Verdant Tea

Whenever I see the word Mulberry I think of the Dr. Suess story, “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street”. Perhaps the town is known for its Mulberry festivals. They take the leaves and dry them, releasing a wonderful slightly sweet scent into the air. It is reminiscent of other berries but the townsfolk this sweet smell can only belong to their mulberries. Of course, they juice the berries and make a wonderful variety of pies, ales, cookies, etc but the thing that really gets them excited is the tisane. (Oh my gosh don’t get me started with tisane, herbal tea, herbal infusion AHHH). The main flavor is roasty that dances with mulberry notes. The wet aroma is unique, somewhat sweet but also a mishmash of flavors. And a very smooth mouthfeel.

I decided on this one to fulfill the final October sipdown prompt – a vegetal tea. Just in time!
But in choosing it, I remembered my matcha and got a hankering for that, too, so I will probably have both, but this one is a sipdown!

Because I had an awkward amount of leaf, I slightly overleafed and found it initially a little more astringent than I wanted. A tiny bit more water fixed that, and then pairing it with my lunch made it really good. A bit of briskness makes some teas stand out enough to be noticed with food, whereas a milder tea might quail at combination and almost disappear, not much more than a cup of hot water,.

Today my cool weather crop plants are finally big enough to harvest enough greens for a vegetarian Chinese dumpling soup and it was perfect with the tea. The dumplings have toasted brown rice (among other things) in them which tastes really nutty and that seemed to amplify the nutty aspect of the tea. Or was the tea amplifying the nuttiness of the dumplings?

Post-prandial cup number two is just as strong as cup one, if not stronger. Green beans, not cooked Southern style in a pot of water with side meat but made in a skillet with sesame seeds and Asian sauces and allowed to get dark, crisp areas combined with a lemony tartness and a nutty follow up.

The description says this tea has a sweet sticky rice aroma, and this really does taste and smell like rice! I’ve been on a rice pudding kick lately, so this I’m really enjoying this. Started with a 10-second rinse followed by a 1-minute steep.

I found this in the TTB, and the bag says it’s an herbal, so I was a little intrigued. To be honest, the flavor is a little bland for me. It’s sort of like very weak black tea, but with a bit more of a plantlike flavor. I mixed most of my cup of this with another tea I was drinking that I had accidentally oversweetened, so this was handy, but not great. I prefer really hearty black teas though.

2021 Harvest.

The dry leaves are akin to leaning down to tease your nostrils with that particular, rather picturesque rose you happened to notice out on your walk today. The unnecessary exposition felt justified; these leaves are just that fragrant. I’ve been delaying on my brewing to keep huffing them, admittedly.

Four steeps at 195 F. 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 15 seconds, and 20 seconds.

Rinsing the leaves brushed the scent of roses aside for something herbaceous and fruity with a zing of zest. Normally, I would have been disappointed and yearning for the roses, but this new scent is quite pleasant and hoppy. The soup’s smell is similar, albeit muted and with more of a focus on the fruitiness.

Steep number one does not disappoint. Notes of rose and lychee. Light on flavor but very cleansing on the palate, similar to a ginger leaf. Overall mouthfeel was juicy, faintly coating on the tongue, ending with a touch of mineral water. Not bad at all!

Steeps two, three, and four were almost indistinguishable from each other, and I don’t consider that to be a negative trait. This tea does not lose its steam across multiple steeps. Only the florals faded for me over subsequent brews, but the fruit-forwardness of this soup’s flavor was already quite desperate to be the star of the show. Heavy notes of lychee and zest with a hint of cream.

This is a great tea that I’d recommend to any tea lover, especially one that hasn’t dipped their tongue into fruity teas. I’m not usually a big fan of fruit-forward teas, but this one is fruity without tasting too … organic? It’s hard to assign words here, unfortunately. If you’re not a fan of fruity teas but really want to give one another shot, this is certainly a leaf to consider.

A 5 year old sample that I finally broke out last week. The slew of bad reviews had discouraged me from this tea and it ended up being banished to the back of my cupboard.

I was initially going to use it in oolong milk tea thinking it was a heavy roast. Turns out that wasn’t the case. In fact, it smelled lightly floral and had notes of pine and juniper berries. The taste was pleasantly woodsy with a hint of spice. Good but basic dark oolong flavor. I don’t know if the tea aged at all sitting in my cupboard for all these years, but it certainly didn’t go stale. An unremarkable yet serviceable tea.

