Joshua Smith

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.

I was rummaging around in my tea box (Yes, I keep my tea in a box. It’s easier to pack it up for when I go home for the weekend.), and I came accross my 4 oz. bag of this. I looked back, and realized that I hadn’t had any of this for something like 5 months, so I decided to retry it.

Today I’m actually not going to brew my Oolong grandpa style, and instead, opted for standard Western-style brewing. I’m using boiling water, with a rather generous ammount of leaves, and steeping for 3 minutes. Recently, I’ve found that Green Oolongs don’t benefit from long infusions, as it starts to get more astringent, and the flavors are more muddled.

After brewing the first infusion, I realized how much more appealing it is to drink this tea when the weather is actually warm. The aroma is very pleasant, and very appropriate for the beautiful weather today. The taste is a lot better than I remember, especially because it isn’t even the least bit astringent. The flavor of the tea is also a bit sweeter than I remember, possibly because I used a quicker infusion. Regardless, I’m upping the rating on this tea.

The second infusion saw the developement of a pleasant aftertaste. A lightly floral flavor lingers on the hard palate, lasting for at least 1 minute. It’s not a long-lasting as Tie Guan Yin, but that’s not really a fair comparision. Also, this infusion was a bit sweeter, but other wise the flavor was unchanged.

More to come later.

After the insanity that was my weekend (and the amount of strong tea that I drank), I decided to have something a bit lighter today. Hence my futile attempt to finish off some of my remaining free samples from Teavivre.

Unfortunately, I still need to study for an Electrical Engineering test, so see my previous notes for more detailed information.

Day 2 of my study weekend, and I’m once again picking one of my more potent teas. Sadly, I don’t have enough time for a full review, so check out my other notes for more information about this tea.

EDIT:

I’ve lost track of how many infusions I’ve had, but the tea still continues to develop. The flavor is a lot more subtle now, and it’s a bit sweeter than it was early in the afternoon. I’m definitely glad that I bought more of this.

As I continue down the philosophical rabbit hole of Posthumanism, I find the strength of my Yunnan black waning. Thus, I decided to make myself a cup of Sencha to compensate for the declining amount of caffeine. This really has become a go-to tea for me just because of how sweet it is from the beginning. But I’ve probably spent too long writing this note, so see my other notes for more information.

EDIT -

Fun Fact: This tea is also good cold, being a bit sweet and only the slightest hint of astringency.

I’ve got a big test on posthumanism on Monday and I needed something potent to keep me focused. My day will be filled with Philosophy, extra-strong black tea, and KPop. Sadly, this means that I don’t have time to go into the details for this tea, so check out my previous notes.

After weeks of drinking darker tea, I decided to return to this Oolong for the first time in several months. Besides, I need to make room for the new Spring picking.

The first infusion was very sweet, with a faint hint of pepper (or some other type of spice, as I still have trouble identifying exact flavors) present. There was also a delightful aftertaste that was a bit buttery that lingered on the hard palate for a very long time. It actually lingered so long that I couldn’t help but take another sip before it had faded completely. I’m really excited, and can’t wait to see how the tea develops.

The second infusion was exquisite! The creamy buttery flavor has really developed well, and there is a very interesting spicy taste (probably the saffron mentioned in the description, but I’ve never had saffron, so I can’t be certain). The aftertaste has become a bit smoother, but it’s still quite hard to describe. Regardless, I will certainly be taking my time sipping this tea. It would be a shame to drink it quickly and fail to enjoy the delightful flavors.

The third infusion was still buttery, and the spiciness has come along nicely, but the tea has developed a very pleasing characteristic: It’s like is is more thirst-quenching than it was before. The website describes this as the juiciness of biting into a fresh peach, but that just doesn’t seem right to me (and not just because I loathe peaches. Blech.). Anyway, the aftertaste has actually developed a bit, and it actually takes a few seconds before you can taste it on the hard palate. I’m actually glad that I’m re-tasting tis tea, as I really appreciate the way it develops now.

This tea just continues to develop so nicely! The main change this time is that there is a hint of grass in the flavor of the tea. It is by no means the dominant flavor, but it is certainly something that I didn’t notice last time I made this tea. The other amazing this is that the aftertaste still lingers for over two minutes, something that I’ve never come across before.

