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It’s been a while since I’ve dedicated a day to a Verdant tea and I’ve built up quite a number of them. I pulled this one out at random. I don’t have my gongfu on me but the shifty measuring glass, strainer, and tea cup method usually work just as well! I’ll add to this throughout the day.

I poured the whole sample package into the palm of my hand and got floral, peanut butter. The first/rinse cup tastes a little greener and savory but is no less creamy. There’s a hint of spicy green tanginess at the finish. It compliments this extremely processed and watery chimichanga that I’m eating right now. I think the oolong may have more pepper to it. I should make my own chimichanga or burrito in the future.

Second Steep, 7 seconds: This smells more buttery and sweet. The peppercorn is increased here and is now prevalently lingers. It’ also has a tangy red sweetness to it that’s very rich and taunts the boundary between fruity and vegetal. The effect makes me feel deceivingly full, like eating a well varied meal.

First cup of the day and it’s a herbal. The liquor is a pinkish red and it smells like citrus laced red berry jam, or strawberry rhubarb pie. Hot, it tastes jam sweet, with a smooth, floral rose bridge, and a tart hibiscus/citrus finish. I’m liking this a lot more than I though I would, particularly for the citrus, but it’s not going to win over those wary of hibiscus. It’s also not distinctly strawberry at this stage.

I’m going to put the rest in the fridge and revisit this note later. This tastes like it would be just the thing iced or cooled.

Update cold cup- now it’s cold and I’m getting the sour and citric lemonade aspect from it. When it comes to teas I’m not a sweetener person, but this is unsweetened lemonade and would probably taste great with some syrup or agave. The flavours are still more berry citrus hibiscus than strawberry but it’s an enjoyable, refreshing cup. I think I prefer it hot though, for the pie jam.

I tried to take of a sip of this after eating a bag of frozen blueberries and it was just bitter and awful; I thought I had wrecked this tea sample and would have to dump it. Luckily it was just the contrast of the blueberry sweetness, and rinsing my mouth helped. Yay for half blunders and commonsense! Lesson learned: never eat something sweeter than the thing you are drinking.

Ceylon is a very cutting, bright base as is apparent here. Not my favourite, and I was expecting something smokier, but this cooled off cup does yield a pleasant caramel apple flavour that I enjoy. The Ceylon makes the apple a tart green one but the cinnamon and sweetness rounds it out a bit. It’s actually a little bit like the baked, cinnamon, brown sugar apples my mom would make for dessert every once in a while.

So, not much bonfire from this one, except for a little cinnamon spice. The Toffee caramel is there though, and that’s the important part (for me). Thanks for the sample, Bluebird Tea Co.

I have a lot of these flowering teas; a whole sample bag full, actually. They boggle my mind a bit and I don’t really know how to describe them. Most seem to be gentle, floral, and jasmine infused, and that’s about it.

This one a bit different from those because the vegetal, grassy tea really comes through strong here. It’s not unpleasant or bitter, and couples nicely with the overall nuttiness of the cup. The smell is in-your-face cut grass but the whole thing still manages to taste delicate and light in it’s own way. It’s a little astringent in a drying way.

The instructions for most of these flowering teas say to pour boiling water on the ball to let it unfurl, but once it’s done that I think it’s best to treat it like a typical green if your attempting a second steep. These guys seem to be two-faced between drooping petals and razor talons.

The liquor is a light pinky amber and the flavour is as soft like nibbling on a flower. It doesn’t taste like much at first but then the floral honey sweetness creeps in. I barely taste the tea in this one. It’s mostly amaranth and subtle, but sweet, jasmine. It’s a delicate tea. It got a little sour as it cooled.

I have forgotten how much I love Silver Needle. The subtle floral notes, the juicy sweet finish, the hints of melon and cucumber, the fuzzy little leaves that I want to stuff my pillow with, etc, etc. Yep. I love this kind of tea very much. It’s like embracing your newly cleaned, warm, fuzzy blanket that you’ve had forever right after it comes out from the dryer. Best thing in the world. Pure contemplative comfort.

The flavours are gentle but they are also rich and intoxicating for what they are; this tea actually has a tendency to make my head spin if I drink too much of it. Big overload on crisp, floral sweetness and I’ve only had a few sips. This is the good stuff and reminds me why I love tea so much.

Second steep has sweet citrus notes and it’s creamy, like lemon and butter with a touch of honey.

Third steep tastes like first steep except it’s peppery!

Just rediscovered TV Tropes. And the sun. It’s a wonderful sunny day in the lower mainland- a perfect day to study for finals inside.

I was worried about this one since it mentioned hibiscus. That particular ingredient tends to overwhelm certain teas for me and, while I don’t dislike tart hibby I do get bored of it quickly. It doesn’t take center stage here, thankfully. It shares the spotlight with the pepper zing, lime, and other fruity notes, much like a well prepared spicy sweet and sour soup manages to balance itself out and keep things afloat.

It’s fruity, floral, spicy, and sour… pretty much everything except bitter and salty. The cup is a fresh, clean-tasting tea, without the mouth-drying puckering that’s usually associated with some of the more citric ingredients included here. A big thanks to Bluebird Tea co. for sending this my way!

I didn’t get a chance to drink much of this sample that Bluebird Tea Co. provided, but what I did taste was right up to par with other chocolate mint rooibos blends I’ve tried. I got sweet peppermint, then rooibos, with a little chocolate mixing throughout. My mother stole the rest of the mug, and she told me “it was delicious” while sipping away, so there’s that recommendation! :)

Edit: upon finishing the cup my mother stated again that it was “a very delicious tea” and asked me if I had more hidden anywhere. Definitely a big fan.

This sample is from a swap with Mitch.

I mixed this up with some cold milk and it made a pretty fine “not quite hot chocolate” beverage. Teavana tends to be a bit of miss with me but this tastes like my favourite Himalayan pink salt chocolates in liquid, low fat form. It’s got a chocolatey, gooey center and salted exterior that lingers. This isn’t something I’d order for myself (I’d rather eat all of the listed ingredients outright), but I’m quite happy to drink it here. The last bit of this is going to become a proper latte.

I was planning to drink the rest of this and write a note earlier in the day but life got ahead of me. I managed to pay a visit to my grandfather in the hospital with my mother, as well as see my grandmother and my silly lovebird whom she is pet-sitting. I’m so grateful that everyone lives close by!

Anyways, I picked this tea to be one of those neat little samples that Butiki provides. Initially, I tried comparing this to Cantaloupe & Cream to figure out which one I would “keep” but I can’t make up my mind. Cantaloupe, Watermelon, White Peony, Silver Needle- can I have them all?

This tea smells and tastes like the juiciest, sweetest piece of watermelon on the plate. There is a prevailing honey-sweet aftertaste that is tricking my mind a little bit right now. Maybe it’s because I’m drowsy that I’m wondering if I swallowed all of the watermelon seeds.

I love how this tea is refreshing and cool despite the warm temperature of the actual cup. The back story behind the tea’s name and the music clip included on the blog are cute too.