Verdant Tea

I know that I’ve written about this Shu before. It has been one great friend in my Puer collection.
Today, I was able to share this tea with my granddaughter Megan who has been staying with me for a few days.
This was a symphony of love between a grandmother that she refers to as a ‘young soul’ and herself the ‘old soul’.
We are cool and can talk about music, books, ethics and boys. I show her how to put on make-up and she shares her secret thoughts with me. Is there anything better?!
I was the tea conductor today. I told Megan how to prepare this Shu. First, she looked up the Peacock Village Puer on the Verdant website for brewing instructions, then in my Gaiwan rinsed the leaves and steeped.
Our experience together:
The scent…like bread baking and sweet in the wet dark mulch.
The liquor golden and also was light like bread still waiting to emerge.

Again a second steep..darker and more brothy and thick. The taste was dry cedar with a linen feel across the top of the tongue. Salty. Smooth.

The third steep leaves were almost black and smelled of fine wet leather. We poked the leaves and noticed how much life was left to extract. Megan was surprised. I took one leaf and opened it up so that it was very large. We talked a minute about how Puer is prepared. The immense amount of work it takes to become the Puer that we were now drinking so casually.

There wasn’t any breadiness left in this darkest liquor. None.
There was cedar and clove. Juice, salt with juniper berry faintly in the background.
I pointed out an interesting thing you can do with a salty Puer. Add a little sugar which will enhance the flavor. (This is something a cook knows)

When we did this addition of sugar…Megan was wow’d!

She had a different wonderful taste experience that she can discribe in her review (don’t want to spoil it).
I tasted caramelized peach.
Yes! Puer is amazing.

It would be a great and awesome thing if younger people drank tea and learned to discribe flavor and experience. We are so out of touch with being present in the moment and in connecting with people without devices in the way.

Today Megan and I did not text each other. We drank tea! We had the best time. Some day, I hope she blogs about tea with me as a good memory in the same way I am writing about my time with her.

Second Review. This review will be shorter because I will not be putting my nose to the pot watching the Pu-erh break apart and all that. What I’m after is taste. How does this taste on another day when I may be a whole other person…the cameleon that I am. The mists of yesterday are gone and a cool Spring morning is begging me for Pu-erh.
I did a cursory rinse and then a 3 minute steep. It is pretty nice and strong the way I like it without bitterness or any off taste. But, it’s not quite to my liking. The flavors are fighting each other for control. “Hey..buckwheat/mushroom, honey-pepper…STOP ALREADY!”, I demanded. I think I will have to tone this down into a latte, I thought, and I did…which made the flavors behave better.
Awhile later, I prepared a second steep and let it go 6 minutes. The mash of Pu-erh leaves smells like paint which some of you will like (you know who you are!) and I actually like the memory of six years of art classes and paint all over my fingers. This pour is more like it! Subtle and at peace with it’s complexity. The pepper is content to bounce off the end of your tongue. The honey is lingering in a pool at the bottom of the roundness of the other flavors and the buckwheat and mushroom have joined together as partners woven into a more gentle earthiness. You can sip this without sweetening or milk. I have a hard time saying this since I love Pu-erh lattes. But it is good straight.

First review. A disclaimer. I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT PU-ER! (Don’t know why it’s spelled Pu-erh, Pu-Erh, Puer, Pu-er either). My background is working in a tasting room at a Winery, entering cooking contests, and international cooking. That’s it. I have a pretty good palate for THOSE things. I bring what I know about other things to tea and am learning new ways to think about tea as I progress. Nuff said. This explanation is given because this was a tea that took a lot of turns in reviewing.
Here goes:
I used my new PIAO I Glass top drop infuser and 3 minutes for each steep .
I did 1 quick rinse before the first steep. Raw the Shu looks like dark tan-bark. Really!
1. I poured on the water and let the steep go watching the liquid begin to lightly turn brown. Beep…pushed the button to release the water to the reservour below. The liquid is light honey colored and tastes like toasted rice. No earthiness, slightly salty and sweet. Really good and savory. Not a hint of grass or hay but maybe a shitaki mushroom sauteed in there. Super delicious.
2. Way darker color like whisky. Earthy scent. While steeping you can see the leaves begin to float and open pushing away from the solid bark mass. There is a slightly astringent finish and pepper on the tongue, linen and rust. No bitterness. Juicy and light. This makes no sense but it’s what I taste and smell. Oh, faint nutmeg also. I opened the top of my steeper and smelled the wet tea…arh…paint thinner! Whoa…no kidding!
3. This steeping released long-legged creatures moving around the steeping cylinder releasing all the tea flavors just for me. Eight long years from China to Colorado they were locked up waiting for this moment! Eh…timer went off…Really dark liquor this time.
Less paint thinner smell on the leaves! Lighter less earthy flavor. More astringent but still juicy and not bitter. There is a tartness which is like black walnut and an introduction of salt and smoke. Bless My Soul! I like smoke and salt. In fact…Hum…I have some gumbo in the fridge and think this would be a good finish after some gumbo and rice. Not during the meal but after. Very delicious Shu! I have loved all the selections from Verdant thus far! Find the new videos helpful to a rookie like me.
This is not a fancy review but MY review. It’s what I enjoyed this afternoon as a part of my life.

