JC

The one! I found MY Puerh. This tea fooled me when I first opened the bag ‘Ooops I opened my silver needle white tea bag!’ then I smelled something different.. ‘Is this the silver needle puerh?… IT IS!’ It looks like a silver needle white tea with a slightly bitter-sweet fruity scent coming from the dry buds.

This one is my favorite because to me it captures bits of my favorite traits in different teas. Subtle in all aspects and yet complicated to the palate. I holds rock sugar sweetness that opens into a more fruity melon like sweetness, floral but never overwhelming in scent or taste, it has some of the bitterness you would expect from a good Sheng but it’s an undertone to its sweetness.

It becomes floral and has a good lasting aftertaste that is sweet, fruity and floral with a eucalyptus freshness in the back of the throat. The wet buds smell sweet and bitter with hints of citrus fruit peel. This tea doesn’t change much over course of the multiple steeps it can take but rather seems to offer a limitless supply of steeps, keeping the subtlety in its notes.

This is the kind of tea that has me smelling my cup after every steep. I’d recommend it to both Sheng lovers and newcomers alike. If you prefer ‘rougher’ notes then this might not be the one for you, but if you appreciate balanced and aged, this is your Sheng.

Loved this one. I ordered because I see ‘sweet’ and it basically calls for me in my dreams. It is a sweet Oolong and less floral than TGY but not lacking of it. As far as the ‘thicker’ feeling in the description, it wasn’t as obvious to me at first. It felt like one of those characteristics that you can notice after comparing to others rather than an apparent characteristic.

I like the sweetness of the liquid and the green of the leaves as they steep. Vivid green with barely darker greens. They have a bit of nutty smell and the after taste is similar to that of eating mango. If you like the sweeter TGY but sometimes can’t handle the floral this is the tea for you.

I bought this tea thinking of getting more chocolate notes out of an Oolong. This is a good tea that I greatly appreciate. It has the buttery sweet nuttiness of the TGY with a heavier maltier base. The chocolate is lighter than Da Hong Pao and its missing some of that smoky maltiness that identifies it.

It takes several infusions with out problem and good if you want something with chocolate roasted hints with out being over powering.

I tried this tea three times already gong fu style with different temperatures (some classify it as green, others as oolong). To me this is a green tea with a high mountain oolong look.

Just as the description says, the leaves have an unique aroma (for a green) that resembles plum blossom but a bit sweeter almost like a ripe honeydew melon.

1st Steep – Partially vegetal (like parsley), slight sweetness with floral tones that remind you of a plum blossom oolong but with a melon sweetness of a sweeter green. It leave a vegetal/floral after taste after a ‘clean’ smooth feeling. The leaves were still tightly twisted.

2nd Steep – Vegetal Sweetness and some nuttiness that fades into the melon like sweetness (This was my favorite steep) and a clean feeling that is taken by an apparent melon sweetness with that floral plum blossom aftertaste. There’s a hint of astringency at this point and the leaves are more loose but not fully opened.

3rd Steep – Plummy and floral with vegetal sweetness with nuttiness and the after taste is floral not as refreshing as previous steeps but still clean on the tongue. The leaves are fully open and looks like a green tea.

4th Steep – Smoother more balanced steep with plum blossom floral a hint of sweetness and not as vegetal. Nutty with some astringency reapearing.

You can take more steeps out of this one, I feel its a good tea but not ‘MY’ tea. I’ll continue to drink it and try to understand it better. To me it sounds better than it tastes. I made several tastings with different temperatures this one is at 170-180F, the notes for 195f were fairly similar but the astringency kept accumulating from the first steep on (that’s why I see it as a green rather than Oolong).

This a good substitute to the Chai black tea from adagio if that’s your primary vendor and you are looking for something that gives you that spiciness but doesn’t keep you awake if you are sensitive to caffeine. Not the greatest out there but still good, specially on chilly nights.

I’d recommend adding more vanilla infused Rooibos if you have some at home to have a better ‘base’ to the flavors.

I’ve had these for a while now and makes it that much better to go back to them. I feel like now they are a bit less astringent and pungent and and more sweet on the tongue than when I first got them. I love the scent they have when dry and how it emanates when steeped.

I love a well cooked white rice and this just fools my brain into believing there’s some around the corner. Takes multiple steeps and it has a tummy filling sensation. I love it before/with and after foods.

Every once in a while I come back to this Oolong just to see if I get new hints of flavor, smell or just to plain enjoy it. It is a heavier yet soothing Oolong, I love it has malty and smoky taste to it without opaquing the chocolate, fruity and sweet notes of it.

It is a VERY forgiving tea that will allow you to enjoy multiple back to back steeps or multiples through out the day and even the next one. I never do this but I happened, after being interrupted several times I went to bed and the next day I remembered the tea still in the gaiwan… upon lifting the lid the amazing smell made me crave the brew.. and it was great.

