Verdant Tea (Special)

A nice minty tea with some tulsi and licorice sweet finish. This would be good for anyone with a cold.

Yep this is still a keeper. It’s a shame they don’t make mixes anymore. Oh well I shall enjoy this one while it lasts. I taste mint.

Oh god how I love this tea especially when it feels like I might be getting a cold. I hate colds because they always seem to last forever and suck the energy right out of you. I have plans this weekend and a cold is NOT included. So time to drink lots of my favourite teas and kick any cold or cold wannabes in the butt before they start!

This is a really good tea that I like when I’m not feeling 100% especially if I think I may be coming down with something (cold,flu, etc.) It always helps me breathe easier. Well that and my favourite chai of course!

Since I’m not feeling that good and it is my day off I will drink lots of good tea to make myself feel better. I feel stiff and achy all over and I personally blame the weather for this. Now that it is not hot and muggy anymore but getting colder my body probably just needs time to adjust. That and I am not used to having time off. It feels really weird.

Okay I was going to write this note earlier but life got in the way. So my first cup of this was spectacularly awesome. It was a nice creamy mint that was perfect. Now for some unknown reason after that I found it got sometimes too sweet near the end. Similar to teas with Chamomile in them. So I would definitely recommend this to everyone as it is extremely yummy.

Finally trying this.

It’s actually pretty good. Lots of tulsi. Very herbal. A bit of pine from the yabao.

Not something I think I’d want to get again, but I have some of another 8 Treasures that I haven’t finished yet. And Yabao Snickerdoodle. And honestly, I think I’d rather have the ginger sage winter spa blend over any of the others, most of the time.

Smooth smoky, woodsy, musty flavour.

Subsequent infusions at 2 and 3 minutes were more flavourful. I would definitely try this one again with a longer first time infusion.

Rating: 83

Thanks to Kittenna for sharing with me!

I was skeptical about trying this tea because it smells so perfumey, but that also intrigues me. Floral teas smell perfumey to me but I love the taste so I was hoping that would be the case with this one. But this tasted awful. I could detect the jasmine which I liked, but it tasted just like incense of perfume. I love the idea of it, it’s not like any other tea I’ve tried, but I just can’t do it. Unless someone really wants this, I’ll probably throw it away. I’m only giving it a rating above 10 because I think it is a quality tea and I wish that I liked it.

This tea was a generous gift from CrowKettle :)

I packed up a servings worth of leaf to take to work with me this morning without really researching the tea first. I’ve never seen shu leaf that looked quite like this, but I didn’t think much of it, and rushed off to work. I brewed up my first steep as soon as I got here, and then checked out the Steepster page for it. I had no idea that CrowKettle had sent me such a treasure! I’ve never had the opportunity to try a puerh tea this old! Apparently it can go for 30 steeps??? I will definitely have to find a way to transport my wet leaves home with me after work so I can continue the adventure :D

As per my usual style for shu, I’m steeping this one “Western-ish” which is somewhere in between Verdant’s recommendation for Western style brewing of this tea, and the Xingyang Workshop’s Recommendation.

I’ve never had anything quite like this one! I’m used to shu tasting very earthy and foresty. This one DOES taste like ancient books and wood. Yet somehow it is very sweet and CLEAN. I’m upset because the air is so dry here, my sinuses aren’t quite right today and I’m sure I’m not experiencing this taste and smell fully. (so glad I have enough leaf to try it a few more times!)

Immediately after tasting, Esme by Joanna Newsom was playing in my head, so I will be listening to her lovely harp music while drinking it ALL DAY today.

“I believe love will always surround you
Brave as a bear with a heart rare and true
But if you are scared, if you are blue
I have prepared this small song for you:

Sweet Esme! Sweet Esme!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EHemagYSs8

I’ll update on subsequent steeps of this tea today in the comments if I feel it necessary :)

Broke this out this morning. It’s the first, and probably only February Amoda tea I’ll have, because the others are too floral for me, and I have sensitivities to florals.

This is pretty tasty, but honestly, it is no better than the Sheng Pu Erh I can get locally from David’s. They’re extremely similar.

I really like lavender, but it’s about all I taste here. Much too delicate for my clumsy palate.

Floral, pine, lemon. That’s what I’m getting here. Not a bad combination, but just not a favorite of mine.

I absolutely love this blend and want tons more of it. The fennel comes through the most and is amazing.

It’s not that I don’t like it, but I just don’t drink it. I’ve managed to give most of it away as samples. It smells like an herb store. One that operates out from the roots of a tree. All earthy and spicy and weird. Not something I crave often, if ever. Interesting, and drinkable, but not something I look for, flavour-wise.

