Laoshan Black

I know everyone pretty much loves this tea, but to me, it smells like a very high quality potting soil. I’m having a lot of trouble with the smell. It tastes nice enough, though more earthy than I like.

While I can appreciate that this is a unique and naturally richly flavored tea, it isn’t for me.

Just wow.
I never really care for plain blacks. But this? I could be a convert. Dry, this smells of dark chocolate and looks spindly, curled, and honestly? Beautiful. This tastes wonderful! Thick, cocoa-esque, barley, and just, does not really remind me of any other blacks I’ve tried. This tea has a very interesting mouthfeel.
I love this tea. More notes later!

The leaves are the darkest black, thin & slightly curled. This is a beautiful tea to look at!

First infusion: Smooth, sweet with a tinge of a leathery note. I detect something bitter in the background, but it just stays in the background and doesn’t press forward.

Second Infusion: The scent is a bit like sweet potato. A bolder version of the first infusion remains for this cup. As I am walking to the kettle for more water, I realize the flavor that has lingered on my tongue. Chocolate. I almost missed it, but it’s there.

Third Infusion: A nice malty, chocolate note is what I primarily taste. The chocolate is a bit like cocoa – drying, not too sweet and a little bit rich. Mmm. I think this is my favorite infusion so far!

Thank you, Meeka for a sample!

Oh wow. This is so good!

I finally bit the bullet and placed an order with Verdant Tea. After all the hype on Steepster about their teas, how could I not?

Well, I am not disappointed. In. The. Least.

This is a rich, chocolatey, grainy and spicy cup. I’m positively smitten.

Maybe this will be the tea to finally kick that last lingering morning cup of coffee I’ve been holding on to drinking. Because this is infinitely more interesting than that, isn’t it?

Yum.

I’ve never had a high end black tea like this before! Thank you cheetah_pita for including it in our swap! The first steep is so malty and caramelly and complex. I can see why everyone raves about this one! Can’t wait to steep it again :)

Ugh it happened to me! Steepster just malfunctioned and I lost my entire review I spent all morning typing up for this one! What a bummer.

This morning when I woke up I decided I’d spend the day listening to music, drinking tea, doing a face masque, curling my hair, and just spending some time with myself without the TV on. The rats had big plans for the day when they woke up too – peering at me with their sparkling eyes through their cage door like “mom we want to enjoy the day with you!” So now I’ve got all four of my little monsters running around on the couch begging for sips of tea. Thank goodness for black tea!

And what an interesting way to start the day out. This tea has such rave reviews on here! I’ve still been using my gaiwan faithfully. I wonder if the magic will wear off eventually?

This tea is rich, creamy, and deliciously sweet. I can see why this is a popular tea. It reminds me a lot of honey. With each steep the liquor turns a darker gold color and the leaves are unfurling with a curly madness. I adore the way these leaves look dry and damp. This is a very pleasant way to start the day.

Oh, and in case you were wondering the rats give Laoshan Black tea two paws up!

http://flic.kr/p/dtv82z -— Fintan and Derby enjoying some tea
http://flic.kr/p/dtAEsC -— Fievel giving a lick of approval!

_{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.

Experience buying from Verdant Tea http://steepster.com/places/2886-verdant-tea-online-minneapolis-minnesota

Age of leaf: Stated as harvested in autumn 2011; I received this sample of tea in late autumn and brewed it up not long after.

Appearance and aroma of dry leaf: Tiny, tightly-curled, wiry, dark-brown (almost black) leaves and buds, very similar in shape to the early summer Laoshan green. It smelled incredible: it reminded me of a few Wuyi Oolong teas I have had—which I guess I would characterize as roasted—but somehow better (possibly sweeter).

Brewing guidelines ~4 tsp = 4 cups water. Glass Bodum pot used with with leaves floating freely (I acknowledge that this particular thin glass pot is probably not the best to use for a black tea, due to it not holding the heat very well from more than a couple of minutes, but I wanted to watch the leaves brew and be able to see the color—which I really enjoy doing, especially the first time I brew up the tea). Stevia added.
……….1st: boiling, and slightly warmed pot, 2’ (I ended up only using 2.5 cups for the first steeping)
……….2nd: boiling, and warmed pot, 3.5’
……….3rd: boiling, and very warmed pot, 5’
……….4th: boiling, and if possible, even more warmed pot, 7’

Color and aroma of tea liquor: dark brown; < later on the aroma >

Flavor of tea liquor: Oh … my … goodness; when I first tried it, the taste—as with the aroma of the leaves—reminded me vaguely of a Wuyi oolong, but once I really started to savor this tea I realized that it tasted like nothing I have had before. I admit that I still feel like a child when it comes to discerning the various flavors and aromas in a tea, but amongst all the other flavors in here, I think there is some caramel (I really enjoy any kind of caramel flavor in my black tea). The leaves held up very well through four steepings with great flavor, and no astringency—even after having been steeped over 7 minutes. Based on my notes below, I think this could have yielded flavor for up to at least five steepings; alas, I stopped at four and composted the leaves before I really took the time to taste the tea liquor.