I’m going through what’s left of this tea. I can enjoy it but I don’t love it. I shames me a little bit because I love white teas and I feel like this is a good quality, I just love picking the buds with my hand and they feel like velvet buds, true to their name they have a shiny silver coat that briefly intensifies when water is added. After the water starts steeping them they get a vivid green color like a healthy vibrant green pine needle.

I’ve been cold steeping this tea lately and I love it this way. It is very hard to get to the point where it might be too strong in flavor, its very refreshing and has hints of nuttiness and sweetness. This is my ‘energy drink’ when at the gym. I won’t buy again anytime soon but it was enjoyable to try. If anyone wants to try it PM me and I’ll try to send you some.

I’ve had this Puerh stored for quite a while now. I was waiting to become ‘worthy’ of the tea, since this is an aged puerh I wanted to try several other younger of the ‘same’ type so I could learn and compare how age and good storage would affect it.

I have to say I’m glad I got it, the difference between the youger and the aged (similar quality leaf) is incredible. The tea is incredibly subtle in changes but with very apparent and distinctive flavor and fragance. You still get some of the perfumy essence that characterizes bamboo ‘packed’ puerh but is not overwhelming (young can be a bit too much).

Slight sweetness that opens way to a great ‘clean’ taste and then it becomes menthol like and incredibly refreshing, is similar to the feeling of mint fading in your mouth. Yet, despite that clean feeling in your mouth you can taste the smokiness and bamboo fragrance in your palate. I did multiple steeps and the does change with steeps but the changes are very subtle and takes several steeps to notice them, which in my book means ‘great puerh tea’.

I’d recommend it to anyone who loves puerh or wants to learn more about them, but if you are in the later then make sure you get a young one to compare.

There’s something great about going back to one of your favorites that gives it that extra pleasure. I love this black tea and would recommend it to anyone who loves chocolate/malty/sweet/fruity aromatic black teas.

I usually get 3-4 steeps from it. First cup is extremely aromatic like caramel and chocolate met in a cup and the taste doesn’t disagree/differs from the scent.

The second cup the leaves open fully giving more taste and aroma with the same steeping time. The scent is more aromatic like dark chocolate, there’s still some caramel like sweetness to it but the scent of dark chocolate takes over as well as some maltiness. The taste becomes much more apparent, not as sweet as the first cup, more malty and heavy and very pleasant.

Third and Fourth steeps. The scent has some chocolate background but the aroma is much more fruity, almost wine like comparable to that of a keemung. The taste is fruity and wine like, not as malty and just hints of chocolate, now that the chocolate taste is fading you can taste a bit of smokiness.

Expensive tea, but if you love black teas I would recommend it to have it on your stash.

A great tea… expensive company.

Dry Leaf – Light and dark tones of green with some brown stems. Amazing sweet scent that reminds me of sweet corn and buckwheat honey, and a flowery scent I cant pinpoint.

Wet leaves- Sweet corn smell raises, warm butter and honey with a flower background. As the leaves open the flowery background becomes more apparent but sweet corn nuttiness is the main character. Once the leaves have opened I get the same scents I got previously but with an added citrus character and very apparent mango. As the steeps continue the scents start to fade and mostly mango with hints of the sweetcorn remain with some green vegetable smell in the background.

The Tea – Gong fu style (with a washing of leaves). Butter and lilac seem to be the main character but seem to be only opening up for a sweet honey and nuttiness of corn. Next two steeps are very similar with variations of which specific flavor is highlighted and a slight astringency appears. Once the leaves are fully opened Honey, corn nutty flavors are in the background while a mango/citrus taste becomes apparent and lingers on after sipping a long after the astringency is there but doesn’t lessen the experience. I got the next two steeps being very similar with the last one starting to fade in sweetness and nuttiness but the aftertaste of mango/citrus will linger on. (Mango as in the after taste flavor of eating a ripe mango.)

In summary this IS a really good tea but I’m not sure I would pay the price again, I’ve had similar and better from other sources. But since I’m rating the tea and not the price. GREAT tea!

WOW, this IS different. On the description they mention flowers and orange; to me it was a 2 hour session of ‘what the hell is is!? I’ve smelled you before!’ then it came to me, a mix of Sun Dried tomatoes and Plums, weird I know but incredible. The tea itself does have a bit of resemblance to orange blood orange peel but that sun dried tomato stays with me.
A good tea, a great difference from your normal black tea, glad I decided to give it a try.

I should have ordered a LOT more of this tea. It was the first bag I opened when the package arrived and I told myself “I’ll try this one first and later…” I almost went through the bag before I moved on. The leaves smell like sugar and hints of chocolate, when steeped it inverts into chocolate scent with hints of chocolate, Tea continues to riddle me. The taste is very malty with glorious chocolate taste and hints of sugar.

This tea is the one that made me glad I got a portable brewer. Takes several steeps and its very forgiving, EVEN COLD BREWED is amazing!!!! (Gong fu style or western it rocks).

