Verdant Tea

Alright, first time in almost two weeks that I actually had enough time to do a proper review. First of all, I actually tried this tea when I got it, but I had a paper to write and team mates to “motivate” so that the group wouldn’t fail a project (I refuse to do all the work, and actually had to bring the professor into the discussion to actually get them to work…).

As with all my green teas, I brewed this tea in my ceramic tumbler. I actually like to let my tea cool for a while before drinking, so the leaves had a few minutes to steep peacefully before I started to blow them out of my way. The first cup was delighfully clear and lightly grassy. It’s very sweet for a green tea, and it has an amazing smooth/creamy finish that is just perfect. It’s also amazing in that the smooth/creamy texture lingers for over two minutes on the hard palate, gently transitioning into a tingling creaminess (somehow, the smoothness dissapates). This is by far the best green tea I’ve ever had.

As the steepings ocntinued, the hashser edges of the grassiness quickly faded into a delightful sweet grass flavor. It’s like my beloved fukamushi sencha, but the texture of the tea is smoother. After about three cups, the creamy texture has faded, and it was relanced by a mineralish smoothness which lingers on the back of the tongue very delightfully. By number 5, vanilla was starting to peak out of the rest of the flavors, but it remained fairly weak for a quite some time.

The later steepings where characterized by a light vanilla flavor, a bit of sweet grass, and a general smooth, sweet taste. The amazing thing is that it never gets bitter, nor does the flavor ever really have anything unpleasant about it. It’s truly a finely-crafter tea, and I offer my humble thanks to both David and Mrs. Li for making this tea available to us.

Final experiment – How do the tea leaves taste? I remember somebody (I think it was Bonnie…) experimented and ate this tea after she was done, so I decided to give it a go. It was interesting, to say the least. The leaves didn’t have that much flavor, and they were very chewy, yet they wern’t unpleasant. It was fine, but I woun’t go out of my way to eat the leaves in the future.

Music of the Day – Dinastia Borja, directed by Jordi Savall.

This is a wonderful historically-informed performance, covereing music from the 11th century up to tail end of the renaissance, and from various cultures. THe common theme is the Borgia Family, and each peice can be related to them somehow. Also, the 3 cds come with a book in multiple languages, which explains both how the pieces relate to the Borgia family, tell their story, and provides the lyrics fo the music.

Here’s a sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgU6-cz0RM0

Initially when I opened the package I picked up the aroma of butter – creamy melted butter! Like when you leave a stick of fresh butter out on the counter and it melts on its own, just perfectly soft and smooth.

The initial sip was of Hay, hay that has been warmed by sunlight sitting out in the field!
As the cup cools some the cinnamon starts to develop and I got a slight tingling sensation around the sides of my mouth.

Through out the entire cup I could feel a slight tingling sensation in my mouth along with a velvety mouthfeel to accompany the sparkle. This tea is a movie star! No, rather this tea is a voluptuous sexy lounge singer, female of course, in a long slinky yet classy dress with sparkles on it, on top of a piano.

Sorry – what I am trying to evoke here is that this tea will take you in and seduce you, if you allow it to, and give it time to temper as the longer I wait – the more this cup develops and this is only steep one!

This is the first cup today I have allowed myself to full enjoy, drinking every last drop so without further ado I am going to haul my behind over to the sofa and nurse as many steepings as I can out of this sample!

Dry leaf: This has a very creamy chocolatey smell. If I had to place it I’d say it smells like chocolate mocha filling that would go on a brownie. It has a very similar cocoa smell to teavivre’s black pearls, but it smells sweeter and has more of a creamy note.

Wet Leaf: The wet leaf has an extremely dark, chocolatey flavor. It reminds me of chocolate cereals from when I was younger. On top of the chocolate smell there is a smell kind of like a dried plant. It’s hard to place but it’s a strong, wonderful aroma.

Flavor: The taste is sooooooo surprisingly sweet. It has absolutely no bitterness or astringency. I am extremely surprised by how good this tea is. Verdant knocks another one out of the park. It has a dark cocoa flavor but it still isn’t overly strong. I’m not tasting any cinnamon but I am getting some vanilla and caramel flavor, especially on the swallow and aftertaste. The feeling in the mouth is incredibly moist and smooth. When you swallow there is a light vegetal taste and your throat feels very smooth.