I absolutely love this tea. If I could choose only one tea to drink for the rest of my life it would be this one. Jasmine tea is what started me on this wonderful tea journey. While my tea base preference may have changed a few times, it’s still my favorite tea.

I came home today wanting tea (what’s new) but I had a headache and I wanted something different. This one called to me, but I said no. So, I went sniffing through my teas trying to find one that would pop out at me. It never happened. I opened my canister of this and it was instant bliss.

I brewed it up in my yixing with my little teacup…which I just realized match without me ever having intended to do so. I drank my first little cup and instantly felt better. My husband came home, he’s coming down with a cold, I offered him some and he drank a few cups…more for the warmth than the taste, but hey I’ll take what I can.

For a jasmine, this is soft and sweet with a creamy mouthfeel. Sometimes I can taste the pepper bite in the aftertaste, today I’m getting something closer to cinnamon. Even though this is a bud tea, which should contain more caffeine, I always feel more calm and relaxed. I try to save this tea for something, but it’s more of my go-to tea than anything else, not that I mind.

Here’s another picture of my yixing and teacup matching each other! I really do love them, and this tea, they go so well together!

http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s410/feralanima/100MEDIA_IMAG0114.jpg

What a rainy day. They are saying there is a tornado warning for some counties but nothing too bad other than a little rain and wind. It’s still kind of warm but a lot cooler than it has been the last few days and stocked up on some library books to help pass the dreary day. I wanted to try some of my new green teas from Verdant but I didn’t feel like sitting down and really focusing on tea today, I wanted something I already knew I liked and ended up pulling this off the shelf.

I brewed this in, what I now know is, my Italian mug. Some of the leaves are a little smaller than the holes and quite a bit does get through, but I’m not too worried about it. I love how this is so soft and light with wonderful creamy floral notes and hints of pepper lasting into the aftertaste. Good tea to go with a good book on a wet, overcast day.

I will start by saying that I am partial to Jasmine teas, but not white jasmines. I feel that the jasmine is cloying, too perfumy, and always overpowers the white tea base. After hearing so many good things about this company and their tea and reading the great reviews of this tea, I had to give it a try. I am such a sucker for jasmines.

Upon opening the package I smell the jasmine, but it’s nice and light and I can still smell the silver needles through the jasmine, that’s a first. Once I brew it the wet leaves smell strongly of jasmine but the infusion and the taste does not reflect that, it reflects the softer jasmine I had smelled when I first opened the package. This tea tastes amazing, the jasmine is soft and creamy in quality, I get the hay notes of the silver needle. The tea has a sweetness to it and I do get a hint of the pine at the ending. When I swish the tea in my mouth I get just the barest hint of the pepper note.

On the third steep (Western style) I get some of that fizziness feeling on the tip of my tongue that Bonnie mentioned in her review and more of the spiciness is coming through. Absolutely no sign of any bitterness or astringency.

This is the BEST jasmine white tea I’ve ever had. It is not something I would drink everyday but drink when I want to indulge in something so light and complex and wonderful. There is a reason this tea is highly rated.

Wow. There are a lot of reviews already. Guess I might has well throw my hat into the mix.

First cup, Steep 2.5 minutes.
In David’s notes on the Verdant website, he describes many of his teas as having a sparkling flavor. This is something that I am still trying to uncover myself, but I think that I have caught a glimpse of it with this tea. The mocha and marshmallow notes are so powerful that they really do have a quality reminiscent of bubbles bursting over your tongue and fizzing up into your nose. It is not overwhelming, however, as many flavored blends can be. These flavors remain neatly packaged within the savor of the tea leaves (because let’s be honest, the first flavor of most loose tea is still usually, ahem, tea.)

