Gardens of Anxi

This is a very pretty tea, tightly rolled green balls with jasmine flowers ans little pieces of orange rind. It doesn’t smell much different than a regular tiequanyin. The extra pieces don’t seem to add much in smell.

Taste starts out floral, orchid and jasmine, but the jasmine is very soft like it’s part of the tea, like the orchid is, and not like a scented tea. There is the buttery texture with a rich mouth-feel lasting into the aftertaste. The orange rind adds a slight citrus note that compliments the floral and creamy notes quite well during the main sip. It also adds a bit of a sparkling quality on the tip of the tongue in the aftertaste. There is also an extra bit of sweetness to it, i might be from the saffron but that’s a wildcard for me.

The oolong is still very predominant and the extra add-ins compliment and enhance the tea.

I love Oolong!!!!!!
This is a really really good blend of superb Oolong and Jasmine.
Beautiful to look at, wonderful aromas, DELICIOUS flavors!

This is like falling in love with Verdant’s Tieguanyin all over again. It is the only blend in the alchemy line that I would believe is straight tea if someone handed me a cup and then I would swear up and down that it was the best tieguanyin I’d ever had. It is the perfect balance of floral, buttery, sweet, vegetal and umami. I got so far in my steeping with this that I even got a mint note with a second sweetness. Well done Verdant Tea!

After my previous tea I needed something I knew would be high quality and not over-flavored. I reached for this tea from Verdant Tea’s new Alchemy line because it seemed like it would likely fit the bill. The scent of the dried leaf seems to confirm that: the first thing I smell here is an herby green oolong with delicate floral notes over the top. The tea is chocablock full with jasmine buds and small chunks of orange peel, but the rolled up Tieguanyin leaves still predominate.

This one brewed up a pale greenish yellow, and the aroma has a base of buttery green notes along with a light sweet jasmine. First sip was still a little too hot for me, but I can tell it’s going to be good. Scratch that, this is going to be one of those teas that blows me out of the water. My first impression is that of a buttery jasmine caramel if that flavor combination makes any sense at all. The natural sweetness in this tea is amazing… it’s a light, smooth sweetness like sweet cream butter. Combined with this oolong, the jasmine takes on a totally different character than I’ve ever tried before—warm, rich, sugary, almost herby—but is somehow still distinctly identifiable as jasmine. The orange rind doesn’t really make itself known in the flavor, and I have a feeling that it, like the saffron, is just lending a supporting role to the other notes. As the tea cools it just gets sweeter and sweeter, playing up that buttery sweet jasmine flavor. A++ on this tea, David… it totally rocks!

The smell is oolongy and delicious. Not as much floral as I was expecting.

Taste-wise, I’m obviously getting lovely strong autumn tieguanyin floral flavours and butteriness, which just seem to be enhanced by the blending. Delicious. It really isn’t a blend that’s all that far off from the autumn tieguanyin, but just enough to make it different. I can’t specifically pick out jasmine, saffron, or citrus though (which is ok with me!)

Ohhh yes. Loving the oolongy aftertaste. Looooving.

Definitely curious to see what the second infusion will bring. Probably not tonight though, after looking at the time… (what can I say, I was in the lab until 1:30am!)

Thanks for the sample, Azzrian!

ETA: Ok, definitely tasting the orange in the second infusion! Actually, at a little over 3 minutes I feel it’s a touch oversteeped (at 94C this time). A bit of astringency coming out which is unnecessary. Definitely much less floral as well. (And again, the funky taste which confirms that yes, indeed, brushing your teeth half an hour before tea is a Bad Idea. Good thing it’s only an aftertaste.)

ETA again:
Mostly oolong in the third infusion, but I can get some floral notes that aren’t usually around in oolongs for me at this point. Still good. Mmmm!

This is a lovely, lovely tea that does exactly what the description promises. The additions complement and enhance the already fabulous base perfectly. I’m drinking this from my tea glass at work. I used cooler water than I would normally since the leaves wer left in. I’m shocked to have got to the bottom after a good 30-45 minutes with zero bitterness! Very rich, sweetly floral, and delicate but not timid!

Another sample from Indigobloom?. While this is a really lovely tea, I’m wondering if oolongs just aren’t my thing. I’m not getting the citrus notes in this one but I can taste the jasmine. the color is beautiful ( I’m so glad I bought the bodum glasses for drinking tea with at home) and its a nice relaxing cup of tea. I just don’t think I’d purchase it, but that’s more to do with oolongs than this being a bad tea.

Almost through my Verdant Alchemy blend adventure. I have been eyeing this on the site for a while now. Out of the 11 teas that I purchased last order I wanted to save this towards the last of my blends run. This is very very very good. Buttery and floral are the key words that jump out when you are drinking this. The orange highlights the buttery sweetness well. I am on my 4th steep and the orange is coming out a little more then before.

For an oolong girl this was a real treat.Great blend for sure!

I was so excited to try this. I love both oolong and jasmine, and I especially like it when there’s no added artificial flavoring. Well this tea did not let me down! The only sad thing is this tea is now discontinued. :( I have will have to restrain myself from hoarding what I have so it doesn’t go stale on me; I have a tendency to do that. “This is so good, I need to save it!” and then you wait forever to eat or use it and it’s not good anymore. :P Anyway, on to the tea:

The jasmine undertone is perfectly done here. It accents the oolong’s floral notes but never awkwardly overpowers, altho I can definitely taste it. I can’t, however , taste the other ingredients, but that’s okay. I like it! The oolong itself leaves a wonderful silky coating in the mouth.

When I was a little girl, my mother took me out to high tea for the first time, and I had a jasmine scented green tea. Since then, it has always been one of my favorite flavors of tea. This tea tastes like that, only, like, better by and exponent of ten. It smells like leaves after the rain (and jasmine), and the first thing you taste is the excellent oolong, then you get orange, and it has an intriguing aftertaste of saffron. One of my new favorites, I think!

I was super surprised by this! When I saw the flowers I was expecting something really flavored, but its not! It tastes so natural you really wouldn’t guess that it’s “augmented”

This tea is a clear indicator of how my taste in teas has changed over time. When I first tried this months ago, I wasn’t really into its herbal flavour, but now I absolutely love it! I’ve been drinking this almost every day before bed. Sure, it’s not decaf, but I find its silky texture and warm herb flavour really, really helpful as a sleepaid.

Looks: So very pretty! It’s got pieces of whole jasmine and chamomile flowers mixed with whole oolong leaves. I love the way it looks dried and brewed.

Fragrance & Taste: It’s hard to describe. Very silky in texture with an herbal minty flavour. Like sleeping in silk sheets..it’s refreshing and comforting at the same time!

Brewing Notes: This is so forgiving for me. I can easily get 5+ steeps out of this even with my giant mug. I start drinking it after dinner and continue until bed. This routine has helped me sleep better the last week!