Kittenna

See my other two Verdant green oolong notes; it’s comparison time! This post is for the second 2012 spring harvest. I’m brewing them each up identically, using 1.5 tsp of leaf in 125mL water, with the leaves allowed to roam free in the cup before being strained out.

First infusion (208F/30s):
Also similar to the autumn harvest with a buttery, green, and floral flavour/aroma. Perhaps the “greenest” of the three.

Second infusion (208F/30s):
This time this harvest falls between the autumn and spring first picking in terms of flavour. It actually is probably my favourite of the three. I’m getting a bit of a citrusy aftertaste in this one… kind of orangey/lemony. Can’t blame that on food, since I’ve had nothing of the sort in the past few hours, and didn’t taste this with the other two. Oh – that’s a lie. I’m getting it with the first spring harvest two, whereas the aftertaste is more of a sweet caramel with the autumn harvest.

See my other two Verdant green oolong notes; it’s comparison time! This post is for the first 2012 spring harvest. I’m brewing them each up identically, using 1.5 tsp of leaf in 125mL water, with the leaves allowed to roam free in the cup before being strained out.

First infusion (208F/30s):
Quite similar to the autumn harvest. Buttery, green, and floral. Maybe a bit more oolong flavour here. I’m also finding the flavours to be a bit more intense (but that could be attributable to differences in the amount of leaf, as although I was careful, I wasn’t precise to the 0.01g).

Second infusion (208F/40s):
Whoops, this one got an extra 10s because I got distracted. It’s definitely stronger and greener tasting than the autumn harvest. Almost a bit of astringency, and I can’t see that 10 seconds would have done that, but the strength is definitely affected. Still tasty though, with lovely floral notes.

Fun experiment time, tonight. I’ve been dying for oolongs lately, and massively craving Verdant’s, but have had other teas I wanted to try, or not enough time, etc. etc… Anyhow, tonight I thought I’d finally compare the three tieguanyins I have received from Verdant – the 2011 Autumn, 2012 Spring (first harvest), and 2012 Spring (second harvest). I’m brewing them each up identically, using 1.5 tsp of leaf in 125mL water, with the leaves allowed to roam free in the cup before being strained out.

First infusion (208F/30s):
Light floral, buttery aroma. Green, floral taste. Very green aftertaste. Not too much oolong flavour, but it does leave a nice round, creamy taste in the mouth. I’m getting more oolong flavour from the spring harvests, but the differences are too subtle for me to pick up. Comparing it to the others, I think this is the least green and floral. It’s more subdued.

Second infusion (208F/30s):
Much like a lighter version of the first, in my opinion. More oolong flavour though, which was expected. Mmmmm. Caramel in the aftertaste, unlike the citrus of the spring harvests.

Overall: All three are delicious oolongs. My palate really isn’t developed enough to perceive differences though, at least the way I infused them (although I suspect that for my leaf:water ratio, a 30 second initial infusion was too long). Hoping I can go through another few infusions tomorrow, in which I will perhaps notice more differences!

Five samples from Alphakitty tried today? Yup! Seriously guys, all I’ve done today is sit at home at the kitchen table, drinking tea and putzing about Steepster/watching How I Met Your Mother. Laziest awake day EVER.

I can taste a delicious green tea base (makes me think sencha, although I know it’s bancha) with just a bit of a seaweedy flavour, and hint of sesame. It’s a sweet blend, which works really well with this combination of flavours. I am getting a little bit of astringency, enough to make me reduce the infusion time by 30 seconds in the future.

I do agree that this is reminiscent of some Japanese sweets… and saying that, I’m positive I recently said that about some other tea! Will have to check and see which one. Like with the Bangkok Blend though, although I like this one and will enjoy finishing off my large sample, I can’t see myself purchasing it in the future. Flavoured greens don’t seem to be my thing, although citrus flavours are the biggest problem (the one exception is Den’s Sakura Sencha… now that one was good!)

Now if I recall correctly, this is another tea good for icing/cold-brewing, so once I get my act together to do some of that sort of thing, it’ll be close to the top of my list! Thanks for obliging me with a taste of this one, Alphakitty! Feels good to take a few things off my Steepster shopping list (AKA want-to-try list).

