Verdant Tea's New Website

Hi BTVS Gal,
Truth be told, you may want to wait until Monday. I have two blends going up after they get photographed this weekend. The first was on the old site before- Xingyang Silk Road Spice. The second is our take on the classic “Eight Treasures Tea,” but with some pretty strange things like yabao, saffron and grapefruit peel.

There will also be three new traditional teas. You can get a bit of a preview on our live tracking page: http://verdanttea.com/live-shipment-tracking/

Otherwise, the new harvest of Laoshan Black is already up for sale, and we are loving it! I think it is the best yet.
Best Wishes,
David

David,
I love being able to see the status of shipments (I think the only other place that does anything close to this is Tea Trekker, through their blog). Do you plan to keep this kind of information accessible to the public on a regular basis like this? I know I would appreciate it.
Cheers!
Joe

Oh, I just noticed that the price on the Laoshan Black went up, considerably (I think 4 OZ was $25.60, now it’s $33). Wow.

HI SimpliciTEA,
Yes, I plan to maintain the live updates tracking page. It will be especially useful for notifying everyone of new harvests, etc. I think it is fun for people to get a glimpse of the process involved in getting these teas to America. It can sometimes be quite a logistical challenge.

Thank you for your comment on the Laoshan black. I looked in to it, and it seems that in our excitement yesterday to have the tea back in stock, we input the wrong price structure. 9.95 an ounce is used on several other teas, but this one should be at 8.50. It was an unintentional change, which I have gone in and corrected. I was able to get out refunds for the difference to everyone that ordered the Laoshan Black so far. I am thankful that you helped us catch this early on. Many of our costs (especially shipping) have gone up, but I do not have plans to raise the price on this popular tea unless it is absolutely necessary.

Thanks :)

David,

Phew! I hear you on the rising costs. Still, I’m glad the price on the Laoshan Black was a mistake! I may want to purchase more of it in the future, and while the starting price of $8.50 is more than it was (I think it was $7.50?), the increase is not as dramatic (from $25.60 to $33 for 4 OZ is about a 30% increase!). That price is still high for me, but at least coupling the bulk discount with an occasional sale keeps it barely within the range of possibilities.

I am glad to hear you plan to maintain the live updates tracking page. I can believe that it can be a challenge, that’s why I wanted to let you know I do appreciate it. It can also help people when making a decision as to when to buy (as BTVSGal mentioned above).

Cheers!

Joe

So I see the new teas have been added, but not the “eight treasures tea”. Should I wait a few more weeks until most things are up?

Hi BTVSGal,
Thanks for your patience. I ended up adding all the new traditional teas, including a new Spring Tieguanyin that just went up this morning, but after a lot of tasting and thought, I decided to what on the Eight Treasure Yabao. I really loved the flavor, but I just can’t cary a tea unless I feel like it NEEDS to exist. It just wasn’t quite compelling enough as is. I will certainly keep playing around though. I usually try out a new blend every week, refining as I go. Not too many of them make the final cut.

I would definitely send you an extra sample though if you want to try it and give me your feedback. Hearing that there is interest will compel me to play around a bit more. Just send me an emial when you place your order, and I will be sure to get some of the Eight Treasures in with your teas.

Thanks David for the quick response. I will diffidently ask for sample when I put in my order.
Thanks
Jessalyn

Hi BTVSGal- You and a few other people who have been requesting Eight Treasures Yabao samples brought my attention back to this one. I have been playing around some more, and sourced some whole vanilla bean, and grapefruit peel to get this right. I think I finally have it. The Eight Treasures Yabao is up on the site now: http://verdanttea.com/teas/eight-treasures-yabao/

so the sample that you gave me is the same? Or is it a little different?

I sent you the prototype. I ended up going in a slightly different direction. I liked the first one, but it didn’t seem like all the flavors integrated into one thing. The new version has lots of whole vanilla bean (no extract) which provides a certain creaminess and floral body to integrate the Yabao and the jasmine.

Hi Teasuce,
Thank you so much for the compliments on the site, and on the videos and articles. It means a lot to me, knowing that the content is being enjoyed. You and BTVSGal asking again about the Eight Treasures has prompted me to play around with it a bit more. (See my response above to BTVSGal’s question) I would certainly send you a sample of the prototype as well if you wanted to put together an order. Just shoot me a reminder email. I will post an update on this thread if I do manage to perfect the Eight Treasures. In the mean time, I just put up the fresh Spring 2012 Tieguanyin today. It is definitely worth checking out. I have been drinking it all day!

EIght Treasures Yabao is here: http://verdanttea.com/teas/eight-treasures-yabao/

You can see my reply above, but I finally got it right. Very exciting!

