144 Tasting Notes
Blleeehhhh noooo do not waaaannnttt
This totally reminds me of Splash, it must be the sea lettuce. I hope this doesn’t become like a “thing” for Davids. The dry leaves didn’t turn my stomach QUITE as much as Splash did, but the tea tastes much more sea lettucey/salty/weird. I was hoping the berries would kick in and be the star, but noo :(
It’s actually not SO bad until I get to the aftertaste and the sea lettuce taste just starts taking over everything and I’m like “nnooooooooo!! D:”
But yeah, sustainability = good, David Suzuki = good, sea lettuce tea = bad.
Oh well, not my thing!! What am I gonna do with the rest of my 25g bag??!
Edit: IT ALSO GAVE ME A HEADACHE! This tea has it out for me!!!
Preparation
My first tea from Verdant AND my first time using a gaiwan! There was some spilling and some burning, but not nearly as much as I was expecting!
I did a rinse, and then got up to 7 steeps before I had to go watch a movie with my roommate. Then I came back to it and did a few more steeps.
I was so surprised at how much the leaves unfurled and expanded, they filled up the whole gaiwan. The taste moved from peppery and grassy, to leafy green, to buttery, to vanilla, to sweet and juicy. I knew oolong was supposed to change with each steep, but I had never really experienced it before. The grassy notes made me think of summertime in elementary school, and throughout all the steeps it was sweet and calming. This was a totally different way of drinking tea and I loved it… I can’t wait to try the other teas I got (with better notes next time!)
You are brave. The first gaiwan experience was scary for me. But fun too! Glad you have one and had a good time with it!
Glad you got to try this one with your brand spankin new gaiwan!
I tried this tea Western style and it wasn’t doing anything for me, but multiple short steeps – heaven!
Drank this to welcome myself back to Canada and back to my tea stash! And OH MY GOSH YOU GUYS I came home to a giant order from Verdant and another order from Camellia Sinensis including my first gaiwan and tons of new teas to try!! I CANT EVEN HANDLE IT. I’m readying myself for some gaiwan beginner fails but I’m super excited!!
I got this Twinings black tea variety pack for my time in Washington and I actually do like these teas a lot… but omg I miss my loose leaf!!
But yeah, this is still a great earl grey, not too bergamot-y but bergamot-y enough, and not overly astringent. Not much depth but as far as bagged teas go, it’s really good!
To me this is the standard English Breakfast, an easy tea that is hard to mess up and that I can enjoy whenever. I like it with milk, sugar, both, or straight up (which is how I had it today). English Breakfast tea will always make me think of backpacking across England (the Cotswold Way) when I was 14 or 15. That was way before I got into tea, but I drank this every day and loved how British people would always drink it with tons of milk and sugar!
Possibly my favourite non-herbal bagged tea? It’s just so nice and citrus-y. Not bitter at all. I drank this while sitting out on a blanket in the sun with my friend from high school, reading and talking just like we used to. :)
I’m in Washington state now visiting my friend and since I was packing in a hurry, I forgot to bring any tea. :( There are a few different kinds of tea bags here, though.
But yeah, this one was actually just a regular tea bag, not the full-leaf thing like in the picture. Mehh, it’s not so bad. Bordering on sour sometimes though, which is weird. Not much depth but I didn’t find it too bitter after a 2-3 minute steep.
It’s 11:50… my last chance to drink this on my actual birthday! I’m finally 21… although here in Canada that means much less. Luckily I am flying to the states tomorrow to see my friend! Good timing!
I steeped it for a minute less than last time, and any trace of overpowering sweetness was gone, leaving only cakey amazingness.
My exam today went really well too! And my friend took me for a steak dinner. And my other friend got me a new tea tin with an owl print! EXCELLENT BIRTHDAY.
Preparation
I got this from a little tea store up Yonge quite a ways north of Bloor that I found by accident a while ago. It was a bit pricey tea wise but I think good quality and they had a wide selection of teaware! I think 100g is the smallest amount they usually sell at once but I talked to her awhile and got her to sell me 50g of this and she even gave me a sample of some sencha too!
This tea smells milky and toasty and brews up a beautiful orangey gold colour. There is a cozy sort of sense to it. I find the taste initially just mildly grassy, then I get the same toastiness that’s in the smell. It feels very smooth and just a little creamy. Overall very enjoyable! I would like to try this gong-fu style as soon as I get a decent gaiwan.
Try to swap it! But not with me, haha. I have a 28g bag to finish myself. :) I definitely didn’t hate it like you did though.