Wow…. an 8-minute infusion when I meant to infuse for three. Good thing the instructions recommended 6?? Here’s hoping it’s not ruined :( The smell is pretty delicious, like a milk oolong.

Ahhh, not ruined, but definitely oversteeped, because there’s astringency here that would probably not be around otherwise. The flavour is quite vegetal and a bit sweet. Not really floral nor creamy. I’ve learned though, that an oversteeped oolong mushes all the yummy flavours into a big ball of mediocre, so this is definitely not a fair assessment of this tea. I’ll try harder to keep an eye on the time with the second infusion!

Thanks for the sample, Fong Mong Tea!

ETA: Second infusion (~4min/82C) is quite tasty. Light and oolongy, with some delicious creaminess. Very slight bit of astringency, so the first infusion was clearly a mistake, that I regret immensely. Luckily there’s enough in the packet for two infusions, so I’ll get a second chance later (probably once I make it through all of these!) I think I’ll have to do some big oolong comparison at some point though – I’m having trouble remembering from one sample to the next. I think this one might be akin to Teavivre’s unflavoured milk oolong… but I don’t really know! Either way, this is delicious. I love oolong :)

So, learned tonight not to judge a book by its cover… or a tea by its appearance! Definitely had initially dismissed this one as just being a flavoured red rooibos… until I read about it about on here and got all intrigued! My bad!

Steeped, it smells slightly like rooibos, coconut, chocolate. Oh yum! I can taste the creaminess and sweetness, a suggestion of chocolate, and a hint of rooibos – but it’s not medicinal. This is actually a pretty good rooibos blend! Too bad there’s black tea in it too otherwise it would be great for the evening. Definitely like this one a lot more than I expected to :)

Thanks for sending me some of this, Missy & Dylan!

Another tea from Alphakitty, thank you!! Haha, I’m sure it’s almost always obvious when I have a swap package arrive, because I immediately dive right in and try a whole bunch of samples in a row :D In spite of having multiple samples from all my previous packages yet to try.

Steeped, this smells a lot like Creamy Nut Oolong from Teaopia. Perhaps I’m only making that association because I just drank some, but that’s definitely how it smells. And yes, I’m sure I didn’t switch cups or do something silly :) If I take the tea out of the chocolate-raspberry scented bag, it does have a sort of sugary, toasty aroma, similar to Creamy Nut.

The flavour is also somewhat similar, interestingly enough. I’m seriously a bit concerned that I did swap them, now, although this is not as sweet, and has a stronger nutty flavour that reminds me a teeny bit of genmaicha. So weird and unexpected! I think I prefer Teaopia’s version because it’s more caramelly and sweet but would drink either.

ETA: Just did a side-by-side comparison of the second infusion (170F/3min) of this one to the third of Creamy Nut. Definitely many of the same flavours; biggest differences are that Creamy Nut is sweeter and less toasty. I think Sugar Caramel may also have a better base oolong, but it’s not really fair to compare second and third infusions; I should really start both from scratch together. But that’s for another day. (Third infusion is getting a bit weak. Creamy Nut definitely lasts longer too.)

I’d been dying to try some additional (other than Coconut Pouchong) Golden Moon teas for a while, and was super excited when Alphakitty not only had them in her cupboard, but was willing to pass some along! Yay! Problem solved (now let’s hope I don’t like them tooooooo too much, because they don’t ship to Canada IIRC, and that’s annoying!)

Strangely, I’m getting almost a fermenty/rotten melon scent from the tea, which started the instant I put the leaves into the water. Not quite what I was expecting. I thought perhaps there was some cross-contamination between the teas, but then I remembered how to box smelled deliciously like chocolate raspberry, so I highly doubt that was the case. (I just went back to the little baggie of tea and sniffed it, but alas, the baggie smells too much like choco-rasp to pick out the tea)!

The sip tastes much better. I’m getting more of an overripe cantaloupe sort of flavour, mixed with a hint of….. Play-Dough???? That’s an odd association. Only getting perhaps a hint of white tea at the end of the sip.

I’m kind of glad I didn’t order this tea for myself. It’s not bad, but there’s something a little off about it. I’m going to leave the rest of my sample to “air out” (I do it with all my swaps, improves them a lot!) and see if it is an intruding flavour, but I really don’t think so. Either way, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t prefer this over Butiki’s Cantaloupe and Cream, and there’s only room for one melon white tea in my cupboard!

