Verdant Tea

Ooo interesting. This is chocolate and chai in a very different way than I have experienced from Verdant, the natural notes usually coming from Laoshan Black, Big Red Robe or Zhu Rong Black. This is a very complex and unique. It’s stoney and savory, fruity and honey sweet and that’s not to mention the spice and cocoa which are lovely and present but my mind or perhaps my tongue is interesting in picking out the Dan Cong notes dancing around. Very nice, going to do one or two more hot infusions before cold brewing the leaves as I just picked up a sample size. It tastes like there is already milk in here, probably the vanilla, so I’m not going to do any additives. Really glad I got to try this. Well done Verdant!

I am using my new little gongfu pot and small glass cups for an extended gongfu tea experience.

2 rinses. Each steep was around 4 seconds but it probably ended up being longer than that because my little gongfu pot pours out quite slowly.
Mostly I am getting a woodsy citrus aroma from the dry and steeped leaf

Steepings 1-4: Woodsy, sweet buttery oolong with some citrus notes in the end of the sip and in the aftertaste

Steepings 5-7: Less buttery and citrus. Now, smooth and nutty qualities are coming through

Steepings 8-10: Fruity notes are starting to come out—citrus is still there, along with a little hint of berry (maybe the elderberry they mention on the website), and a hint of apple

11-14 Getting some muted buttery flavours, and some tanginess (where did that come from?)

15-18: I increased the steep time to 10seconds, now I am getting mellow peppery notes like the website mentioned

I preferred the first 9 steepings of this tea. However, as I mentioned before, my “4 second steepings” were maybe too long so perhaps I didn’t get as many steepings in as I should have.

This was a very interesting experience of brewing tea for me, this gongfu technique. I liked experiencing the tea in small quantities, tasting the subtle differences of a tea’s character as I went along.

I’ve owned this tea for awhile and haven’t known what to make of it. After much experimenting and finding the “perfect” water temperature I finally “get” this tea. The description is right on when it describes the lime and basil flavors. If Thai food could be a green tea, this would be it. Its light and refreshing and the basil flavor rests on the tip of your tongue. It is quite a temperamental tea if water temperature or steeping time is off, but the payoff is worth it. As usual I’m never disappointed with Verdant tea.

Just made some of this today. It’s the last of the cold days and I wanted something really robust, and this tea is just perfect. Smokey, smooth, peppery, and savory! If Verdant ever gets this flavor back in I would buy half a pound of it and drink it all the time, but for now I am going to savor the little bit I have left.

Also thanks to Dinosara for the tea!

This is a tasting note for the early version; the one that was wild picked

Backlogging…..

I had this last month western style to finish up my sample. I brewed it just like how I would brew the second version of this.

1st Steep: Rich smoky tobacco dry roasted malt

2nd: Similar but less intense and more subdued. It also has a slight smoothness/powdery smoke mouth feel. Has smokey bitterness as well.

3rd Steep: Tastes like cocao, has a slight spice, light smoke, and some woodyness in the flavor.

4th Steep: Last steep more sweet and cocoa like. Very malty and rich.
Cooled: slightly juicy flavor added

It should also be noted that the flavor of bourbon persisted through most of the steepings.

I find it interesting that the different pickings (one wild the other farmed) created a completely different flavor. The wild one has a more manly flavor while the cultivated one is more sweet and feminine. They even look different: wild picked is darker, while the other is lighter. In hindsight I should have added a little milk to the steepings; since I think it would make it taste really chocolaty. I might get another chance though….

I have only a little left of the 2nd version of this tea, which I am saving for a special occasion. Hopefully Verdant Tea gets some more of this in, but if not I am so happy I got to try this wonderful tea. (8^D)

Specifics
Pot:Glass
Sweetener: Sometimes added a bit of light agave
Water:?
Leaf:?

Woke up with a cup of Zhu Rong and now I’m a few cups into this and it’s really helping wake me up nicely.

This is a nice, creamy, sweet and slightly smoky sheng. There are hints of spice and aromatic wood along with a slight mustiness and fruitness. My favorite part about it is the creamy texture and sweet aftertaste. This is very nice. I’m feeling ready to tackle my interview now.

Update: I GOT THE JOB!

Thank you to Bonnie for this sample.

Not a lot to say here really. It’s good. Drink it. Oh, ok, a bit more detail. Well, I’m on the tenth steep now and it is still great. The taste is a bit of vanilla and cinnamon with a cakey feel to it and there was some earthiness in the early steepings. It is developing well and I am enjoying it a lot.

Story Time: Well I have experienced food poisoning for the first time. I ate some of my left over stir fry that I think was a day or two past prime. For that night and to late after noon I was suuuuper nausea’s. Luckily I felt good enough to eat tonight, but man that was not fun. I think I am going to wait to make my stir fry again though for a while.

