Verdant Tea (Special)

And finally a review of my current cup of tea lol. This has been keeping me company as I have been watching curling earlier, then put on some classical music, vacuumed the house, did all my laundry from my trip, and cleaned up the kitchen/bedroom. Oh, and played with the cat lol. This is still such a beautiful cup, it’s light and sweet and although it is summery, I also can picture drinking this while light snow is falling in the night. Which it very well might be doing outside here haha. Delicious, and I am nearing the end of this one too, would have liked this to be made available for furher purchase, maybe it will be in the future! Oh, and just checked – I haven’t actually reviewed this one before LOL. So here’s a quick rundown of this tea, which I have enjoyed many times already -

Smells delicious, light jasmine and florals. I usually steep for around 2 mins, and the aroma is heavenly, if you enjoy jasmine haha. The flavor is creamy and sweet, its like Verdant’s lovely Yunnan White Jasmine, but enhanced with even more florals. There is also a strong linen note in the mouthfeel and flavor. This is just delicious and reminds me of light sprinklings of rain or snow, dew covered lawns early in the morning, flower gardens, springtime, and delicate morning frost. Light and beautiful.

thank you for sending this one my way dinosara it was ages ago but i’m finally sorting through my smaller puerh samples, trying to clean up my cupboard AND take the time to focus on what i’m drinking at least once a week. I’ve been drinking this one all morning – though i suppose it’s now afternoon.

What i’ve started to figure out is that i get a smoke like taste often when i drink sheng…it’s not like lapsang smoke…but it comes through as “smoke” to my taste buds. This particular tea was earthy and vegetal like asparagus and then turned creamy. Overall a nice relaxing time today while cleaning up around the house.

soooo forever ago i went to write this tasting note. Got an extreme, almost migraine headache…and didn’t write anything. I can’t remember anything i was going to write besides this reconfirms for me that yabao, is so NAO for me :)

From the EU TTB – Round 3

I’m not usually a fan of oolongs, but I’ve not much experience with Tieguanyin, so I decided to give this one a try. I used 1 tsp of leaf and gave it 3 minutes in water cooled to around 180 degrees. While brewing, the scent is strongly oolong – very roasty – with no orange or spice that I could discern. There are a generous amount of orange peel pieces in the mix, so this came as a bit of a surprise.

To taste, I’m picking up mostly oolong again. The liquor is a golden yellow, and the taste is roasted and a little smoky. It’s very, very smooth, though, with no bitterness or astringency at all. There’s a tiny hint of orange, but it’s very faint, and rather waxy-tasting. I’m not picking up any spice at all.

I’m a little disappointed with this one. I’d have liked more spice/orange from the flavour, maybe a slightly milder oolong. Sadly not for me.

So this tea came from my swap with Cameron, who didn’t seem to like it very much. When I opened the bag I did notice the overwhelming lavender/woodsy smell, which was quite aromatic. I think this tea should be made into a bath soap, if nothing else. It smells really good!

So, on to the flavor. I am getting some vegetal notes from the green tea but it is definitely very strong on the lavender with a pungent, spicy flavor that is coming from the coriander, I think. It’s a creative blend, for sure, that does remind me of the great outdoors. I’m a little more sold on the aroma than I am on the flavor, but I haven’t really loved any lavender blended teas I’ve tried. Something about them reminds me of soap and/or cleaning product instead of something to drink. This is definitely an interesting tea but I can’t say I would be rushing out to buy any. I think I will finish the cup but might use the rest as bath tea… lol. It’s kind of bitter too.

I love the pretty pink liquid of this one. I do not love the smell. I don’t care for the taste either. I know I won’t be ordering this one but appreciate the chance to try it out. I think I will even leave the rest of it here for the boyfriend to try.

I accidentally let this one cool before I got to it. It grew a bit on me after the first couple of sips but I need to have it again to give it an adequate try.

Finishing up the last of this sample today. The genmaicha is definitely there, but it’s just so creamy. It’s so weird. I can’t get past the weirdness-haha! But I think I’d rather just stay with their normal genmaicha. xD
Thanks so much for the sample, Cameron B.!!

