Verdant Tea (Special)

This tea is getting weird toward the bottom of the bag. I’m pretty sure there has been no crushing involved, and yet the last bunch of tea has TONS of little tiny bits in it. I think they are mostly flower petals from exploded chamomile flowers and maybe something else, but there definitely appears to be broken tea leaves as well. What’s more it’s so blended up that it is impossible to get a scoop without tiny bits. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, so I scooped a LOT of tea into my infuser to make sure I would actually get some of everything (and not just tiny bits with not enough actual tea leaves), and then steeped it for only 1 minute.

It worked! It was delicious. Floral and creamy and a little tart. It didn’t taste overleafed or bitter at all. At least I’ve found a way to make it work, even if it is a little odd. Penultimate note to a sipdown!

There is something hinky going on here. I brewed this one up at a slightly hotter temp since I remembered it was a white tea and that I like white teas brewed hotter. It smells good, but there is some strange note in the flavor that is kind of bitter. Bitter in a weird way though, like it’s not the white tea but something else that went wrong. Boo, I like this blend, and now I can’t drink this cup. I was about to say that this is my preferred “bouquet” from the blends club (over the Dragonwell Bouquet), but I guess I’ll be having a cup of that next anyway. This note hopefully serves as a reminder for the rest of it: don’t brew it too hot!

More blends! I haven’t had most of these in a while, so it’s nice to try them out again.

I definitely enjoy this blend. A bit creamy/marshmallowy, sweetly floral, a tiny bit fruity. It is a bit of a spring bouquet, but I like it that way.

There have been a ton of “bouquet” blends in the club lately; lucky for me I do enjoy floral teas, otherwise I would have been really disappointed. I didn’t look at this one closely before I brewed it so I didn’t realize it was a white tea, but it seems to have turned out pretty well.

I get some fresh jasmine, notes of hay and apple from the chamomile, and a bright tartness from the goji berry. The white tea gives the whole thing a smooth, marshmallowy sweetness that is very pleasant. I do happen to like this tea a lot.

Thought I had two servings of this one left, but it turned out to be only 1.5, so I dumped it all into my cup and steeped it for a little less time. It’s a teensy bit overly strong, but not too bad. The Zhu Rong is very bold in this cup, and drowns out the goji and chocolate a bit more than when at optimal ratios. Still pretty tasty, though.

And another sipdown, only 7 teas to go! Note that I have not at all added the tea samples sent to me by Cameron B. Right now I am pretty much pretending that they don’t exist (sorry Cameron, I do want to try them, I’m just trying to be focused on sipdowns. Soon tehy will be front and center, and hopefully by that time Steepster will be behaving).

Wow, Steepster is really f’ed up, isn’t it? Even the discussion boards aren’t working right. Hopefully it will work itself out soon.

I have realized that the best way for me to work down my cupboard numbers is probably to regularly drink up the Blends Club blends that I receive every month. It’s tempting to hoard some of them because I can’t get any more of them, but I have to fight the impulse and just enjoy them for what they are. Most of them I probably wouldn’t restock anyway, although I tend to find them tastier than some people. It helps to like florals in the Blends club (it also helps to like licorice and fennel, but I deal).

Anyway, this tea is quite tasty. The cocoa and berries go well together. Will happily drink this one regularly and will be a bit sad when its gone.

When I first had this tea, I was contemplating quitting the blends club. I did, but have since rejoined (fickle, fickle, haha). It is blends like this that make me want to stay in (even though July’s box wasn’t my fave). Chocolatey, with bright berry flavor… just really tasty.

I am looking forward to next month’s box, which apparently will be vanilla themed.

So my goal this weekend is to try all my Verdant Blends Club blends that I have neglected and make a decision on whether to continue the club or not. I like the idea in theory, on the whole I’ve not been overly thrilled with the blends. Some of them I’m super glad to have (Jolly Earl, Master Zhang’s Genmaicha), but others are super not for me (Licorice Mint Herbal, the tulsi box). I’m just not sure if it is worth it; not the money, but the accumulating pile of tea that I won’t drink.

Side note: sometimes I feel like I’m one of the only ones in the Blends Club (with CelebriTEA, haha). I usually add all the teas to the database right when I get them, but I didn’t this month and I just had to add one of the May teas today.

Of course, I started with this one and it’s pretty good. I think I need more leaf, but it’s a nice blend. Rich, chocolatey tones from the Zhu Rong and the cacao husks, bright, tart fruitiness from the goji berry. Blends like these tempt me to stay in the club, and the fact that the blends that I love never actually make it to the blends page of the site. Then again, if I love it and then can never get more of it, what’s the point? The reserve club was educational, and I drank all of those teas happily (plus there actually was a way to get more of those). Then there’s the fact that it seems like half the teas contain things that I strongly dislike (licorice, mint, fennel), or can’t drink (rooibos).

