Verdant Tea (Special)

No notes yet.

I have so many awesome teas here to choose from, many which I haven’t sipped in quite some time, & yet I found myself wanting this one again today. I sipped my way through several Gaiwans full over the course of the afternoon, sharing some with a student who appreciates fine tea.

Reminds me of CTG’s sticky rice pu’er tuo cha. I think I liked the wild arbor tea from this factory more than this one.

The smoothest jasmine tea I ever tried. It is amazing that I even like it because I absolutely hate jasmine usually! So sad tehre is so little of this :(

A few days ago the TOMC bundle box arrived from Verdant. I took a peek at the sampling pages, but haven’t actually opened any of the teas just yet. I’ve still got tons of samples from Sil, I have the TTB-A, I have a garden I’m still planting, I have gigs, students, & I’ve come to the conclusion that there is only so much tea one can drink in a day.
And quality is better than quantity.
Which is why I’m drinking this one.
If I was going to study with a tea Master, I think it would be Master Bi. I’ve decided he is the Guru of Tea, at least for Wuyi Oolongs.
This tea, which I have sampled already before (& purchased more of…twice), is probably the most nuanced tea I’ve ever had.
This tea is about an amazing aroma, a total mouth filling sensation, a aroma & sensation that rise into the sinuses & fill them with a perfume that is thick, heady, fruity, floral, sensual, & lingering.
Initially it kind of freaked me out.
I love it.
When I do gongfu sessions, I tend to get bored with most teas after awhile. This is one that I can continue to enjoy for hours. I very rarely give teas a rating, but this is THE top wuyi oolong, as far as I’m concerned. I don’t believe a wuyi can get any better than this. I think this is as close to an authentic Big Red Robe as anyone can get.
It’s awesome!

I’ve never seen a tea that was naturally blood orange before. The flavor is so rich! It’s almost like a wine. The tea lasted for over 10 steepings.

Got some vegetable planting done today, and now I am going to relax with this tea this afternoon. I was super excited to see this in the may reserve club package because I love a good dian hong golden bud. The leaf on this is cute, rolled into little semi-balls. It has a hint of cocoa to the smell, but also a bit of rich hay and honey.

Brewed gongfu. I drank my rinse, because that’s how I roll with black teas. I can never rinse in less than a second anyway, it must take me at least two. The rinse was quite light but sweet and flavorful still. Definitely wildflower honey notes, along with a slight buttery sweet-starchiness of a sweet potato chip. Later steeps intensified those notes with a smooth, creamy texture. Quite a nice dian hong and a pleasure to have today.

Very surprised with this one :) I had CTG’s Silver Needle and didn’t really love it. It had a similar flavor to black tea, which I don’t like. However… this one was so much more!! It was so beautifully floral! The buds were so soft and downy too. I’m glad Verdant is bringing me out of my shell and forcing me to drink things that aren’t oolong or greens!

Much better than the usual Yabao from Verdant. This one I actually like.

This was one of the January reserved TOMC offerings. I loved it then, & I’m loving it now. I’ve never had creme brulee, but I imagine it being like this tea: creamy mouthfeel with a sweet brown sugar topping.

As far as Lapsangs go, this one is very refined. The smoke quality is there, but not so intensely as many others. It’s really lovely. Other images that come to mind while sipping:
canned condensed milk
kettle corn
A fine pipe tobacco

I’ll keep sipping :)

This is a very good Qimen/Keemun (I just read Terri HarpLady’s notes and I agree with them entirely – the tea’s red liquor is smokey, but not overwhelmingly so, and brown sugar/caramel/maple like in sweetness), but I wasn’t floored by it. I have a F&M Keemun which is just as good, and so I’m a little surprised that this tea was part of Verdant’s TotM Reserved club. Once again – this is an excellent tea, for western and gong fu brewing, it just isn’t quite as unique as I expected it to be.

No notes yet.

I decided to go ahead & steep this one western style also, pretty much using the same parameters that I used for the Shui Jin Gui. It also has that ‘after aroma’ thing in the sinuses, & is a very nice & flavorful roasty kind of oolong that I love.