Overall this is an absolutely amazing tea and I will be buying some as soon as I can

WOW I love this green! and for me to say that… well, that is big.
This is right up there with the Kiosque Dragonwell. Oddly though, Steepster has eaten both of my reviews, for both this and the Dragonwell. Odd!
SO this is definitely creamy, in a green way, not milky at all. Reminds me of creamed spinach. Only on my second steep, so will update with whatever emerges in #3!
Oh and I just made a cup of Golden Fleece for my boss. She said “It’s sooooo goood! I’m a fan!” Yay! This totally made my day :D
Anyhow, my head is spinning this month, I haven’t been sleeping well at all and I’m so busy trying to get my career straightened out that I feel my notes have been lacking. Sorry for venting here. I just needed to put this out there, anywhere…

Smells like honey, and a bit of sweet potato. This really tastes a lot like the sweet potatoes I had at Thanksgiving last week – they were pureed with butter and spices and probably some brown sugar. So good! The tea also has an astringent bite on the very front, that quickly smooths out into a honeyed sweetness.

I’m drinking this one at work, western style, but I feel better and better about the decision to rechisten my one little yixing pot for yunnan black teas, as time goes on. They have such variety, and nuance, and have really become my standby tea over the last couple of years. Of course, I’m almost out of a them at the moment, but that’s just an excuse to buy more :D

2 level tsp leaf, 8 oz water, 4 steeps

This smells so sweet and buttery, like sweet potato pie, or butterscotch. The flavor is more rugged, showing grain and the peppery side of yunnan rather than chocolate or cream. There is a sweetness though, as I sip longer. The description suggests honey and butter on toast – that seems about right, but it’s a hearty wheat bread, well-toasted and crunchy.

Sometimes when I first sip I’m convinced that I oversteeped this, but then the bitterness never actually materializes, it just rolls into that rumbly dark toast taste.

I’m also going to wager that this is highly caffeinated, from the way it’s going to my head already.

Overall, a good strong black tea to drink straight-up and start the day

ETA: On my 3rd steep now, more mild but still flavorful, getting more sparkly spice and a bit of fruit.

western style, 2 heaping tsp to 8oz water

Sipdown, 840.

In spite of my lovely injury, I managed to make up a bunch of tea (this was before I realized why exactly I couldn’t move). And managed to get in three sipdowns! Yay! I would have preferred to make progress on my thesis, but I’m not sure how that’s going to be happening now… ugh.

Anyways, this tea was better fresh, but is still pretty tasty. Sweet and beamy, lighter I think than the Laoshan Green, but IMO pretty flavourful for a white. I’d probably pick this one up in a sample size again (only a sample size because I don’t want it going stale on me!) Hopefully it makes a repeat appearance this year.

Soooo delicious. Used up most of the remainder of my little sample for this cup. I still have trouble differentiating this from a green tea, but it’s absolutely divine. Sweet and vegetal, much like Laoshan Green (which I really should have brewed up alongside to figure out what the differences are). I nearly picked up an ounce of this a while back but didn’t (which is okay, I have too much tea!); I’m really hoping though that the coming year brings a new batch of this so I can have it again!

Instead of weighing out the tea this time, I went with maybe a bit more than 1.5 tsp for probably around 8 oz. of water, and doubled the infusion time as I was worried about it being weak. It’s pretty perfect.

Just brewed some of this one up, and OH MY GOODNESS this smells so incredibly delicious! Like creamy caramels mixed with that delicious vegetal flavour… it is all I can do not to gulp this down, but I’d surely burn my throat quite badly.

Cool faster, tea!!! Updated tasting note to come…

Also, for reference, I brewed ~4g of this in ~6oz. of 175F water for about 30 seconds. All approximate, yep. If this is as delicious as the aroma, hopefully I can replicate it…

ETA: Ok, I have very little experience with straight white teas, but this one is absolutely amazing! I love love LOVE vegetal greens, particularly ones with a natural rock sugary sweetness (like the Dragonwell-style Laoshan Green), but this is completely something else. Not rock sugar, but definitely creamy, sweet caramel with that Laoshan background. Amazing. I only picked up a sample of this one, but I suspect a full ounce or two may be headed my way sooner than my bank account would prefer…

ETA again: Yummmmm. I would be hard-pressed to identify this as a white tea over a green, but I really don’t care… this one is so good!

ETA a third time: Second infusion, 175F for a minute, is astringent but not unpleasantly so. The vegetal, green-beany flavour is very present, and leaves a strong, caramelly, vegetal aftertaste. Oh so good. I do, however, think that a 45s infusion may have been a touch better – less strong! Or more water. Either way, this is one yummy tea.