Well after you finish your cup, the aftertaste of cinnamon and almond will continue to hang on. It is wild how naturally sweet this tea is – no sugar necessary! The end of the cup yields some oak flavor as well. Another thing that I like about this tea is the durability. After you pour the water off from the first steep, you can definitely see that the leaves are still tightly wound, ready for at least two more infusions.

Second cup, Steep 3.5 minutes.
Again, this tea does not disappoint. Make sure you don’t let the leaves sit for too long before making another cup. The less time you wait between infusions, the stronger the tea will remain.

Other tasting notes: Pumpkin, honey, black walnut, fig

Second review.

I noticed a few people revisiting this remarkable Oolong again and realized that today was an Oolong day for me. Beginning with Butiki then Teavivre and in the wee hours…a last nightcap with Verdant. A tender cup to send me sweetly to sleep. I have plans for my supply to go to a new home…because someone loves this too much for me to hold onto it. I suppose this is a farewell.

I wrote much about this Oolong the first time. As I learn more about tea, I am learning more than a set of rules on preparation or flavor profiles. When I look into the cup there is a world of memories and sensory wonders…magical associations that are sometimes inexplicable. I try and more often than not, fail to express what happens with something so simple as a single sip of tea.

One sip…

Wearing a green floral robe…a liquid golden Dervish is revealed turning around and around to a rhythmic beat… teasing the tongue with spice and saffron.

The mouth fills with the taste of melted butter swirling like a whirlpool and overflowing with small sweet orchids in rippling pools.

In the waning heat of early evening…when the breeze begins to cool the earth, to sit by the fountain on an ottoman…inhaling the fragrance of grass and herbs, flowers and spice…the waning of what has been warmed by the air.

This is the one sip…which is this tea… for me.

(I hope noone finds this/me too strange, it is very late)

First Review. I’ve been beating around the bush…waiting for just the right time to taste this tea. The reports being so glowing and all…I wanted time and a peaceful state of mind. Tea is for that moment when we stop and appreciate what has come from the Earth. For me, I offer thanksgiving to the Giver of Life. I have a new toy called a PIAO I Teapot which I bought from Amazon for $28 plus shipping. It is glass and has a pitcher and a top infuser that you put the tea in. You pour in water and after steeping push a rod and the tea is released to the bottom of the pitcher when a glass ball lifts up. No stainless basket or anything. So I used this method for this tea and it worked well. (Bought it mainly for Puerhs).
First steep 4 minutes…Beautiful large green leaves…the scent is like artichoke hearts when warm and fresh (not the canned kind). Beautiful light golden yellow liquor and a taste that is almost non-floral at all but there is a hint of orchid…a tease only. Where did the napoleon pastry come from? That custardy buttered layered crusty pastry? And then, a juicy rush that takes over your whole mouth and almost goes up your nose. The flavors linger. As the liquid cools the butteriness deepens and the flavors mellow like a sigh after the last crumb has been devoured on the dessert tray.
Second Pour: I’m afraid to drink anymore after the first deliciousness. The juicy mouthfeel is still there. I peeked at the reviews and saw something about Keiffer Lime…OH REALLY? I have Keiffer Lime in the cupboard, so I went and got the jar down and sniffed it…then sniffed and sip-slurped the tea. OK, there IS a subtle flavor of Keiffer Lime in the tea but you’d have to really know lime to know that it’s there. The Marshmallow comments I can understand more. Marshmallow is SUGAR and this does taste at times like a vanilla, custard sugar like a NAPOLEON pastry. Or like vanilla cake (in case you never have tasted a Napoleon). The comments on grass flavor in this tea I do not get. I went to smell the tea leaves and on the second steep there is no vegital scent but just a nice sweet plant leaf smell like lettuce but not like artichokes anymore. I bought 4 oz of this and I’m glad I did! I get to keep steeping all day!!! Hooray for me!!! Pastry tea!!!

I finally caved and got some tea from Verdant after seeing all the great reviews of the tea and of the company. The package arrived today and I immediately grabbed for this tea, this is the one I’ve been wanting to try for a while now. So, I opened the pack and the tea looks lovely, light green and white twisted, curled leaves with a subtle fresh vegetal scent with floral notes. The wet tea leaves smells like asparagus and the liquor is very light with hints of chestnut. It tastes very good, I get so much out of this one from the asparagus notes, floral notes, corn notes, and sweetness. It reminds me of back home, walking through the farm fields in spring time where mostly corn and soy is grown with lots of forest edges with birds singing and everything is starting to grow back and bloom after a nice rain and the sun is coming back out. Excellent tea, I’m very glad I tried this one.

