Verdant Tea (Special)

Finally getting around to trying this one from May’s TOTM club. I’ve only been in the Reserve club for this one month and so far it’s awesome and I really liked 3 out of the 4 selections (still don’t like shu pu’erh).

Once again, I can’t seem to drink tea at work while it’s warm so this is for a room temperature cup of tea. I gave away a second cup’s worth of this to a co-worker with a really unrefined palate (“tasted like a milder tea than black tea”, “all tea tastes like ‘tea’”). I’m sharing a cup of my second steep (for which the water is heating up now) with a coworker with a more refined palate who actually likes white tea.

This tea tastes actually pretty green to me. Maybe it’s because I haven’t really tasted that many quality white teas at all, but this is a very mild, light flavour. I can definitely taste the clover in this, but not so much the marshmallow. This has a much thicker mouthfeel than I was expecting from a tea that barely turns the water yellow. There is something food-like that I also taste that I can’t quite identify, not quite ‘vegetal’ precisely, perhaps the green apple taste that’s mentioned in the description. All in all, this is a really nice tea.

5g / 90ml celadon gaiwan.

wash/10s/15s/25s/40s/1m added 20s per steeping after.

Decent sheng. First infusions slightly earthy. Then very mild and fuity without a hint of astringency.
It lacks that certain oomph that i experience sofar atleast from wild arbor with the large leaves of older trees.

So I was a bad person and brewed this Western style and also added a bit more sugar than usual in hopes that this would be palatable to me because I have yet to like a pu’erh, sheng or shu. But I keep trying, especially what Verdant sends me. The whole purpose of the membership is to expand my horizons after all. All of my notes on this tea should be viewed through that filter.

This tea still has that weird pu’erh aftertaste that I always get in the back of my throat, but upfront it’s actually not bad. I taste fig and raisins mostly. Maybe a little bit of vanilla in the tail end of the steep but I can’t tell if I actually taste it or if it’s the power of suggestions since I read the description. In any case, I don’t hate this, so I’ll probably continue drinking this and actually steep it more than once.

Tried this in a banko-yakipot with Kunzan tetsubin.

5g / 200ml
2xwash/15/30/45

Still do not like it. The ripe fruit just isn´t there. Earthy, perhaps a bit of sweet herb? A tiny bit mint?
Think ill dump the rest of the sample in the bin. waste of time when theres so many teas out there thats better.

5g / 100ml Zini yixingpot
2 wash / followed by 6-7 4s steepings.

Im not much for Shu, gues its taste ok. Earthy complexity. Perhaps a bit of fruit in the background.

Today i did gongfu brewing and i must say the result is fantastic :)

5g / 90ml celadon gaiwan.

wash/15s/25s/40s/1:10m/1:40m/2:30m/4m

The flavour was sweeter and more even, througout all infusions.
Notes of honey, chocolate and not so malty as with multiple infusions westernstyle. Top notch dian hong flavour.

My first bundle of reserveclub tea from verdant tea.
I was in the mood for some dian hong. Since i already have some Moijang golden buds dianhong from yunnan sourcing i knew more or less what to expect.

6.5g / 220ml Zhuni yixing.
1m @ 80C
2m @ 85C
3m @ 85C

The taste is the same. But without a side by side brewing i cant say if its the same tea.

It however is very nice. Sweet honeytones in the first cup. Then it turns more chocolately and malty for the second and third cup.

From experience i know that this tea is better suited for gong fu brewing to bring out the most of its flavours. But with a sick 4year old i opted for the easy pot. :)

My first Reserve Club tea from Verdant. I generally like a black tea but I can’t drink them unsweetened so usually gongfu is a no go so I guessed at a Western brewing time and I think I may have oversteeped at 2 minutes. Even with more sugar than normal, there is quite a bit of bitterness. Other than that, this tea tastes slightly bread-y to me, with strong honey notes.