The final infusion was generally marked by a weakening of the flavors present. Other than that, it was pretty much the same as the previous infusion. Overall, I’m glad that I re-tasted this tea, as it is certainly better than I remember. Now the question is if this is because I’ve gotten better at tasting, or if it is actually better now…

Regardless, I’m going to miss this tea when I finish it off, and I will definitely be ordering the spring picking as soon as it’s gone.

And then there were none…

I saved my favorite RTR sample for last, and I can safely say that I regret nothing. I’ve actually put this on my shopping list for when I clear out a bit more tea, but that’s at least a month away. Hopefully there will still be some in stock.

Anyway, for more info about this tea, see my previous note.

Another sample from RTR bites the dust. This tea wasn’t the most exciting or strongest of the bunch, but it was very pleasant, and I’m pretty sure that I could drink it often and never get tired of it. See previous note for more information.

Wow, my second tea in one day. At this rate, I’ll finish my RTR samples well before the weekend starts! Anyway, see my previous notes about this tea for details, as I savor this tea before it’s gone.

Another day, another sample from Rare Tea Republic finished. This wasn’t my favorite of the teas that I picked out, but it was still a delightful tea, with a very pleasing complex flavor. Since this was literally the bottom of the bag, there was a bit more tea dust than usual, but other than that, this tea conformed with my previous tastings. See my previous notes for more information.

I’m finishing off this sample, and I have to say that I’m a bit sad to see it go. From the delightfully bold foretaste to the malty after taste, this is a very pleasant tea. For details, see my previous notes.

No notes yet.

I Like this tea, but it has a glaring problem: It’s a picky tea. Water too hot? Tastes bad. Steeped too long? Tastes like crap. Gets too cold after brewing? Tastes bad. The sample from Verdant had enough for three sessions, and two of those were bad. This led me to drop my rating down a bit.

The first infusion was fine, but the second turned out horrifyingly bad. I threw that out, and got the same result when I tried again. So I gave up.

See previous notes for more information.

The last of my Sheng sample pack from Verdant tea to be re-tasted, the first infusion of this tea was a delightful balance between sweet and spicy. I was particularly pleased by how the spiciness lingered for half a minute on my tongue, something that I had only ever experienced in the Winter Yabao that came in the sample pack. Regardless, this tea was much better than I remembered, so I’m bumping up my rating a bit. I’m also really excited to see how the next few steepings develop, as the description makes it sound like it’s going to be very interesting.

The second infusion was marked by the decrease in the strwength of the spiciness that was so prominent in the first infusion. It’s still the main flavor, but it’s gotten a bit softer. This is pretty much what I expected, as the interesting flavor development usually starts in the third infusion. Still, this was a very nice cup of tea.

The third infusion saw a drastic reduction in the spiciness of the tea, but everything else is a sort of muddled sweetness. The spiciness is evident in the aftertaste as everything else fades out. It seems that it hasn’t fully developed yet, as I’m certainly not tasting granny smith apples yet.

This is the last infusion, as I’m getting a bit tired of this tea. The spiciness is now a weak aftertaste, and the tea has begun to taste a bit like my Shi Ru (which means its is very sweet and tastes a bit like honey). I wonder if this tea would have been better if I had a gaiwan to brew it in, but that type of speculation isn’t going to get me anywhere. It’s a good tea, but when the spiciness faded the tea became less interesting.

I had a really busy day, so I didn’t have time to do a play-by-play for this tea. I’ve recently found that I’ve acquired more of a taste for Sheng, and the consequence of this is that I find this tea to be better than I remember. The flavor was also delightfully complex, with all sorts of interesting flavors clamoring for attention in the early steepings. I know that I’ve only really been into tea for about six months, but the fact that this tea still defies description only serves to illustrate how complex the flavor profile for this tea is. I only had time for five infusions, but during these the flavors started to sort themselves out and the tea became a great deal sweeter. It’s a bit of a shame that I can’t continue to brew more of this tea because even the last infusion still exhibited flavor development, and I think that the leaves still had more to give.

Backlogging from yesterday. The tea was sweeter than I remember, but it still tastes less refined than other aged shengs. Of course, that’s the charm of this tea: It has unique and complex flavors that really make this tea memorable. I only got four infusions out of it because of time constraints, but they were all excellent, with the favor mellowing, yet getting progressively more complex. I’m really gonna miss i=this tea when I finish the sample…

I was extra careful while brewing this tea today. The result of the first infusion is a very light tea that is similar to a more traditional white because the vegetable flavors are very faint. They are still present, which sets this tea apart from other whites, I was just a little too careful while brewing and they are weaker than normal.

