My most recent shipment from Verdant Tea came in today, and I’m really excited to try this tea, especially because I’m the first person to post a review here. _
Cute Asian emoticons aside, I brewed this tea Western style with water that was a bit under boiling, and I steeped for three minutes. The first infusion was pretty much exactly as the website described: Malty foretaste with a very pleasant creamy quality, followed by a sweeter aftertaste that lingers for a good minute. It’s a lot milder than I expected, but the result is exceptionally good.
The second infusion was characterized by a general sweetening of the tea, as seems to be usual for Yunnan blacks in my limited experience. The aftertaste also has definitely started to taste a bit like honey. This tea is definitely developing well, and I can’t wait to see what comes next.
The third infusion saw the development of something new in the taste, but it’s still faint right now. Other than that, no real change from the previous infusion.
The forth infusion really developed well. The new flavor that I mentioned in the previous infusion has show itself to be a spice, but it’s still really faint. It might be the pepper mentioned in the description, but I’m not sure. Another development is that the sweetness of the tea has really increased, and the aftertaste tastes even more like honey than previously.
My fifth and final infusion had more development of the spiciness, which is definitely pepper, but was otherwise the same as the forth. This tea had a longevity that was better than some black teas, where you get four infusions on a good day, and it had a great deal of complexity to keep it interesting the whole way through. I’m really glad that I got plenty, because this is definitely something I could drink with regularity.
