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First Review of this lovely black Yunnan Golden Bud tea. Each infusion 3 minutes. 1TB Leaves used per instructions on the Verdant Website Per Cup. traditional method (PIAO 1 glass pot used).

1. Beautiful medium golden brown (with a twinge of green) colored liquor. There is a very pronounced honey scent that picked me up and carried me away…I mean it…all through this first tasting…to my crazy place! (You should all be afraid!) I went to my cupboard and pulled out some honey. Buckwheat honey…yuk…not that one…too strong. Then the local Prairie Wildflower Raw honey (Copoco)…which was closer to the scent( I’ll get back to this later). I needed to taste this tea! The flavor reminds me of those honey seseme candies…but slightly astringent on the finish. Juicy and bright.

2. This I was hoping would be the ‘MegaMillion’ Pour. Soooo much darker! Rich and silky looking caramel orange liquor. The same color that you don’t want your tanning lotion to do to your body! This smells like a slightly floral honey…here we go folks…that Prairie Wildflower Honey! Sumptious and bright on the tongue! Juicy! I just HAD…yes HAD to add sweetening to see what would happen to the honey and it was the best thing I ever ate. No, that’s a show…but it was so darned good! That sweet addition brought up the cinnamon and spicy pepperiness which made a huge difference to the whole cuppa experience. I have to say that when I finished this second cup, there was a feeling and coating on my tongue like whipped creamy honey thick and gooey.

3. The liquor is getting lighter now but still nice and amber. What to expect here? No floral notes but still some honey flavor exists. What is so pronounced at this stage is cinnamon and pepper. If you are a spice-aholic…this is where you jump for joy and say “Mama Mia! "
(I’m thinking Verdant is going to bar me from writing comments about their tea!)

How fantastic to have honey and cinnamon in your tea without having to add it! It’s there already naturally! This is worth a try!

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.

First Review. Natural Coconut Oolong…now doesn’t that sound delicious! Um Yum! So many of us Steepsters love our Coconut Tea and I’m one of those who does also. Tricky to find a good tea has enough coconut without being cloying or artificial tasting. I was hopeful that this would be a winner so I followed my set of Oolong brewing instructions and set to the task. I failed, or should I say bombed. First I used water that was a tad too cool and steeped 4 minutes which was too long. The tea tasted like coconut but was bitter, icky. OK. This won’t deter me. Do over Bonnie! Put the Temp up to 185 and steep time at 2 minutes…much better ahhhhhh. Rich and juicy coconut, sweet without being floral orchid Oolong way I’m used to. Really nice. Creamy but not buttery. There is a slight astringent finish. As the tea cools the cream coconut thickens and coats the tongue blocking the astringency. Adding sugar or agave really brings the coconut flavor up a notch in a delightful way. This is a cuppa to sip on the beach in Kawaii! Anyone want to join me?!

First Review. March has been awesome! The weather has been high 60’s and 70’s and this Saturday we Northern Coloradans end with a burst of heat over 80 degrees! Time to go to my garage and take my outdoor carpet out of storage and fix up a place to sit and sip tea on the patio. I have a nice table and chairs and space to grow herbs and MINT (my favorite). When it’s hot I like a good Mint Tea…usually fresh Mint in the Middle Eastern/Egyptian manner with a pot full of leaves very hot and sweet…but dry tea leaves in regular tea form is fine too. When I read about this tea it sounded like a winner for year round use. Nice for cold days in the Winter and cooling for hot Summer.
The first thing you notice is the dry scent which will knock you down it’s so Pepperminty! I cautiously steeped for 4 minutes. Hum…a first sip without additions like sugar or cream proved just a little bit sweet and drinkable but thankfully not as pungent as expected. After the first taste which is mint, there is brandy in the background.
Whoever the blending guru was for this tea showed restraint and did not overdue the flavoring. Good thing too. It would have been gross, fake, gag me bleh with too much brandy. The taste is just right and interesting! Very Flavorful and rich. I’m liking this tea! Add sweetening and cream for a very special dessert tea. I like dessert! Cool and refreshing. I want to see what happens when the temperature decreases. Can this be iced? I’d love it iced if it can be done and add a little real mint. Pretty in a tall glass!

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!!!

Manyous Thanks to Tegan Again for this tea-bag-alicious sample!
Redemption! After the last review which was blech-y, I rushed to find the next tea to review in my “TO BE REVIEWED” box, next to another “NEW TEAS” also to be reviewed box and so on. Never ends does it?! Well, Tegan had saved the evening with this tea bag sample…this Organic exotic (which I myself also am) spiced Chai! Horray! Besides black tea the ingredients say ginger, cardamom, pepper, lemon-grass, cloves. I like those things. So, I steeped the bag 5 minutes, added milk and agave which worked perfectly with the brew. Here’s what I liked about this Chai compared to others I’ve had. This Chai doesn’t make you feel like you’re in a spice market in India ready to dance as a Bollywood extra (and I LOVE to dance to Bollywood music myself and I love to bellydance too…but that’s another story…) because this Chai is subtle. There is more of a peppery feel on the tongue and a lite spiciness. The cardamom, ginger and clove is restrained so that you can’t pick out the individual flavors. That’s not easy to do with such aggressive spices. Many people avoid Chai because they are so pronounced and assertive. This one is relaxing which would particularly be nice when the weather is hot. I can see why the reviews have been so positive.