Appearance and aroma of wet leaf: Very high quality: very few broken pieces, and very consistent color throughout; about the same aroma as the dry leaf, but possibly not as sweet smelling.

Value: expensive for me, based on my current budget, but still worth having on occasion; and great to give as a gift.

Overall: For various reasons, I generally enjoy drinking green teas, and I brew up a black tea on occasion. So far I have been VERY impressed with all of Verdant’s green teas, and I had an opportunity to try a sample of this black tea from Laoshan, the same village where most of Verdant’s green teas are harvested. Once I opened the package, and smelled, looked over, and tasted the liquor that I coaxed from the leaves it didn’t take long for me to be impressed with everything about this tea. It is the most unusual tasting black tea I have ever had (I don’t just value good flavor, I also value uniqueness). And yet, I was not certain whether or not to buy any (especially after dropping some $$$ on Teavana’s sale teas). But something finally tipped the balance. _{stay with me, if you can} On the evening of the day I brewed up this glorious tea I remember absentmindedly (that’s kind of an oxymoron, isn’t it?) reaching for my cup, sitting half-forgotten on the kitchen table (do any of the rest of you have various cups just sitting around with different kinds of tea in them, ones you didn’t get a chance to finish, and then simply pick one of them up later and sip at it to see what’s in there?). And then, whilst sitting at my computer, I took a sip and, WOW! I was amazed at the flavor! It was the forth steeping, and tepid to boot! So I thought, “If it still tastes good like that, this is a tea worth having around!” Then I found myself thinking, “You already have enough tea, you dope.” And then my next thought was, “Shame on you for even thinking of denying yourself something this incredible (and for calling yourself a dope)!” That is what tipped the balance, and why I decided to finally dip into my not-so-deep coffers and buy this tea (I think my better part won out, don’t you?); the fact that buying from David, and knowing where the tea comes from, is more more rewarding for me than buying from some-big-chain-tea-retailer-that-largely-makes-it’s-home-in-malls helped make the decision even easier. Hurray! For small farms, small online tea retailers, the He family, Verdant Tea, and great tasting tea!

PLEASE IGNORE THIS REVIEW AND READ THE ONE FOLLOWING IT. Thanks
I’m not going to rate this tea at the moment, but I drank it for the first time today and I must say that considering all the hype that it has gotten her, I’m quite disappointed. It’s a very good black tea, but I still think that Norbu’s Lao Cong Zi Ya is much tastier and much more interesting.
The dry tea is very attractive dark color, with long, twisted leaves that smell exactly, exactly like chocolate. The tea itself brews a to a golden amber fluid. The tea is slightly astringent, but not unpleasantly so, and tastes like grains to me rather than chocolate. There’s a spiciness in its aftertaste (pepper maybe?) and a woodsy taste to it in later brews, but most certainly not chocolate.
I think that it’s a very good tea, but I’m probably not going to give it 100. I’m going to give it a few more brews, just in case I’m missing something.

I really need to get a gaiwan. I think this every single time I try one of Verdant’s teas.

The smell of this dry….guh. It is a rich, dark scent – malt and cocoa, everything I love in a black tea. I only ordered a sample size of this but based on the smell alone I already know I will be ordering more. Once steeped, it is just as heavy on the cocoa – the smell is practically pouring out of my Breville and I want to figure out a way to bottle it, seriously.

As I pour the first steep into the cup, this loses some of the distinctive cocoa and turns a touch more roasted edamame. It also smells starchy, like slightly burnt toast, or the blackened ends of french fries. I was worried I oversteeped but really the texture is so smooth and buttery and not the least astringent that I’m fairly sure this is the way it’s meant to taste. And surprisingly, it works for now. Onto the second infusion!