I bought the 2012 varietal as well. I like this tea but it took some adjusting from my part, it is pleasantly sweet and just a hint of malty. You can taste hints of peppercorn but there’s something else to it that I cant point out, it doesn’t bother me flavor wise, its just one of those times when you taste something you can’t name or describe… yet. I will come back to this one for sure.

I’m glad I tried this tea, and I’m glad I went back and ordered more to keep. Simply put ‘Sweet and gentle but very present Jasmine’. Usually all you can taste is the Jasmine if it is overpowering the actual tea, but I feel like this one is like a well written melody and everything goes in place, complementing each other. Once again I recommend to Jasmine lovers and those who are ‘Meh’ about it.

I just recently received this tea and its a different twist to what I’m used to in a white tea but in a good way. This tea has an extremely refreshing profile reminiscent of the Wild silver needle Yabao. It also has a notable nuttiness with hints of sweetness and a faint ‘green’ taste to it.

It it a good tea and you can tell how fresh it is by simply touching it. I will continue to come back to it to better enjoy because I think I was too surprised at its freshness like pine needles. (I love steepster, but a rating display really need to be added to this tasting note menu. I I had to retry several times to give a ‘proper’ rating).

Came as a sample in my order. I have to say that I was happy to see it and now I’m just looking at the small bag and suffering as it disappears. I had this tea Gong fu style and it does NOT disappoint. Sweet and malty almost caramel like but feels smooth and clean in the mouth. It later gives its pepperish hints into a spicy greatness that seemed apparent for the rest of the other steepings, gives that ‘sparkling’ sensation in the description.

What can I say, samplers are the gateway to 4oz orders.

My first order from Verdant tea. And it was great. I really liked this Oolong and would recommend to people who like ‘heavier’ notes. The notes specified on their page are right in tune with the tea. The most apparent to me were: Cinnamon, Chocolate, Malt; the fruity notes were more like hints to me.

I’m saving this tea for those moments that I’m fully dedicated to tasting, this is the kind of tea that makes it worthy.

This was my first experience with Yabao Silver Buds. This is a very welcomed new experience. I already knew Puerh was world by itself but I had no idea it was so broad as to deconstruct my perception of Puerh and what to expect.

When dry it has very faint scents, that reminds me almost of freshly cut pine wood in the distance. While steeping the scent is more apparent but seems a little more wood like. The tea itself is very subtle and sweet, a bit spicy but not heavy more refreshing than anything. Once again, I’m glad I tried it.

I just received this tea and I when I opened the bag I felt nothing but excitement and anticipation. I was about to have a sip of water while I held the bag looking at the leaves, when the wonderful scent hit me. Just amazing, I’ve had around 4 other white Jasmine teas and non have hypnotized me like this.

The buds are just beautiful and when I picked them they were soft, felt like picking up a bunch of cotton in my hand. While steeping the scent because more apparent and more pleasurable. The liquid was almost clear with just a bit of yellow and the scent was as if it had cloned into the liquid itself, yet the leaves felt just awakened not depleted of its smell.

I was able to do multiple steeps of the leaves with out it becoming bitter or astringent and the scent wasn’t faded at all. It has a bit of delicate spiciness to it. If seems savory but it has an apparent sweetness to it. I’d recommend it to any Jasmine lovers and if you had bad experiences with Jasmine before, this should be the one that makes up for it.

This one of those teas that if you are not REALLY into tea, you will simply not appreciate it at all. A very mellow light, yet nutty savory sweetness. The leaves have a slight nutty smell and it becomes more apparent while steeping them. The liquid is incredibly light color, almost clear. But within its subtlety hides complexity of flavors (sweetness almost like a melon but hidden behind its most apparent nuttiness a slight vegetal taste).

It is not your common silver needle with sweetness as the star but rather a tea to enjoy because of its craftsmanship and apparent purity. A must try for people for white tea lovers; a cup to avoid if you like bold tea.

I had this tea as part of the ThinkGeek’s/Adagio’s Tea Sampler… Awful. At best it was bitter, you can however save your investment and make it as iced tea. Most tea that has too much of one flavor can be ‘saved’ and then enjoyed as iced tea, perhaps because we cant taste cold things as well.

I love ripe Puerh and I love citrus fruits. I tried EVERYTHING, I’ve steeped longer time, I’ve steeped smaller times, used a lot of leaf, small amounts of leaves… EVEN talked to it. I cant make myself like it. I tried it 4-5 different times 4-6 steeps each time. I will try another ‘Pomelo’ or citrus fruit because I want to make sure it’s not a quality issue.

I have two more completely new oranges… I will be making donations.

Love white teas. This is to me the sweeter ‘Snow Bud green tea’. They have similar clean taste with a very light vegetal after taste. This one starts more sweeter like light honey. I usually do two steeps, the second is a bit more vegetal and grassy. (You can try re-steeping snow bud but to me it gets a bit astringent.)