note is that this particular harvest is a tad less bold on the chocolate notes than previous batches. They’re all so wonderfully different but similar enough to remain completely fulfilling every time. In this harvest, I find a a note of sarsaparilla hinting on the tail end and in the aftertaste. Really nice!
Anyway, I’m always happy to see when someone discovers this for the first time and loves it. I was sure this tea was going to make a big splash the first time I tasted it… and how it has done so! Happy drinking to you. I really like your tasting notes.
Thanks and the pleasure is mine!