Verdant Tea

I’ve been in the mood for more “substantial” teas… things like black teas, and teas that aren’t really fruity but rather have “richer” flavors. It’s a hard feeling to describe, but it’s typified by teas like the Bailin Gong Fu black from Teavivre and Organic Chococolate “O” from the tea spot, or perhaps nutty teas and such. I don’t want jasmine greens, I don’t want white teas, I don’t want high-altitude green oolongs, etc.

So what am I doing drinking a tieguanyin with jasmine blossoms? There’s just something about this tea that edges toward that “richer” flavor. It’s floral, yes, but also buttery and with almost caramely notes to it. Those notes are one of the reasons I love it so much since they bring more to the party than just a floral, sweet oolong. And it’s delivering on my cravings today perfectly.

I just couldn’t get this tea out of my head. Definitely one of my favorite oolong blends, if not actually my very favorite. So delish… if only I could figure out a good way to travel with oolongs!

Love this tea so much. I brewed a cup, had a few sips, and then got distracted in conversation for half an hour so it cooled down to lukewarm. It is still so delicious… it’s like drinking jasmine honey. Mmmm.

This tea is mind-bendingly good. It is almost unbelievable! I went through my first steep so quickly because I couldn’t stop drinking it, I was surprised when it was gone! Thankfully I can get lots of steeps out of this one because I am going to need them today. It gets especially delicious as it cools down to just warm, and that incredible buttery, caramely sweetness comes out. I have yet to rate a tea 100, but this one has joined the ranks of my 99s, which are the teas that I truly and utterly love. And now it’s out of stock! I am eagerly awaiting the reblending.

After my previous tea I needed something I knew would be high quality and not over-flavored. I reached for this tea from Verdant Tea’s new Alchemy line because it seemed like it would likely fit the bill. The scent of the dried leaf seems to confirm that: the first thing I smell here is an herby green oolong with delicate floral notes over the top. The tea is chocablock full with jasmine buds and small chunks of orange peel, but the rolled up Tieguanyin leaves still predominate.

This one brewed up a pale greenish yellow, and the aroma has a base of buttery green notes along with a light sweet jasmine. First sip was still a little too hot for me, but I can tell it’s going to be good. Scratch that, this is going to be one of those teas that blows me out of the water. My first impression is that of a buttery jasmine caramel if that flavor combination makes any sense at all. The natural sweetness in this tea is amazing… it’s a light, smooth sweetness like sweet cream butter. Combined with this oolong, the jasmine takes on a totally different character than I’ve ever tried before—warm, rich, sugary, almost herby—but is somehow still distinctly identifiable as jasmine. The orange rind doesn’t really make itself known in the flavor, and I have a feeling that it, like the saffron, is just lending a supporting role to the other notes. As the tea cools it just gets sweeter and sweeter, playing up that buttery sweet jasmine flavor. A++ on this tea, David… it totally rocks!

Golden Earl Reblend is up next (#26)! Super delicious. It kind of irritates me that this blend (and Gardens of Anxi, which is after this one) is archived, thus never coming back, and instead we just get tons of blends with too many ingredients (e.g., the Intelligent Nutrients blends, and tons of herbals). I see they do have an Earl Grey in their blends now, which is new I guess, but it has Wuyi Rock Oolong in the blend. Oh well, guess I will just continue to hoard this forever.

This is a note for the reblend of this tea, which I almost feel should get a different listing (especially since I’m not sure what the base tea is in the reblend? Zhu Rong?), but people have been logging the reblend here so I’ll put my note here too. I was so excited to hear that this tea got reblended. It was one of the first blends Verdant offered, back when they called their blends line “Alchemy” (I was one of the first people to try it!) and I loved it. Then it got retired, and I was sad. I was doubly sad when I cancelled my blends club just before they reblended two of my faves. But because Verdant is the best, Lily offered to sell me some of what was left of the blends. Score! I almost went crazy and bought a lot, but I remembered how long it takes me to drink up my teas and just bought 2oz of each.