So anyway, this tea was tasty, but I seem to be talking myself out of the blends club. We’ll see how the rest of the tastings go!

This MIGHT have been ok with a black base?¿?
I can’t taste the orange peel which I believe would
have enhanced the experience for me.
I am not crazy about almond extract either.
Nothing about this is my style, blech…

Sample sipdown! This was from inranger

So so soooo good. Also, I think I’m going to make myself drink all green teas today for a change of pace :) It might be fun to pick a different type of tea for each day this week actually!

OK so apparently I HAVE tried this one before! And this time, like last time, it is the nectar of the gods :)

Green tea bliss!

Thanks again inranger :D

I’m SOOO happy TerriHarplady sent me some of this in my box! Thank you Terri! :D

My absolute favorite green teas of all time are from the He family in Laoshan. I’ve never had the honor of trying some of their more special offerings like this one. It does not disappoint! Buttery, creamy, and vegetal like all good Laoshan greens but with a hint of roastiness/nuttiness and a bright freshness about it. Very very good nom nom nom!

I guess I should consider joining Verdant’s TOTM club, but honestly $30 a month is more than my ENTIRE tea budget and there are other things from other sellers I want sometimes, you know? I’m sure I would love it though :)

I’ve been eyeing this tea with much trepidation. Sil has nicknamed it Tea of Doom, & included it in my box, heh. I had company this morning for a little while, company that enjoys tea. Company that actually prefers flavored teas, so I whipped this one out & served it, LOL. I used half of the sample, & the rest is going to Dag :)
Of course, I am not a fan of bergamot, although on rare occasion I can tolerate a few sips, usually from Tony’s mug.
I do love lavender in my garden, in a bath, on insect bites, on a cotton ball in my ear if I have an earache, or in little dream pillow in my bed. I don’t like it in tea so much, it’s like drinking bath water. I tried cooking with Herbs de Provence, which includes lavender, & it pretty much ruined the meal for me, although everyone else ate it.
So how was it? Both of my friend adored it. One even asked where she could get more.
MOAR???
Interestingly, it didn’t gross me out as much as I thought it would. It kind of tastes a little nostalgic, like the hippy herbal teas of my younger days, but it isn’t something I’d ever want to drink again.

I am so sorry, but all I can say…this is one hot mess that I cannot even drink :-(

This sheng impressed me from the start. The dry leaves had a grapey aroma, reminiscent of a first flush Darjeeling. The grapey aroma lightly carries into the flavor along with a smoky aftertaste. This is a mellow sheng, even with only one year of aging. The musty, woodsy flavors are not prominent at all. This is a great sheng to start with if you’d like to try pu’er tea.

So strange! This is like drinking a mild cup of patchouli with some vetiver added in. I don’t know how to feel about this. Kind of pleasant, kind of odd.

This is a sample and sip down
I brew the whole sample in 8 oz mug 205F
The taste was interesting but not something I like. I added splash of milk and spoon of maple syrup. It was very tasty spicy chai. I felt that I was missing some coconut and added tiny amount of coconut oil. I was very happy with the result. It was comforting.

Thank you for sending this to me, MissLena!

I was really worried that this got contaminated at first. What’s up with the spiciness? I was expecting creamy orange! Instead, the dry leaf smells overwhelmingly of cinnamon and, weirdly, clove. There’s a touch of vanilla at the end of the sniff. The brewed tea has a more balanced smell – equal parts cinnamon, vanilla, and orange.

The taste is sharp cinnamon and woody rooibos with a tart aftertaste. It actually reminds more of a chai than any kind of creamsicle. There is a nice sweetness that comes out at the bottom of the cup. If the whole brew tasted like this, I’d probably be a bigger fan.

sipdown

Sweet Licorice, Cinnamon, Mint & Fennel…
I love fennel in your blends.
I am not much on minty teas usually
But this is a perfect minty tea for me… love it

I am particularly fond of this blend of Green tea, Citrus, Bergamot and Lavendar.
The lavender is not fully present in in the cup or the nose,but lingers lightly in the aftertaste.
There is a lingering taste that is somewhat like pine to me and yet is very pleasant.
I have not seen other great reviews on this blend and yet, I love it.

So I’ve had a few cups of this thanks to Verdant Tea’s Tea of the month club bundle and oh god this one is sooo good!! This is right now a tie with Butiki’s Good Morning Sunshine for my morning tea… so now it comes down to whether I feel like minty goodness or lemon~y goodness. (head explodes) yep too many tea decisions for the morning I better pick the night before.

Caffeine Free Tea Box

Tulsi strikes again! I thought that I just didn’t like the Tulsi Rose tea, but know I think I just don’t like Tulsi. I liked everything about the tea, but the tulsi flavor ruined it for me.