I don’t have any gigs this weekend! It’s been weeks since I had a weekend off, & I think it’s suppose to rain all weekend too. Tony’s picking my up in about an hour, & we’re going to meet another couple at the japanese restaurant. Then I think we’re spending the weekend in our PJs, being couch potatoes, cooking & eating awesome food, & drinking tea. I have packed a ridiculous amount of tea for the weekend…lol…I always take more than I can ever drink, because I don’t really know what I’ll want to drink, so I have to have a variety, right?
Just for the record, Tony & I have been together 13 years. His house is 5 minutes away from mine.
BTW, I posted pics of my garden on my FB, for those who would like to see https://www.facebook.com/terri.langerak?ref=tn_tnmn

This is one of the Reserve TOMC teas from April. I drank from these leaves a few weeks ago, along with the other teas in this collection, but didn’t really get around to writing anything.
I enjoy this variety of tea, & have several in my collection from various sources, from the smokey brown sugar variety to TeaVivre’s highly fragrant version that smells like roses to me.
To me, Keemun teas have a nice rich middle flavor, but not so much of a bass or top note, which is probably why they get blended with other teas, such as Assam (very bassy). Anyway, I enjoy them.
So…I’ve been trying to decide what makes this one so special that it deserves a place in the ‘reserve’ club. It is very nice, but I’m still not sure. I’m lousy at comparing teas, just like I’m not an expert in visual arts, but if I see a painting that I love, I know I love it. If I taste a tea I love, same thing.
This tea appears as small black strands with red tinges.
The dry aroma is rich, earthy, sweet, with a hint of chocolate
The moist smell (heated in hot empty Gaiwan) = brown sugar & light smoke
Wet it smells of all those things, plus caramel apples & cream.
My formula: 4G + 4oz (quick rinse) X 3 sec

I wish I could say that I’ve been taking notes on every steeping, but I didn’t. I also didn’t write those things down last time. I don’t always know how to describe things, but I can say it tastes like Keemun! The smokiness is very refined, not an in your face kind of smoke. It’s a nice, earthy, caramelized brown sugar & apple. There’s also a light floral quality, & a sweet incense quality. And there’s chocolate. Of course, these are all subtle, & I have just enough of this to try it one more time. I plan on making the last cup in an regular cup with a longer steep time. Basically, I’ll brew it the way I brew my other Keemuns, to see how it comes out!

I have fallen into that mode where I get so focused on drinking samples and having sipdowns that I don’t drink up the teas I have more of, which are usually my favorites. Well this afternoon I decided F that, it’s my birthday, and I’m going to drink some tea I love. A lot of people have been drinking Laoshan Black today so it was already stuck in my head, but I have the option to take it to eleven.

I actually hadn’t yet broken into the 2oz of this that I ordered… I can’t believe I have two whole ounces of this, but of course it is the only two ounces I will ever have. So glad to treat myself to this one today. Soooo smooth and honeyed. Grains, malt, chocolate, and a bit of spice, like a mexican hot chocolate almost. Deeeelish.

Thanks to Sil for this one.

The dry tea leaves are beautifully twisted in to small braids. There is a strong sweet floral jasmine fragrance.

The tea tastes like a slightly sweet jasmine tea on a base of mildly creamy green tea. Very delicious jasmine tea.

I steeped for one minute. The jasmine braids only slightly unfurled. Many more steeps to come of this one.

Sipdown, 175. My second gongfu session of the day.

I decided to have this one because it was definitely only one more serving’s worth. I was actually a bit unsure of whether I really was in the mood for a sheng, but once I took the first steep I was pretty happy with my choice. This kind of reminds me of the smell of a creek in a woods; damp rock and earth, combined with the scent of the trees. I am starting to enjoy these types of teas more and more; who knows, maybe one day I will grow to really really love them. This was a very satisfying afternoon tea session.

No notes yet.