Cameron B. was nice enough to send me a sample of this the other day-thanks! :D
This one also seems to be popular, so I had to try.
And honestly,I’m really not all that sure what to think. It’s pretty buttery, and has a lot of vanilla notes in it. It’s like a buttery, vanilla, genmaicha.
Because while the vanilla and buttery notes mainly dominate this tea, I can still taste the toasted rice…It’s very different. Unique.
Not like anything I’ve ever had before.
I’ll have to try it again sometime before I decide if I really like it.
I mean, I really like how it’s like a vanilla genmaicha…just the butter flavors kinda turn me off. I can see myself either really liking this one, or feeling really really sick from the buttery-ness of it. xD I’ll have to rate this one later when I’ve sorted my feelings for this one! Thank you soo much for the sample, Cameron B.! :D

I’ve committed a tea sin.

And I don’t even care.

I’m on this mission to get my stash down, stop hoarding things, and make my cupboard (the real one, not the steepster one) seem less daunting.

So, i drank this to try it out when I got it.
I enjoyed it. But not any more so than I enjoy the normal LB, which is a lot, obviously.

So when I was going through my stash recently, I saw this…relatively new purchase that I had tried once, and enjoyed, but not any more than the normal LB – and I decided to just dump it in with the rest of my LB in its designated LB tin.

GASP!!!

Even though it cost more. I don’t even care. Since I didn’t notice a difference myself, I just decided to enjoy it as regular LB. So now it’s all mixed up.

Feel free to judge me, tea snobs! :)

Backlog:

I’m really glad that I got to try this blend. It’s a wild and crazy twist on the classic genmaicha. Notes of vanilla, pine, sweet nutty flavors from the rice, notes of edamame. I smell more of the saffron than I taste but after several sips, the flavor of the saffron develops a little.

Really tasty and unique. Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/08/03/minnesota-blend-from-verdant-tea/

Backlog:

I absolutely ADORED this tea. Adored it. Loved it. It knocked my socks off. And if you read this review through: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/07/21/mr-hes-1st-picking-laoshan-black-tea-from-verdant-tea/ You’ll see that it made me want to dance the futterwacken (not sure I spelled that right.)

Yep, an awesome tea.

A strong cacao aroma. A delightfully mellow flavor. The chocolate notes experienced in the aroma are tasted. A hint of almond. Sweet cherry notes. A delicious toasty note. Good for many infusions.

A wonderful tea.

I’ve barely touched most of my Blends club teas… so, based on the rating and aroma of this one (YUM), I figured I’d try it tonight as well!

The aroma of the dry tea is very appealing to me – like with Yabao Snickerdoodle, it’s the right spice combination; if there’s something in here that I don’t typically like, i’m not picking up on it. It mostly smells like gingerbread, to be honest… kind of like the soft ginger cookies I just made last week (cloves, ginger, cinnamon). Delicious. Flavourwise, this literally tastes like liquefied ginger cookies, with a creamy base. Win. Big win. This reminds me a bit of Laoshan Apothecary Green, of which I just purchased a bunch more, since I love the combination. Maybe that means there’s coriander in here too? That would be okay with me… I believe people were complaining about it being in too many teas, but I like it! Now, licorice? That’s another story… but thankfully, none here.

Anyhow, loving this blend. It’s just so comforting and creamy and perfectly spiced. I have no idea why it’s labeled “Earl”, given that I don’t taste any bergamot in here at all, but meh. Happier it tastes as it does. Also, not tasting the citrus. Maybe it died of old age in the bag and I just steeped its skeletons.

ETA: Duhhhh, I brewed this up as a green for some reason. IDEK. So 1.5 tsp to 8 oz. water, for 2 min at 82 C. Curious to try it brewed as a black, now.

