Verdant Alchemy Fall Line
Dear Steepsterites,
As many of you know, our Alchemy blended tea line is completely seasonal. We are making preparations for the exciting new fall line-up in the next few weeks, and would love to take suggestions. The collection will be 8-9 teas total, most of which will be completely new. Every tea in the line is going to be a different way to think about autumn and the colder season ahead.
Two main points:
1. Is there anything you would really love to see? Ideas, moods, tastes, ingredients, etc that you want us to consider?
2. This is a last call on summer blend alchemy teas. They will be going away soon. I am envisioning a switchover on the Autumn equinox (the 24th of September I believe). If there is anything you have wanted to try, this is the time to stock up.
I have some incredibly exciting blends that I can’t wait to share. The new chai is going to take things to another level entirely, and some of the exotic ingredients I have been sourcing are going to allow me to conjure up flavors I could have only dreamed of last autumn.
I will post all updates on the new Alchemy projects to this thread throughout the season, and hope to use it as a place to get feedback and start a general discussion on what blended tea should be and what it should do.
Here is a link to our current Alchemy selection: http://verdanttea.com/shop/blends/
Many Thanks,
David
AAAAHHHHH!!! Are all of the alchemy blends going away? My apologies as i’m not sure which constitute “summer.” I only ask because while i’m excited for new blends, I don’t want to miss the opportunity to sample the few current blends that I’ve been meaning to get to
Yep, All of them. The only ones that will remain in some form are the Chai and the Imperial Breakfast, but they will be reformulated to complement the season with more warming qualities. The current collection is oriented towards more refreshing sweet light and crisp flavors. The fall collection will be more warming caramel notes, chocolate notes, spices, etc.
I know it is sort of weird for a collection to summarily disappear, but I am trying to blend with an honest acknowledgement that the base teas I source each season have very different flavors, and blending with a spring Laoshan green or black is very different from using an autumn tea. I want the flavors to truly correspond with the harvests of the season.
thanks! I am all for new blends and I really love that as the seasons change, so does the tea. I just want to make sure i have a chance to nab the summer ones before theyre gone :) I don’t actually think it’s weird that the whole collection is going. It means there’s always something new to try and fall in love with.
Caramel, chocolate, spices….mmmm…..I’m can’t wait! I better start saving my pennies…
I guess it’s time to BUY ALL THE TEAS! :)
I don’t know if such a thing as an Autumn harvest white tea really exists. If it does I would like to see a white tea blend come up, doesn’t necessarily have to be a chai though.
I really enjoy the Xingyang Silk Road Spice blend. Keeping with using a pu-erh base with fennel and cinnamon, go easy on the mint…or remove it altogether, and mix in some chamomile into it to make it taste similar to cinnamon apples would definitely be autumnal! I don’t know how well that would work though…just trying to give ideas!
Cool- chamomile for a cinnamon apple effect… I will ponder that one further. I like it. There will definitely be a pu’er in the mix. I would love to do a white tea if I can source a silver needle from Fujian or Yunnan too.
Pumpkin anything!!!
One of my favorite things all time is a pumpkin spice latte, I’d love to see a play on that
Would love to see Elderberry brought back for fall or winter. Maybe play up the apple and cinnamon on one of the shengs. I’ll buy anything if you blend it with Tieguanyin, Laoshan Black or Yabao, okay let’s be honest, I will buy anything from Verdant. I have winter on the brain right now and more specifically pears because of a swap. I’m trying to think of things less overtly autumn, like smoke and leaves and corn. What is autumn like in China? Plums come to mind.
I would like to see the Elderberry come back as well. That was one I had always been interested in but never did get a chance to try it out.
+1 Spiced Elderberry Puer returning will be really great :) I was only able to sample that and I want to make a full order :)
My own personal feedback would be to make the spice a bit more subtle or perhaps cooler somehow, I enjoyed the elderberry but the spice was a bit intense for me. I have actually blended the other half of my sample with some extra pu’erh (Peacock Village and the Xingyang Nuggets).
Thanks for the feedback. There will definitely be something with elderberry. It is one of my favorite things to blend with since it plays so well with other flavors. I have quite a few new ‘spicy’ spices to play with as potential counterpoints too. I will report back with my findings once I get a chance to run some experiments.
:) wonderful! Other personal requests are that Eight Tressures Yabao be brought back in the spring, perhaps along with the Temple Green and Lavender Green or something similar. And perhaps consider a winter Yabao with pear and spice!
I also vote for Elderberry! I drink a lot of straight elderberry in the fall, as it has wonderful antiviral properties, & because I enjoy the taste. I’d love to try it in tea blends!
I MISS the elderberry Puer! I have a tiny amount left I’ve been trying to resist drinking hoping you bring it back. :)
Cranberry or Ollieberry (your inlaws would agree with this berry)
in a blend with a crusty base that has warmth (fennel) and even some puer with a little spice would be fun to try mixing…as in “what if?”…or, hum… I won a pie contest with a Pecan Pie and the nutty, buttery flavor reminds many people of Fall. I also loved the ginger fire and know other’s liked it too. You could play with other natural root flavors (I don’t really know if this can be done though…sassafras, rootbeer?) like you did with the ginger. I’ve always loved vanilla also,for the comfort and soothing quality.
Yes- there are so many root flavors I am interested in playing with. Gingseng, ashwagandha, and sarsaparilla to name a few. We will see if they play nicely with other ingredients…
You’ve already mentioned the things that make me go mmm…: caramel, chocolate, spices. I’d add nuts to that mix, like almonds, walnuts, and pecans. As James R mentioned, pumpkin is always an autumn favourite, as well.
Meanwhile, thanks for the heads-up! I’m not supposed to be buying any more tea right now, but I don’t want to miss out on trying blends that are going away. [scurries off to check out the current selection]
I would ask you to kindly consider chrysanthemum. If I think about traditional Chinese art/poetry describing fall then chrysanthemum is definitely one of the images that comes to mind.
I really liked your chrysanthemum Pu’er.
Also I know that there is a whole group of people (including myself) that actively dislikes anything fennel so it would be nice to have at least some fall blends that do not contain fennel.
I also enjoy Chrysanthemum, generally alone, in the late afternoon when I don’t need more caffeine. That would be fun, and yes yes yes to ginger & vanilla anything!
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