This smells amazing in the dry leaf. Lots of bright bergamot and citrus, with a rich, bakery-esque base. That smell also carries over to the brewed tea as well. It is SO citrusy, almost like a lemon drop. And the base smells a bit chocolatey and a bit like toasted grains. The original blend wasn’t really chocolately at all, so that is a new addition to this blend, but one I definitely like. The Yunnan Golden Buds in the original blend gave it honey-caramel notes (according to my original tasting notes!), which are not as present here. Nevertheless, this is a blend that lives up to my fond memories of the first one. The flavor is very citrusy, with a rich dark-chocolatey base, a bit of toasted grains, and a smooth creaminess. Very nice. The inital sip is very lemony and generally citrusy, and then the bergamot kind of peeks out from the back and says “hi.” I think I could probably drop to 2tsp/12oz of water and be happy with this one (Zhu Rong is a bit more robust, and there isn’t as much “stuff” in this blend as some others).

MMmm this is SUCH a great Earl Grey. Please add it to your permanent blends, Verdant! I know it’s a bit simpler than some of your blends, but every tea company should have a straight Earl Grey, no? :D At least I have 2oz of this one, which should last me for a while.

I’ve been absent for a while but that’s because I was moving! Almost settled in now, though I need some tea storage for my new place. I’m back at work this week (for just this week, though! Then I’m off traveling again), and thus back to the majority of my tea stash. I now have central AC at home, though, so I can drink hot tea in the summer! Woah!

I’ve just about finished my sample of this tea now! There are some dregs left in the pouch, and I think I’ll just throw them into some cold-brew.

This is an Earl I really, really enjoy, and it’s on my reorder list as soon as I get more of my tea stash under control. It’s also one of those teas that I often forget how good it is until I have some of it again. I mean, I know that I love it, but it always blows me away when I have it, just like the first time. It’s that lovely golden buds tea base. Yum.

This morning is why I hate Daylight Savings Time so much. It’s always so hard for me to fall asleep Sunday night, and then the alarm feels like its going off an hour early this morning. At least when I deal with jetlag after traveling, I’m so exhausted from traveling that I fall asleep anyway.

I decided on this tea today because I haven’t had it in a while. It doesn’t really call out to me when I want a plain Earl Grey, but it is incredibly delicious. I think it seems more citrusy to me because the tea is such a bright orange color when steeped. I think I forgot how good this one was! What a great pairing of base and flavor. Golden yunnans do seem to be some of my favorite blacks, and every time I drink a tea like this I appreciate more and more flavored teas with very high quality bases.

Definitely love this one. I think the golden buds base is just a fantastic match for the citrusy bergamot. Lately I feel like I’ve been running up against black tea bases for flavored teas that are at best uninteresting and at worst taste bad. I would love it if more tea bases were like this one!

Back to the daily grind! I have fully recovered from my illness that took me out all last week. That, combined with my extended trip, makes getting back into the old routines kind of weird feeling. But my morning tea at work is one of those routines, so I’m easing back in with something familiar and yet new… this Earl Grey from Verdant Tea’s new Alchemy Blended line. I finally got around to ordering from Verdant Tea, which I had been meaning to do for a while, and I was excited to see their new line of flavored teas, which David kindly gave me a free sample of two of them (and I ordered an ounce of another!). Looks like I’ll be the first to rate any of them on Steepster.

The dry leaf on this is composed of very high quality looking Yunnan Golden Buds along with a smattering of orange rind and a few shards of lemongrass, but the black tea is by far the main component here. It smells very citrusy-bergamotty in an utterly delicious way. I steeped it for 3 minutes this time since I do that with all blacks the first time around, and the liquor is a dark reddish-amber. The golden buds have definitely come out in the aroma now… the tea has a rich, honeyed aroma, slighly caramely, like some of the other “golden” teas I’ve tried, with a bright slightly citrusy earl grey note that is really secondary to the tea, but still present.

In the taste, first I get a bright bergamot note that opens up into a honey-caramel golden bud tea taste, and it all finishes with an aftertaste that combines the two nicely. The bergamot is bright and bordering on astringency, not very tempered by the orange and lemongrass, though I think they do make it a decidedly citrusy bergamot as opposed to a floral one. It’s bold without being strong, if that makes any sense, because it doesn’t overwhelm the golden buds, but it also is no shrinking violet in the flavor. I’m really digging this Earl Grey blend, which is pretty different from other Earl’s I’ve tried before, mostly because I don’t think I’ve seen an EG made exclusively from golden buds! Definitely a winner, and one I think I will likely have to keep around!

My first taste of a Sheng. I steeped 1/2 tablespoon leaves in 4 oz water, and each steep was 205F and for 3 min.

I took Spoonvonstup’s recommendation to start trying some teas in smaller steeping volumes with this one.