Tea Time: My Verdant tea order came in today. Even though I was not going to buy any more tea so i can get WHO tickets, as soon as I saw the email from Verdant Tea saying that they had sample sizes, the impulse was just to great to ignore. This one was the sample sent with it. It is funny cause I was planning on trying this one, but was going to have to wait due to money constraints. Maybe David is psychic…

The tea leaves look really interesting. I have never seen white tea look like this before; then again i don’t normally drink white tea. The smell of the leaf is light, but crisp.

I was a little nervous when I noticed that the liquor had no color when it was done brewing; but i had to remember that this is white tea of course. The liquor itself smelled crisp and a little dewy….ohhhh.

The first sip of this warm was good, but not OMG! However, I figured this would be better cooler then warmer so I let it set for a bit. I am glad I did. This tastes soooooo refreshing. Very sparkly on the tongue and taste like dew off of pine needles, and taste like how a summer rain smells. The after taste is great. It leaves this cooling dewy sensation in your mouth.

This is a highly addicting tea. I have been make a half and hour long brews from this tea. I am leaving the rest in a mug to cold brew over night to see what comes of it.

I have been intriged by the concept of pu erd white tea. I must say I think it adds a nice level of earthy fullness to white. I diffidently will be trying Verdant Tea’s other pu erd white tea and the alchemy mix with this tea.

I would recommend this tea to white tea lovers and anyone interested in trying a white pu er.

Specifics
Water: 8 oz steepings
Pot: Make shift Gaiwan
Sweetener: sometimes a couple of drops, but not really needed.

This a great shu. Possibly the best I’ve ever had. It’s so rich while still being smooth and light on the tongue. It’s pure and sweet, complete mellow earthiness that leaves a little tingle on my tongue as I’m transported to an old library or antique shop. It makes me feel like I’m going on a mental journey back in time. I envision the leaves piled up in a tea workshop in 1998, when I was only four years old. There’s just something amazing about it to me, that the tea I’m drinking right now has been waiting for me, mellowing and maturing for me for the past fourteen years. I didn’t know when I was four years old that there was an amazing tea sitting in storage in China that was destined to fill my cup and make me happy in the future. Absolutely delicious.

Drinking this lovely tea right now :D

last tea of the night for me :D very YUMMY!

I couldn’t resist making another cup :D

Just making a cup of this riiiiggghhhtttt now :D

Okay I know I oversteeped this as I thought I had grabbed the Big Red Robe to try… so I steeped for about a minute… This tastes great!

I was a little unsure about steeping this in my gaiwan, due to the smaller bits of peppermint, spearmint and fennel. And while these do kind of “make a mess” in my gaiwan (it’s usually just a pile of wet leaves after I’ve infused, but now I’ve got little wet leaves strewn all over my gaiwan), it is worth it because it tastes really good.

I’m on my fifth infusion of this tea now, and it is really quite a remarkable tea. The first infusion was probably my least favorite of the five. It was lighter and the flavors were more of an individual flavor rather than harmonizing into a cup of tea with notes of cinnamon, mint, and fennel … which is what has happened with the subsequent infusions.

I also noticed with the third and fourth infusions, an cocoa-ish note began to emerge. It tastes absolutely incredible in the midst of the spiced licorice sweetness and the cool, crisp flavor of the mint and the earthiness. It all comes together in such a magnificent way.

This one should be on everyone’s Must Try list. It is really good.

Sipdown
I have had this tea for a long time but it has still maintained so much flavour. I have been drinking this cold brewed at work. Some days I like it, some days I don’t. Hot is the way to go for sure!

Hello again my friend! This is a lovely tea. It is silky smooth and creamy. The jasmine is not overwhelming or cloying at all. This takes me back to summer and makes me think of watching a beautiful sunset while sitting out in nature.
The resteep was just as good as the first at 1.5 minutes.
I also really enjoy this tea cold and usually cold brew the 3rd steeping of the leaves.

Another sad sipdown.
I love the silky smooth mouthfeel of this tea. Sometimes, grape notes shine through and surprise me!
I will definitely order more of this in the future but for now I have lots of jasmine silver needle from Teavivre.
Sipping this tea down means that I am back down under 200 teas though so that’s good.

This cuppa today was different than any other cup of this tea that I have enjoyed. Today, grape/raisin notes were very prevalent with the jasmine very much in the background. Interesting, I enjoyed it, but was not expecting it at all.

Silky smooth jasmine with those creamy, white tea, hay notes. I am still enjoying this tea more than a year after ordering it.

Mmm…silky smooth jasmine.

1TBSP of leaf, trying it western brew today.
I have to increase the rating because this is amazing. I have discovered that jasmine is one of my favourite tea flavours, it is just so fresh and sweet. This has some creamy notes as well.

This is also delicious iced, so refreshing. And I find that it tastes distinctly different cold than hot.