294 Tasting Notes
I brewed this sample up in the Yixing with boiling water and a rinse. The first cup after a short steep was gentle with a red liquor. The second and much longer steep yielded a powerful dark red-brown liquor. This like most of the Pu-erhs I’ve had this is strong and will yield multiple steepings. Well I have to work today so I will not have the extended trip through Pu-erhville. Do I like it? Yes.
I wish someone would post a new listing for the Autumn Laoshan Black. I commented on this yesterday while my keen sense of taste was dulled. Today I brewed this up in the Yixing with generous leaf. I knew when the boiling water hit the leaves I was feeling better. The aroma that we loved is back. I am getting a sweetness again with flavors of a lighter cocoa and the buckwheat honey. The second infusion was steeped for maybe 8 to 10 minutes. It’s alive. I am seeing dimensions with this that I did not see with the Spring picking. I am getting that copper sensation that I got with the Big Red Robe. My body is warm and glowing from this second cup. Am I feeling 100 percent? No. Did this tea make me feel better? YES.
David, I think it’s obvious you have a loyal customer….
Several Loyal customers :)
Excellent! I am relieved to hear that this tea is performing for you. It is always a risk bringing in something new, but I trusted the farmers and told them to ship me the whole crop after it was harvested and not wait for samples to approve.
Thank you for sharing this comment and confirming my suspicions that this harvest may indeed be more complex than its predecessor. I am also glad that it may have had a small role in pushing you towards health from being sick.
It is deep honor to have loyal customers, and I don’t take it lightly. Thank you. I will continue to work my hardest in finding thrilling new teas to try and maintaining or raising my standards of quality.
Best Wishes,
David
This is the Fall Picking. I noticed upon opening the tea that the dry leaf was not as aromatic. I was generous with the amount used and the steep time was maybe 5 minutes. I feel it is still a good tea. I have to taste compare the 2 side by side. Maybe my nose and tastebuds are off today. The liquor is lighter and the flavor is not as strong as the spring picking. I am steeping brew 2 now. Frankly, I was expecting to be blown away. Like I said, maybe it’s me. This was basket brewed in a cup. I am now trying the Gaiwan….
Hi Charles,
When I tried this with a group after it came in here in Minneapolis, we started with a gaiwan. I expected the autumn harvest to be much heartier than the spring, and you are right that it is lighter. However, we decided after about 10 steepings that we found it to be finer in terms of complexity. I love the story that this tea tells as it steeps out. It takes 2-3 steepings to get to that wonderful malty flavor that the spring tea had, but in the mean time there is an interesting big red robe texture and intriguing sweetness. Play around with this one a bit and you will definitely hit the sweet spot. I found that slightly longer steepings when prepared brew basket style gave the leaves time to infuse all the layers of their complexity. Five minutes should do it- perhaps hotter water is called for?
I am curious to see what you get out of this one through further exploration. It is certainly no assam substitute, but I think that it offers something unique to the world of black tea.
Thanks David.
David, in all fairness to you, I believe I have a headcold which has dulled my senses. I will explore this tea later when I can render a better opinion….
I am brewing this in the Gaiwan today. I am also drinking it out of this vessel. I only put a little over a tsp in. A somewhat of a long steep. Delicious as ever. I love this tea. I had to give it a slight stir so the flavors would mix. Oh, the warm feeling….
pedant question: do you happen to know what generation from the source the plants are which Verdant has access to distribute?
No idea..
Why Jim?
Just curious, mostly. I was reading about the origins of big red robe and from a marketing point of view, vintage (of the bushes) has become a big issue.
It struck me as the kind of tea that if I’m going to delve in, I’d want to start with an exemplar but that acquiring a true one might take some doing.
teamasters.blogspot.com/2011/11/wu-yi-tea-documentary
I just got my first Gaiwan and I had to try it. Something tells me I’m going to be in for a treat. I was generous with the leaf. This tea is truly unique. The aroma of the dry leaf. The flavor. So different than any black I have ever had. And the Gaiwan, I love it….
I asked for some Gaiwians for Christmas… they are fun.