These almost whole, brown-black leaves with some iridescent, green-black leaves, twigs, and a few yellow buds are loosely pressed and come apart easily. The dry leaves smell of dried hay, strongly sweet, and a faint bit like leather. I also smell dried apricots.

1st steeping. The leaves unfurled and became greener with re-hydration. The liquor is a an orange-tan and transparent. Aroma is earthy, smoky, cedar. The first taste is delicate and smoky, smooth and some faint powdery bitterness, but very faint. As the cup cooled and I got to the bottom, I got some stronger bitterness and sweetness, giving over to bitter and leathery/barnyard at the end of each sip. Lingering sweet aftertaste.

2nd steep. This has a decidedly smokier aroma than last cup, then hay aroma; the color is the same. Smokey and sweet flavors at the start of the sip, with bitter strongest. There are aromatic floral flavors here. A sharper bitter comes in only at the end of the sip, and astringency is now here at the end of the sip, too, that was totally absent in the last cup. The powdery feeling is gone. The sweet aftertaste has a twinge of dried fruit — current? — then goes floral.

3rd steep. I smell hay and leather aromas over the cup. The steeps are getting more orange in color. This is smooth, without a hint of bitterness and without much astringency. It is still sweet. What are the flavors here? I get more feelings than flavors. Some part of what made up the leathery flavors is still here, and there is some sweet, lip-smacking velvety feel. There is a cooling feeling in my mouth. Oops, I ran out of this steep trying to get the flavors down. The aftertaste is strongly sweet and floral.

4th steep. This is light red-orange in color. The leathery aroma is almost gone. This has some vegetal, bean pod flavor. The cooling sensation is stronger. The sweet aftertaste is strong. The floral notes, smoke, and cedar all seem to be gone, but the strong, sweet aftertaste remains.

I enjoyed this quite a bit. I’m not sure sheng is my thing if this one is a particularly smooth and tasty one, but I did have a lot of fun and enjoy tasting it.

It has been a while since I’ve had time to sit and enjoy a cup of tea. Thank goodness for a busy Saturday agenda. We’re participating in a charity walk for juvenile diabetes today. I decided enough was enough and I put an end to my tea hiatus.

Thankfully.

This tea is such a lovely reminder of how much I need it. The tea in the package smells fresh and almost grasslike, which surprised me for a black. I decided to go with a lower temperature for steeping and treated it more like an oolong. The result is a delicious cup of tea. The black is malty, most certainly, and almost tastes of roasted pumpkin seeds. It’s slightly vegetal, but surprisingly full of flavor. The tea is smooth, without any astringency or bitterness. This is the perfect cup of tea for those who dislike the bite that many black teas bring with them. I daresay that this will find a way into my permanent stash.

Yum! This is so exciting for me because the little yixing clay teapot that I’ve been patiently seasoning specifically for Da Hong Pao is at long last giving back to the flavor of this tea. Gosh, I think it took six or seven extended brewing sessions for the pot to stop gobbling up so much of the flavor (greedy little teapot!). But my, oh my, this time the tea is just delectable, fascinating, deep and rich… And I’m only on the first steeping after the rinse! I’ve been holding off on writing a tasting note for this Big Red Robe because I knew I wasn’t really receiving it’s fullness until now. Hold on… [leaves to brew more].

Yes! Second steeping is soooo good. Oh, this tea is just getting started. Beneath the lovely light roast of this infusion I am surprised and wonderfully pleased to find an unmistakable fruit note that calls to mind luscious dark cherries. I love it! Aftertaste is rich and scintillating, a cooling waterfall mist floating in my mouth. And I can feel the tea generating a warmth further down, resting in the region of my heart, which is a fascinating contrast.

I imagine I probably would’ve been quite impressed with this tea earlier if I had started brewing it in my gaiwan, but I was really endeavoring to not get distracted from the task of feeding my teapot. I’m so delighted now that my little clay teapot is satiated, happy and generously sharing the bounty of this tea with me. I’m looking forward to many years of brewing Big Red Robe with this teapot.

I’m quite impressed by this tea, and I can see why it captured David’s attention. I’ll be very happy to make this my regular Big Red Robe. I have designs on a different Qilan Big Red Robe that I had the chance to try recently for brewing on special occasions. That one is in another category, and far more expensive, but it set my current benchmark for the best Da Hong Pao I’ve had the opportunity to taste. I’d consider this one the second best I’ve tried, and I think the quality to cost ratio of Verdant’s Big Red Robe presents a very high value offering.

Super good! And now I’m off to brew some more. . . .