Thanks for the sample, Alphakitty!

ETA: Second infusion, 160F/3min, is similar to the first. Still that overripe melon sort of flavour, with a really nice white tea flavour at the end. I really think I might have enjoyed it far more prior to Cantaloupe & Cream though. … sipping it more, the “overripeness” doesn’t really bother me all that much now.

Another sample from Alphakitty!

This is definitely an interesting blend! I’m drinking it cool because I got distracted by a few things after it was brewed, so I will still need to try it hot (or at least warm). I can taste the lemongrass but it’s not overpowering, and there’s a coconutty sort of creaminess that lingers in the aftertaste along with the lemongrass. The base tea is quite present and tasty, which is great. I’m not sure what else is in here, but everything is really working quite well together. Although I like it (proof: cup finished while writing this review), I’m not sure it’s a tea I’d drink too frequently, so the very generous sample I received will probably do me for a while. That is, unless this is one of the ones that is fantastic iced (gah!! This is why I need Steepster! To check on such things!) Thanks again, Alphakitty!

ETA: Second infusion, 175F for 3 min, is pretty good too. Lemony and a bit less creamy. Lovely aftertaste. I should really get on that cold-brewing. I love that you sent me enough to experiment with, Alphakitty!!

I swear, Canada Post has made some really good changes! The last three packages I’ve received (ok, not the one from Fong Mong Teas) arrived in absolutely record time! Less than a week to receive my most recent swap, from Alphakitty (YAY!!!!) Which actually sucks, in a way, because my package is definitely going to take longer to arrive given that the estimated arrival was 6-12 business days.

Anyway! I cannot say enough good things about everyone I have swapped with. You’re all so ridiculously generous that even when I include a few extras, I am always WAY outdone! I mean, Alphakitty sent me little candies, and Azzrian sent me the cutest mini teacup EVER! To say nothing of the sheer number and size of samples!

Ok, so onto the tea. Steepster is still down, so I’m making a big list with these posts in a Word document. Probably good practice anyhow.

So yes. This came to me from the oh-so-generous Alphakitty, whose package from 52teas arrived just in the nick of time for her to include it! So excited, except I’m going to be mad if I like it because it’s unavailable.

The dry tea smells deliciously like cotton candy. Strangely, I’m not really getting that aroma from the cup – it’s more of a black tea with just a hint of sweetness. I definitely used enough tea, so that shouldn’t be an issue.

Ok, this is a bit of a letdown – I’m not tasting the cotton candy at all, really, except perhaps a bit in the aftertaste. The black tea base tastes ok (could be maltier IMO), but I’m so confused that I’m not really tasting anything else! I’ll have to read everyone’s reviews once Steepster is alive again, and see what I perhaps did wrong :( I should note that there’s just a teensy bit of astringency, so I don’t think a longer infusion would be wise for me.

Just tried with milk and sugar and I am liking the base tea blend, but still not really getting cotton candy. I really think Forest Berry Silver Needle was much more successful in that regard, as I swear it was strawberry cotton candy in a cup with a bit of white tea flavouring mixed in.

Oh well, no loss if this isn’t a tea for me, since I can’t purchase it anyhow! I’m kind of glad to cross another tea off my 52teas sampling list (which is huge. Anyone have a subscription and want to swap small samples of everything to me every couple months or so?!)

ETA: Drinking the second infusion (close to boiling/4.5min) cool and there’s just a hint of cotton candy in the aftertaste. Not a bad tea, but not a winner. I will cold-brew or ice the rest later.

Sigh. This one is never going to live up to the amazing first cup I had of it. Faded tea crush, anyone? That said, I’m still really enjoying it tonight, even though the magic isn’t quite there the way it used to be. Second infusion is actually pretty satisfying though.
[Backlog from yesterday evening.]

Nutty and good, but not as good cold. Second infusion (2:30/90C) also tasting too weak, like Pot O’ Gold. Maybe my taste buds just want something stronger. (Aroma though? Heavenly.) Up to four good infusions :) [Backlog from yesterday evening.]

