Verdant Tea (Special)

So good. I needed this today. back to back mtgs for 7 hours. good thing i’m home and can walk around with my phone haha

I’m working from home today even though it’s going to be hot and gross because i’m exausted…and because i want to drink tea. lol I was one of those folks who was slightly disappointed in a LOT of 2014 harvests. The teas just weren’t the same and my favourites were mediocre at best in a lot of cases.
So, since my verdant order arrived this week, i figured today would be a good day to try both 1st picking LB and regular LB side by side to see how they are holding up in 2015.

when they were brewing..it smelled like my first time smelling LB, so i was pretty hopeful. 1st picking has always seemed more “earthy” or as omgsrsly puts it – dirt like, than LB. brewed, this smells more like LB of older harvests. tasting it, there’s none of that dirt like taste from previous harvests…instead this is smooth…the cocoa notes are there, though not as prominent. I am enjoying this. i think 2015>2014. It’ll be nice to try this a little later on, as i’ve found that as the teas age a bit, the flavour will change. I’m happy with this one

sipdown on this on yesterday as well…. happy to have been drinking it, but i still prefer LB…though i guess in terms of this years harvests, i’m not sure that’s the case. We’ll see :)

this tea + cacao = good times…just like regular LB + cacao.

i also had this one today. Figured i should work on some of my other teas before working on my LB…and this counts as “another” tea haha.

Final Count: 81

this + cacao was the best cup today. I’m diving in to full blown wedding planning with a side order of trying to finalise the house before the end of the month. UGH. I am going to need my tea! haha

Another tea from today…this + cacao made for a delicious treat as outside of work went from sunny to completely white and back again in a manner of 15 mins haha While i enjoy this tea, i prefer the regular version, though i had picked this one up to get me through not having the regular version haha

this one isn’t working for me tonight. it’s too…..earthy? dirtlike? i dunno…i’m going to chalk this one up to being overtired or something since i don’t normally dislike this one. and i’ve certainly had this batch before.

I figured i should pull this one out of the cupboard and have it occasionally. I still prefer regular laoshan black but this one is different and well worth the treat from time to time :) but i might be biased haha

mmmmmm another batch of this and while it’s not LB….it’s still pretty damn good. I’m finding that this batch isn’t as “earthy” as the first batch of this version that i had, so that’s a plus in my books. :)

sipdown! yeah i figured what the heck. To be honest, i like normal LB better than this version. it’s not bad, but this version has a little bit more…dirt? taste than the other.

I had this again today – western Style for a couple of steepings. I’ll likely save the the last bit that i have to try it gonfu style. Is it tasty? For sure! Is it much different from the mainstream version? Not that my tastebuds seem to think. :) Love it though!

Since i’m trying to get through my verdant reserve teas, I knew i had to open this one to try it finally. I’ve been holding off because LB is one of my favourite teas and i wanted to have this to savor. Turns out? This tastes very similar to my memory of LB. I may have to do a comparison in the near future, because i don’t see them as being much different. Still delicious to drink but nothing incredible or over the top.

When warm weather starts my tea drinking really starts to drop. It isn’t even summer yet but yesterday it reached 36ºC. Needless to say, I haven’t been too keen on hot beverages but have been a bit too lazy to make up jugs of iced tea.

This morning is a bit cooler so I sifted through Sil’s samples and grabbed this one. About the time I started drinking it my hayfever set in so I haven’t been able to enjoy it as much as I’d like. The first steep, which I’m on now, has a lovely fresh cucumber note but with that unmistakeable sensation of hot liquid on tastebuds that are switching off. Hopefully by the later steeps my antihistamine will have kicked in.

Thanks Sil :)

Sipdown, 115. Hoping this tea will perk me up for the afternoon. I definitely very much enjoy this tea. Very smooth, malty, a bit sweet. It has a nice, rich texture that complements the flavor well and gives it a good body. A pleasure to drink.

I always feel guilty whenever I have one of my reserve teas western-style. But the fact is that I always prefer my black teas to be western steeped. There is something about combining all of those flavors into one cup that I love. So I brewed up some of this western style this morning, no regrets.

This was quite delicious, no surprise. Malt, grain, a bit of brown sugar. Smooth smooth smooth, with a nice substantial texture. There is almost a bit of earthy hay to this, which is a flavor I typically associate with Yunnan teas. Jin jun meis are not my favorite Fujian tea (a superb tan yang is more likely to blow my mind), but I do enjoy this one quite a bit.

Just drank my last of this (sigh)
Extremely sad…. Please Verdant,
Tell me when this is available again…
I would purchase at least every other month.
Love the light licorice taste, elderberry spices and the fennel
Yes! I love to chew on the fennel.
This is my favorite tea and along with Steepster & Friends
(And of course, God,)
Got me through my mother’s passing.
I don’t need to be sick to enjoy this herbal.
Just love it :-D

There is no gaiyusa in this tea , that I am aware of.
Input mistake that I am not currently able to correct.
I don’t have a list of ingredients, but I believe I taste:
HEAVEN first and foremost, lol…
Supposedly a tea to boost the immune system, but
I am drinking it for the flavor.
In addition, I believe, I taste fennel, cinnamon bark, clove,
echinacea, coriander, elderberries, and possibly a hint of lemon.
I, however, steeped 1 tablespoon in 10oz water…
I like a bold flavor and the recipe for this herbal tea is to die for ♡

I’ve been drinking this over the course of the morning while i putter with my cupboard, sorting teas and packaging up stuff for cavocorax. Inpart because i need to finish up with more of my February teas but also because i was crazing a bit of smoke this morning. Well smoke and maple syrup heh I sort of alternated this one, western brewing and gongfu just to play with is and get the most possible out of the leaves given that this is gone now, with this cup. Bumping the rating up a little because the smoothness in this cup is so delicious.

mmmm i had this earlier in the day but forgot to log it. Took it with me on my afternoon walk with my other half. We won’t get much time to spend together over the next couple of days – he’s got a staff meeting tonight, and then tomorrow i’ve got a work function to go to, while he’s at dodgeball so really, we won’t be hanging out until tuesday dinner, before he’s off to raid for the evening. heh

I will be sad when this one is gone if only because i am a fan of the smoothness mixed in with the smoke and a little maple syrup :)