The second infusion was bad. The water was too warm, so the result is drinkable, but it’s getting awfully close to the point of no return. Note to self – Do not try to brew this while busy with other work…

More to come later.

Dark this yesterday, spent most of the day brewing grandpa style, see previous notes.

The first thing that I noticed when I brewed this tea was the aroma. I don’t know how I didn’t notice it last time, but this tea smells almost exactly like my Da Hong Pao. I also was rather generous with the amount of leaves I used, so the plum flavors were overshadowed by darker flavors, for lack of a better word. It actually did taste like an Oolong (not that I’m complaining), but I suspect that the plum and caramel flavors will develop during the next infusion.

The second infusion is noted by the development of the plum flavors, as well as a general sweetening of the tea. That being said, the still is still remarkably similar to a Oolong, just fruitier.

The third (and final) infusion was very sweet, with the plum flavors really starting to assert themselves. It’s a shame that I started brewing this tea so late in the day, as I probably could have gotten two more infusions out of it. The tea had just finally started to develop complex flavors, and it’s really a shame to waste it…

Regardless, I’ seriously considering getting more of this tea after I work through some more of my current stash. The intense flavor is very attractive, and the natural sweetness of the tea makes it very appealing for a weekend tea, where I can dedicate hours of time to drinking it.

This just came in the mail yesterday, but I decided against trying it until after I tried the Yunnan Golden Buds. As an experiment, I decided to brew this tea Grandpa style, and I have to say the results were interesting. The first infusion was sweet and flowery, with an aroma that was reminiscent of fresh pines. There were also subtle spice flavors present, but they had not started to assert themselves yet. Past experience with Yabao tells me that they will get stronger over time, so I can’t wait to see how they develop. The only downside to this tea was that only half of the buds have sunken to the bottom of the cup, which is a bit annoying when trying to drink the tea.

I’m on infusion number five, and the only change to the flavor so far is that the spiciness – which peaked around infusion three – has started to fade. This is definitely my favorite white tea. I’m glad that I bought enough of this tea to last me quite a while, as it is very unique and is certainly much better than the standard fare for white tea.

Thanks to Verdant Tea for including this as a free sample with my most recent order!

After looking at several reviews, as well as the warning on the package, I decided to treat this tea like my Fukamushi Sencha: Low temperature water, short steep. The first infusion used water that was just beginning to give off steam, and I only let is brew for a minute. The resulting tea reminds me of perfectly-steamed vegetables – the description ways brussel sprouts, but I’m not sold – with a bit of butter. It’s a rather nice change of pace after five cups of black tea, as well as a nice change of pace for a white tea.

Surprisingly enough, the second infusion was exactly like the first. The only other tea I’ve ever had that had a second infusion like this was some Yabao, funny how both are technically white teas…

Anyway, the only downside on the second infusion was that I neglected it, and it got a little cold, which resulted in a bitter aftertaste developing. Not that the tea was bad, but I can certainly see how other reviewers were complaining about the tea being temperamental.

The bottom line is that this tea is not for an amateur brewer, but the results are worth the effort. The unique taste is very refreshing when brewed properly, and is definitely worth the pain that you have to go through to brew the tea corredctly.

My newest shipment from Verdant just can in today, and I was very excited the try this tea out. My previous experience with Verdant has been excellent, with teas that outshine their competition

This is by far the best Yunnan golden bud tea I’ve had. The first infusion was the perfect balance of sweet and creamy, and not nearly as harsh as some versions of this tea that I’ve had. There was also a hint of cinnamon as a bit of foreshadowing for the second infusion.

The second infusion was still sweet, but the cinnamon flavor had strengthened considerably. The creamy flavors are surprisingly weak, but other than that, this is a delightful cup of tea.

The third infusion was mellower than the previous two, and – like the description said – reminded me of a Tie Guan Yin. It wasn’t fruity, but it had the same feeling. I was also rather impressed that the tea was still this strong, as most of the black teas that I’ve had waned more bu the third steeping.

The forth infusion was similar to the third, but weaker. This was also my last infusion, so I have a few closing remarks: This was a remarkably good black tea, and I’m really glad that I got 4 ounces of it. Also, there was no astringency in this tea, so I’m planning on experimenting this weekend to see if it can be brewed grandpa style. Regardless, I can’t wait to have this tea again.