Xingyang Chrysanthemum Pu'er

I enjoy this as a relaxing brew,

but lately we have no groceries, out of seasoning salt and soya sauce – all we have is rice! So I made up some rice with this tea, it’s amazing. I added a pinch of salt and a pat of butter. It’s creamy, nutty and full of flavour. Win!

I got this in the mail today with other teas I ordered, some new and some replenishing favorites. I opened all my tea packets and sniffed each in turn trying to figure out which one I wanted to drink this evening. I ended up picking this one out of the bunch.

It smells like winter. There is no other way to really explain it other than winter. Maybe it’s the juniper berries? But it’s been cold out and rained a little and I think there was some sleet in the mix too, but it was cold and this called out to me.

Western-style this brews a rich, dark almost murky reddish brown color. I can smell mostly the juniper berries, but there’s also the underlying musky earthy richness of the puerh. This tastes good, the flavors blend seamlessly. The coriander brings out the natural sweet cinnamon of the puerh. The tulsi and juniper add to the earthy muskiness. The chrysanthemum brings out the hint of floral and add depth to the earthiness of the tea. I can still taste sweet caramel and raisin from the puerh through all the added notes.

It sounds like a lot but it all does well together, they play nice together. No one note overrides the others. Even though I brewed this western style I’m still getting a lot of steepings out of this. Granted it’s not 10 or more, but I’m at 7 and the flavor is starting to fade and get weaker, so, I’ll probably stop after this one. But it still holds up well western-style.

I have noticed that in the 6-7 steepings that the coriander starts to stand out more and it reminds me of Old Bay spice for seafood. I found that odd and interesting. Even with that weird anomaly, I like this tea. If there are teas that just seems like they’re great for winter, this is definitely one of them.

This is the first time I’ve had a tea with Chrysanthemum flowers.
We the people (customers) voted on what blend we wanted and this was the winner. I think that process was fun.
I only know of a couple of tea companies that actively consult their customers when making such a choice and I would like to see more companies follow suit.

Today, I’m helping an instructor in Washington State demo Google+ video chat for some business people. It’s amazing what I can get myself involved in without leaving my condo. First, I need my anti-headache remedy! Pu’er!

I brewed a pot of this Alchemy Blend,with Pu’er in it,(I’m not going to spell the name out every time) Western Style.

The first impression was that it’s spicy. I like Coriander and think of it as sweet but I didn’t think it as so spicy. I’m sure there must have been some spice coming from the Pu’er also. The heat and bite of cinnamon was too much for Coriander alone.

There was a pop of tanginess from the Juniper Berries that tweaked my tastebuds then smoothed out when the Burdock and Chrysanthemum stepped in as mellowing agents. The Chrysanthemum added some sweetness as did the Holy Basil.

The Holy Basil was something I didn’t taste at all until the tea cooled. Then, I could taste it as a sweet mellow herbal mint, not as mint with a strong bite to it.

I’m not fond of the smell of the tea liquor. It smells a bit odd.
Adding sweetening improved the taste for me too.

I’m usually very pleased with all the Verdant Pu’er Blends, but this one wasn’t one that I enjoyed as much as others. (Personal taste not the fault of any ingredient.) The Pu’er did seem to be overshadowed though.

I was dubious about this when I first smelled the dry leaf, but the taste is actually rather amazing. Verdant’s pu’er blends are really bringing me around. The smell is mostly spice (edit: no elderberries, just juniper, coriander, and holy basil); a bit strange on it’s own, but the flavor of the brewed pu’er really brings it together. That earthy sweetness unites everything. It tastes like coming in from the cold – sweet air from outside, with woodsmoke and spice and warmth inside. This will be lovely to have on hand as the weather gets colder.

I’ve steeped 4 times so far and expect several more.