I am not a big green tea lover. At all. I actually have a bit of a dislike for it, but I tried this First Picking Spring Laoshan Green once again a few days ago. I had been drinking it in the spring and early summer but had ignored it for a while simply because my preferences of drinking pu’er and oolong was setting in once again.

So I pulled this out and made it in a porcelain gaiwan. From memory, I thought that I could get away with steeping this one a little hotter than usual…I tried 200 degrees and had absolutely no problem with about a dozen steepings. This tea could have easily lasted for quite a bit longer than that, but for me a dozen steepings is enough with green tea. One of the most incredible qualities of this tea lies in its cooling, almost fresh spearmint like mouthfeel which builds up as time goes on. I think that in simply trying and comparing this one to other great Chinese green teas, it is obvious that it is coming from a much different climate. It is not as hearty or grassy as many greens, and is going to have much more of a delicate personality. This is not a weak tea however, it simply insists upon being sweet and candylike rather than just “grassy”. In that respect, it is one of the best green teas I have ever tried! It has so much to say, and is worthy of being a part of a regular rotation of teas, even for those of us who tend to steer clear of greens in the first place.

This was such a yummy surprise when we received this as a sample. It’s a green tea picked in the summer time, and usually all that tea is good for is making tea oil products! Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating, but still- you almost never find a Chinese green tea that will admit to being a summer tea, let alone find one that’s drinkable and interesting.

This is nothing like that. This is a really really delicious, solid green tea. When I think of this one and how it’s different from other Verdant Laoshan greens, the word buttery comes to mind. I know it was so buttery on my first sips that I actually exclaimed, “Buttery!” In fact, it’s almost the tiniest bit salty, the way great chocolate chip cookie dough batter should be.
It is warm and full, vibrant and verdant, and not bitter or stony to me at all. I steep this in a gaiwan, and it gives for as long as I want to steep it. I’ve enjoyed waking up to this green tea.

In fact, I think this tea is a even closer to my ideal Laoshan green. It’s hearty and beany and super warm, but I don’t think I’d call it robust. That word seems more appropriate for something that leans towards bitterness and astringency, and this one does not at all. It’s smooth and thick, and fills the mouth with one complete taste. It feels more humble, but in a way that’s more powerful. It is not simple, but it knows exactly what it is and will not tease you with games of hide and seek.

For me, this is a green-tea-drinker’s green. It’s what I’m really looking for in green tea, and it is so inexpensive that I can stock up on lots of this to use for playing in fun blending experiments and what have you.

I wish I’d taken better notes on this tea, but I didn’t: I just drank it. I think that’s fine. This is a tea you could think about as much as you want, but you could also just sit and enjoy in a relaxed way. It’s like that girl or boy next door.. you’re best friend. You know someone’s going to fall head over heels for them someday, and you can appreciate that right along side your own experience of them: relaxed, easy going, free of complications that are tangly and unpleasant, full of those quirks that makes them someone you’re happy to spend your free time with.

whoops.. going on a tangent.

whoops.. going on a tangent.In conclusion: a super solid, really yummy tea. I don’t really want to ask anything more of it. My ideal Lao Shan Green. I haven’t had this actually for a week, but now I’m really craving it. Perhaps after dinner..

A few months ago I started putting in 4-5 teaspoons in my 4 oz. gaiwan as Verdant recommended (as opposed to 2 teaspoons in the past), and the difference is massive.

The chocolate, dark fruity notes are still there, but this tea is definitely an experience in texture. The tongue feels a vibrating sensation, and that feeling of the brassy bell, noted on Verdant’s site, on the tongue is hard to miss.

The mineral flavor/aftertaste is also more apparent than my previous steeping methods. This tea is a delight and will be something I come back to in the future.

I’ve been able to measure I’ll get 10 strong, flavorful cups (5 regular, 8 oz. cups) of tea before the taste and aftertaste start dying down, forcing me to significantly adjust the steep time.

So I have been drinking this stuff gong-fu style, and it is even better!!

I put 2 tsp. into my 4 oz. gaiwan (so it may not be true gong-fu, but it still worked well), and I managed to get six infusions out of it!! Of course, this makes for three regular cups of tea (at 8 oz. of water). My steepings were as follows…

Rinse, :40, 1:00, 1:30, 2:00, 2:45, 4:00

A lot of the flavors came out more, like the mineral rockiness and the complex sweetness. I got more of that orangey-sweetness in later steepings shown in the description. Also, I got a strong, delicious aftertaste each cup. It was a full, lingering mineral-roasty taste that kept me warm during the cold weather hitting north FL.