2021 Harvest. 4 steeps at 208 F. 6 seconds, 8 seconds, 15 seconds, and 25 seconds.

Brisk, strong, and somewhat clever, this is a tea that presents itself as a hike amidst evergreens but encourages you to stop and take in the sights.

The scent of the dry leaves was reminiscent of sandalwood, and my initial rinse married this to a nice gladelike earthiness. Steeps one and two offered me powerful cups of pine needles and minerality, but I was left believing that’s all it had to offer; this is where I was wrong and why I referred to this tea as clever.

The expression “stop and smell the roses” applies here quite heavily, or at least it did to me. I wasn’t bothered by how forward this tea seemed to be with its pine flavoring, quite the opposite, really, but after the first two steeps and halfway through my first sip of the third, I realized I’d been enjoying the flavor so much that I’d gotten carried away. I stopped myself from gulping down that first sip and allowed it to linger on my tongue, and as if to say, “Well done,” these leaves greeted my palate with an unmistakable hint of rose.

Subsequent sips had me focusing a lot more on those rosy notes that only really seemed to come alive when I took my time to savor this tea, and what started with an outdoorsy briskness really rounded off into an almost thirst-quenching freshness of spring water with a zing of white grapes. Zesty, even. Holding back a smile would have been difficult at that point, so I didn’t try.

These are leaves that don’t chide you for being overly eager, but they do reward you for exercising patience and care. I would absolutely recommend this tea to someone looking to celebrate the subtleties that can emerge from slowing down and taking the time to really enjoy something.

Dry leaves smelled of plum, cocoa, honey, and the faintest hint of licorice.

For brewing parameters, I copied another Steepster’s gongfu method at 208F with a rinse and subsequent steeps at 6 seconds, 10 seconds, 16 seconds, and 20 seconds, for a total of 4 steeps.

The initial rinse had the smell of fresh pancakes drizzled with maple syrup wafting through my kitchen, and admittedly, I was slightly taken aback. While it was a lovely, if not nostalgic aroma, I worried for my tongue and its sensitivity to sweetness, but I’d end up being pleasantly surprised soon after.

If you are a fan of maple syrup and honey, this tea is a must-try. The first steep met me with a wave of dark honey and plum, along with that same aroma of maple syrup filling my nose with every sip. The aftertaste mimicked the aforementioned scent and left my mouth feeling coated, almost sticky. Suffice to say, this is a very syrupy tea, and those with a fondness for that particular viscosity will not find themselves disappointed. I’d go as far as to say the mouthfeel is the star attraction of this tea. Personally, I’m neutral on syrupy bodies, but I definitely found it enjoyable with the notes associated with this tea.

Further steeps didn’t offer much of a difference in body or taste, save for an expected lightening on the overall boldness of the tea that eventually gave way to a light but appreciated note of something vaguely floral and allowed me to taste some hints of cocoa that had been held back by the honey and maple a bit more clearly. The lack of change and complexity isn’t something I see as a negative, rather, I think it cements these leaves as being a great potential daily driver for those seeking a viscous, syrupy tea.

Overall, I’d recommend this tea and will enjoy finishing my remaining 20 grams, even if it isn’t quite my preferred cup.

Another TTB tea. I drank this warm, and it was pretty pleasant. It was a mix of fruitiness and earthiness. It’s a pretty simple tea, but I enjoyed my cup of it, as well as the resteep. It almost reminded me of roasted onions, but in a good way. It was pleasantly savory.

Sipdown

Making up for the fact that I have already ordered a replacement for the Carrot Cake Cupcake rooibos we emptied tonight, I am pushing a few sipdowns through.

This is not at all like drinking a decaf black tea which was what I was hoping for, but it was very much like having an interesting decaf white tea that we could drink with evening Asian food. I would consider reordering someday.

I have missed late gong fu sessions since caffeine started keeping me up at night, so I bought two of the crassicolumna teas from Verdant to see if they would substitute.

This will fulfill my August prompt for a tea I have never tried before!

This steeped up so pale – I was not expecting that. I thought it would get darker with subsequent steeps but it didn’t.

Ashman and I both enjoyed it, even though I didn’t find it very complex. The most memorable thing about it to me was that it had a very creamy mouthfeel, especially at the end of the sip and building throughout the session.

I think next time around I will use more leaf and see if any complexity becomes apparent. Otherwise, it was an enjoyable and relaxing session and I am not sorry I bought it.