See
http://teacloset.blogspot.com/2012/09/shoveling-compost.html

See http://teacloset.blogspot.com/2012/09/shoveling-compost.html

Hmmm, I have been looking at this for a while now and thought I should sample it. This was one of my 7 samples that I purchased. I must say Im not a huge fan of rose, and I have a few blends from Verdant that have it in it. I would have never have thought of combining it with a black tea infused with bergamot, but here it goes.

Well Im not a fan of this, but I’m glad I got a sample of this before it was discontinued. I have tasted every Verdant tea in the last year, and did not want to miss one…

This morning, I was drinking Verdant’s Earl of Anxi Tea…The one that has Frankincense in it.
As I was drinking my tea, tasting the tea leaves…sweet and juicy, smooth with a light citrus from the goji berry and orange…then the floral jasmine and oolong.
In the next moment I was transported by the frankincense…the exotic and spiritual. I am used to the scent of incense in Church. To drink in the scent is different though. Something like the difference between hearing about prayer and praying. The scent and the taste are different but the same, only the experience of drinking the incense is intense. Holy somehow.

I sat sipping my tea with the evocative ancient, fragrant taste. I was thinking about my son and how much I love him and how glad I am that he cares for others, especially the poor. For me, as his mother, this truly is a blessing. This morning the tea and the memories were an offering, a prayer of thanksgiving.

I wrote a story on my blog about my son Aaron and Christmas
called Uncle Aarons Santa Sack. It’s a nice story. I’ll begin it here:

I’ve written stories about my grandchildren and my daughter because I see them more often and they live close to me here in Colorado.
However, I haven’t written much about my firstborn…my son Aaron.

Aaron and I are alike in many ways. Creative, artistic, stubborn, smart and funny. We’re both tall, and have the same small eyes and Highland Scot’s nose (not small). Boggle is our game (or any word game), and old movies!
Aaron is smarter than I am though. He has ADD ADHD and life has been very challenging for him. He has been brave, never giving up and is successfully running his own small business.

One Christmas, when all of us were still living in Northern California, Uncle Aaron arrived on Christmas Day at sister Annalisa’s cabin home which was in the Redwood’s. I was already there, along with my brother Steve, his wife Kathy and my Nieces.

It was a big crowd! My daughters cabin was small and we had at least 20 people jammed inside for dinner.

Before opening presents, we ate!

First, big platters of ribs were passed around! Anna’s homemade french bread, potato salad and greens, all sorts of side dishes…and more ribs. There were those children who always put olives on all their finger tips. Everyone was noisy, laughing and happy.

Rolls of paper towels were passed around for cleaning BBQ sauce from faces and fingers. Groans and smiles at dessert cakes and pies.

The living and dining room had been converted into a combined eating area with several long tables. When dinner was finished, the chairs were removed and formed into a circle to view the children (who were seated on the carpet) opening gifts and for settling with coffee, tea and beer. (The children had already opened family gifts in the morning, so this was an opening of gifts from grandma and went quickly!)

When the children were done with the gifts and were about ready to go off and play…Uncle Aaron got up from his spot on the couch, put toddler Micah down and said, “Not so fast!”

“What do you mean?” his sister asked.

“We’re not done with the gifts yet, I have something else to do. Wait right here!” he said.

www.teaandincense.com

There’s a picture there with the sack too.

Story more than review
Here’s my latest update on this amazing tea!

I brought some Earl of Anxi for my friends to taste after Church today, curious about how the Frankincense would be appreciated by a group of people who are familiar with the use and smell of this resin incense (although not in tea).

A few days ago I shared some with the guys who work at Happy Lucky’s Tea House and they loved it! We discovered that the incense resin really blooms beautifully at about the 3rd steeping.

Today, I set up my hot water kettle, small sipping cups and Gaiwan then waited for people (victims) to come by for a chat and tea.
One by one, I went through a round of steepings and then another…each time with great interest on the part of those sipping the tea and smelling the aroma with incense. Everyone loved the tea!

Finally, Fr. Evan came into the room…chatting with people and easing back towards me. (I know he saw my tea things, since we always have tea when we get together for our regular talks)

I steeped a last portion, steep #3, and poured tea into a tumbler. Then I handed the Gaiwan full of wet leaves to Fr. Evan and asked him to tell us what he smelled.

Everyone was watching…

“Hum, spinach…
….and something else…..Frankincense!”, he said with authority…not even doubtful for a minute.

He got it right! Wow! I know he’s a Greek Orthodox Priest but still, these were wet leaves and a mix you couldn’t look at and identify easily. Not bad!

