Just had this tea this morning. Drinking it reminds me of the farmer friend who supplies it. We used to drink Tieguanyin together for hours a day while I was living in China. I would try a new picking and exclaim how good it was, and she would just shrug and wash her mouth out with water. When I called her to ask if she had anything that I could bring in, she said that this crop was “actually pretty good.” That was the first positive review i got from her and I purchased the entire picking. I sure am glad that I did. This spring 2011 tea is so unique because it bridges the floral lingering candy flavor of typical high-end spring Tieguanyin and combines it with the robust creamy deep and sweet grass flavor of autumn Tieguanyin. It is truly commanding, and forces you to keep drinking. I did six steepings and then logged on to review it and my internet crashed. I took it as a sign that I was supposed to keep drinking through another 15 steepings. Happy that I did. Five hours later I still have the floral creamy flavor lingering in mouth.

As an aside, the woman that grows this tea is working to start a tea therapy program for primary school students, much like art or music therapy to help children deal with stress and learn patience and social skills through tea ceremony. Hopefully with more and more Americans falling in love with her tea, she will able to realize that dream.

cultureflip

its definitely a very good idea to get kids interested in real tea for one important reason: that it is very rare to find something in todays society that is grown and processed with no additives or gimmicks whatsoever. kids need simplicity. no weird marketing schemes, no creepy cartoons, no convoluted agendas . . .

E Alexander Gerster

Sounds like a wonderful tea. I have just been finishing up some autumn 2010 Tieguanyin, which was a new profile for my taste buds… The tea therapy program sounds great, and I hope you will keep us updated through your website. I have seen the benefits of using tea as a focus for meditation both in and out of the zendo, and see great potential in schools. :)

Spoonvonstup

Very true. Despite some snobbery around tea, in essence, tea represents simplicity, and finding something to appreciate in the little things. I have a few cousins in the 3-6 year old range and they all LOVE tea ceremony. It presents a challenge for them to rise to, and creates a level of equality between them and the adults.

teawade

That sounds like a great idea. Not only the reasons mentioned above but also the health benefits. With soda and other unhealthy beverages, it would be nice to know that children will learn about tea at a young age and grow up with it. A great change of pace for the future mentally and physically. Best of luck to your friend!

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cultureflip

its definitely a very good idea to get kids interested in real tea for one important reason: that it is very rare to find something in todays society that is grown and processed with no additives or gimmicks whatsoever. kids need simplicity. no weird marketing schemes, no creepy cartoons, no convoluted agendas . . .

E Alexander Gerster

Sounds like a wonderful tea. I have just been finishing up some autumn 2010 Tieguanyin, which was a new profile for my taste buds… The tea therapy program sounds great, and I hope you will keep us updated through your website. I have seen the benefits of using tea as a focus for meditation both in and out of the zendo, and see great potential in schools. :)

Spoonvonstup

Very true. Despite some snobbery around tea, in essence, tea represents simplicity, and finding something to appreciate in the little things. I have a few cousins in the 3-6 year old range and they all LOVE tea ceremony. It presents a challenge for them to rise to, and creates a level of equality between them and the adults.

teawade

That sounds like a great idea. Not only the reasons mentioned above but also the health benefits. With soda and other unhealthy beverages, it would be nice to know that children will learn about tea at a young age and grow up with it. A great change of pace for the future mentally and physically. Best of luck to your friend!

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I fell in love with tea while doing work on classical Chinese language in China. I loved it so much that I went back for a year to research tea instead! Over a year and several summers in China I have had the chance to train in gongfu tea ceremony, and test the limits of my palate in tasting competitions. I was privileged to spend large chunks of time with farmers on their tea gardens, and was exposed to some of the smallest and most honest operations out there. It only made sense to go into business and deepen my relationship with tea and the farmers who make it with such care and humility. Now I own a small, but unique tea business importing the best teas that my farmer friends in China have to offer. Some of these teas are from regions that have never exported before. All of them have a story.

I will review teas on Steepster, because I think this is an awesome site, and a great community, but I won’t give them a numerical rating, as I don’t want to skew the system. I am having a great time here, and look forward to meeting more tea folk.

Location

Minneapolis, MN

Website

http://www.verdanttea.com

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