333 Tasting Notes
This is the special one. I told myself I would save it for last out of this batch, and I did…I’m just reviewing it second-to-last, since I haven’t had a satisfactory experience with one of the other teas yet.
Dry leaf: long and fuzzy, bright golden in color.
Dry aroma: smells like…tea? That’s the best I can describe it. Not floral, not like any particular food or other recognizable item…just like a very pure, clean tea.
1st steep: light golden color. With each infusion I could see a cloud of yellow emanate from the leaves into the water. The sweetness of this cup is like dissolved rock sugar. The predominant flavor is surprising—it reminds me of a family favorite in the summer, pumpkin porridge. Made with the kind of pumpkin that’s small and green on the outside, stewed gently until it’s falling apart. It’s mellow and delightful and made of the color orange, and that is exactly what this tea tastes like.
2nd steep: even sweeter, didn’t enjoy as much. I might be having a preparation issue with bringing out too much sweetness, as I mentioned in my previous note.
3rd steep: finally less sweet, and richer with a hint of grains. This is a more “tea-like” infusion; it has that inherent fragrance like a good English-styled black tea. It’s almost like a breakfast blend without the blend, with fleeting floral-like notes adding to that illusion.
Concluding remarks: not sure yet, this is good but I can probably make it better. Definitely a sunny-afternoon kind of tea.
[no rating yet]
My taste buds might be a little fatigued by all the roasty oolongs and black teas I’ve been drinking recently, they’re all starting to taste just a little too similar. So this tea happens to be a wonderful palette cleanser. For an oolong, it’s very green, and it does have that little bit of astringency to it, but in this case it’s not a negative attribute. In the afternoon it’s downright refreshing.
Steeped in a mug Western style. Along with the greeness, this tea is full of the baked-treats goodness I remember from before. It’s very hard to tell from the first steep that it was even blended or flavored with other ingredients, as the overall effect is just so naturally harmonious. Only in the second cup are the citrus notes evident, and it ends up like a creamy lemon meringue pie. Pleasantly surprised, since previously I could only get this from cold brewing.
By the way, any ideas on how to brew oolong/black tea less sweet? Every cup I’ve made with my Verdants in the last few days tasted like it had too much fruit juice in it, whether I’ve tried to make it gongfu style or used Western proportions. The only thing I changed recently is that I started using a larger kettle so that I would have enough water to rinse and do a few infusions. Previously I had a tiny, single-serving kettle that was…cute but not ideal. Due to design issues, I had to watch the small kettle like a hawk, usually stopping it around 160-180F, but I let the large kettle come to a full boil and often wander away in the meantime. That’s all I can think of.
Another new tea from the recent order. The dry leaves were spindly and didn’t smell like much, but as my previous experience with the Yu Lu Yan Cha suggested, the dry aroma of this batch of spring teas gives no indication of what they are like.
The rinse gave off a sudden burst of strong aroma reminding me of tropical fruit, in particular green guava. I hadn’t paid much attention to anything happening in rinses in the past, but this had me intrigued. (I didn’t drink it…)
First steep had a pink champagne color, and a rich, fruity-sweet fragrance. The taste was definitely honey. Nothing subtle about it, this was so sweet it could make your teeth hurt, and syrupy smooth. There was also a hint of grapefruit and a slight breadiness.
Second steep was a darker amber, and completely different in flavor and aroma. This was much less fruity, with almost no hint of honey, the sweetness fading to the background as an afterthought (or rather an anti-bitterness). The notes are predominantly incense (though in my opinion not exactly sandalwood), spice and floral. It becomes a darker and much more complex cup.
It’s getting quite late so I will play with this more some other time…sleep is more important.
First of the teas I ordered from Verdant’s spring selection. I tried this one with a Western-styled steep first, and didn’t have much to say about it. The flavors were mild but indistinct, and slightly musty. So I sat myself down this afternoon for some experimental, gongfu-esque short infusions. I say -esque because I don’t have much experience with gongfu brewing, but fortunately it went pretty well.
First infusion: 5 seconds. The liquor is a light golden color. Very smooth with a faint honey-like sweetness and a light touch of cocoa.
Second infusion: 20 seconds. The liquor is amber in color. The chocolate is fully present in this infusion. The overall flavor is very roasty, one feels it “under the tongue”, if that makes any sense.
Third infusion: 45 seconds. Darker amber color, with the chocolate still very much present. There’s a new sort of sweetness to it. I’ve tried adding maple syrup to some other black teas recently, and this infusion reminds me of that kind of fragrant, woodsy, smoothly sweet flavor.