Backlog from yesterday, since Steepster’s been misbehaving.

This one’s not as great cold as it is still warm, but it’s still enjoyable. I think I was just looking for something extremely decadent tonight, and although this is yummy, it’s not quite it. Here’s hoping the next tea is a bit more what I’m apparently looking for tonight. Second infusion (4 min) is pretty weak. I feel like my tasting note from last time probably said the same thing, but I couldn’t access Steepster properly at the time so wasn’t able to look it up.

I apologize; this tea deserves a better tasting note than I have energy to write. It is a delicious, somewhat floral, creamy oolong though, and that’s what I needed/wanted tonight. Looking forward to trying the rest of my oolong samples from Fong Mong Tea! I did reserve enough of this to try it again when I have time to properly review it.

Was craving DavidsTea’s milk oolong again tonight, but I’ve decided to hold off on purchasing any tea I’ve tried before until I’ve drank a fair bit of what I have, so have to conserve it for a future craving!

Anyhow, this is what I picked in its place. Although toastily coconutty and good, I think I might have oversteeped it juuuust a touch. Not quite hitting the spot though; I probably should have gone for Teavivre’s unflavoured Milk Oolong instead. I do feel like I may prefer the London Tea Room Coconut Oolong over this, but I just bought 1 oz. of it, so it will have to do for a while. I’ll do a comparison someday.

ETA: Seriously, some of these coconutty teas last FOREVER! At least, the well-done ones. I’m on the third infusion, and it shows no sign of losing flavour. I’m using a reduced amount of water, but I’m not even sure it’s all that necessary. Yum. Now to cold-brew some of this since apparently that makes something pretty tasty :D

ETA again: On the fourth or fifth infusion, and still coconutty! However, this one has a bit of an odd flavour, so I think I’m done now. Tremendous longevity!

So I didn’t notice that the leaves hadn’t fully been immersed until about halfway through the infusion… but hopefully that doesn’t affect the flavour. The tea does smell good, so here’s hoping!

Uh… never a good sign when one chokes on the first sip. Really gotta stop doing that. Anyhow, this is pretty tasty. Very light in flavour, but delicately sweet and a bit fruity. I feel like it suffered in strength from the partial infusion, which is unfortunate but an easy fix for the next infusions! I also feel like my tastebuds are a bit… food-clouded, at the moment, so it’s difficult for me to distinguish things. Either way, pleasant enough, holding on the rating until either the next infusion of next time I try it :)

ETA: Ah, another case of the second infusion being better. 170F/3 minutes, and I’m getting a light, sweetly scented cup with a delicious light, sweet, floral white tea. Very much enjoying this infusion. I blame the first on human error, not too shockingly. No astringency, just pure white tea sweetness. Im not experienced enough in straight whites to know if this is comparatively fabulous or not, but it’s definitely quite enjoyable.

Definitely not in love with this one like everyone else is. I think, however, that it’s because this sample picked up some other flavours, not because this is a bad tea. I can almost imagine the creaminess here, but it’s masked by a fruitiness which is not unpleasant, but not characteristic of any oolong I’ve had, and I doubt it’s how this one is supposed to taste. Perhaps I’ll try another sample of this one in the future, but I won’t be too heartbroken if that doesn’t happen, because I am in love with the DavidsTea version (and will be trying the Teavivre flavoured version soon, which I’m quite excited about!)

Thanks Stacy for generously including this as a sample with my order!

I love how this tea looks, all twisted into little snakes, which also make it super easy to measure out! I had a bit of an issue brewing in that I guess the mug I used was a little too big width-wise, so the little snakes in my large infuser basket didn’t quite fit into the water to begin with (but I pushed them in as soon as they softened a bit).

I’m getting a flavour that I would usually classify as metallic and therefore reminiscent of oversteeped greens (or, so I’ve learned, tea leaves that have sat out wet for over a day. Ew.), however it morphs into a sort of pleasant tanginess which changes my view to being intrigued instead of icked out! I wonder if this is that lemon that comes out in cold-brewing?? There’s also a nice tangyish green tea aftertaste, and maybe just a touch of astringency.