I was very excited to try this tea. Doubly so, because I was going to debut my new sesame duanni teapot from Yunnan Sourcing to make this tea! No other sheng would do to break it in. It’s a bit on the large side for solo drinking (5ish oz with leaves in) but given how fantastic this tea was, it was hardly an issue drinking all the deliciousness over two days.

So 6g to 5oz at 212F, each steep around two seconds. Later steeps closer to 4 seconds. Made it to steep 8 on the first day, steep 17 on the second. I feel like the leaves had more to give even then. I gave the leaves a brief 5sec rinse at boiling before starting all of this.

The dry leaf smelled sheng-y to me. I’m a bit ashamed to say that I don’t know what else to make of that scent. Maybe with some experience I’ll have more to say about that. Wet, I picked up some tobacco smell from the leaves, which again, I tend to think of as “sheng-y”. There’s a whisper of mulled spices. It’s amazing how much the leaves expanded after the the rinse. From a compressed little clump, to endless, big leaves inside my pot. I love it.

My first impression, drinking the first few steeps, is how amazingly thick the tea is. It just coats your tongue and your throat, and it’s the most gorgeous mouthfeel ever. I was getting a tingling sensation over the tip of my tongue. I’m not certain I got the taste of mole, but there was a definite spiciness that reminded me of white pepper. Near the end of the flavour arc, I’m positive I tasted sesame seed candy. So sweet, so delightful!

By the middle steeps, starting around 6 or 7, the tingling had faded out, as had the sesame taste. At this point, my vocabulary fails me. The closest I can get to articulating the experience, is a dark and deeply nuanced older sibling to a chinese green tea. Astringent, darkly tangy, and then fading into an intense and never-ending aftertaste of grapefruit that reminds me intensely of the Sun Dried Jingshan’s aftertaste.

Then finally, in the last few steeps, a thick buttery sweetness. Definitely cinnamon-esque, though a lot more delicate. Maybe closer to a glass of almond milk with some cinnamon and nutmeg sprinkled across the top. So soothing, so energizing, so delicious. I’m so glad I have loads in my cupboard! I think this is the beginning of a beautiful (tea) friendship.

(PS – I suspect the rating will climb as my palate learns a bit more about puerh.)

Wow, holy wow this tea is something else.
My mind is a little too blown to pick out little flavors and describe it in fancy terminology but I will say that I set up my tea-table and brewed this up as something to sip on while doing some housecleaning and ended up just sitting down and savoring it. It was so good it required my full attention.

The first three or four infusions, I will say, wow’d me the most. Later on the flavors became a bit more muted, until I went and reboiled the water for hotter, longer steepings. The flavors started popping again then, but it tasted like a completely different tea!

I have enough of this tea left for one or two more sessions— I’ll have to make sure to take better notes then.

Oh, I adore getting Verdant’s blends in the tea of the month package. They are always so much fun to try.

This is the second one I’ve been quite frightened of, however. I haven’t had good experiences with the holy basil I’ve tried, and I’m not a huge supporter of minty teas. And this is quite minty and spicy. But, I think I’m coming around to the mint. I thoroughly enjoyed this! It was very minty, but had enough body that it wasn’t biting. It was sweet and earthy. I actually didn’t detect the licorice root, so it was pretty harmoniously blended with the other flavours. It was really remarkably refreshing, and the suggestion of mixing it with sparking water sounds mighty fine, maybe with some cucumber.

I finally nailed this tea! But first, let me tell you about my nigh-tealess week.

It’s only just cooled down enough outside that my apartment isn’t an oven inside. I can do things around the home without feeling like I’m dying! Seriously, the past few days, the temperature inside my apartment reached the 90s almost daily. No amount of fans helped. The windows only open a couple of inches, so that didn’t help either. The Boy and I spent most of our evenings nearly immobile, moving only to feed the furbabies something cool. Needless to say, we didn’t go into the (significantly hotter) kitchen much. That included forgoing tea making for the most part. I did make a couple of tea slushies, but it was nothing too fancy. In fact, I was pretty sloppy with the steeps, because I just wanted to get back to vegetating in front of the two fans.

