Verdant Tea

I loved this tea! I received it as a sample from Verdant Tea. Thanks David! This is a relatively green tieguanyin, and not bitter, at all. It’s robustly floral, creamy and sweet. Not thinking, I used boiling water, and so I didn’t make it to 30 steeps (It was a long day, and I was pretty brain dead). However, it didn’t hurt a thing, and it was still quite excellent, and not bitter, at all. In fact, there was a distinct evergreen, sort of pine, flavor and aroma. It was most delicious, and a big part of why I rated this so high. After a dozen or so steepings, the floral and evergreen flavors started to taper-off, and the sweet, creamy flavor began to take center stage. After 15 or so, this started to take on more of a classical tieguanyin flavor. It’s very clean and smooth, and the beautiful color really held on, well into the later steepings. The sweetness lingers in my mouth, and keeps it watering. I can totally see this becoming a favorite!

Wow! Now, this being my first pu-erh, I was a little nervous, because so many times people say that it’s an acquired taste. What are they smoking? This is awesome! I liked it right away. It has a brisk, oolong-like, taste. It has very appealing color, too. It’s sort of blush, like apple cider. In earlier steepings, I noticed a faint earthy, sort of mushroom-like, background. It wasn’t musty, though. It was still sweet, and floral. I can sort of taste the sweet tobacco flavor, too, but it doesn’t have that sharp bite. It’s very smoothe. In mid-later steepings, just when I thought it was done, judging by the lighter color, it was not giving up! In fact, it took on a honey, raisin-like flavor that is soooo good. It’s now taking on an even more floral, plum, tangy, somewhat citrus, flavor. It just keeps getting better! I can probably push it even further, still. I guess, we shall see. ::sip sip:: mmmm

::Edit::
So, I got to around 20 or so steepings (lost count), and the flavor is still there. I have to steep so long the water cools, now. That’s my fault, however, because I’m not very skilled at gongfu cha, yet. Some of my steepings were too long, and tasted slightly bitter. I was over-focused on the color. Now, that I know that it’s OK for it to lighten, and it’ll still pack a flavorful punch, I think I probably could’ve managed 30+ steepings out of this. I’ll have to chalk that up to live and learn, I spoze. Definitely worth the experimentation! Plus, there’s still plenty left. This is a very delicious, and flavorful tea. I totally enjoy it better than oolong.

The only thing missing in the experience, is that intense cleansing, centering feeling I get from drinking sencha. It’s more fun, though. Due to the fact that it requires so many steepings, and some skill, I can’t call it the perfect tea. The perfect sheng pu-erh, however? Definitely maybe. Even though, I haven’t experienced anything else to compare it to, I can’t imagine it being any better.

Thin florals and the typical “juiciness” of good, heavily roasted TGY take the forefront as the agedness unfurls slowly in the midst of the more immediate rock-like qualities. The real action is in that slowly developing complexity. A good balance of aged swarthiness and heavily roasted . . . roastiness.

This one immediately piqued my interest as a strange and unusual (and authentic) offering. Nathan at Verdant Tea was kind enough to supply me with a handful of bite-sized samples of some of their sheng (which are all very, very good by the way) and this fortunately found its way in there.

It is different that any other traditional tea I’ve had as it carries very airy, herbal qualities. The taste is an exquisite blend of chamomile, lavender, lemongrass, and definitely sage. At no time does this taste bitter or medicinal. Instead there is a caring warmth throughout. Only at the tail end of the flavor profile does the taste of Yunnan sweetness come through reminding me that I am, in fact, drinking tea..

All in all I have to say that I am impressed. It is most certainly in a genre of it’s own with the only similarity in taste to puer being the lingering sweetness at the end. It’s really interesting, if anything, and I can recommend it to anyone who like hot beverages of any sort.

Surefire.

I love this green tea! I think Lao Shan will always be my favorite kind of green tea, and I am so excited to have found so many kinds from Verdant Tea (does anyone else import this to the US? I haven’t seen it anywhere).