Many thanks to Tegan for this sample! what a day! Running around doing errands and irritating my fibromyalgia (back and core hurt) but I was able to go 7 hours on my feet in a marathon of gettin stuff done…so I could come home and flop an (yes an) have some tea. (tomorrow I’m going to pay for what I did to my body today arrrrr). Anyhoose (did your grandma or grandpa say anyhoose?) I had this tea from Tegan that is low caffeine from Teavana and thought what the hay…some white tea, coconut, apples and kiwi, papaya, lemongrass and lemon peel and pineapple. Sounds good. I was really into wanting a good cuppa. I steeped 6 minutes and did a test sip…nah…watery…went longer and poured. Very watery still. I had put in enough tea. But, I added some more and kept brewing. Still not very flavorful. I added sweetening. Not good. Added more, and more. Still really no coconut, no flavor standing out and saying “Hello there, I’m Pineapple” or “Papaya” or even “Lemon”. If it was more acidic and stronger it would have been a cleaner. Sorry folks but it was dull and uh…dull. Think I’ll try something else. I’ve not had much luck with Teavana for some reason.

First review. I must say that unless you pick up the brochure at Teavana you have no idea what’s in this herbal tea except pineapple (on the label). The bags are labeled with the name and a bunch of generic brewing information and that’s all. I had to look up the ingredients…pineapple, apple pieces, fragrant marigold, orange and mallow blossoms. OK. Following the steeping instructions of 5-6 minutes I did a sample pour which was like water so I waited another 3 minutes. Pouring again there was a little color (more of a blush) and a light pineapple fragrance. Sipping the brew straight the tea is not very bold and flavorful. The pineapple is not juicy but dry and undeveloped like the core of the fruit. It has a true flavor alright, just disappointing. I could not taste apple or floral or orange because of the very weak flavor blend. Adding some additional tea did not improve the taste. I added sweetening…which did help enormously with the drinkability
( I would have tossed the pot of tea down the drain otherwise). One thing I never do is add honey…but it seemed that this Pineapple Kona Pop could be the exception to the rule. What could ruin this herbal tea anyway? Adding some Colorado Wildflower Honey was a nice try but still the tea stayed pretty BLEH! I’ll drink it mind you eventually, because I have few decaffeinated or herbal tea’s in my stash. However, I don’t recommend this tea at all!

Thanks Tegan for thie sample of Birthday Tea!
I thought today was a good day to celebrate! I went with fear and trembling to pick up my Tax Return…ugh…knowing that I would likely owe a bundle this year. My Tax lady said “You don’t owe anything.” Are you positive?!"said I. “Yes, we get it right, I’m sure!” she said. Wow! Unreal! But, as I drove home something just didn’t seem right. I went over my return at home where I discovered the BIG error… she had failed to record the large IRA withdrawal from when I moved to Colorado and bought my condo and paid off my car and credit cards to qualify for the load in January 2011. Oh No! So I called and this will be corrected and I will pay Big Tax Bucks! Now what to do? Be mad or be sad? Nah, make some tea. Make some tea and review it. Pick a good name like Birthday Tea. (It’s not that great a tea really…too one dimensional… vanilla and that’s it). Some tea review huh. Tea review and life lesson review. I have too much to be greatful for. Not much money but lots and lots of tea! I love the tea people I have contact with also.

I would like to thank Lady Tegan for sharing this splendid tea in a swap (I being a lowly scullery maid and all).
I’ve written before about picking blackberries in the Coast Range Mountains of Northern California in the Summer. Finding just the juiciest ripe ones but usually eating the best because they are too irresistible. Their unique flavor is mixed with sunshine and is truly magical. Have you ever seen anyone sad with a bowl of fresh berries? I’ve never heard of such a thing although I suppose it’s possible. Wondering what this wildly crazy named tea could taste like drew me in. Didn’t you wonder about it too? Mafia and Jane Austin in the name? Oh yeh!
I took the steep to the 4.5 min. Today, I’ve been washing curtains (96in. white, tall window curtains!) and I wanted no whimpy tea for me this afternoon. It’s 76 and warm outside which is lovely. I need tea now! My last blackberry tea was really pretty good from Teavana…the mojito…which my daughter agrees has a good blackberry flavor. By comparison, this blackberry tea is not as light and bright or fruity. There is almost a licorice finish that is NOT, understand me here, unpleasant. This may be due to it being a black tea and the Teavana was herbal which is going to color the flavor. This tea has tannin (a little bit) and a hint of bitterness (again just a bit). The vanilla flavor mixed with the blackberry is nice and restrained adding smoothness. This tea begs for sweetening and milk. Yes both. Miss Jane would serve it to guests with both on her tray wouldn’t she? Of course she would!
As for the Mafia. I guess, some people (maybe me when I’m washing curtains) would KILL for a cup of tea like this one (or hire someone to do it for me…like Tegan or Indigobloom or K S or Emilie or Ian! (oops not Ian he’s the Butler!)