I only drink 2 pots of tea over the day at work so I’ll likely be drinking this for the next 2 days probably. I think I should be able to get 4 steeps out of it anyway. Looking forward to trying the white tea that came this month, though both pu’erhs will likely go into the Traveling Tea Box when it gets to me.

The smoothest jasmine tea I ever tried. It is amazing that I even like it because I absolutely hate jasmine usually! So sad tehre is so little of this :(

Four years ago I loved this tea so much that I purchased a ridiculous amount of it. I bought my first yixing pot in honor of this tea as well, and a special ceramic container to store it in, and then proceeded to hoard it, pulling it out for special occasions.

Today is not really a special occasion, but a worthy one, and really, every day is special and worthy, right? I got back from a 10 day road trip last night, so I’m pampering myself a bit to recuperate. I slept in, ate a light breakfast, and then wandered around the garden, cup of black tea in hand, to witness the overgrowth of weeds during my absence, along with the formation of melons! Then I spent the afternoon sipping steep after steep of this lovely oolong, just as wonderful and flavorful and nuanced as it was 4 years ago. I’ve written multiple reviews over the years of this tea, so that’s all I’m saying.

I’m trying to make more of an effort to drink ALL OF THE TEAS in my collection. The other day Sil made a comment about me having teas from 2012. Which I initially denied.
Guess what, tea sister, you’re right! LOL!
So, I’ve had this wonderful tea for 3 years. It’s awesomeness led me to hoard a ridiculous quantity of it. This is the very Oolong that inspired me to purchase my first yixing, and although other Wuyi oolongs get to have their turn in that tiny teapot, it was seasoned with this one, and will forever be dedicated to this one, until I run out…some sad day…
And it is just as wonderful as ever!
The dry aroma is of roasted barley & fruitiness…drop it into a preheated yixing and let it sit in there a few minutes to warm the leaf and it’s dark chocolate & raspberries, so heady and thick that I could just sit there huffing it forever…sigh…
Drinking it is pure delight…sweet, thick, with lingering tastes of berries, chocolate, and roastiness. And that incense like after-aroma in the sinuses. And a good tea buzz.
and in the later steeps, the waters of a Sacred Spring, lightly flavored, almost effervescent…

I have accomplished nothing today except breakfast & tea…I need to do SOMETHING!

This has been a lovely day, so far. I got up at 7:30, did taichi & yoga, & it felt so good to have time to just breath & stretch. Then it was out to the garden, where I picked a carrot, a parsnip, some egyptian walking onions, a radish, a few turnips, some tomatoes & peppers, & dandelion greens. My garden is a mess! I’ve had so little time, it really is a wreck, with tall weeds everywhere. I’m gonna try to get out there next week & get at least part of it under control, but I guess when winter comes all the weeds will die, & I can start next spring with a clean slate, LOL. Meanwhile, it is still producing! I have lots of fresh herbs, all of the aforementioned veggies, the fall raspberries are starting to come on (I ate the first small handful), & there are sweet potatoes, crowder peas, brussells, & butternut squash that will be ready soon.

I came in & made a pot of root veggie stew for breakfast, using some homemade chicken stock from my freezer, & added a cut up chicken thigh. I love soup for breakfast, and I got to sample the first cup of my continuous brew Kombucha! Yay! I’ll never buy the bottle kind again, cuz it is SO much more amazing! It actually reminded me of a fizzy apple cider :)

Teas I drank today:
Multiple steepings of Imperial Mojian – YS
I shared a pot of Two Tigers with wedding clients during their consultation – Devotea
A large mug of Elderberry brew, fairly strong.
And now this one, a much hoarded Wuyi oolong. I’ve reviewed it plenty of times, & it really is very nice: roasty, fruity, with a heady aroma that rises into the sinuses & lingers.

I just got home from playing a wedding. The acoustics in the church were so wonderful, & I love it when it’s like that. Every note means more, there is so much more nuance to every piece. I can reach levels of loud & soft that I can’t access in my living room, or in a place that is just average. Don’t get me wrong, I always love playing, in every venue, but something about a place with amazing acoustics makes the music ever more magical, at least for me. I experience extra things that can’t be described with words, I become more than myself, it’s my most favorite thing in the whole wide world. I love my job!