Needless to say, this 60F weather is a dream come true in comparison. It’s still a bit stuffily warm in the kitchen, but I can tolerate it enough now that I can make myself tea more often. I feel human again.

Now, this is the tea that I sadly mishandled last time I tried. I crowded the leaves and oversteeped it Western style. Even then, I could tell how much I’d like it if I got it right. And now I’ve gotten it perfect.

I took Mr. Duckler’s advice to try this Jingshan style, though leaving the leaves in a basket so I could stop the steeping a bit more easily.

1 tablespoon to a 12oz glass (one of those Pom Tea glasses they discontinued a while back). 175 degree water. First steep – about 15-20 secs; second steep – 20 secs; third steep – 30-35 secs; fourth steep – I eyeballed it until it was the right colour, about 3 minutes, sipping every so often to check the taste.

The result is a beautifully thick, vegetal, delicate, and extremely compelling tea. I’m not sure I have enough tasting experience to do it justice. It’s some sort of buttered vegetable, maybe green beans, that melts into a vegetal sweetness that’s delicate without being boring. A whisper of a green apple tart at the very end – tangy and buttery and sweet.

Beautiful and soothing, hot. Wonderful and refreshing, cold (I made enough to stick some in the fridge overnight!).

I’ll keep playing with this tea, next time I’ll try it in a gaiwan!

Hmm. The lingering aftertaste is pretty rad. Same buttery mouth-feel as an oolong, and I worship at the altar of the oolong. Needless to say, I’m REALLY going to like this when I get it right. Maybe a touch of floral? I’ll keep you posted.

Bah! What is it with my steeping, lately?!

I followed the website instructions for western steeping, a tablespoon per cup at 175F for 1.5-2 minutes, but that’s a bit long I think. Came out a bit bitter. It’s not too bad, I can tell there’s a great amount of beauty under there, but still disappointing. Can’t wait for my new teaware to get here! I’ll gaiwan it up and fiddle until the tea suits my palate.

That said, did anyone else pick the slightest hint of chocolate in the dry leaf smell? It’s gone after brewing, the only scent I could get then was a very fragrant edamame. I’m having trouble describing the liquor, actually. It’s edamame but without grossing me out, so there’s definitely more at play. And from what I could tell under the bitter tang, it tasted like a smooth, delicately buttery vegetable.

I can tell I will like this. Just I need to find how to do it! Will rate this at a later date.

Sipdown! The sample I had was ancient and from LiberTeas waaaay back when, but it still had some life in it. Had a couple good cups, though.

Sipdown! It’s about time – this is from my very first Verdant order, about a year ago. I think the tea has probably lost a bit of flavour, but I’ve had 3 very enjoyable infusions today (well ok, I oversteeped the second but ended up drinking it anyways!) Very green-vegetal (not chewy/green beany like the Laoshan Greens), but lots of creaminess and oolong flavour. Love it. I think I have another, newer bag of this as well, and I left one with my mom as well (though if she hasn’t been drinking it, I’m totally stealing it back in April!) Eventually, assuming it remains available, I will pick up more of this :) (Well, the freshest incarnation, of course!)

Fun experiment time, tonight. I’ve been dying for oolongs lately, and massively craving Verdant’s, but have had other teas I wanted to try, or not enough time, etc. etc… Anyhow, tonight I thought I’d finally compare the three tieguanyins I have received from Verdant – the 2011 Autumn, 2012 Spring (first harvest), and 2012 Spring (second harvest). I’m brewing them each up identically, using 1.5 tsp of leaf in 125mL water, with the leaves allowed to roam free in the cup before being strained out.

First infusion (208F/30s):
Light floral, buttery aroma. Green, floral taste. Very green aftertaste. Not too much oolong flavour, but it does leave a nice round, creamy taste in the mouth. I’m getting more oolong flavour from the spring harvests, but the differences are too subtle for me to pick up. Comparing it to the others, I think this is the least green and floral. It’s more subdued.

Second infusion (208F/30s):
Much like a lighter version of the first, in my opinion. More oolong flavour though, which was expected. Mmmmm. Caramel in the aftertaste, unlike the citrus of the spring harvests.

Overall: All three are delicious oolongs. My palate really isn’t developed enough to perceive differences though, at least the way I infused them (although I suspect that for my leaf:water ratio, a 30 second initial infusion was too long). Hoping I can go through another few infusions tomorrow, in which I will perhaps notice more differences!