Ultimately, the First Spring Picking is probably a “finer” tea (it would and should score higher in a competition because of it’s early spring sweetness still buoyed by complexity), but this Lao Shan has all of the ice-creamy thick sweet goodness you might ever want, coupled with that signature “bean” Lao Shan taste! Really- you have to try this stuff. In my opinion, it’s a perfect balance between a sweeter more traditional Chinese green and a Japanese. Absolutely not astringent; idiot proof. Very hearty without being in your face or overly grassy. It just offers so much more than your typical green’s sweetness and…well..“green” taste.

If you like green tea, you just have to try this! Unless boring and sweet is all you look for (why stop there?), you’ll find a tea to fall in love with. And if you’re a super Japanese fan, you’ll finally find something from China that easily compares to (and in many cases, surpasses) what you’ve been drinking. Also- the leaves turn the water bright green, so it’s always very fun to make! These leaves are still tender and young enough that you can turn them into a salad with soy sauce and sesame oil when they’re all steeped out.

I’ve made this tea in many different ways, and it always performs for me. If it’s a nice spring morning, I’ll just put leaves into a (tempered!) glass tumbler so that they thinly cover the bottom, and then pour in my not-quite-boiling water. Drink on it all morning and just keep refilling the glass. I also make this in a gaiwan (great for more serious tastings, so that each steeping can be appreciated in full).
For a more traditional Northern China experience, this tea is fun to do with two glass pitchers. Put leaves in one (about as much as in your gaiwan), and then pour in boiling water (let it hit the sides first so as not to “shock” the leaves). Almost immediately pour out half of this into the other pitcher. Then pour everything right back into the first pitcher. Swirl swirl swirl for just a few seconds, and pour back into the other pitcher through a strainer. This practice keeps the leaves moving, and the glass makes sure the water doesn’t stay too hot. It also shows of just how gorgeous the curled leaves are when they open up!

I’ve also made this tea in big pots (more “English” / western style) and it’s fantastic. Even more fun (especially as summer comes along) is to ice this tea! Just put some in a pitcher, add cold water, and let it sit overnight. The result is really creamy, sweet and delicious. Makes for a full-bodied ice-tea that is strong without being the least bit bitter or drying or astringent.

Seriously- I love this green tea.

Before drinking it I was not suspecting the quality and depth of this tea that I would soon experience. The first taste was a explosion of juicy sweet grass and rich rosy cream. It was extremely satisfying and gave me a boost of energy, clearing out my mind. The looseleaf tea alone is a piece of art; Green and bursting with life, this tea is a perfect pick for a boost of energy and inspiration on a boring day.

The tea was amazing! No matter the occasion, this tea seems to have the ability to form to your mood! perhaps the most complex tea I have ever tasted, this tieguanyin let me melt among the different layers of warmth and flavor. It has a very distinct nutty, roasty flavor to it right off the bat. However, this rich flavor is instantly balanced with the ever-present floral notes. The tea seems to coat your mouth with a very thick, smooth texture letting the liquid flow down your throat with velvety ease. It seems to uphold this impecable flavor for an abundant amount of steepings without any bitter notes. This is very likely one of my favorites from Verdant Tea.

This tea is so much fun! I love sharing this with people, because as soon as they smell it, they can’t help smiling and saying, “That smells like…corn?!”

I’d tried another corny pu’er when I was in China, and that one was great- it was thick, sweet, corny or reminiscent of wheat crackers, and then again it was a little bit too heavy and tended to build up and sit on the tongue.

When I first smelled this tea, I was excited to find that “corn” taste again, but I was so so pleasantly surprised to find that these little tuocha’s were so much better and more interesting!

The corn flavor really only lingers in the smell, and even then, corn is a bit too strong of a word. It’s more like corn husks or hay or buttered popcorn or fancy stone-milled wheat crackers. When you taste this, it’s the light mintiness that shines through as a delightful reversal of expectations. Warming and cooling at the same time, and the flavors do change as you keep steeping these.
And the texture? It’s absolutely blessedly weightless in the mouth. It’s so put together and /not/ heavy that you forget this drink was made by steeping leaves in water and not by coming out of some bottle in a store.