So before I return to Tony’s house, where I will dwell in my PJs until late sunday evening, I wanted to relax with one yixing session, & this was the tea I was thinking of. This is a tea that I have deemed Hoardworthy. Just the aroma of the dry leaf alone is a beautiful thing, & that dry leaf is a beautiful thing to look upon as well. Rich, roasty, & fruity, it is everything I want a Wuyi Oolong to be. I’ve written several reviews about it, & I’m tired, so I’m just gonna sit here & savor this as long as I can.

I love this tea! I love it so much that I bought a ridiculous amount of it back when it was available, enough that I got the awesome little box it came in, plus maybe a an oz or so in the verdant pack. I covet & hoard this, & today I finally opened that special box. I’ve been sipping this since I got home from my gig, & will keep sipping for awhile yet.

When you don’t see your friends for a long time, you grow in different directions, as we all know, & although I’ve always been into tea, the extent of my tea collection/obsession kind of blew my friend away a little bit. She started talking about making Kombucha & bringing over a mother for me, & was very interested in trying different teas to make Kombucha from. We had a nice long discussion about how teas are processed. The recipe she uses for her Kombucha uses a bagged oolong. Next thing you know, I was doing a show & tell on all my Oolongs, & then we shared several steepings of this one. I love the roasty incense & fruit qualities of Wuyi Oolongs, & this is one of my favorites.

Why has it been so long since I drank this?
I guess it doesn’t really matter, cuz I’m drinking it now.
It is delicious.
I don’t feel like describing tea right now, but I’ve reviewed it before.
It’s one of those amazing Wuyi Oolongs with deep flavors of berries & chocolate, with a smooth roastiness, there’s even a hint of citrus.
After each sip there is a sensation in the sinuses that is kind of incense-like, that I can only describe as an ‘after aroma’.
I love it…sigh…

After much contemplation, well not really too much, but at least some contemplation, I decided to season my new Yixing pot with this one. It is my favorite of the Wuyi Oolongs I have, with it’s wonderfully nuanced flavors & aromas, & it just seemed like the right choice!

So into a hot water bath my new pot went last night, following Garret’s instructions. After it cooled, I dried it because by then it was pretty late! This morning was a little busy, but this afternoon I filled that pot with leaves & started brewing robustly. Most of the steeps went into a small pan, but some of them made it into my cup. Once the pan was full enough (& I’d also filled a small pitcher for personal use) I used chopsticks to pull the leaves out of the pot, dropping them also into the hot pan of tea. Then I gently lowered the pot & lid into the hot tea, where they are almost finished cooling.

I am in love with these 2 miniature pots! I’ve been drinking Master Han’s Wild picked Yunnan all day from the Blue Lotus, just another cup here & there, & it’s still good, and I’m thinking of straining my yixing soaking brew & pouring it over ice. :D

I have so many awesome teas here to choose from, many which I haven’t sipped in quite some time, & yet I found myself wanting this one again today. I sipped my way through several Gaiwans full over the course of the afternoon, sharing some with a student who appreciates fine tea.

A few days ago the TOMC bundle box arrived from Verdant. I took a peek at the sampling pages, but haven’t actually opened any of the teas just yet. I’ve still got tons of samples from Sil, I have the TTB-A, I have a garden I’m still planting, I have gigs, students, & I’ve come to the conclusion that there is only so much tea one can drink in a day.
And quality is better than quantity.
Which is why I’m drinking this one.
If I was going to study with a tea Master, I think it would be Master Bi. I’ve decided he is the Guru of Tea, at least for Wuyi Oolongs.
This tea, which I have sampled already before (& purchased more of…twice), is probably the most nuanced tea I’ve ever had.
This tea is about an amazing aroma, a total mouth filling sensation, a aroma & sensation that rise into the sinuses & fill them with a perfume that is thick, heady, fruity, floral, sensual, & lingering.
Initially it kind of freaked me out.
I love it.
When I do gongfu sessions, I tend to get bored with most teas after awhile. This is one that I can continue to enjoy for hours. I very rarely give teas a rating, but this is THE top wuyi oolong, as far as I’m concerned. I don’t believe a wuyi can get any better than this. I think this is as close to an authentic Big Red Robe as anyone can get.
It’s awesome!