So as greens go, it’s a different flavour than I’m used to – there’s a bit of sweetness reminding me of Verdant’s dragonwells, but the vegetal qualities are lacking. I’d have to say though, that although it’s interesting, it’s not a green that really fits my preferences for vegetal/seaweedy/rock sugar.

ETA: Second infusion (twisty leaves completely in-mug) for 3 min at ~177F is definitely better than the first. There’s more flavour, I’m getting a definite sweetness and the flavour is no longer coming off as metallic, though I’m still getting a bit of tanginess, which is interesting! Still not a profile I’d be likely to purchase to drink again, but deserving of a better rating than I initially gave it. Word of warning to potential buyers – make sure the little snakes fit fully in your cup! No brew baskets :)

I’m clearly being very indulgent tonight. I think I just drank three of the most expensive teas in my stash (this, Cantaloupe & Cream, Quangzhou Milk Oolong). Who cares though, I’m sure it’s far cheaper than indulging in alcohol! And all of them re-steep very well. And there’s no hangover. And almost zero calories. Yep, I’m convinced.

Anyhow, this tea really is quite lovely, although I am still getting a huge cotton candy association. This infusion had a big fat raspberry in it, so I’m also tasting that, which is delicious. Looking forward to the next infusions, where I expect the raspberry to be more prominent.

What’s a comfort tea night without some Cantaloupe & Cream? So yup, drinking this. My cup has cooled though, and I’m annoyed because my body wants warm tea. Flavour is still fabulous though (so I bet this would be great iced, although it seems a waste with such a delicious/expensive tea, since I usually gulp iced teas down). Going for another infusion shortly (and by that I mean immediately, as I just finished my cup).

Although I did purchase a 12g sample of this one today, I only tried it in store as the Tea of the Day. And, it was pretty darn good! I tried it iced, and where I usually find the in-store iced teas to be on the weak side, this one wasn’t. And it did taste much like blueberry jam. I’m interested to compare it to 52teas Blueberry Cream Cheese Danish, because although one’s mimicking a condiment and another a baked good, I’m not likely to stock two blueberry blacks. Wasn’t in the mood to try this comparison tonight though.

The only possibly negative thing I did notice (other than the stevia, which people are bound to complain about but doesn’t bother me) was a touch of astringency, but given that I wasn’t the one who brewed the tea, I won’t judge it based on this for now.

For whatever reason, I’m in a comfort tea mood tonight. Or this morning, whichever you prefer to call it. I had something like a 5 hour nap earlier, so either works. Anyways, I was packaging this tea up to send to Alphakitty last night, and upon opening the bag, I almost died at the delicious smell that I had clearly forgotten about. It nearly broke my heart to send off the remaining one cup of what I had (me=selfish girl), but I just resolved to go to the gym on Friday night and pick some more up (along with June’s TOTM, Blueberry Jam). Sooooo the amazingness that is DavidsTea’s Quangzhou Milk Oolong and I are reunited.

First infusion of 3 min at around 90C was amazing. Second infusion is a bit hot yet, but a little less creamy, and also amazing. I’m obviously in a mood for hot tea tonight too, because I drank the entire first cup while it was still warm (same with two other teas I have sitting here).

Only downside to this tea is that it’s bringing back memories of the ex-boyfriend, because this was the tea we picked out together when he visited a couple months ago :(

Whoops, backlog from yesterday morning. I forgot.

Needed some caffeine so went for this one. All I had was a lame filter that would allow all the guayasa pieces through, so just put it all directly into the cup and left it in while I was drinking. Mostly fine, except for the few pieces I choked on when taking a sip.

My recollection is of it being pleasant and sweet, but neither interesting nor capable of giving me the boost I wanted (I really didn’t feel more energized after). Definitely have to try my new guayasa from Butiki Teas to see if they’re better.

This tea is my least favourite of Verdant’s black tea offerings. That’s not to say that there’s anything wrong with it, but I love different, intriguing flavours in straight blacks (if I’m going to drink them), and this one is simply too reminiscent of a bagged black tea. It is clearly infinitely better than bagged, but the flavour profile is similar, there is no overwhelming sweetness, no chocolatey notes. Perhaps I should have gone with the recommended 3 minute infusion instead of 1.5 to bring out more flavour (I have lots left and can try this later), but I don’t think the flavours I’m looking for will be present.