This is probably most fun if you’re introducing pu’er to someone who’s never had it before. Very accessible, very easy on the drinker, very easy to describe and remember. At the same time, it’s also not in the least boring for someone who really loves pu’er and has been drinking and thinking about the aged tea for years!

I now have this at my office, and everyone who’s tried it has liked it. I gave a few to a co-worker who wanted to quit coffee but still wanted a bold, delicious flavor in the morning. He came upstairs to my desk that afternoon and told me this was the best drink he’d ever had.

All in all, a really fun and rewarding tea, for all tea or pu’er drinking experience-levels.

This is a giant ball of tea!

It’s very walnut-y, and reminds me of chewing on a pistachio skin. You might think this would also make it bitter, drying and overly tobacco-ey. Not so! In fact, it is very creamy. As you move through later steepings, it reminds me more and more of some sort of whipped, creamy nut-flavored ice cream.

I am very very excited to see what this will turn into as it gets older. I’ve still got half of a ball hidden away and out of my reach so that I can see how things get creamier and more whipped.

If you haven’t made this before, start with less leaf than you might with other teas. The tastes are definitely assertive, and if you pack your gaiwan or teapot too full of leaves, you might be overwhelmed in the first steeping or so (this is especially true if you’re making the tea for people who are in the mindset to dislike tea because “all tea is nasty and bitter and drying..bleh!”).
That being said, I wouldn’t ever agree with someone who calls this bitter. I’ve even tried making this in a big pot as an experiment; I feared this would become temperamental brewed in a big pot, but I was wrong!

A fun sheng to try now, especially for fans of bolder flavors.
An exciting tea to age for the future, especially with it’s notable creamy flavors and textures. I’m telling you, whipped nut butters…

This tea is incredibly complex. It seems as though the layers of superb flavors never fully unfold.

The aroma alone seems rich, smoky even. Then, all of the sudden these random notes of fresh wild berries emerge. The sent alone is a perfect balance of contrasting yet merging flavors.

Drinking it could even be thought of as an experience it is so good. There is an immediate spicy kick which is almost instantly subdued by a sweet thick pinewood taste. After a few steepings a creamy yet fruity taste collides with spice forming a perfect harmony.

This tea is a great experience tea and something that no taster will ever forget. It was very fun to try because it wasn’t typical pu’er and really let me experience every morsel of goodness from its perfect, long leafs.
I tried this tea from Verdant Tea which was a fantastic decision that I would recommend to every tea drinker out there.

This pu’er is superb! To start, I am not even one to drink pu’er tea. However, I enjoyed this tea as it gave me a overwhelming sense of full rich flavor with out being at all musty. I first smelled the tea and picked up notes of fresh pressed newspaper with a lingering sweet floral sent as well. The initial taste was extremely smooth and especially floral. As the steeping went on the flavor became much more complex-transforming the flowery taste into the taste of rich sweet grass. The tea surprising never became bitter but instead more and more layered with each steeping. A perfect balance between smooth, sweet, and complex. Sipping this tea brought me back to the moist summery nights of playing after dark. Verdant tea, you have done it again!

This will always be one of my favorite kinds of tea.

We used a brick of yabao at our wedding, just because it was one of our most treasured flavours we wanted to share with everyone.

I was so pleased and excited to find more yabao. Even though this one is loose and considerably younger, it still has all of the great things I was looking for: sweet and spicy (almost sparkling), with nutmeg and cinnamon, marshmallows, and a feeling or a flavor that reminds me of fresh white linen in sunshine.

I’m interested to see how this one will grow over time (since it’s loose, it will probably age faster), especially since this one is a little more woodsy and less mushroom-y than others I’ve tried.

If you don’t think you like pu’ers, definitely give this a try! It is a perfect “gateway drug” and it’s practically idiot proof. I accidentally left some leaves steeping in a cup for a few hours one afternoon at work, and it still tasted amazing- not a trace of astringency. I have no idea how you could make this tea bitter or unappealing.

Definitely agreeing with Nate, above. This is such a perfect, well-balanced sheng. Not only that, but it’s incredibly interesting, too! So many decent, acceptable, lovely shengs are simply pleasant and entirely unoffensive. This one goes leaps and bounds beyond to be the kind of tea you want to bring out for special occasions and drink for at least two hours. Definitely a tea to drink with a good friend who loves discussing flavors and memories. It would definitely be great in a pot or a mug, but it would be such a shame to limit yourself to just one of the taste on its long and complex flavor arc.

