Scott B Send Message

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67
drank Laoshan Black by Verdant Tea
109 tasting notes

This review is for the Autumn Harvest

Ok, I suppose I should review this.

This was probably my first completely Steepster-driven purchase. I’ve never looked forward to trying a new tea more-gobs and gobs of 90+ reviews from independent, knowledgeable reviewers here on Steepster, coming from a small farm, a small service and quality oriented company, blacks my preference-I looked forward to loving this tea.

But I don’t.

Today is my 3rd or 4th day I have brewed this tea-hoping at some point I would become enlightened to what everyone else sees in this tea-or just get used to it. And I am kinda used to it, but although familiarity has not bred contempt, neither has it brought love.

I love that it’s experimental-tea would be boring without experimentation. This is different tea to be sure-certainly not too much like various Keemuns and Yunnans I have tasted. The dry leaves are rolled tight with some slight bends. They appear to have little aroma unless you take a big inhale, then I get slight chocolatey and floral notes. The leaves are very dark-almost jet black-I was half expecting the liquor to be as dark as black licorice.

Fortunately, liquor was just a deep coppery brown. Brewed leaf aroma is roasty with a slight resemblance to a roasted oolong, a little resemblance to keemun and not sure what else. The first steep flavor is kinda roasted with a touch of chocolate, but not much. Can’t really describe the dominant flavor. It’s different and just okay. It’s very heavy in the mouth, but relatively smooth until it starts to cool when some bitterness appears.

The 2nd steep tastes a little more chocolatey. Can you taste the tannins? Because it feels like I can really taste the tannins. Third steep-the liquor is deep amber colored. It now has a medium heavy mouthfeel. Flavor is improved a little. A touch milder, more grainy perhaps. Also tasting a bit more oolong-ey than previous steeps-especially the aftertaste. Still, nothing too exciting-don’t really like oolong anyway. I’ve done 4 steeps before, but have no notes for a 4th steep. If I have a 4th steep today, I’ll edit this note to include the information. There’s lot of tannins and caffeine in this tea, and with my reflux, I can’t afford 4 steeps of this if all I feel is “Meh, I don’t understand all the fuss.”

I am happy with my experience buying from Verdant Tea-they are personal, responsive, and committed to quality. They have several other teas that I look forward to trying. I might even try the first flush of this tea-if someone can convince me it’s significantly different. But I doubt that I would buy this Autumnal Harvest again.
Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec
2 comments
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TeaBrat
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It’s always kind of disappointing when you aren’t blown away by these teas everyone else is raving over. It happens to me sometimes too… :)

Scott B
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Yeah, that first day I tried it and after each cup I was like “Maybe next steep will be better.” It really bummed me out.

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TeaBrat
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It’s always kind of disappointing when you aren’t blown away by these teas everyone else is raving over. It happens to me sometimes too… :)

Scott B
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Yeah, that first day I tried it and after each cup I was like “Maybe next steep will be better.” It really bummed me out.

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Bio

Started drinking tea for health benefits maybe 5 years ago-exclusively bagged tea. Usually went for various Celestial Seasonings type of stuff. I bought a tea infuser at a gourmet shop once and then I realized there was almost no loose tea available. Eventually tiring of bags, I started ordering loose tea online and I have never gone back. Initially, I was exploring all the wild and exotic flavor combinations, but now I mostly drink straight teas. I still enjoy blended teas-but prefer those without “flavoring”. Hope to learn here and find some new teas I might not otherwise find. Am a vegan, so “milk” generally means “soymilk” to me. If it’s almond, rice, or coconut, I will mention that fact.

I am new here, and new to reviewing tea. Many of my initial reviews will be from memory and may not be very detailed at all. I hope to write more informative reviews on current and future teas.

I won’t let external factors affect my rating of the tea-such as slow shipping, too expensive, etc. I’ll mention any customer service problems in my reviews. I also won’t let my mistakes in not following the seller’s recommended parameters affect a rating. I can’t believe people who say “I forgot about it and oversteeped it” and then give it a rating. If I brew outside the parameters, I will wait until I brew it right before I give it a rating.

TEMPORARY RATING SYSTEM- Don’t hold me to these numbers and descriptions-like George Bluth, I like to tweak.

90+ It’s awesome, right?? I’ll probably try to keep it on hand.

80-89 – I really like this and will buy it again at some point, but there are so many teas to try!

70-79 – This is a pretty good tea and I may buy it again based on my mood, what tea store I am buying from, and what kind of deal I can get.

60-69 – This is okay. I finished the bag. I would drink it again if offered, but would not buy it again.

40-59 – IF I finished the bag, I recall this tea thinking “Why in the hell did I finish the bag?”

1-39 – Did not finish the bag. Maybe not even the cup. Tea was given away or discarded.

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