Golden Fleece

I finally opened this one today, I have been saving it for some precious uninterrupted time alone or for guests. Well the guests came first ;) I finally had a tea date with one of my former co-workers Michelle, we’ve been meaning to get together for forever and I’m so glad we made the time for it! I had selected a number of teas for her to chose from for after lunch, we went with Peacock Village Shu for after the cous-cous then after five or six infusions, she suggested we try the one I hadn’t had, just the motivation I needed!. I decided against a rinse, feeling all the infusions on this would be very special and I didn’t want to waste a drop.

Oh my this was incredibly silky, like mushroom or eggdrop soup minus the spice and bits of things. Very delicate and airy and so unlike any black tea I’ve ever had. The second and third infusions brought new mouth feel, tingling at the sides then the tip of the tongue and toward the bottom of the cup a cool sensation at the center, reminding me of powdered sugar or camphor, the ghosts of cinnamon and honey came to visit as well. We found our selves oooing and ahhing after sips, mid-conversation as new sensations occurred in our mouths.

We enjoyed five infusions before she had to leave for an appointment and I have started reinfusing again. I think I could have used a bit more leaf but it is lovely. I sent her off with a toucha each of Cornfields Shu and Chicago Tea Garden’s Sticky Rice Pu’erh as well as my last single serving packet of Teavirve’s Bailin Gongfu to enjoy at home. Next tea date we shall get to the Taiwanese Orchid Oolong and perhaps some Yabao.

My non-Steepster tea bestie mentioned drinking this all the time lately and it reminded me to do the same! So wonderful. I know Golden Monkey is more popular among tea connoisseurs usually but I love the honey and flowers and relative thickness of a Golden Needle. Right now I’m tempted to say it’s my favorite Chinese black tea!

Also had a surprise today—R adores this one too! He pretty much never drinks unflavored teas but he couldn’t get enough of this one and listened when I explained tippiness/buds to him. He’s so great.

I had held off on drinking my last bit of this, knowing that it is no longer available. Finally, I couldn’t wait anymore and I finished it off yesterday. This really is a fabulous black tea. If I had to pick just one tea to keep on hand at all times, this would be it. Unfortunately that won’t be possible. I have some other wonderful black teas, but this is the best! I’ll always be looking out for something similar to come along. (Maybe David will get some more on this trip to China!)

This is is back in stock in Verdant’s, but it’ll probably be out of stock pretty soon, if the past is any indicator of things.
Anyway, I’m dead tired, with a splitting headache, after a pretty useless “Risk Management” seminar at work. Tomorrow the next semester starts, and I still have papers to hand in, books to read, etc, etc.
Anyway, trying to keep a positive perspective on things, so I made this cup of tea as a much needed pick me up. My version of chocolate or Haagen Daz.
It, as usual, did the trick. They headache has subsided, and I can feel myself decompressing. Everyone should have a tea like this (or even better – this tea!) in their cupboard.
What’s your pick-me-up favorite?

This morning, I am enjoying the last little crumb of this tea, that I received from Sil
One of these days I am going to just have to break down and order from Verdant.
This tea makes me want to bake something.
It smells a little like bread baking. (one of my favorite smells in the world)
There is a sweetness to the smell and taste that reminds me of brown sugar.
Then at the back of the throat I get a tinge of clove.
Very lovely tea for any time of the day.
I have throughly enjoyed it, Thank you Sil for sharing:)

When I first received this tea I was actually heading out the door to do errands or golf. I do not remember nor is it important. I hastily tore into the package and smelled the aroma. I knew it was special. So I put some of the leaf into my tiny Celestial Seasons Sleepytime tin and figured there would be hot water somewhere. Still not conquering my haste I decided to sample the dry leaf between my cheek and gum. It was utterly intoxicating. My first brewing of the tea was done according to the video of David on Verdants site. Everything about this tea is true. Truly sublime.
I began to feel sick later that week and really could not stomach anything. Even tea. Even Golden Fleece. I know many of you read about my hospital stay with Ehrlichiosis so I will fast-forward to now….
As you all know I love to cold-brew. I took a tiny jar that held YS Eco Bee Farms Antioxidant Power Honey and gave it a 4 day steep. Words cannot do this golden nectar justice. I do not want to start rambling about the present here and now which is where this tea shines. This a very special tea leaf….

So, after all the hype I was a little nervous to try this one.

I tried the initial 3-5 second recommended steeping and it tasted like water. Now I was wary of being disappointed. I put the infuser basket back in and tried another 10 seconds. Hm. Nothing much more than before. So I let it go for a full 2 minutes then let it cool down a bit to a comfortable drinking temperature.

It is indeed a wonderful tea. A sweetish, maltish, smooth tea. I am not good usually at picking out individual notes and this tea is no exception. Though from reading other reviews that seems like a feature in this tea – that it all goes together so seamlessly that it is hard to discern separate notes. After that first full cup the wet leaves smelled amazing and strongly of fermentation – sweet and yeasty and malty.

I’ve done 4 cups so far and I think probably because I have to steep it so long I don’t think I’ll get many more. I could be wrong, though. :) I will say that the first cup so far has been the best.

I would happily keep this in my cupboard but it’s a bit on the expensive side compared to other, similar teas that I enjoy as much or more.

Another Verdant Tea that I will definitely have to bulk up on. I absolutely love everything about this tea. I drank it over and over today. I lost count of the steeps because i kept it in my tea press travel mug and just kept filling it back up during the day as I ran errands and adventured in Morro Bay with my boyfriend and roommate. The first steep this morning at home in my tribal print mug was thick. It threw me off, but the all spice notes I picked up right away and then the honey notes peeked through. This was a very full tea. The second steeping I picked up the cinnamon and clove. I love love love it. This tea was a spicy on but a spice that I could tolerate seeing as I fell in love with this one!!!! Its a very comforting tea. Its like drinking an image of being wrapped up in a warm fuzzy blanket relaxing by a fire or overlooking scenery from a mountain top cabin. :)

Dry Leaf – Sweet bread, sugary.
Wet Leaf – Raw sugar, cinnamon and vanilla scents.

1st Steep – Sugary clean taste with vanilla scent smooth and clean feeling. There is a molasses/raw sugar taste with hints of spices.

2nd Steep – Sweet vanilla, molasses/raw sugar scent. The molasses becomes more apparent as does the vanilla flavor (like vanilla bean), hints of spiciness that I can’t yet identify clearly. Clean fresh feeling.

3rd Steep – Leaves smell like caramel an molasses/raw/brown sugar. Its sweetness is still apparent with the tanginess of molasses; the spiciness comes back and then cleans away into that freshness. My cup smells like raw sugar and cooked cinnamon.

4th Steep – Slight sweetness with apparent cinnamon/clove taste, incredibly smooth for and clean feeling. Some clove aftertaste that cleans away.

5th Steep – Some of the sweetness fades and the spice notes become more apparent to the taste. I got a hint of the ‘morel’, a slight earthiness that can also be found in the clove and vanilla (if you eat from the bean).

I made several other steeps; to me they kept that slight sweetness but the spice notes and slight earthiness/woodiness of the spices or perhaps mushroom like were more evident.

One thing I’ve noticed about Golden Fleece – due to its spicyness it is a perfect complement to lunch:) While I mostly drink other teas more or less as a standalone, this one is just great with some spicy pasta :)