Verdant Tea

From a new Verdant order. Major props to Mrs. Li on this beautiful tea! An absolute treat. I’ve never had pre-Qing Ming Longjing before, so I have no similar comparators, but this certainly blows the other Longjing’s I’ve had out the water.

Medium-high sweetness that is beautiful. Mouthfeel is incredibly unique and chalky (in a good way). 1-2 mins of hui gan. Longevity is 4 golden infusions.

Apparently Mrs. Li has been at tea-making for 50 years. She has certainly perfected her craft. The #43 varietal was apparently bred specifically to bud earlier than classic Dragonwell varietals.

I’d say this was worth ~$1/g :).

Harvest: March, 2024
Cultivar: Longjing #43
Location: Longjing village, Zhejiang Province
Elevation: 300 m

Dry leaf: Artichoke.
Wet leaf: Artichoke, nutty.
Flavors: Artichoke, sweet, nutty, honey, chalk.

Sipdown

This was such a mild sheng! I did a rinse and it was still so tightly formed that I did a second rinse and let it bask in the steam for a bit. The first steep was very mild, and my neighbor who was trying puerh for the first time said it was a bit weak for him. I let the second steep go longer and he liked that better, and the third steep still longer and stronger, and he really liked that. He said the initial aroma reminded him of suntan lotion that had been applied much earlier but it wasn’t cocoa butter smell. He didn’t think it tasted the same as the aroma he was picking up.

He and his wife felt like they initially got asparagus flavor but they were frustrated to identify the familiar something that they couldn’t pin down, something that happens a lot when we first start drinking good tea and try to describe it. I told them the third steep onward seemed to me to have mineral flavor followed by menthol/minty/camphor and he said YES! That is the sunscreen part! They noticed how the menthol built up in ontensity the more the drank.

I gave them lots of samples to take home and sent the rest of this with them as well, so this is a sharedown!

Backlog

I was preoccupied when having the session, but I was able to record notes.

Notes: alcohol, gentler than expected based on the ethanol vibes from the aroma. Not punchy or too heavy in the roast. A good tea for a tea newb.

Sipdown

A decent oolong, but somewhat unremarkable if you are seeking lots of layers and nuance. Toasty and reminds me of Dong Ding. Wonderful with breakfast. I would definitely buy it again if I wanted something with a toasty profile.

Sipdown 25- 2024

This was a sample given to me in my last Verdant order, so barely a sipdown but I’m still counting it!
Really pleasantly surprised by this. I don’t know what I was expecting- I love floral scented teas, but I don’t think I’ve ever had a yellow tea before. This is absolutely fantastic. I brought a mini gongfu set to work and enjoyed it that way at my desk. I’m pretty sure I audibly ‘wowed’ when I first smelled this brewed. It’ s a field of fresh orchids. Incredibly fragrant and it translates really well into the flavor. While I got mostly the flavor of the orchids, the yellow tea provided a really gentle base- somewhere between a white tea and a mild green tea? It also held up to 7-8 steepings with little impact on the flavor.
Just an overall fantastic tea. I’ve already added more to my Verdant cart.

Sipdown

I am sipping this tonight while working, but I failed the last sipdown due to missing lunch or break to give it a moment’s thought.

TGY is one of those teas which make me reminiscence since it was the first tea that set the tea journey rolling. However, there are some which are similar to that first tea (Monkey Picked from Teavana); which the fondness left after years of finding better oolong. I’ll note that Verdant had some promising TGY samples along the way, but this one isn’t one of the few that I loved. It’s too much like the Monkey Picked from long ago – seasonings, unknown (basil? bay leaves?), and not really meeting my palate’s quality control. I do understand the appealing aspects of this brew, but it’s not for me…

Sipdown 35 – 2024

Never quite connected with this one. It was pretty good. I found the sesame flavor unique, but I didn’t ever love it.

This tea is so interesting! I’m getting a really strong sweet nuttiness- like sesame brittle or halva. There’s a deep fruity flavor on top of the nuttiness as well- like sugared fruits, or a candy coated apple. Pretty tasty!

Sipdown

Drinking this before work. My body and mind are at a low social level today, so I’m trying to drink some teas to get ready to head out at 1:00.

Notes: Nutty and reminds me of sweet potato chips. There’s a weird aftertaste that I can’t quite pinpoint.

One of the “Meet the Farmer” teas at Verdent in their $5 for 5 (5g) tea special. This is a lovely little Wuyi, I brewed it in a 100ml pot, but probably would go bigger next time. Seemed to like short steeps which helps keep the astringency at bay, but more sensitive to temp than I’d expect. If you nail it, it delivers, but if not, it’s solid.

A delightful black tea for folks who may not traditionally love black tea. The tannins here are tame and make way for lovely fruity notes with honey and cream. I really enjoyed this one.

Sipdown

From the Verdant Tea Club

This a pretty gentle sheng puerh – forgiving, too. I let the first tea ball steep 5+ minutes yesterday while I was in the middle of exchanging laundry. I realized that I left hot (boiling) water in the pot. However, I was surprised that it wasn’t bitter. It had a thicker mouthfeel and heavy florals. Whenever one brews it slowly, such as I am this morning, it’s a little floral, but there’s a soft ‘fruity’ note making it’s debut. A good tea, but nothing I’d personally buy.