I handed him the rest of my Verdant packet. Now I’m OUT! O U T!
More is on the way though. I knew I was going to need more. I gave some away to three people already so now I have to hoard more for my own enjoyment too.

Tea is my bridge to communicating with people face to face again. I’ve been scared, letting my disabilities hold me back. For the past two years I’ve avoided people other than going to my tea pub. This is my next step, sharing tea. Several people say they’d like to have tea with me at Happy Lucky’s. It’s time.

I’ve been waiting for this tea to arrive, so curious about the use of Frankincense in tea. It is curious also that my new blog (soon) is called tea and incense and that the incense I use at home is the same type of resin incense used in the tea. FRANKINCENSE

When the tea arrived I wasted no time making a cup. The wet leaves were beyond amazing…with an aroma that transported me by scent association to ‘Places of Prayer’, ‘Honey Cake with Orange and Nutmeg’, ‘Ancient Holy Spaces’, ‘European Museums’, ‘Grandmothers Antiques’ and ‘Lightly Bergamot Scented Linen’.

I was stunned!

I took a sip of tea and the scent and flavor were one and the same.

What to do? The Oolong tea, orange, jasmine and goji berry were woven together so beautifully that the hint of saffron warmth and incense unfurled like an exquisite silk carpet full of intricate patterns.

Impusively, I called Verdant to leave a message of congratulations and David Duckler answered.

(I’m not going to pretend we’ve never talked before, we have. And I’ve chatted by e-mail with other Tea Company owners who make an effort to be friendly like Stacy, Garrett, Bo, Elise and many others.)

We talked about this tea, how he lets the tea (this Oolong) guide him as he pulls down one ingredient, then another in some mystical way until he has the final blend.
I kept telling him how beautiful the wet leaves were, the cream colored puffy jasmine with the dark green Oolong leaves set off by long rusty red goji berries.
Then the scent, perfectly peppery when cold…then almost nutmeg. I kept picking out pieces of jasmine to eat, then nodding my head down again to smell the aroma.

We spoke about my use of Frankincense and how older cultures used resin instead of chemical incense, how my brother uses a long censor with 12 bells on it to bless the people during Vespers on Saturday nights. With a flick of his wrist, out goes the censor using a technique that looks like he’d be super great with a YOYO.
(My brother is a Deacon)

In the cultures where this type of resin incense is used the smell goes into carpets, furniture, wood and fabrics usually creating an association with a ceremony, season of the year or holiday.

We went on to talk of other things, other tea’s and the trip to China in the near future. I kept coming back to this tea, however. I couldn’t help it.

I said, “David, I’ll probably review the Earl of Anxi tomorrow since I want to think about it to do it justice. It’s remarkable! Earl Grey lovers who love the strong taste are going to complain probably, but I think you were right to keep the bergamot very light! It’s in harmony with the other flavors!” He agreed that it was better this way, saying that the softer and lighter nuance doesn’t overpower the blend.

This was absolutely a mind-blowing and unique Verdant tea!

I LOVE THIS TEA
http://youtu.be/V3rRaL-Czxw

UPDATE
I had some more tea later in the day at my tea pub and by the 3rd steeping the Frankincense became more pronounced in a very fragrant, flavorful way which blended with the Oolong tea and Jasmine beautifully.

Back logging in from my notes. I made this for me and my mom Western style. I will do a proper Gonfu one later. She thinks it’s ok, but she really isn’t a green tea person. Neither am I, but I am learning to appreciate it.

1st Steep
Cinnamony tasted with savory undertones and sweet grass flavor and crisp coolness of apples in the aftertaste.
cooled: more creamy and sweet.

2nd Steep
More nutty warm tones. A bit more savory with citrus tang zing. More crisp dry after taste then before. SIP: Wow I really taste lime in the after taste.

3rd Steep
Very light body, and BASIL. LOTS OF BASIL. It is a lot more Vegetal too. It seems to have a light citrus after taste. I really want to eat some Italian food with this. hmmmmm, garlic bread.
Fridge Cold: Nothing special, much better warm.

Overall: The first steep is ok, but the 2ond one is the best. Personally I would combine the 2ond and 3rd steep for the best experience.
***********
Specifics
Water: 2 cups per steep
Sweetner: none or just a few drops of light Agave
Brew Style: Western
Leaf: 2 tsp
Pot: Glass, with open top

Sipdown (Verdant Edition), 223. I thought this was older than it apparently is (~5 months), but it has been store just with the pouch folded over and clipped down and not in an airtight container, so who knows. I also had very little of this, less than even my usual cup size, so I steeped it a bit longer to make up for it.