Terribly delicious and satisfying.

And so young! The only way I could imagine this better is if it were older. But how am I supposed to hold off drinking it until then?! It’s so good now! This is definitely something I want to save up for so that I can have at least three tongs (stacks of seven) hidden away. For now, I’ll make due with the ounce or so I have.

Thank goodness Verdant Tea let’s me buy by the ounce. It brings exquisite pu’ers within reach of those of us who aren’t millionaires.

This is an excellent and perfectly balanced brick of shou that far outdoes any of its contemporary shou’s of the same age. The color is translucent and brilliant orange. Taste of burnt sugar, burnt caramel, dark fruits, and chocolate are prevalent in the early steepings. As you move along notes of sweet candy and cooling camphor begin to set in though there is a warming feeling that comes along in the chest…a very ideal brick!

Here is my favorite shou pu’er of the Verdant Tea line. This brick has an assertive mustiness that is not overwhelming, but perfectly balanced with the cleanliness of the color and mouthfeel of this tea. Clean and cooling, the description says it well; the camphor builds up throughout the steepings and gives way to a sweet plum or fig flavor. Well done Verdant!

Incredibly clean and crisp. These fine buds are packed in to this brick of tea. 500 grams looks like it should be a normal 357 gram brick…the density of the buds is intense! The flavor and aroma is very complex. I have tried this tea on 4 separate occasions thus far and it has brought forth a different taste with each try. Such a testament to the quality of this tea! Very perfect and well balanced Shou pu’er. Goes beyond simple flavors and has an intense and perfect mouthfeel. Highly recommended for all lovers of shou pu’er.

This sheng came in a few weeks ago and I already have named it my “Perfect Pu’er”. It is everything a Sheng pu’er should be; sweet, cooling, complex, not drying. If someone that knew Sheng came over and asked me to prepare one tea for them to show them the best of my collection, I would pull out this tea without reservation.

The compression of the brick is unlike anything I have ever seen. Since it is hand pressed in the old fashion it is a perfectly loose and ready for an ideal aging process. As far as flavor, this immediately has an aroma and initial flavor of sweet tobacco, and clove. The tea is completely salivating, with hints of sweet fruits while still possessing floral notes of lilac. Incredibly complex. Steep 25+ times, any less would do this tea an injustice.

This tea was so shockingly good, it had me at the first steeping! It was as if I were drinking a hot cup of the holiday season!

It tasted very much like the scent of warm ceder wood, freshly cut.

I was hooked! This is the kind of tea that never gets old, steeps all day-constantly producing the amazing flavor that you love. The texture of it is is unbelievably silky.
I would highly recommend this yabao to even the most uneasy tea drinkers as the flavor takes over and lets the taster relax and meld together with the tea.

This tea is almost impossible to find, the only sensible place to purchase it would be at Verdant Tea- a great tea for a fantastic price.

The 2004 Single Mountain Yiwu is up there in the top 5 best Sheng Pu’ers I’ve tried. The initial tea color is a beautiful golden that only the best of Sheng’s of this age possess. The aroma of the tea after first contact with boiling water is the refined scent of a damp forest which immediately brings back memories of camping in northern Wisconsin. The initial flavor is that of spiced nutmeg and a prevalent and cooling camphor which lingers and builds throughout steepings. Notes of sweet grapes begin to build on the sides of the tongue in later steepings as well as a warm apple sweetness which is present in the chest and complements the cooling camphor mouthfeel.

Some of the best Sheng available anywhere. Period.

When this shipment came in and I broke into the first tong, it was like christmas. The aroma brings me back to Northern California and the redwood forests. This tea is very clean, but also gaining the musty qualities of something older. It was pressed in commemoration of the tea trade between China and the old Tubo empire (now Tibet). It is stamped with the seals of every township along the tea-horse trail. I may have to set aside a tong for myself to age. Thank you Yongming workshop!