Fourth infusion: 2 minutes. Now much smokier, with a dark, bittersweet chocolate undertone.
There was no mustiness or astringency in any of these infusions, and most of them also had an underlying note of raw brown sugar.
While I don’t often have the patience to brew with multiple short infusions, it seems necessary for this tea. Instead of being a morning tea at work as I’d hoped, it will have to be saved for weekend afternoons. But I’m glad it’s enjoyable enough to make the extra effort worth it.
I had enough of this left over to give it a second chance (and third chance, honestly), and I recalled seeing someone on this site add maple syrup to a souchong, so I thought, why not?
Turns out maple syrup does improve it by a whole other dimension. Sweet + aromatic is a good combination. This is more like a breakfast tea preparation now, but souchong is a strange creature anyway…(I still don’t understand why Wikipedia has it as “regarded as tea for Westerners in China”, that’s a little drastic, don’t you think? Anyway, I know plenty of family and friends in China who enjoy it…)
Sample from my recent order. The year wasn’t labelled on the package, so I’m categorizing it as this year’s for now. It does look and smell fresh, with a distinct floral fragrance. I know Verdant has described a completely different tea as “mi lan xiang” (Aglaia odorata fragrance), but this one really fits that description as well. I often find this fragrance in other Anxi Tie Guan Yins too.
The tea liquor is pale in color, with a crisp, light taste. The floral notes are very much intact. This is the “greenest” Tie Guan Yin I’ve ever had, and it does go to the head a little bit. A very delicate spring tea that is probably best enjoyed in moderation.
Steepster sample 4 of 4
This one has an intensely smoky aroma that leans warm. Compared to the other Xiao Zhong (Souchong) I have from Verdant, the scent is heartier and less sharp, and I can definitely see where comparisons to smoked bacon would come from. The leaves in this one are smaller and less twisted, and the liquor brews out to a darker amber color.
The taste, unfortunately, leaves a little to be desired. If someone literally steeped a block of smoked pinewood in hot water, this is what it would taste like. Fragrant, and not offensive, but one of the things I enjoy most in smoked or roasty teas is how they should evolve upon brewing. If it tastes exactly the same as it smells, there’s little surprise—and the ingredients or processes that created the aroma are more dominant than the tea. The natural sweetness of this tea doesn’t come out until it has cooled substantially.
I can’t say this tea tastes unpleasant, but there are much better of its kind. I’ll mess around with the preparation a bit to see if I can enjoy it more.
Verdant orders are here! I’ll try to save the one I was most curious about (Golden Fleece) for last. It will be a test of self-control, haha.
The Holy Basil Spa Blend was originally something I added to my order to bump it above the free shipping line. I’m not big into herbal teas, but this blend sounded unique and interesting. Visually it’s quite pleasing, being a blend of many different colors and shapes of leaves. The dry tea has a bright mint aroma, which once brewed reveals many other herbal notes in the background. I’m not knowledgeable enough to identify what they all are, but the overall effect is almost vegetable-stock-like, in a good way.
The flavor of the tea is minty but not sharp, the mint being balanced out by all the other ingredients. The overall effect is cooling and slightly sweet. Very refreshing and calming, especially at the end of a long day. While I don’t have anything similar to compare it to and therefore won’t rate it for now, I do think this will become a staple evening tea, and something to try iced as well.
Steepster sample 3 of 4
This tastes exactly, and I mean exactly, like the unnamed Shui Xian I had logged a while back. Even the dried leaves look very similar. Which makes sense, since they are both Wuyi oolongs. And it’s definitely a good thing, because it’s wonderfully roasty and substantial, fragrant with a lingering sweetness. I hadn’t thought to describe those flavors as caramelized sugar before, though, and that seems to be what most users are tasting. At any rate, now I know where to find more of an old favorite, or at least something very much like it!
Steepster sample 2 of 4
My first thought on opening the package: it’s cute! Something about all the toasted rice and little clouds of popped rice, and the matcha coloring everything green, just looks cheerful. Because of the matcha, I brewed in a transparent glass to see the green color, which did not disappoint.
This tea tastes just like it should—toasty and delicious like a rice snack. It does smell a bit like nori (dried seaweed). I was concerned by all the seaweed comments by other users at first, because for some reason my mind immediately went to…fresh kelp or something. But fortunately the actual aroma is quite pleasant.