So excited to try this! I’ll need to try different brewing methods, but went with 205 degree F water for each of the five infusions, which were durations of 45s, 1:30, 2:15, 3:00 and …longer (I forgot about it). ~2 tsp of tea in my 1 cup brewing apparatus.

The dry tea doesn’t have a great deal of scent, unlike the other three teas I received from Verdant. Mostly, it smells a bit floral and green (and tea-like), but I find with actual tea, the smell of the dry tea doesn’t necessarily reflect on the infused flavour at all.

First infusion:
There’s a light floral aroma, and the flavour is buttery, rich, and very thick-tasting; that is, the mouthfeel is that of a thicker liquid than steeped tea usually has. There’s a bit of a vegetal flavour, but just barely a hint. Mostly it’s just creamy and tasty.

Second infusion:
The floral aroma is a bit stronger, and the butteriness/creaminess has slightly subsided, but this is still a delicate, delicious, smooth cup of tea. As a consequence of the reduced creaminess, I’m tasting the boiled vegetal and tea flavours somewhat more, which makes the cup seem a little sharper, and more flavourful.

Third infusion:
There’s a deeper, darker flavour in this cup. We’ve moved away from vegetal, floral, and buttery, to almost a bit of a woody, rounder flavour. That makes it sound bad; it’s quite nice though. Definitely stronger-tasting at the end of the sip, and leaves a pleasant aftertaste. There’s still a floral quality, which is different from what I’ve experienced with other teas, where it dissipates almost entirely by the third infusion.

Fourth infusion:
This cup is mellow and definitely on the woody side of things. I want to say that there’s the barest hint of astringency, but it’s not quite there, and not at all unpleasant. It’s just a taste that I think I usually associate with astringency. I think this infusion has less flavour, so it takes more effort to taste its complexity, but there’s a lovely and unmistakeable lingering aftertaste.

Fifth infusion:
Uh, when did this become sweet?! I wasn’t expecting this. All of a sudden there’s a general sweetness in the cup that I don’t remember before. Slightly honey-like. Mild, but definitely there. I wasn’t expecting much from this one, and only continued because the steeped leaves retained a tasty smell and I figured it wouldn’t hurt to give it another shot. The sweetness is almost fruity, but not quite there.

The leaves are still sitting in my infuser downstairs, so perhaps I’ll try an additional infusion later or tomorrow. I have to note that this tea has the biggest, most whole leaves I’ve ever come across! And wow, do they ever expand! Glad I used my little infuser-basket thingy so they could expand all they wanted – that 2 tsp has nearly expanded to fill the entire cup’s worth (plus airspace, of course).

So, I definitely am not catching all the flavours that I’ve heard this tea described as, but then again, my brewing method was probably atypical. I was sharing this with my roommate and thought that going with 15-second infusions might be overwhelming for her, but at the same time, I didn’t want to go completely Western-style, so went with IMO a happy medium. I’m not displeased with the results, but really want to try this gong-fu style, or at least, in a series of 15-second infusions. Luckily I have enough left for a couple more experiments before making my next Verdant order (which will probably be on April 1, so as to leave March’s budget alone).

Overall, definitely enjoyable, but I don’t have enough experience to say it’s miles beyond other tieguanyins or anything like that. I am impressed at the number of infusions I did get, and am pretty sure I’ll enjoy the next time I try this, so I’m looking forward to it, although it will have to wait until I’ve tried the other two oolongs and Yunnan White Jasmine!

This just came in the mail yesterday, but I decided against trying it until after I tried the Yunnan Golden Buds. As an experiment, I decided to brew this tea Grandpa style, and I have to say the results were interesting. The first infusion was sweet and flowery, with an aroma that was reminiscent of fresh pines. There were also subtle spice flavors present, but they had not started to assert themselves yet. Past experience with Yabao tells me that they will get stronger over time, so I can’t wait to see how they develop. The only downside to this tea was that only half of the buds have sunken to the bottom of the cup, which is a bit annoying when trying to drink the tea.

I’m on infusion number five, and the only change to the flavor so far is that the spiciness – which peaked around infusion three – has started to fade. This is definitely my favorite white tea. I’m glad that I bought enough of this tea to last me quite a while, as it is very unique and is certainly much better than the standard fare for white tea.

So I thought wrote a review, but I guess I just thought that I did. I am drinking this now, and it is very floral. Its not a bad thing, but I think I just like my oolongs buttery :). Still very good.