Verdant Tea (Special)

Another one that soothed me during my fight with the nasties (read: the worst cold of my life, thank goodness it’s gone and done).

Birth Day, Verdant and Teavivre orders arrive, and sipping this while watching Awkward and waiting for my hair to dry after stripping the color (currently, it’s flurorescent orange). It’s a good, fun day. :)

Yep, I do like this tea, even though I’m passing the last of it along to someone (that I hope) enjoys it too. On to the wishlist again! :)

Why do I enjoy this so much when many of you aren’t feeling it? Maybe it’s my first tulsi, so I’m biased. I really do enjoy it though — thus my third (?) cup in the past few days.

Gosh I love this tea. I wish I could pick out all the lovely flavors in it. Tulsi, definitely. Maybe something sweet and fruity, yet hard to place. A hint of licorice perhaps? Dunno. I just love it. A really unusual blend of flavors that I’m sipping way too fast.

1.5 tsp in 12oz.

This is my first tulsi (I think) thanks to Dinosara. Thank you for your generosity!

I had to look it up: does tulsi have caffeine in it? Oh, silly me. It’s part of the basil family. Okay, so I should technically love this. I love basil, I love herbals and/or medicinals…

I oversteeped this slightly from what I do most of my herbals, only because I was trying to get the kidlets to bed at a decent time. Well… before midnight, at least. It’s a weekend, yes, however my youngest seems to need less sleep the later he goes to bed. Kinda cruddy for me, the gal who has been working all night and sleeping all day until 4-5pm of late when the kids get home.

Anyway. To the tea! This is a fragrant blend of mostly mint and a few things I fail to place. It seems naturally sweet, slightly buttery/creamy, and has a nice minty savoriness to it. Each sip is a bit different than the last, and I’m surprised there’s rooibos on here; I saw zero in the bag, and I’m failing to taste it as well. All in all, I like this, and am so grateful to have finally tried tulsi!

So to be honest, I grew to love this tea. It’s just so good and calming and brings me down to earth. Sadly, I am at a sipdown due to liking it so much :( it reminds me of my beloved Ginger Sage Winter Spa Blend with more tulsi and pu’erh added! I bet I could make it by blending some teas, although I need more GSWSB soon, my last batch seemed to be missing rose petals :/

Anyways, let’s talk about this tea haha. As this is the last cup, it’s full of floaty bits and brewed up quite dark. Smells spicy and rose petally. Mmmm. But since it’s an at-work sipdown, I need to get back at it haha so won’t be able to log the taste. I’m sure it will end on a high note! Love this tea, and so happy I could try it! Upping rating a bit. See previous notes :)

There are some times when I want tea and I have no idea what one I want..I ponder over it and take out one, put it back, take out another, repeat…but tonight that wasn’t the case! I very clearly knew I wanted to have this tea before bed, with it’s savory spiciness and rich, earthy flavor. The tulsi really brings a lovely savouriness to this blend, I know it’s the tulsi as it’s the same kind of savoury that my beloved Rooibos Tulsi Herbal has. Hmm, I should have a cup of that one tomorrow, and break into my new 2 oz of it haha. But almost bed time now. It was starting to rain outside and might even wake up to snow, so a cozy tea sounded perfect before I hit the sack. Had a productive night too, of laundry and the take home exam for my class. Should be able to fully relax tomorrow! See previous notes on this delicious tea :)

Happy Friday! Man I love weekends, only 4 more hours to go at work! Hehe, it’s snowy and cold here again, I knew the warm weather wouldn’t last, but I hoped it would lol. Ah well, out come my rich, warming teas again! Ok this one is really really growing on me..it’s just so rich and almost savory…warming and delicious, even in the travel mug! This is starting my day off right. Loving it! See previous notes.

I had a cup of this earlier this week, but this week has been so crazy I didn’t log it. Oh, as an aside, the Tulsi Rooibos tonic from this same BOMC box, is so good I’ve been drinking it steady all week, probably half the bag is gone already LOL. Talk about going through a good tea fast!