Pagoda Tree flower buds. Very interesting! The brew smells savory like marinated then grilled skirt steak and a dash of cocoa with soft cinnamon? The tea is a golden color, sweet and thick and creamy with some background complementary astringency. Very floral perfumey and nectarous — they are flower buds after all. Nutty like sesame-honey candies. Then a flash of that cola flavor. It feels very warm going in but then this most excellent cooling feeling emerges and lingers long with the perfume and natural nutty sweetness.

I never prepare Verdant’s teas according to their parameters because they’re so generic but this time I did. 5g to 8oz, 175F for 20s. This turned out very well in a glass mug with glass infuser. Steeping the second cup now for 30s.

Sipdown

I had this before heading to bed this morning. I wanted tea, but 12 A.M. seemed a bad time to drink any. However, I spotted the remaining few grams of this in my sipdown stash, so I figured it’d make for a great read & tea before drifting off.

Notes: Nutty & savory (salted nuts, potato chips, & umami). It’s a good alternative when one is craving a roasted oolong or puerh, but it’s too late to indulge on the mild caffeinated teas or an herbal like chamomile.

This is from a 2020 sample getting long in the tooth, but unopened until now. It appears to have held up well, even under my sloppy western-style office steeping. Nice, springy peach and nutmeg flavor notes.

I had this as a quiet celebratory tea this afternoon after a long morning of scans, but I got cleared at this six month follow up. Nothing that looks like cancer, they said!

My brain, when I heard those words, immediately projected a picture of the box of Bissinger’s chocolates that I got for Christmas and have only eaten three pieces of. Angels were singing and bells were ringing, and of course, I wanted to have tea with my chocolates.

This good sized sample has been hanging around here for a while and I chose it for my celebration. I was going to take out my Awakening Bell from Woodstock Chimes but as I began to set things up, the wind chimes on the porch began to ring beautifully.

I decided to toss the rinse as it was very clear even after twenty seconds. There wasn’t much aroma yet, either.

I only made two steeps because there was a good bit of leaf and I was making a fair amount at the time. The first was 30 seconds and the second was 45.

I didn’t get any strong chi but I was already high on my good news so that could be why. But the flavor was quite good! This was a very easy to drink sheng. There was a bit of camphor, a bit of chilly cave with mineral scent, a fleeting fruit note, and some light and fresh vegetal flavor, slightly savory like a root vegetable. The sides of my tongue tingled just a little but not enough to be perceived as sour or harsh.

This would be a great starter sheng for someone afraid to dive into the sheng pool but interested in easing in one toe at a time. Have saved the leaves for more sessions tomorrow.

Backlog

I made brief notes on this one last night, as I was handling various work matters during the time in which I was sipping.

Notes: “Spices & yams. I’d prefer a Wuyi Oolong to this tea. Not the most intriguing red tea I’ve purchased.”

Rating: 6.5/10

Around 23:00 (11pm), I wanted more tea, but neither sheng nor shou. Puerh will either keep me up too long or at minimum give me the most vivid and obscure dreams.

I steeped 3-4 infusions in a gaiwan, as I multitasked through the end of day reports, etc. This was a warming tea with a nice touch of the roasted process lingering on in the aftertaste. One can always know whether a tea is capable of being pushed based on the roasted notes. Dancong, from my understanding, can or can’t be pushed, all based on the level of roasting (?). I’m still working through the remaining bit of the tea this morning, but it’s petering out after 3 more infusions. It’s an overall short-lived session, but definitely inviting.

I’m certain this was from a Verdant Monthly Tea Club a long while ago. About the time we were in the process of moving. The reason that it may have been is that it was left unopened, in a storage bin with the teas I had obtained during said process and/or nearly toward the start of it.

Sipdown!

This was a great breakfast tea for me. I don’t remember if I ever tried it gong fu and I probably should have.

I would love to repurchase it one day, and I see that amandastory516 says it is her least favorite of Verdant’s Laoshan options, so when it is time to reorder I may add a couple of their others to the order to compare!

January Sipdown Challenge Prompt – National Hot Tea Day: drink a tea that is close to a sipdown

Next pot is a sipdown and I have never made a tasting note on this one. I will miss it. I will probably order this or something close to it once I life my buying ban.

This is a breakfast tea for me. I am now out of Premium Keemun Hao Ya from Teavivre and will finish this by next week. I have Queen Catherine for those mornings when I want an unflavored black tea with a little heft, and now I have a couple of teas from Rare Tea Company that will do well for breakfast but they are in somewhat small amounts.

I liked this one, and found it delicious without milk or sugar, having that lovely raspy cocoa feel (though not chocolate in taste) that I think of as a breakfast tea that gets my attention and is somewhat palate cleansing without being brisk.

Sipdown 35

Sipped through a 25g pouch over the last few weeks at work. Such a lovely jasmine tea (with actual jasmine petals folded ink other than just being scented). Really powerful jasmine flavor and aroma, which I love. The jasmine works so well with the more mild black tea.