With honey, in a thermos. It was nice to have after work, on the long and horrible bus ride home. I like the flavours, but I wouldn’t get it again. Ginger Sage Winter Spa Blend and honey is my OTP. Well, from Verdant. :)

(The bus driver apparently took a wrong turn and did a 25 minute detour, but DIDN’T ANNOUNCE ANYTHING or give anyone a chance to get off the bus, even though they passed a major transit hub. That sucked so much. Me sitting there, panicking in the back of the extremely crowded bus. Didn’t make it home in time to pack and go to a by-donation yoga class like I planned, either. :( I might still do yin yoga tonight, but I have to call and find out if they have a reduced rate drop in for first timers.)

I’m not feeling too great this evening, so I’ve turned to some comforting teas. Since I don’t want to use up my Ginger Sage Winter Spa Blend, I’m having this with honey.

It’s pretty good, but I still think it’d be better as an herbal. There’s not enough puerh in it to balance out the tulsi and other herbs (mostly tulsi!).

Sipping it with a small amount of honey.

From Dinosara.

I keep on reaching for the other Verdant tea she sent me, because I think I haven’t had it yet. But this is the tea I haven’t been drinking.

I’m sipping on it right now, having added some honey. It’s pretty nice. Spicy, sweet, earthy. I think that once I remember that this is the tea I need to start paying some attention to, it will go quickly. And it resteeps, as well. I’m just going to do one resteep as I have some other teas planned for this evening, but I’m pretty sure it could do 3 or more.

Thank you!

In other news, I bought a gel manicure kit. Instead of more tea. Umm. Go me?

Thanks, Dinosara. :)

This is mostly tulsi. Lots and lots of tulsi. Some spice from the galangal, some berry taste from the goji berries, and I can barely taste the actual tea.

It’s interesting. I like the flavours. But I’m not sure it really needs the tea part in it. It might do better as an herbal.

2/23/14 Morning gongfu. 3g/100ml gaiwan. This tea did not show well for me this morning – I’m going to revisit the steeping suggestions on the website before I try it again. There were all kinds of subtle fascinating aromas in the wet leaf that just didn’t make it into the cup at all this morning.

Sipdown! I’m on a roll this weekend.

This blend is still wonderful. The floral notes are predominantly rose and jasmine. There’s a thick, subtle sweetness to it. There’s something holding the sweetness in check – a woody quality that maybe comes from the juniper? I can’t pinpoint it but it’s a nice balance to the sweetness.

Three years ago, I promised a proper tasting note on this tea (http://steepster.com/Kaylee/posts/227110). Well, folks, I’m sure you have been waiting with bated breath for that note, and your wait has at long last come to an end. Over the top? Sure, but I’m feeling loopy.

I steeped according to package instructions. 1 tablespoon, 8 oz, 208f, 30-40 second infusions. Despite the leaf being three years old, it’s still fragrant and tasty. The dry leaf smells sugary sweet and floral with a hint of hay. In the first steep, the brewed tea smells like sweet cream and roses. The flavor is smooth, creamy, and predominantly rose. I’m guessing the creaminess comes from the vanilla. The second steep is still sweet, rosy, and creamy, but the end of the sip brings a cool minty freshness that builds as the cup empties. The third steep is far less creamy. It’s still floral, but also fruity like those fruit-shaped hard candies. I let the fourth steep sit for several minutes because a) I wanted to get lots of flavor out of it and didn’t expect any bitterness and b) I got distracted and forgot to remove the steeper on time. Both of those can be true at the same time, right? Anyway, there’s still a smooth, thick mouthfeel and the flavor is still sweet, with a note of citrus and a lingering minty freshness which I think is the tulsi.

The only other time I have tried an 8 treasures blend was at Ching Ching Cha when I nipped a bit from Phi’s pot. I recall that one being creamy too, but not as floral. Phi, am I retconning that? Anyone know if creaminess is characteristic of 8 treasures blends?

Not adjusting the rating that I gave on my first review because the leaf has gotten old and it’s unfair to judge it at this point. I would only lower it by a couple of points, though, and that is more a result of having tasted more teas now than this tea not being tasty.

I find this one really phenomenal. I’ve never had anything quite like it. Floral, but not overly perfume-like. Layered. I got at least 4 good steeps out of this one and each one was nuanced and lovely. I’ll write up a proper tasting note eventually, but I wanted to get it down that I enjoyed this blend.