Verdant Tea

semi sipdown! finished up my bag from august this morning so now i just have the ounce left from my december order :) I might have to pick up a few more ounces if i make a verdant order this month, just to keep a decent sized stock of this in the house :) Such a good cup to wake up with in the morning!

I think i’ve got it in my head that i need to finish this one off since i’m so close to the end of one of the bags of this i own. I’ve got more waiting to be opened but i’m almost at the end of my July order heh. I love this tea a ton…it might just need to be what i bring with me to chicago!

my other morning tea. Such a good tasty treat to kick off the day. I love this tea.

This was one of my teas from this morning for out and about time with my other half. We decided to head out to the farmer’s market at the steam whistle brewery, which happens to be in downtown toronto, next door to the old heritage train museum. it’s a really interesting site to explore – lost of trains and neat architecture in the buildings right in the middle of condo land and the financial district. it was pretty small but gave us an excuse to buy some delicious cheese and get out of the house. nothing more awesome that walking around outside in the snow with my other half. and this tea was the perfect accompaniment :)

backlog from this weekend – still so delicious and wonderful!

long day. had this. it was good. see previous notes lol

I had a travel mug of this tonight while browsing the one of a kind christmas show here in Toronto. I was on the hunt for a few unique things for people but i’m not sure if i’ve quite found what i want. This helped immensely once it cooled off enough for me to drink :) so happy with this tea.

Edit: Ending the day at 141 (…+45)

Morning cup from today and i still love this one! Not much more to say besides that. soooo good!

this was one of my morning cups today for the first day of work after vacation! I needed it a bunch and i’m glad i had it. I really do love this blend :) Bumping the rating up as i’ve grown to love it more and more.

Tea for travelling. Another oldie but a goodie. Nothing can go wrong with zhu rong :)

Bonnie and Terri made me do it. This tea + salted caramel = woooohoooo!!!!!

since i’m exausted and can’t describe anything very well today, i’ll leave it at that for now. :)

SIp down! I really enjoy this tea. The first steep was a chocolate/matly beverage of deliciousness. However, as with most teas of this nature I got distracted by the tea and forgot to take notes on my other steeps lol. Yeah…it’s that kind of evening!

Mmmmm this tea is really nice. I’m not sure that it usurps my love of laoshan black but I am really enjoying running through the steepings of this one. The first steeping was a wonderful chocolatey mess of delicious. Not sweet chocolate but a mute cocoa type chocolate without the bitter. Mmmmmmmm!

I finally got around to brewing up my sample of this, and Rayn and I each had a cup with lunch. It was so delicious! We both loved the creaminess and heavy ginger flavor (especially since our soup had fresh ginger in it). Our only regret was not having more of this tea to make with coconut milk.
Rayn has really fallen for the Chocolate Phoenix Chai as well, and I asked him which he would like to get more of if I put in another order. He said hmmm…both? What a helper. ;)

These soft twisted downy black tea leaves are long and slender, with a coloring that is just as wonderful as the cup – dark chocolate and coppery caramel, intertwined together. It’s hard to get past the beauty of the dry leaves, but truthfully the brew is just as grand. Let me say before moving on, the prominent aroma from the dry leaves is of shaved dark chocolate – slightly drier, chocolate dust in smell.

The leaves seem to unify in color during and after the infusion. The liquid is full bodied and carries the cocoa aroma to a creamier molasses taste as you finish the sip. The tea seems to hold out very nicely during each of the steepings.

I started with a longer western steep time on the first infusion, then switched to Gung Fu method for a few cups, then back to western. Now looking back, I should have started Gung Fu, then switched to western to get the best take on how the tea really develops. Nonetheless, I’m pretty sure that I enjoy a little longer steep time on this one, in order to get a little bit of the drier astringency feel to the mouth. At least that’s which way I prefer at the moment.

This is a great tea and it certainly speaks for itself. One you must try to fully appreciate it.

Trying green tea again today… the leaves smelled great.
And hurray, I like it! Oooh complex and interesting.
A nice fresh green flavor upfront that fades into a tin aftertaste that makes the green taste like something mixed with petrichor.
It is slightly creamy, I’m thinking of creamed green beans? There is a great back of throat feel that lingers in a buttery creamy way. This tea is really like having a great bowl of vegetables on a rainy day.
I feel like the more tasting notes I make the more permission I give myself to be incredibly associative. It’s helpful to me to look back at, probably not too helpful to everyone else though!
Listening to Stranger in Moscow which is one of my favorite “rainy day” songs – perfect compliment.

second tea of the day! It’s unwise of me to have black tea in the afternoon, but to heck with it! I’ve been having a stressful few weeks.
This tea is just lovely. Roasted barley, dark chocolate, smokey with a hint of clover honey. Just wonderful.