This is from the Verdant Reserve TOMC. Due to it’s dark color, I originally thought this was going to be a Shu Puer, but all the other Yiwu’s I’ve tried have been Shengs, so I was a little unsure. Reading the tasting notes, there was no indication either. But the steeping instructions make it sounds more like a sheng. So I steeped. It is a Sheng, without a doubt. I’ve been enjoying it all afternoon. Here’s the basics of my tasting notes:
Dry appearance: Dark brown & gold leaf
Dry Aroma: Fresh bale of straw, loaded with mintiness, as if mint were growing in the field when it was mowed.
Wet aroma: Ohh..ahhh…sweet caramel apple!
3G + 4oz X 5 sec (plus 2 per each steep afterwards)

So the early steepings were nice, sweet, & aromatic. Definitely got a eucalyptus thing going on. There’s almost a genmaicha underflavor as well. This is probably the sweetest sheng I’ve tried, with a nice rounded out flavor, & I’m really digging the aromatic quality, which is tingling my tongue & my sinuses, & spreading throughout my system, along with a nice Chaqi feeling. One of the reasons I enjoy Sheng in the late afternoon is the sense of clarity it tends to bring on. Right now I’m feeling very clear headed, very ‘fresh’, revived & focused!

No notes yet.

Today has been busy busy with spring cleaning. I need to start making dinner but I am taking a break for a bit with this oolong. As always, I want to say that I’ve never been the biggest fan of Wuyi oolongs, but some of them I do rather enjoy.

This one seems to be one of those examples. The first steep was honeyed, with lightly toasted grain notes. Honestly I drank it up pretty quickly because it was so tasty. Today I am really digging the bready, roasty notes, moreso than usual. The second steep is also sweet and more toasty. Slightly minerally and rocky, as well, like a stream high in the mountains. This one seems particularly well balanced, and no one flavor really overtakes the rest. The minerals come out more and more in later steeps. I have to say that I have not detected any orchid-like florals in this, but I’m not sure that they would fit quite right to me. Anyway I am really enjoying this relaxing session of tea this afternoon.

No notes yet.

I don’t usually drink actual tea this late in the evening but I really wanted to. I decided to go shu puerh because the fermentation actually results in less caffeine in the resulting tea. I haven’t spent a lot of time drinking puerhs of any kind, and I have gotten most of my exposure through the reserve club. That’s the point, of course! I haven’t come across a puerh that I love, but I often do enjoy them and I am glad to get a chance to try them all.

I am having a similar experience with this tea. It’s earthy, it’s piney. Funny, I didn’t expect this puerh to be so similar in feeling to some of the shengs I’ve had recently. The first steep of this tea is at once light in flavor but with a slight bite. In the second steep the bite has increased, moving almost to bitterness. I’m also getting a lot of conifer notes… juniper berries, cedar wood, pine needles. Also a bit of rocky minerals as well. After a few steepings I’m definitely starting to get some tingly mouth going on here. I have to say this is probably my least favorite of the puerhs I’ved tried through the reserve club so far. Maybe it’s the “camphor” notes. But I’m still glad I got to try it.

Thanks Bonnie for sharing this tea with me.

Dry – Sweet, VERY aromatic floral, TGY characteristic bitter-sweet floral, fruity and cinnamon.
Wet – Vanilla, Sweet corn, floral-fruity, nutty, mineral, faint cinnamon, buttery.
Liquor – Pale green.

1st steep – 10secs – Initially sugary sweet, vanilla, floral-mineral TGY taste that is well balanced not overwhelming. As I slurp, several notes appear but vanilla, sweet corn, butter and bittersweet floral are the most apparent. The sweetness is sugary or ‘clean’ at first but becomes more fruity/floral that lingers.

2nd steep – 15secs – Sweet, floral and mineral TGY taste that is well rounded and goes down smoothly retaining a lot of sweetness in the mouth and showing off some of the mineral and somewhat nutty notes. This taste lingers in the tongue and seems to travel to the back of the throat. Floral-vanilla sweetness lingers in the aftertaste.

3rd steep – 15secs – Sweet, nutty, floral bittersweet TGY taste that is very aromatic and pleasant, slightly creamy mouth-feel. As it goes down it is mineral and floral that becomes sweeter that resembles vanilla. The aftertaste is sweet and complex with notes that combine well.

Final Notes
I was able to several more steeps that were really enjoyable. What I liked about this tea is how well balanced it is. I think this is the trait I enjoy the most in good tea whether cheap or expensive, a well balanced tea is very enjoyable and even memorable.

Thanks again to Bonnie for sharing with me. I really liked this one, complex and subtle and overall very well well balanced. I’m sorry I took so long to review; but I’m kind of glad I did, since I had the time to truly sit down and enjoy it.