Anyways, this is the other blend I have tried, still have to try Midwinter Robe tomorrow. The dry smell of this is wonderful, it reminds me of my beloved Ginger Sage Winter Spa Blend (which I need to order ASAP when I’m finished with all this house buying stuff!). There is a nice rose component, the tulsi is also there, and I think the rhodilia might also be there, as it’s also in Ginger Sage Spa Blend. A spicy, slightly floral, comforting scent.

I steeped about 1.5 tsp for 1 minute, I haven’t tried a longer steep time yet as I don’t want it to get too intense, especially caffeine wise in the evening. The steeped smell is spicy and warming, there is a fresh shu pu’er smell, nothing fishy or anything, just that earthy freshness like in Sichuan Caravan. The tulsi is there too, and it smells herby too haha, quite pleasing.

As for the flavor, this is rich and strong with flavor. Quite herby, with a definite tulsi component. It is a bit strong and you feel it a bit in the nose with that fresh sensation, but it has a surprisingly smooth and clean aftertaste, not bitter, actually the rose comes out a bit in the aftertaste. It is almost woody (probably the shu) but in a good way haha. Earthy and fortifying. A tasty blend that I think will grow on me, it feels like one I will start craving haha. Although maybe not quite as much as that Tulsi Rooibos!

Sipdown!! (129)

Thank you OMGsrsly for the chance to have another cup of this tea. It really is unique and quite good but I think I am content to see it go.

Sipdown!! (234)

I managed to burn the INSIDE of my nose today. I opened the lid of my roommates soup to smell it and forgot about steam and how hot it could be and ended up inhaling really hot steam. So I feel dumb but at least I have this tasty cup to take my mind off that.

It is an interesting tea because it is very different from most of my others. This has a herb flavor but it is not a herbal tea. And that works really well with the toasted rice of genmaicha. I am glad I got to try this but it probably won’t be a restock – not because it is not good but rather my tea preferences almost always gear towards sweet and I don’t think this would really be appreciated. Nonetheless, thank you Cavocorax for sharing it with me. I enjoyed it while it lasted.

I have only been awake for about 3 hours and in addition to breaking some kitchenware, I have also managed to throw my phone across the room in an attempt to answer it (thank god for OtterBoxes), uppercut my own nose, and stub my pinky toe which consequently caused me to hit my thigh into the corner of my desk. Basically I am convinced today is the day I die (or just get a few new bumps and bruises to add to the collection).

On the plus side, I have yet to ruin tea so there’s that. And, I realized I have an insane amount of tea I have not tried yet (courtesy of many large swaps and a bunch of BF orders). This particular cup came to me from the very generous Cavocorax. After the success of Nina’s Japon and Marshmallow Treat, I have sort of gone on a Genmaicha craze in which I want to try all the Genmaichas. Luckily Cavo was able to help me out with that plan.

This tea is so drastically different from the other genmaichas. This is more savory than sweet. The brown rice incorporates the roasted rice flavor I love but also adds a touch of maltiness while the coriander gives the tea a delicious herb flavor. Given the option, I will always reach for Nina’s Japon but when that is removed from the equation, this is a nice and unique alternative. An interesting cup for sure. Not one I would reach for often but nice to have around when I want something different. So thank you Cavocorax for the chance to taste this tea! Hopefully you are enjoying what I sent you as much as I have enjoyed what you sent me :)

I was very unsure about this month’s blends from Verdant, as they all featured tulsi and a host of herbs, some of which I had never heard of! Despite my reservations, this tea is quite good! I’ve had a couple cups already but find it hard to describe – probably due to the exotic herbs. In any case, it is mellow and rich, spicy and comforting, and overall nice and satisfying. Take away from that what you will. ;) I used 2 tsp and steeped for 1 min, 2 min, etc. The tea was a nice dark cup every time.