I just paid 3.99. A steal
Red Blossom tea company sells them for $15. so overpriced…
The best place to go is an Asian marketplace if you have one in your area. We have an Asian Mall in Portland, and they have a tea shop there… I can pick up gaiwans very reasonably priced. However, they are the thin porcelain, and I much prefer the gaiwan I bought that was a little more pricy (I think I paid $20 for it) but, it is made of a thicker porcelain, it has a pour spout, and what I like to call “comfort” spots on the sides where I place my fingers when I hold to pour so I don’t burn my fingers. Since I use my gaiwan nearly every day, and sometimes more than once a day, it was certainly worth the investment for me.
I got mine at the local Asian Market. The porcelain is thin I must add. It’s a nice starter….
I have a couple of great gaiwans from In Pursuit of Tea in NY. travel sets with bag and 6 cups and tea ocean…great and very flexible and portable
Another incredible offering from Verdant. I have rinsed the leaves and the first steeping was quick. Maybe a minute or less. I am getting a Redwood forest taste if such a thing exists. It is smooth and luscious. I think I am getting a numbing sensation in my mouth. I am moaning with each sip. My opinion so far is to buy the whole brick if possible. Is that camphor description I read about leading to the numbing? This tea is beautiful. It is making my body glow. I am only on the first steeping. Where will this tea take me? The second steep is stronger. When I was pouring it out of the dark brown Yixing I had to admire the beautiful color of the liquor. This cup is darker. Stronger. More aromatic. The numbing more intense. I think this is the tea that you would want if you could have no other. I am at a loss for words….
OMG
I think I am seeing elephants. LOL
It was delicious!
Very….
Thanks Charles!
What a great tasting note and experience that you captured. That camphor, numbing sensation is absolutely seductive (to me anyways). It is perhaps my favorite direction for a shu pu’er to go. I get that sensation from the Yiwu brick, and from a new brick I just got in that hasn’t gone up yet. The name literally translates to “The Star of Bulang.” I think some may have to be sent your way in the future.
Your notes are always appreciated, and thoroughly enjoyed!
Best Wishes,
David
David thank you for having these beautiful teas….
I just ordered more last night along with the Big Red Robe.. A truly fantastick tea. If this was an experiment with the growers I cannot wait to taste the fall offering. The empty cup smells of evergreens….
You’re hooked (on Verdant!)! I knew you would be!!! The Red Robe is a goodie, too!
I just had a chance taste the fall picking, and it is supreme! The fall picking definitely has a character of its own, and it doesn’t disappoint in any way. I’d even say that the fall picking is more interesting than it’s predecessor in some respects, most noticeably in the aftertaste. In any case, it’s an awesome tea, and I look forward to reading your thoughts on it, as well as having some more in front of me to taste and elaborate my own thoughts on.
I ordered some more the other day too. It has been sticking in my mind as a must have…
@Bliss, yes I’m hooked. Verdant doesn’t have a lot of tea but what they have is primo. Not to mention great customer relations.
I am brewing this in the Yixing. I used half the amount in the sample. I rinsed it. The first steep is a dark brown orange. I am smelling cedar and burnt oranges. It’s a very strong brew. I am feeling very content. To me, this is the sign of a great tea. When life seems to move just as it should. I am so happy I am exploring the world of Pu-erhs. They take you on a trip. Early in my exploration of tea I was somewhat turned off my Pu-erhs. Maybe I had a bad one. I don’t know. This is a very good one. To quote Townes Van Zandt, he sings in " Talking Thunderbird Blues " It tastes yum yum yummy and I know it’s doing good things to my tum tum tummy.
I am drinking this in a tall glass and just like everything else from Verdant it has won me over. The aroma and flavor are nothing short of superb….
I cold brewed this over the weekend it was good. It was also good mixed with some french vervaine.
HA! I just totally read that wrong! I thought it said “I am drinking tall grass” :)
@ Tea, I am drinking all of my Greens in this fashion now. I highly recommend it.
The more Yunnan gold teas I drink, the more they become my benchmark (along with Wuyi Oolongs) for what tea ought to be.
Jim, I agree….