I found some black tea in my numerous unsampled sample pouches from Verdant! I have high hopes for the company that turned me on to black tea!

First, the fuzzy little curls of dried leaf were beautiful and cute at the same time. The smell made me swoon. So chocolatey! I never really believed it when people would say a tea was chocolatey, but now I am a believer!

My first impression of this brew is a chocolatey dark roasted oolong. There are sweet honeyed notes along with the roasty autumnal flavor I usually get from dark oolongs. Then there’s a subtle taste of dark chocolate. The end of the sip is a bit bitter. It’s not ideal but it’s also not bad. In between sips, as you let the lingering flavors play over your tongue, you get a sense of wood chips, like for a campfire. And there’s the slightly hint of astringency. I’m thinking I probably should have used cooler water, though I think the website recommended boiling. Maybe less time.

In any case, this tea is delicious! It’s a cross between a dark roasted oolong and my new love, Loashan Black. Tasty!

As it cools, I’m getting more of an oolong taste than a black tea taste. Love that lingering dark chocolate flavor. :)

Steep 2! Used cooler water and then forgot about it for about 10 minutes. doh! But the resulting tea is magnificent! Lots of dark chocolate notes and something fruity like blueberry jam. No astringency this time. :)

I’m brewing this western style so I can enjoy it while video editing without being too distracted. Woohoo multitasking!
I didn’t get much scent from the leaves, but the brewed tea has a definite fishy odor. I’ve learned not to judge tea too much on the scent though.
The flavor was actually pretty minimal. On my second steeping I went a little long but didn’t really see an improvement.
I don’t know about this tea. It’s another tea that I’ve tried recently that has been just mediocre. But I haven;t found a perfect pu-erh for a long time.

Backlog:

I revisited this tea a few months back. Smooth and well-balanced. I love this blend. I love the creaminess of the Oolong base. I love the notes of bergamot. I love the jasmine. I love the saffron and the frankincense and the goji berry. It all comes together in a most delicious way. This is one of Verdant’s best blends, in my opinion.

Love it.

Thank you to Azzrian for sending me a bit of this tea … it’s awesome!

This is a totally interesting and unique take on Earl Grey – so much so that you’ll question whether or not you’re actually drinking a bergamot flavored tea! It is so amazingly balanced to create an amazingly smooth beverage unlike anything I’ve ever tasted.

The goji berry accents the tangy notes of the citrus, while the sweetness of the Oolong offers a balance to the acidic nature of these ingredients. The frankincense offers balance to the fragrant notes, while the jasmine accentuates the floral tones but not in a way that comes off too flowery. The saffron offers an undertone of savory bitterness to the overall cup and together the ingredients create a delicious new way to taste bergamot.

If you’re a fan of bergamot, you really should try this. It really changes the profile of bergamot, while keeping some of the basic qualities of it … and the end result is a really wonderful and new way to experience the exotic fruit.

I really, really like this. David outdid himself with this blend! It’s amazing!

Blown away by the intensity of this tea! I’m at loss for words of its complexity and brilliance. You’ll find peppercorn spiciness, sticky rice aroma blended with stewed tomatoes and roasted garlic. There’s something in the flavor that reminds me of pine resin and moisten moss. I didn’t notice any bitterness or harsh/sharp dryness during or after the sip.

This was my first care package from the Verdant Tea Club membership and I couldn’t ask for any better pairing of teas! I’m definitely looking forward enjoying this tea, along with the others sent. Thanks, David and Verdant Tea for providing excellent quality!

Brewed gongfu style. I used around 4 tsp for my 6-8 oz mug. The leaves were long and spindly so difficult to measure, I ended up basically eyeballing it.
The leaves smelled chocolatey with an interesting green flavor underneath it. For some reason the scent makes me think of a front porch around the 4th of July in a little town near a river #synesthesia.
The liquor was great smelling – deep, molasses-y and chocolatey.
The flavor is surprisingly spicy and deep. I get great flavors of molasses and earth. There is a tiny salty coppery aftertaste.
To sum up the first infusion: Dirt and Blood. And I mean that in the best possible way.

This came from Terri HarpLady – thanks!

I was waiting for the right time to try this… today was a lazy day, but a good day. I finally got to sleep!

The first steep of this, and I can smell the Laoshan black in here. Bready and rich and dark, it dominates the smell. When I first take a sip, it’s all perfumy dry rose, and that goes well with the astringency of the black. It’s very smooth.

The second steep, and it’s completely different. This is oranges and dark chocolate. What was dry and stiff and powdery and polite is now warm and inviting and rich and smooth.

It’s such a wildly different experience that I can’t decide which I prefer. It’s a fantastic tea.