Re-imagining Verdant's Alchemy Line

Dear Steepster Friends,
We launched our Alchemy line of teas as a thought experiment in providing unique perspectives on our traditional tea line-up. Each blend was carefully formulated with the goal of accenting the natural flavors of the base teas through providing a counter-compliment. Sometimes we don’t notice something about a favorite tea until we take it out of its usual context. That is what Alchemy is all about.

In this spirit, and as a part of our usual standards of curation, we are re-imagining the entire line of tea and launching our new vison for Alchemy on Friday the 15th of June by 3:00PM CST. Almost every blend currently available will be discontinued at that point, with the exception of the Chocolate Chamomile Curiosity Brew, the Eight Treasures Yabao, and the Holy Basil Spa Blend.

Why stop a good thing? We believe in seasonality, and in constantly providing new and interesting experiences that push the boundaries of what tea can be. Our line-up of traditional teas has changed significantly since the Alchemy blends were introduced, and we want to launch a line of blends that responds to the teas we have today. The future of the Alchemy line will be as a seasonal offering of blends that fit both the teas available and the general feeling of the season. Our summer line up emphasizes more refreshing and cooling blends that are durable as both iced and hot tea. Come winter, we will be replacing the summer offerings with more comforting deep and rich blends.

We will initially be limiting the selection to eight blends. I can’t resist sharing a few sneak peaks. There will be a Laoshan Black Earl Grey with bergamot infused grapefruit, orange peel, and rose petals for example. Another fun one just perfected this morning is a coriander-cardamom green tea blend with mint and holy basil inspired by the feeling of Bedouin mint tea.

In any case, this will be a work in progress as we refine the offerings and I am starting a thread both to let you know that today is the last day to pick up our old Alchemy favorites, and to invite discussion on what blending should be, and what dream blends you wish existed.

Thanks for the feedback!
Best Wishes,
David

34 Replies
Kittenna said

This sounds fun! I regret not having had the chance to try all the other blends, but I guess I’ll just have to swap for them :)

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Azzrian said

I missed a couple as well but this keeps it interesting!! Hey thats what trades are for anyway right? :)

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I shall miss the Lavender Earl Green. I’m glad to see Eight Treasures Yabao is staying. The new green tea blend sounds really interesting, one I definitely will have to try!

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Lindsay said

I am also very sad to see the Lavender Earl Green go. There is a 2oz bag of it in the mail for me at the moment, but now I’ll have to hoard it!

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momo said

When I saw the title I was like “no don’t let Eight Treasures Yabao go!!” Glad to see it stays, and can’t wait to see the new ones! (My wallet can wait though.) Now to think about what too would be good…

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Dinosara said

Nooo, not the Golden Earl and Gardens of Anxi! Although looking at your Alchemy page I’m realizing I don’t know when the Golden Earl actually disappeared. Guess I should have ordered some back when I first finished up my initial ounce. What will you do with your leftovers tomorrow (for instance I notice you have the option of a pound of Gardens of Anxi available, but I don’t know if you’ll sell that out today)? If only I had consistant access to a freezer in the next two months.

I am very excited for the new Earl offering, though. Actually I’m really excited to see anything you come up with!

Hi Dinosara,
The Golden Earl had to get pulled when we ran out of the Yunnan Golden Buds. The blend just wouldn’t be quite right with a different black tea.

As for leftovers, we actually blend to order. It is a lot of work, but I just can’t bring myself to take a green tea or green oolong out of its vacuum sealed original 250 bags from the farm and blend it in a big batch, because I wouldn’t want such fresh tea to lose flavor if it sat for more than a week. Blending to order lets me control the quality and freshness more carefully. As a result, we won’t have any leftovers in particular after the teas are discontinued.

You mentioning the Gardens of Anxi reminds me that we don’t have any blends planned for the Tieguanyin yet. I will have to consider the possibilities. I have been looking into acquiring some lotus flower which might make for an interesting pairing with Tieguanyin. We shall see.

Dinosara said

Ok, cool, I was thinking that might be the case after I wrote that. Can’t wait to see the new blends!

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Babble said

That’s a bummer since I’m just learning about Verdant Teas recently. Is it possible you might still offer these blends in the near future per request? Since you can blend them on the spot..

No worries- we are always happy to accomodate special requests, provided we have the necessary ingredients. Just send a an email and I will be happy to do what I can. Actually, several of the new Alchemy teas going up today are the result of special blending requests.

Also, these new teas are going to be really fun in themselves. Our goal isn’t to end a good thing but to breathe more life into it by making it dynamic.

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Babble said

Oh, and what’s going to happen to your alchemy sample set? I noticed a few of the teas mentioned are no longer on the site anyway..

The sample kit will very likely be revised to include teas from the new offerings. I hope to have time to do this today after the new teas go up.

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Update: The new Alchemy Line is live! We had so much fun photographing these gorgeous teas today, and of course doing all the final ‘field testing.’

Today is a big day for us- we also put up a new video on brewing tea gongfu style without all the fancy equipment. In honor of the new Alchemy Teas, and our push to get people to try doing short small steepings,we have a special deal from today until the end of June:

We are giving away brew baskets with every order with over $50 worth of Alchemy tea. These are the $12 Finum baskets that give the tea lots of room to expand, and if you have seen our brewing videos, you know we recommend them as an improvised gongfu brewing tool.

Simply Enter: alchemybrew at checkout when you have 50+ worth of Alchemy tea in your cart, and you will get a brew basket from us to encourage more playful tea making. Have fun! I look forward to getting feedback on the new formulations.
http://verdanttea.com/shop/blends/

Dinosara said

You mentioned that these blends would be around until the fall, when you’ll be doing new fall blends. Do you have a certain time that you’re aiming for with that? I ask because I am going to be out of the country until about September but I do really want to try the Laoshan Black EG, so I am wondering whether I should go ahead and order some or if I can hold off until I return. Thanks!

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darby select said

Hey David – when will you have your next tasting in MN?
THX!
Jodi

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