Unfortunately I had middle eastern food for lunch, which was not unfortunate at the time because it was delicious, but now I have lingering garlic/onion breath so the aftertaste is a bit shot. Oh well. There is still enough of an aftertaste before the onion comes back that I can enjoy the fresh, sugar snap pea crispness of this tea. This cup even has a slight nuttiness toward the end. I do enjoy greens like this, even though my favorite greens tend toward the buttery/nutty end of the spectrum. But this is so fresh and light it is very nice to drink.

I received this one as a free sample in my latest Verdant order. It’s a tea I’ve been meaning to try but have never got around to ordering or requesting a sample, so I’m glad David read my mind and included it. The website says that the current harvest (2012) is acutally sold out, so I guess I got some of the last bits of it!

The dry tea smells surprisingly floral and not grassy-green teaish at all. Steeped western style it has that lovely, bakery-ish buttery aroma I have come to associate with fine green teas. I never knew about that before, so the first time I encountered it, it was a shock! A pleasant shock. This one doesn’t fall into the cookie-ish category on the flavor, though. No, this is bright and fruity and a tiny bit floral. It also has this almost tingly feel to the sip. There’s also a bit of a snap pea flavor lurking about the edges. This tea is oh so summery to me, which makes it kind of an odd choice for a fall day, but it is delicious nonetheless. I feel like I could have probably used a bit more leaf, not shocking since it is so curly and thus difficult to dish out with a teaspoon, but it still has a good amount of flavor and plenty of aroma.

Woo! Another dan cong fragrance checked off my list! And a very nice one at that. I’ve wanted to log this one so badly, but this semester’s been pretty intense and I wanted to give this one the proper time to say lovely things about it. :)

I’ll start with the dry leaves. The aroma is unbelievably complex, and it seems I detect some fragrances more than others at different times. To date I’ve accumulated these aromas: dehydrated cantaloupe, banana-nut bread, honey, ripened blackberries (this one is consistent), a bit of cucumber juice, and sweet spices. Of the darker oolongs I’ve had, this is by far my favorite dry leaf aroma. The leaves are also extremely long when dry; sometimes it’s a pain trying to get them to fit in my small gaiwan!

After a wash, the wet leaves explode with more olfactory goodness. It’s so very rich and pungent, with this wine-like tartness that envelops the nasal cavity. It’s like elder berries, grape juice, hibiscus, and a bit of orange blossom. It also has these undertones of that strong, pungent, vegetal quality you find in a good tieguanyin.

On to the liquor. The orange zest of the “orange blossom” (huang zhi) fragrance is very prominent here, but there is a ton more going on in the cup. On the first steep (2 secs), if sipped immediately, the body is very light with slightly subdued flavors of orange, and honey. After cooling a bit, though, everything seems to come together and settle into a fuller body with more prominent orange flavors, a slightly tangy citrus taste, and undertones of apple.

Into the second steep (3 secs), tastes of raw sugar come into play and mix with the previous flavors. The third steep (3 secs), though, is really where everything comes together. The sugar, citrus, and orange blossom notes meld together to remind me of candied orange rinds. Then, tons more fly up from the bottom including flavors of hibiscus, which add a floral tartness, more honey, red grapes, and a bit of ginger, which nicely compliments the orange flavors. The aromas from this cup are quite powerful. That explosive tartness originally smelled in the leaves is now given off by the liquor, and upon taking a sip spreads even further. Sweeter elements chase from behind, until they meet in equilibrium and fade slowly into an aftertaste of thick, tingling goodness.

At this point, the mouthfeel becomes sparkling-like, and is quite light on the tongue. This sparkling texture increases in intensity over time, even into steeps in the ‘teens. For sake of space, I’ll outline the rest of my steeps:

Steep 4 (0:07) – Spices, tartness, and the “candied orange rind” flavor decrease slightly, while malty flavors appear, astringency is less strong, and there is an overall sweetness.

Steep 5 (0:12) – Tartness is further subdued, while sweet floral flavors become most prominent. An orange cream-like flavor also comes into play.

Steep 6 (0:16) – The top flavors (orange cream and florals) again come down, while tartness seems to disappear. Undertones of walnuts and berries appear along with a subtle astringency.