3g leaf, 4oz water

A few weeks ago there was a discussion board talking about Tea of the Month Groups. I had looked into a few at the time, & am continuing to look into them. Some sound more interesting than others to me, & I tend to be a little leery of joining a group that is going to send me some ‘surprise’ that I might not want (even though it might make good tea trade currency). I don’t usually drink a lot of flavored teas, for instance (although I’ve really pushed the edge on that a little lately), so I wouldn’t really want to receive a lot of teas of that nature. I did join the Verdant Tea of the Month, however, as I know that his blends are real things, not a bunch of supposedly natural flavorings.

This is the 3rd selection from the Verdant Tea of the Month offerings for October. I’ve reviewed the other 2 selections already. For those who don’t read the discussion boards, David gave us the opportunity to vote between this brew & another. This is the one I wanted! I’ve always enjoyed chrysanthemum flowers as a tisane, especially in the late afternoon while I prepare dinner. It has a bright & refreshing, slightly floral & mineral taste, & it’s also great for sore throats & fever. I’ll usually drink it plain, but sometimes I’ll add a little stevia, & I like it that way too. Chrysanthemum is considered one of the 4 Gentlemen of Chinese art: The orchid for spring, Bamboo for summer, Chrysanthemum for Fall, & the Plum Blossom for Winter. These are used to illustrate the unfolding of the seasons throughout the year. In my mind that makes it even more significant that David chose Chrysanthemum for this Fall blend.

The Xingyang 2007 Shu is a wonderful base for this tea: earthy, sweet, mildly ‘shroomy, with the warmth of fresh baked muffins. The Chrysanthemum brightens it up & adds a cooling factor, but then the coriander brings in a little more warmth. There’s a little burdock in there, which I love, with it’s tendency to bring us back down to earth, and a little Holy Basil adding a little more brightness & optimism.

I brewed this several different ways over the weekend. First, with my Gaiwan, going through several steepings, in tandem with the other 2 tea of the months, so I could compare them side by side & get the full impact of the pairings. Today I just made 2 cups: the first was 2 tsp of tea in 8oz water, steeped 2 minutes, unsweetened. The 2nd was a re-steeping, 3 minutes, plus stevia. I thoroughly enjoyed both! I love this combo! I feel warm & cozy!

To me, this tea is saying, “Winter is coming, prepare to go within.” This is the time of year when I want to turn my focus inward, re-connect with my roots, & get ready to hibernate. This is a tea for regaining balance, for looking within, for healing.

Thank you, David, & the Verdant team! Have a great trip to China!

Wow, this is an interesting one.

The most challenging part of this tea was trying to get an even distribution of the various elements into a single serving size. While all the heavy pu’er settled into the bottom of the pouch, the flowers, herbs, and spices sat on the top, so I think about a third of the chrysanthemum flowers in the pouch ended up into this serving, and not a whole lot of the actual tea, hah. I guess each serving of this tea will be a little different, just due to slightly different proportions of the ingredients.

I’ll have to give more detail on this when I’ve had more time to mull it over— it’s really a very intriguing and unique blend; my first impressions are that of… an herb-crusted steak, or a fragrant beef broth. Definite comfort brew, almost like a savory chai.

This is the least pu’er-tasting pu’er blend that I’ve tried (granted I haven’t had very many). I suppose I should start at the beginning! Trying to get all of the elements of this tea into my infuser was a bit of a challenge. The dried chrysanthemum kept tumbling in, followed by some stick like things and juniper berries, leaving behind the poor crumbly pu’er. Finally I just poured the contents of the sample packet into a bowl and picked each individual ingredient with a spoon. Not the easiest tea to brew, but I didn’t really mind. There is kind of an earthy scent to the dry tea, that blooms more as it brews. The chrysanthemum floral and juniper berries really are the star here, both in the scent of the brewed tea and in the taste. I can smell a hint of the earthy pu’er from the cup, and I definitely taste the undertones, but it’s not overpowering at all. In fact, I think the tea is quite balanced between all the elements. Second steeping was just as good as the first, and as I continued to re-steep it the chrysanthemum flavor was the first to dissipate but everything else remained for several steepings.