This steep, at 6 minutes, is a lot lighter in body. The roasted bit is gone, replaced with honey and remnants of the cocoa from before. And then fresh baked (not burnt) bread. Almost like a brownie…oh my gosh this is so good! I love this steep even more than the first! It is beyond amazing.

Supposedly I can get two more steeps out of this so I’m definitely going to give it a shot, but it’ll have to be tomorrow for the sake of my bladder. I definitely see why this is rated so highly – absolutely fantastic.

This has decided me – I’ll get more of this and a gaiwan and live happily ever after. :)

Happy Hunger Ga…wait, I mean Happy New Year!

Some mornings I wake up knowing exactly which tea I’m going to make and some mornings I can’t decide. This morning, I thought I’d kick of the new year with the tea everyone on Steepster seems to adore. I picked up a sample of this when Verdant had their free shipping last week.

At first infusion, I’m tasting a smooth almost wheat-like flavor. It leaves a buttery feel on my tongue. Sadly, I’m not getting all the other notes Verdant lists on their site. We’ll see what the next couple infusions bring. Overall a good black tea to with which to start the year :) And may the odds be ever in your favor.

Update: Second infusion tastes much like the first. Going to set the leaves aside for later and brew up a different tea for now.

This is another sample (Thanks Verdant Tea!) I drank long ago. It was definitely a fantastic experience. I really love the leaves of this one. The aroma is simple and delectable, with scents of dark chocolate and honey. The small, twisted leaves shining with this midnight-blue sheen when in the light is eye candy. When wet, they gave off an aroma that was literally chocolate. Not even “like” chocolate. This was a milk chocolate with almonds Hershey’s bar ground up and placed in my gaiwan. Mmmmm! At this point the artful twisting of the leaves is very apparent. The twists were so fine that the leaves looked like pieces of yarn. I’m amazed by the skill and care of the He family farmers.

The resulting liquor smelled like pure tea and cocoa, and a bit like a high roast dan cong. So far, sooo good! The appearance was a light caramel, butterscotch color, which gradually turned darker with increased tones of amber as the steeping progressed. My first sip tasted a bit metallic, but it was soon forgotten with the flood of heavenly flavors. It was like drinking thick and creamy hot cocoa with milk and a chocolate syrup drizzle, with a few marshmallows plopped in for good measure. Underneath, tones of pure tea and caramel wafted through the nasal cavity after a sip. The next steep was headier, and a bit coarser in the mouthfeel; it matched perfectly with the introduction of oak wood and a gentle sprinkling of spices. It took me back to my Boy Scout days during winter camp, sitting by an oak wood fire drinking hot chocolate or chai after a long, cold day, reveling in the warmth that crept back into my fingers.

The steeps kept coming and coming as the body became further balanced and the mouthfeel increased in spiciness. The liquor became more malty, producing something smooth and creamy. The hot cocoa flavors gradually transformed into something reminding me of crispy chocolate chips, like when you leave chocolate chip cookies in the oven for a bit too long. Very yummy.

Further steeps tasted more or less the same, eventually fading out and losing strength past 10 or so steeps (I kind of lost count and stopped taking notes and just tried submerge myself in the lovely aromas and flavors). I absolutely love the depth and complexity of this tea. It sticks with a theme throughout every steep, doesn’t disappoint, and excites every sense.

Words can’t describe how much I love this tea, I don’t know if I’ve ever loved a black tea this much. I’ve had this tea for awhile and it’s taken me quite awhile to review it because when I drink it I usually forget everything and just enjoy it. It’s smooth and creamy and reminds me of every creme brulee I’ve ever had, but even more vanilla flavor. It’s so light for a black tea and yet it has a wonderful creaminess and heft. 2nd steeping increases the creaminess and I’m totally getting that whipped cream taste, I’m also getting sweet pea flavors as well. This tea is fantastic and I’m glad to see that everyone who has had it is also blown away by it. This will be a constant in my overflowing tea cabinet.

Not sure what I can say about this tea that hasn’t been said. As of this tasting note, there are 130 other tasting notes on this tea! Very impressive!
I think I prefer dark chocolate in tea form than actual chocolate. When it comes to chocolate I’m a milk chocolate person, but the dark chocolate taste in this tea is pretty wonderful. No wonder this tea is used as a base in Verdants alchemy blends.
The chocolate combines with a sweet potato-ish and bready aftertaste to make an exceptional tea. This is only the first steep and I’m sure I’m going to want (need?) more of this tea once my sample is gone!
Note: this is the summer 2012 harvest.