Steep 7 (0:22) – Easy come easy go: walnuts and berry flavors dissipate. However, flavors of cranberries come into play and mesh well with the orange-blossom flavors, presenting something reminiscent of cranberry-orange juice. The malty tones of previous steeps also become difficult to detect. Orange blossom flavors rise….

Steep 8 (0:30) – …and then fall. Honey becomes very apparent again, while tones of apples and the rich earth appear as undertones.

Steep 9 (0:40) – At this point, the body becomes less full, as most of the flavors become subtle. Berry flavors are replaced by some florals, a new “mossy” flavor, and fresh orange. A slight spiciness comes back along with a subtle grape-like flavor.

Steep 10 (0:52) – Ginger spices climb up to be matched with a more woody flavor. Mossy flavor has disappeared and this cup is quite astringent.

Steep 11 (1:10) – Tapioca! I’m either crazy, or this tastes exactly like tapioca. The couple times I’ve tried this tea so far, it always tastes like tapioca at around this point, and continues like this into subsequent steeps, so I’m going with I’m not crazy. It’s quite refreshing and seems to pair very nicely with the orange blossom flavor that has returned in full. There is also a general earthiness to this steep. Also, at this point the tea reaches a maximum of the sparkling texture, which is very strong and tingly.

Steep 12 (1:28) – Orange and floral notes fade and are replaced by notes of ripe berries, earthiness and woody flavors become more apparent. A very minute amount of spice is detected and lingers in the back of mouth long after a sip.

Steep 13 (1:50) – Similar to last, but spices are more pronounced and the mouthfeel is extremely tingly.

Steep 14 (~13 minutes…oops) – Actually came out okay, just a little too astringent and some added bitterness. The body was very syrupy. Tapioca flavors are still most prominent, followed by orange blossom, and an earthy, pu’er-like undertone.

Steep 15 (~5 min) – Same as above.

Steep 16 (~5 min) – Same, but with a few more berry notes.

Steep 17 (~8 min) – Same, with added flavors of honey, making the body thicker.

Steep 18 and 19 (~8 min) – Very juicy. Candied orange rinds becomes the most dominant flavor, while earthy tones and and ginger spice add depth. Still a very sparkling texture.

This tea definitely kept me on my toes. It was quite a fun experience and has caused my love for dan congs to grow further. The only issue I had was that it becomes extremely astringent and bitter if steeped for too long. Other than that, I’ve been steeping it throughout the day and it never disappoints.

As I sip this amazing offering from a company I feel like I am friends with, I can’t help but be disturbed by the claims of certain people on the internet. Claims? Slander.

I’m upset, because I truly feel like a friend is being attacked – not a company, just a friend.

I feel like I’ve learned TOO much from my purchases from Verdant tea. I feel so blessed to have been given this sample from aisling of tea ! It means a lot. THANKYOU!

I rinse. I sip. I repeat!
Beauty in a cup. More than flavour, yes! More than words. Just enjoyment. But also sadness.

- – -

There are notes in this cup that are reminiscent of the Cornfields Shu I miss already! This is definitely both deeper and brighter with mustiness but also light citrus notes! It’s like a ping pong game with my tastebuds – but it definitely brings me happiness and joy!

Verdant tea has brought tears to my eyes with some of their teas – evoked real emotion in an actor who fakes life every day. What can I say, I’m off my little soap box now. :B

Very sad about this sipdown today! Must. Have. Moooorrre!!!

I am so thrilled to have this tea in my stash again!! This is one of my very favorite teas from Verdant. I know this is blended a little differently than last year, so I’m interested to try it out.
1tablespoon of leaf, boiling water.
This first steep (45 sec) I’m getting a lot of fruity notes, to my surprise. The longer I sip there’s also the familiar cocoa and malt. Oh, yes! At the end of my cup the texture is suuuper smooth.

1 min second steep. This cup is MUCH darker- and I taste the puerh much more in this. The fruity notes have been mostly replaced by earthy notes; earthiness and dark chocolate are the prominent notes in this steep.

1 min 20 sec 3rd steep. The earthiness toned down in this steep and the chocolate peeped out a bit more. The flavor is still full and rich.

I will continue steeping this out. I am so happy to have this tea again!

Finishing up my sample of this. :( it is SO SO good. I’m really hoping this one gets brought back.
This time around I had about 3 heaping teaspoons of this left, which is usually too much for one steeping but not enough for two. So I just used the whole thing with only a 45 sec steep time. And it is incredible. I think I have been converted to brewing with more tea, shorter steep time. I am going to steep these leaves until I can’t squeeze any more flavor out.