Hi Dinosara,
For now I am holding off on tea wares. I really need to go back to China and pick them out personally. In the autumn I will be going to make some yixing purchases for interested buyers, and perhaps pick up more Ru wares while I am there, but currently, I have decided to put all of my resources into more and more unique small productions teas.

I do actually have two or three of the swirl-style Ru cups left if you are interested. Just send me an email.

Otherwise, if you are in China right now, you can see what is available. The Chinese characters are: 汝瓷 Pronounced Ru-tsuh, meaning Ru porcelain. It is always fun to search for the ideal piece, and gives you an excuse to wander the tea markets. Just be wary of people saying that a piece is actually a Song dynasty antique or something like that. Prices can vary a lot.

Happy travels!

I’m interested in the gaiwan that you have in your pictures on facebook with the blue blossoms on it.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.121324517884495.21557.120756301274650&type=3

I really like it and am unable to find something similar. Will you be having that one in when you decide to get more tea wares?

Thanks for the update David! I’ll take a look around the shops in China, but I may grab those extra Ru cups from you if I don’t pick up cups here.

Hi Invader Zim,
You have good taste! That was a hand painted piece of Jingdezhen hand made porcelain given to me by the owner of “One Word Tea Club,” a museum and tea culture society in Qingdao, China. I really wish that I could get more like it, but the price would be way off the charts. The pieces he currently has up are in the $500-$2000 range! He has a Taobao store that you can check out to see more of his work just for fun: http://yiyanchatang.taobao.com/

I will keep my eyes out for someone making hand-painted pieces at a reasonable price. The thicker the porcelain, the lower the cost. That one in the picture is basically transparent in the light.

I consider you very lucky that he was so kind to give you that lovely gaiwan. He has exquisite craftsmanship. The pieces are very beautiful. Unfortunately I am not willing to pay that much for one, I’d be too afraid to use it for fear of breaking it! Thank you for sharing the site.

Very understandable. I do feel lucky indeed to have these tea wares. I have to say that I did drop the lid while using that gaiwan at a tasting, so it has a crack in it now. It is sad to see tea wares break, but I also feel obligated to use them as much as possible, since while they are pieces of art, they were designed to be viewed in the context of brewing. It is the same mentality of bringing out the fine china and crystal whenever possible.

I am actually in touch with a few American potters and wood craftsmen about doing tea wares. I would love to see an American tea art movement! Perhaps by winter I will have some locally made pieces on the site…

Thanks LiberTeas,
Sorry, no Golden Fleece yet. I am working on it actively, and I think we may be able to get a bit more in. We will see if the farmers will go for it, and if Wang Yanxin has the charm to convince them. I will most certainly announce the arrival on Steepster if I am able to land a few more pounds of it. Keeping my fingers crossed…

Oops… meant fleece, not velvet.

Please email me (or PM me) when it comes in! Want!

Yes, I am loving it too!

Happy to hear it! We really wanted to have a bit of fun with this, and hopefully make people’s Friday afternoons a bit more light-hearted as a result. I foresee “guest” tea cats, or a tea cat photo contest in the near future…

They are quite amusing!

not to brag or anything but I do have the cutest cat ever…

The tea cats are awesome!

I agree that the tea cats is pretty awesome. Wish I was around mine to see/photograph her investigating my tea (but I’m a few provinces away, sadly).

More Tea Cats just posted: http://verdanttea.com/tea-cats/
You wouldn’t believe how many requests we have received for “guest star” tea cats. I think it will have to happen in the next 2-3 weeks.

Oh yay! I’m obsessed with Tea Cats now. Permanent bookmark haha!

Guest star tea cats does sound enticing …

Wow, Thank you so much! We are quite proud of it, and I am just relieved to be able to show the farmers how we are presenting their teas and have them be pleased about it. We will keep working to fine-tune and make it even better over the coming months.

Thank you so much Bonnie! In fact, Geoffrey and I designed and built the whole site in-house. Interesting that you mention left-handedness. Geoffrey is left-handed. It is pretty intriguing that you can see a left-handed influence.

I like the community emphasis you mention of your local tea shop. You are lucky to have a good business like that nearby. I am hoping a few more teahouses open in Minneapolis- I miss the teahouse community I had in China.

I’m a lefty and took years of art lessons always with comments from the teachers about how rare it was to see a left handed artist. I think they were nuts! I can see the influence though and the balance and logic to your site design. I am fortunate as you say that there is a tea shop here in Old Town and of course Boulder is only 45 minutes away with several tea houses and the festival in July. Blessed to have shops that are not chain stores! I have set them all upon your new website!