Wow. There are a lot of reviews already. Guess I might has well throw my hat into the mix.

First cup, Steep 2.5 minutes.
In David’s notes on the Verdant website, he describes many of his teas as having a sparkling flavor. This is something that I am still trying to uncover myself, but I think that I have caught a glimpse of it with this tea. The mocha and marshmallow notes are so powerful that they really do have a quality reminiscent of bubbles bursting over your tongue and fizzing up into your nose. It is not overwhelming, however, as many flavored blends can be. These flavors remain neatly packaged within the savor of the tea leaves (because let’s be honest, the first flavor of most loose tea is still usually, ahem, tea.)

Well after you finish your cup, the aftertaste of cinnamon and almond will continue to hang on. It is wild how naturally sweet this tea is – no sugar necessary! The end of the cup yields some oak flavor as well. Another thing that I like about this tea is the durability. After you pour the water off from the first steep, you can definitely see that the leaves are still tightly wound, ready for at least two more infusions.

Second cup, Steep 3.5 minutes.
Again, this tea does not disappoint. Make sure you don’t let the leaves sit for too long before making another cup. The less time you wait between infusions, the stronger the tea will remain.

Other tasting notes: Pumpkin, honey, black walnut, fig

This is a truely remarkable tea. There is absolutely no bitterness to speak of. It tastes more like a oolong than a black, but with a stronger flavor and aroma. It reminds me of Big Red Robe, and other Wuyi mountain oolongs. There is also a slight bean flavor. It’s like roasted soy nuts, only without the bitterness. Could it be from the fertilizer? One of my biggest complaints with oolong is that it’s flavor is a little too light, for my tastes. This tea is a perfect alternative for anybody seeking a stronger flavor and aroma, but without the typical bitterness found in other black teas. It combines the best of both worlds, and would be an excellent way to begin any day.

I steeped this tasty tea four times, and every one was good. The flavor profile given by Verdant is quite apt. A tsp of tea in a 3 oz glass teapot. Never bitter or astringent, just a comforting goodness, as flavors evolve with each steep. Maybe the comfort comes from how dependable it feels. A bit of green bean taste … seems so nourishing. Left me with a fine mellow energy. Thanks, Verdant Tea.

Oh no! Do I have a new favorite? My beloved jing tea Dan Cong red tea is expensive enough and this one edges above it in price, although admittedly not by much when you factor shipping cost.

I didn’t want to love this at this price, but with reviews like this, I couldn’t NOT try it. I can’t describe the complexity well, but never mind, because I do love it. The first brew, I get something like tobacco leaves, mild chocolate and roast chestnuts. The second brew is actually even better, which I can’t think of another tea that I can say that about. It brings in higher notes, raisin? cinnamon? caramel? I really, really can’t say. But I will happily continue to try to figure it out. The third brew is fine too, though I accidentally left it for an hour and it was just warm, so I don’t want to say too much about that one. This is superb, excellent and totally worth it. This tea is rocking my world and I don’t say that lightly.

I am pretty sure I got this generous sample from Azzrian. Thank you so much, this Laoshan tea has intrigued me since I first heard of it!

I think I oversweetened it. I always throw two Splenda into the infuser basket before I even measure out the tea. I don’t think this tea needs that much sweetener. Basically, what I got was smooth, overly sweet, and an aftertaste of mini wheats. I calls ’em like I sees ’em. LOL

I will try this again with one sweetener, and might re-rate it then.

New experiences all around here; first Verdant Tea sample, first Laoshan tea, first Chinese black tea. As a lover of all things strong, assam, and black, this was a daring experiment. My unease deepened when I saw the greenish undertones of the liquor.

Then, to complete the ominous runup to the experience, I forgot it was steeping and left it sitting there for a half an hour until half-cold. Reluctant to waste tea, I took a sip, expecting something along the lines of bitter hay. It wasn’t wonderful, but it was drinkable.

The second steeping went better; I only forgot about it for ten minutes or so. Sweetened with 3 raw sugar cubes and 5 drops of stevia, the cup had delicious malt and caramel notes. It’s un-killably smooth. The “stomach feel” is something between green and black tea, and like green tea I find myself drinking large amounts of it fast.

Back to the water boiler for a third attempt at actually making it right. 4 raw sugar cubes, no stevia. Still, that amazingly smooth, light-yet full-bodied caramel flavor. This tea must be further explored when I’m not so distracted with packing my jewelry orders.