I bumped my score up to 90!

I received this tea as a free sample with my order, since the team over at Verdant Tea is so awesome.

If I had to describe this tea in one word: complex. When I first sipped the tea, I tasted a chilly, autumn evening from the view of my parents’ porch in the mountains of North Carolina. Was I actually there? No! But that was the experience this tea gave me as I sipped it up in my small apartment in Gainesville, FL. Quite remarkable.

On to the specific flavors, the first thing I noticed was the mineral taste. It had a good bit of astringency, but given its complexity the astringency was well-balanced. I also tasted a dark sweetness, like maybe a dark chocolate-covered orange or something. There was definitely a subtle woodsy-fruitiness as well, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I think I’ll need to order some more of this stuff to figure it out ;)

I brewed this Big Red Robe Western-style in my IngenuiTEA, so I used 2 tsp. / 8 oz. water. The tea yielded three strong cups, then it pretty much lost all flavor. This is about what I expected, so it’s definitely worth the price. Although I’m sure one could get another cup or two with more leaf or less water.

One thing did surprise me – it had absolutely no vegetal aftertaste that I find in so many oolongs (especially in the other Wuyi I’ve had before). You know how it’s often normal for oolongs to coat the inside of your mouth? I barely noticed that with this tea. It’s not a bad thing at all, I was just surprised by it.

Given the price of Da Hong Pao on most other websites, it seems like the quality and price from Verdant is a great deal. I’ve never had Big Red Robe before, but Verdant’s blend makes me want to come back for more!

1.5 tsp of leaves in 12 oz steeping mug.

The dry leaves have a strong malty smell and some smaller chocolate smell.

I made two steepings of these leaves.

1st: 205F, 4 min. The liquor is a clear, light brown-red. The aroma over the cup is like the dry leaves. The taste is surprisingly smooth, without astringency, with light to medium body for a black tea. There is a deep malty flavor and some soft bitter tastes. There is a tongue-tickling sweetness that I like, too. Some light astringency comes out with swishing this tea around my mouth with some air. I have no desire to add milk or sweetener.

After this cup, I went out to get the mail. As I was opening the mail box, I was hit by a strong, sweet aftertaste like after eating cookies.

2nd: 205F, 5 min. After tasting this company’s “First Picking Spring Laoshan Northern Green,” I expected some steamed edamame flavors from this tea. They appeared in this second steeping. All aromas and flavors noted above are here, but muted. However, this is definitely not just a cup of hot water. There is still no astringency, but I note a stronger bitter flavor. This cup is also quite smooth. The malty and chocolate flavors are smaller. A sweet flavor and a vegetal bean pod aroma are more noticeable. A sweet and beany aftertaste remained through a short walk to see the nice sunset after dinner.

This was THE tea that led that taught me there is more to tea than tea bags of earl grey. I absolutely LOVE this tea. Never knew that tea could be so simple yet complex. Each steeping is better than the last. It’s very refreshing iced as well.

Still steeping this Pu-erh. I actually took a short break from it while eating dinner, and now I have returned to it with my final two infusions (infusions five and six). I know that these leaves could easily submit at least two more, and as delightful as this Pu-erh has been, I think I am ready to move on.

The fifth and six infusions are even sweeter than the first four. Sweeter, lighter on the floral notes (but they are still present), and the vegetative note has mellowed to a very smooth tasting steamed vegetable taste. There is less buttery feel and taste, although it is still uncommonly smooth. I think it is even more smooth now than at the start of the journey with this tea.

A truly remarkable Pu-erh, this Artisan Revival. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys tea!

I’m on my fourth infusion of this Pu-erh now. The first couple infusions were rather delicate, much more so than I would have expected from a Pu-erh, but then again, this is no ordinary Pu-erh. This has to be the best one I’ve tried. It seems like I say that every time I try a new Pu-erh… perhaps my palate has really developed a taste for them now.

The third and fourth infusions, I noticed more of a grassy tone come through. The flower notes of the first two infusions are still there, but, they are obscured somewhat by the grassy tones. But that’s quite alright, I still have a sweet honey-like taste that comes through and I’m really enjoying that.

More infusions to follow… looking forward to the flavors they will bring.

If you think you don’t like Pu-erh… I highly recommend this one. This one could just change your mind! This is excellent.