Another one from tonight…while testing. i guess…i’m underwhelmed but the most recent blends. I’m glad February is on it’s way so that maybe that will redeem things a little. This one was alright, but even though it’s up on the website, it won’t make the cut for me this time…not like the others that i’ve picked up once they were made official blends. :)

Dear Verdant. Stop with the 1 min steepings for all the blends. kthnx :)

I see why some folks are not as fond of this one as some of them. I am A-ok with this one though. it’s not my favourite, but it is an interesting mix up. I’m actually curious as to how this would fare as a cold brew. Only thing i want a little more of is the lemon. :)

I had absolutely no idea it would take this long to get over strep. The nose still just won’t stop! Things cleared up enough I was finally able to sample this tea, but it didn’t really spark with me. Maybe we can blame that on messed up sinuses, or maybe it’s just a little… eh.

This tea!! I forgot I had a big bag of this tea, and as I am earnestly cutting out all caffeine (had some crazy anxiety this week, including a panic attack..could also be related to time of month..) this tea will be back in my repertoire for a while. Man I realized I have only about 20 herbals of my mass number of teas! I might have to break my hiatus to restock some..ugh how I will miss my caffeine, but until I get my anxiety sorted out, this is how it will have to be.

Anyways, this tea is as delicious as ever, maybe it benefited from ageing? Buttery, lemony goodness. Smooth and tasty. Yum. I am happy I rediscovered this tea in my cupboard :D see previous notes!

Mini sipdown – as I ordered 2 oz of the version without linden flowers on Verdant’s site recently :D this is such a cup of sunshiney goodness again this morning. I only steeped it for about a minute and it’s perfectly flavored, not too much rooibos, lemony and fresh. It feels like spring today, not necessarily weather-wise (-4 C) but to me it feels like it. And now my cravings of fresh green and white teas is starting, and pretty floral blends. Will have to have some of those this weekend! See previous notes on this tea :)

So after my crazy busy day at work I was home briefly then off to sushi with some good friends..I had some genmaicha there and it was tasty, but I needed a favorite cuppa when I got home on behalf of it being my birthday haha. So I looked at my cupboard and almost had the Marshmallow Snowflake EG or my favorite Yu Lu Yan Chai, but those are rather caffeine heavy, and I already have been drinking green tea all evening.

So what better tea to have than this one? My FAVORITE rooibos, which it now looks like is available at Verdant for ordering (minus the linden flowers)! So excited! I am trying so so hard to hold off placing an order with Verdant….it’s so difficult. I can make it!

And yes, this is a lemony, perfect cup of goodness tonight. It’s thirst quenching and rich and warming all at the same time. And it makes me happy. Perfect tea for a good day :)
See previous notes on this tea!

Ok so this tea is so good, I am having BACK to BACK cups of it. Had this before bed, now having it at work first thing. I brewed it at home, so I can’t fully comment on the dry smell, but it was super lemony and good. I followed the steeping parameters of 1 minute with boiling and end up with a pretty darn flavorful cup. Might try a bit longer next time to see what happens!

Oh, and to note, this blend has ROOIBOS in it. I believe this is the first rooibos Verdant has made! Huzzah! And man, is it ever a good one! The steeped scent is lemony and sweet, refreshing and calming. The flavor…wonderful. I stand by that this is a cup of sunshine, and while there is no caffeine in this, it still pleasantly wakes me up with it’s freshness and makes me happy. I feel like it should be a lazy Saturday morning, cuddling in bed with the cat and this tea, but I am at work lol. Fresh, creamy, bright…and not much rooibos flavor!! I am not sure where the tulsi is in here, the lemon verbena is the main flavor, but I think it adds a sharpness, maybe a herbiness. Whatever it is, everything blends very well and I am impressed with this!

This one might even make me send Verdant a note to beg for it to become available permanently. Yes indeed, this one, Yu Lu Yan Chai, and Elderberry Herbal top the list of teas I have loved from the blend club. Awesome tea!!

A perfect cup of sunshine.

I’ll elaborate more later, but really good!

Good night steepster :)

I think Tulsi must be a NO for me.
Three blends with tulsi? (Sigh)
The upside is that by getting three tulsi blends together…
I I was able to pretty much identify it is a definite dislike for me :-(