I decided to go ahead & steep this one western style also, pretty much using the same parameters that I used for the Shui Jin Gui. It also has that ‘after aroma’ thing in the sinuses, & is a very nice & flavorful roasty kind of oolong that I love.

I don’t have any gigs this weekend! It’s been weeks since I had a weekend off, & I think it’s suppose to rain all weekend too. Tony’s picking my up in about an hour, & we’re going to meet another couple at the japanese restaurant. Then I think we’re spending the weekend in our PJs, being couch potatoes, cooking & eating awesome food, & drinking tea. I have packed a ridiculous amount of tea for the weekend…lol…I always take more than I can ever drink, because I don’t really know what I’ll want to drink, so I have to have a variety, right?
Just for the record, Tony & I have been together 13 years. His house is 5 minutes away from mine.
BTW, I posted pics of my garden on my FB, for those who would like to see https://www.facebook.com/terri.langerak?ref=tn_tnmn

This is a Reserve TOMC tea for March.
After reading the tasting notes that came with the tea, I was almost ready to buy another oz, just because it sounded so amazing!
I saved it to be the last tea I sampled from the box, because of the awesomeness of the description. Also, I’ve been pretty busy, & I really wanted to have time to fully experience this tea.

So yesterday was the day. My grandkids were visiting, & since they are old enough to not be high maintainance, I had time to just sit around & relax. I opened the package & the dry tea smelled of chocolate & roasted dried fruit.
I preheated my Gaiwan, then dumped in the recommended 7oz, putting the lid back on to warm the tea. When I opened the lid, the aroma was amazing! Chocolate, roastiness, berries, and an ’after’aroma that lingered in my sinuses that was undescribable: floral, fruity, & I don’t know what else, but it was ‘thick’, & I continued to smell it, high in my sinus on the exhale. I was blown away. I sat there huffing the aromas from my Gaiwan for awhile.

Then I did the rinse, which I drank…duh! It was interesting…
I kept the steeps to 4 secs: they were strong at first, but I like my tea strong. Lots of roastiness, made me think of Big Red Robe.

I am at Tony’s, & my tea notes are at my house, so I don’t really have a lot of detail to share. I made it through maybe 7 steepings, & then my afternoon suddenly became complicated, causing my steeping sessions to end abruptly. Then I had to shower & go play a gig, so I put the leaves in a jar in the fridge. They will be there until Monday. This is the first time I’ve left damp leaves for this long, although I sometimes leave them overnight…maybe I should have dried them out? I’m open to advice here…

I’d like an opportunity to steep these out a little longer, & there is also enough in the sample for me to try again. I have to admit, although this was a nice roasty oolong, I didn’t experience all the flavors that the aromas hinted at. I got some of the chocolate, & some floral, but the raspberry never really came forward for me.

I think next week I’d like to compare this tea, the big red robe sample I have, and verdant’s Shui Jin Gui Wuyi.

Sipdown, 144. Today was a rough day at work, and I didn’t get to sit down and drink a cup of tea until the very end of the day. I was very grumpy about the whole thing, so I wanted a comforting tea. I actually drank a session of this gongfu this past weekend, which I didn’t log but was delicious, and I was left with a small amount that would work for a western brew. I didn’t plan to drink it up today, but it seemed like it might help me feel better.

Mmmm, just smelling this made me really happy. I love super tippy golden bud Yunnan teas, and this definitely fits. Brewed western style it is somewhat more chocolatey than gongfu, which I don’t normally associate with Yunnans. Sweet and malty and just all around tasty. I will have to drink a cup of Golden Fleece tomorrow to compare.