I’m pretty sure I drank some of this before, but didn’t log it… oh well. Anyhow, giving it a shot tonight as I was going through my Verdant blends (and realizing I hadn’t added any of them to my cupboard count. Ouch.) The aroma is very much yabao – that piney, wintry sort of smell. There’s maybe a hint of spice peeking out too, but it’s primarily just yabao. The flavour does deviate a bit – piney yabao with some heat and spice in the forefront (I feel like I’m tasting ginger, coriander?), then a lingering creamy aftertaste which is where I’m finding the “snickerdoodle” spices are more apparent. It’s actually not too bad of a blend, although I personally don’t think that the spices are strong enough to mesh perfectly with the distinctive flavour of the yabao. This could very easily be age though, especially since my half is has been in a plastic baggie (albeit a reasonably thick one) for nearly a year.

Overall, since I like yabao, and the spices included in this blend are to my liking, I am finding this to be a winner for me. Probably wouldn’t pick up more as it’s just not a tea I think I’d find myself wanting too often (I crave yabao maybe a couple times a year when it’s on my mind), but it won’t be a problem to finish off the rest I have, especially since we’re back in the right season again :D

Another yummy cup of this. Mostly tasting lavender, I wouldn’t mind more bergamot! It’s tasty, though. Probably would have been even tastier when the green tea was fresh.

So it seems I have done a complete about-face on this tea! I rated it a tragic 35 the first time I tried it, due in large part to a heavy lavender presence (I commented that the tea seemed like it had potential otherwise). But if anyone’s been reading my recent tealogs, lavender and I are a thing now. I somewhat randomly grabbed this tea as I was leaving to go to my MIL’s for supper tonight, and was very pleasantly surprised to find this lavender-heavy blend – and dang, it was so delicious! It was very lavender-heavy, with a delicious green base. I wasn’t paying a ton of attention (chatting, entertaining baby, etc.), so that’s all I really got out of it, but I really enjoyed this tea tonight, and am pleased to have a few cups left.

I’m glad I didn’t get rid of all my lavender-heavy blends, because rediscovering them has been such a lovely surprise.

Changing rating entirely, giving this an 85. I want more.

Sil totally didn’t drink her whole half of this, heh. I suspected as much and seeing her rating….. Anyways, since I do not have the same aversion to blergamot, I hoped I’d like this blend better… until I opened the package. Surprise, lavender! In retrospect, joining the Verdant Blends Club was not the best idea for someone who doesn’t like a lot of “herbal” ingredients, which pretty much all of the blends are full of. There was the odd blend that didn’t contain such things (and it was usually a hit!) but… not often.

Enough said, onto the tea. I initially thought that I might like an earl green with a high quality green base, but I did not anticipate the lavender. I’m not generally a fan of it in tea; it reminds me of soap, and usually takes over in a blend. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what it’s doing here, too. Aroma? Lavender with a hint of…. citrus? No… that’s actually also lavender. Sigh. Flavourwise, there’s a big hit of lavender, followed by a very refreshing and lovely citrus (definitely not bergamot). It’s actually quite lovely, and I’m surprised that it’s able to emerge from the lavenderfest (which is still lingering, mind you). Actually, to be fair, I think I can smell a touch of citrus from the cup, as well as a touch of creamy jingshan. It’s just very difficult to detect. The lavender is just far, far too dominant here – a more apt name would have been Lavender Jingshan with a Hint of Citrus.

Overall, I’m pretty disappointed, especially since I think that minus the lavender, this might actually be really tasty. I might try removing the lavender buds another time, but I’m pretty sure that the essence has been thoroughly transferred to the other ingredients, so it’s probably not worth the time. If you like drinking a cup of lavender, this tea is for you. If not, don’t bother despite the enticing name.

ETA: Kind of the same as the Sleeping Bear blend for me; on the third or fourth infusion now, and there’s still too much lavender in the forefront, but I’m really enjoying the creamy aftertaste of the green tea. I feel like there would be so much potential here if there wasn’t any lavender! Or, just a touch.

I got this one in August, when I was wallowing in the depths of an unfortunate mental low, so I never got around to trying it. Oh well, never too late.