Really enjoyed this one from the TTB. I’m very entertained by how the dry leaf looks like small brown pea pods, so it’s off to a strong start before brewing even begins. Going by the instructions, the first steep comes out a little weak, but subsequent steeps are deliciously malty and sweet potato-y. It gave me throwback vibes to a yabao snickerdoodle I had from Verdant years ago, though looking at the steepster page now it doesn’t look like I ever made a note and the notes others have left don’t quite line up with that sense memory. So maybe it’s more of a general impression than a specific flavor profile? I’ll have to dig around and see if I have any left to do a comparison.

Rou Gui Spring 2021
Oh, for heavens sakes. Why have I not yet reviewed this tea? I’ve definitely been drinking it and it is definitely amazing. Right from the moment you open the package you know you are in for a treat. Heck, even just reading the name of the tea excites me. It is a succulent scent. It will remind you of ripe fruits, muscatel, minerals, and a dry earthy sensation that reminds you of driftwood in the desert. The flavor will have you twisting in a soiree of nuances. Wet rocks, granite, slight floral notes, and meandering hints of fall leaves. The wet aroma is a circus. Buttered popcorn with slightly smoky notes.

Another from the TTB, and my impressions of this one are kind of all over the place. Broadly speaking, I found it sweet and enjoyable. But it was also confusing, because through all three steeps I made it reminded me more than anything else of a cocoa tea, and then I couldn’t not taste the chocolate notes – even though that isn’t remotely what this is “supposed” to taste like. Super weird!

NOTE: It is currently 2022 and this tea is from 2016. I’ve had Mrs. Li’s Dragonwell before and I know it is good but because this has been sitting for a while in my Aunt’s cupboard… Still a few trichomes on the package and the leaf is still nice and flat with barely any broken leaves but the aroma is flat. Seems like a clean cupboard. The color is sad. A light brown/olive green pale… kinda. There are some really weird sweet notes in the initial steep. Slight caramel, burnt sugar. The taste is… weir. It is not a dragonwell. At. All. Slight varnish. Slight…. burnt something. Maybe woodsy. Almost tastes like it went through another baking process. But the baking process didn’t really do it justice.

A relatively okay JJM! I got the 2021 harvest of this tea from my recent Verdant order, and this tea had a nice and deep aroma, and also packed a semi-potent cha-qi. It lacked in flavour depth and texture, as well as finish and aftertaste. I think I may have forgotten to clean my kettle though, as the liquor felt like I was drinking hard water, even though I remember using my filtered water. Not including the water situation into the review of this tea, I think the tea is a edging the okayish decent and mediocre range.

A crisp and delicate green! I got the Spring 2022 version from my recent Verdant tea order, and for this price range, this tea will knock most other Longjings out of the park. Strong aroma, vibrant liquor, with an exceptional longevity, this tea is pretty decent. It also surprisingly had a nice chaqi and decent texture too! The downsides of this tea however is that its flavour is just missing something, a little body, or complexity. I wished it offered more in the taste as well as the finish, which is why I am not giving the tea an 80+. Still, a tea I can recommend for such a good price!

Tea two of four from my aunt’s cupboard. The leaves are more akin to a pu erh. Slightly dusty appearance. Not green at all, a mix of browns. Twisted and longleaf. Smells like a cupboard. The initial aroma after pouring in the water is a mix of honey, smoke, …burnt hair from a hairdryer. The leaf looks less brown and more of a putrid green as it steeps… It tastes.. wtf … Coffee? Or dark black chocolate. Bits of compost and wet tree bark. This is all sorts of crazy up-in-my-face vegetal jumbo.

My aunt doesn’t drink tea much. She’ll drink tisanes but she thinks caffeine may be affecting her sleep so she is cutting it out. However, I don’t think she realized that the tea people have been giving her, including myself, has a drink by date. And thus I have learned my lesson in making sure to instruct people when to drink stuff from now on. I opened the package and was met with greyish green tea. It should be a pine green. Despite the appearance, I decided to steep a cup. Surprisingly it still has life. You can still taste the vegetal hints along with the bits of grassiness. It’s quite a bit perkier than I figured it would be but you can still tell it’s not what it should be when fresher. The wet aroma is also a surprise. Vegetal and corn notes with roasted veggies. What a suprise.

An okay tea. I got the 2022 harvest of this tea with my Verdant order, and while it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t anything special either. It had a weak taste and a thin texture, but it was redeemed with a nice finish and really strong and complex aroma.

Not the most exciting tea. I got this tea from my Verdant order. It is mediocre at best. One-dimensional flavour profile with a weak finish and aftertaste, but generally a nice texture and aroma.