It’s been a while since I had the sarsparilla tieguanyin, but I think this is like that, but better. The orange and vanilla (and the sarsparilla too, I guess) seem very subtle, but I think all of it comes together in a rather pleasant tea, and one of the better acquisitions from the blends club.

People in the reviews were mentioning how the straight tieguanyin was better, but I haven’t tried the traditional tieguanyin, only the spring and autumn harvest, so this tastes totally different and I have no standard of comparison. >.< More tieguanyin will be on the list once I’ve whittled down my cupboard and lifted the tea ban.

Sipdown! Yay!

This tea was never a big favorite for me, but it kinda grew on me. I think I would have liked it better if it had more tea in it versus everything else. I think it has a herbal flavor, rather than oolong. In fact I can’t taste the oolong at all.

Looking forward to my new Verdant order that is coming! I will finally have my beloved Laoshan Black stocked.

10/20/14 gong fu 100ml gaiwan/sub 200F water

I did not measure the tea, so maybe 3g? This tea is delicious! Lovely light edamame creamy greenness. Pale gold liquor, and a wonderful toasted rice aroma.

I haven’t reviewed this tea either yet, and I’ve had at least one cup of it! Well, I will tonight. This was from the August blend box I believe…I have since quit the blends box as I was just accumulating too much tea, and some of the flavors (sarsaparilla) were just not to my tastes. Ah well, it was fun while it lasted.

Onto this tea! The dry smell is very strongly cinnamon, a bit off-putting for me, as I am not the biggest fan of cinnamon. There is also a toastiness that kind of reminds me of coriander in it. I steeped it for just over 2 minutes with boiling water, and added a bit of honey because it just seemed to go with this blend lol. The steeped smell is also a bit toasty and still cinnamony but not as strong.

As for the flavor, this one is kind of interesting. There is definitely cinnamon, quite a bit of it, and that toasty flavor is still there. It reminds me a bit of Campfire Blend by Verdant actually. It must be the cinnamon-ginger-vanilla combo lol, and Campfire Blend has orange peel instead of lemon. Interesting! I don’t find the licorice to be too overpowering, yes, it does add a smoothness to the end of the sip, not unlike Bravissimo by DavidsTea though. I also am pretty neutral about licorice, and even like it in some blends. Not getting much spicy ginger, which I find a bit disappointing, as I am a ginger fanatic lol. The honey I would assume makes this sweeter and smoother, it goes quite nicely. I probably should have reviewed it without honey, but I just felt like adding it tonight. #noregrets

Haha, anyways, overall this isn’t a bad tea. I am liking it more this time than the first time I had it, maybe the addition of honey is what it needed. It’s maybe not a favorite, but it’s not a bad tea and I will gladly drink through the rest of the bag, although I might save it for when I actually have a cold. Thanks to Verdant for the opportunity to try this tea in the Blends Club!

This came as part of my recent swap with Cameron. Heh, after reading the reviews I see this tisane did not get very much love. It seems like licorice is a pretty well hated ingredient by many people, I don’t mind it in small doses and if it’s blended well. Since I am sick and licorice is supposed to be good for respiratory problems, I thought I’d give this one a try tonight. Between the licorice and the ginger, it should help something!

Eh, this is okay in my opinion, I probably like it better than most of the other tasters do but I wouldn’t say this is something I’d drink for the sheer pleasure of it, it definitely seems like a medicinal tea. I might have liked this better myself without the cinnamon because there’s a lot going on here, and the flavors are really competing. This has a bit of a really strange aftertaste as well. I don’t see this on Verdant’s site right now and I guess it’s no wonder! I think this will be really good for my sore throat though, I’m sure I can manage to choke down the rest of it.

I am tired of getting sick so often, who has an immune boosting tea that they really like?

Hey, I forgot I sipped this one down yesterday as a cold brew!

Anyway, it was decent and fruity. I’m not sad it’s gone, but at least I was able to drink it.

This month’s blends club has one tea that I can drink; unfortunately they felt a need to add rooibos to the Laoshan black blend. BLECH.