Wowww I’ve had this sample for a while lol..it is one still in the foil sample packets from Verdant rather than their new brown ones! High time to drink some of this down, and it’s now autumn, so might as well! I was going to do this in my gaiwan, since I mostly made my Laoshan green back when I didn’t have one and it’d be nice to try it with this one, but my old method seemed appealing today. I just use a brew basket with about half the sample pack, 175 degree water and my little bubble cups (~4 oz) and steep for about 9-10 seconds and add 2 seconds to each subsequent steeping. So this is the method I am using today.
The dry smell is so green beany and good. I miss my Laoshan green! I do have an oz from this spring’s harvest, but for some reason I don’t drink it that often, probably because I feel I should finish this one off first :P Anyways, this tea was also a bit dusty, maybe from sitting in the packet for so long. So yeah, did the steeping parameters as above, and the first two cups are bright green, with the Laoshan bean scent but something else, something like raw pumpkin and sesame to me. A strong, slightly astringent scent, but not unpleasantly so. 9 seconds was maybe a bit long for the first steeping, but the flavor is actually very good!
This tastes exactly like pumpkin to me. Whatt! It actually does lol. I am amazed. This tea is very smooth, not biting whatsoever. There is a slight creaminess to the aftertaste, but really, I mostly get pumpkin flavor haha. The beaniness is also there, but more present in the second cup, which I just stole a sip of from the boyfriend. I am excited to see how the flavors unfurl through a few more steepings!
I am always impressed with Laoshan green, and this is no exception. I am amazed at how much the flavor can change between harvests! Another lovely offering from Verdant that I’m a little bit late in trying, but better late than never! :)
ETA – even as this tea cools, the flavor is changing a bit. Much more butter is present!
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Pumpkin! Wasn’t expecting that.
Me either! I saw it in the notes on Verdant’s site and it is so much like that it’s weird! Almost a raw pumpkin flavor, not sweet, just that flavor of pie without the sugariness. It might pass in the later steepings, already the second was less of it and more like Laoshan Green, but made for an interesting flavor anyways!
Oh that must be really strange combined with the bean notes. Too bad it’s not the opposite and the pumpkin note gets stronger with every steep!
Yeah it’s changing now, more spinach notes, maybe some sesame, although I haven’t had much of it to know exactly what it tastes like, but it definitely has a different flavor than the first steepings! Something stronger in there, fresh and tasty :)
Pumpkin! Wasn’t expecting that.
Me either! I saw it in the notes on Verdant’s site and it is so much like that it’s weird! Almost a raw pumpkin flavor, not sweet, just that flavor of pie without the sugariness. It might pass in the later steepings, already the second was less of it and more like Laoshan Green, but made for an interesting flavor anyways!
Oh that must be really strange combined with the bean notes. Too bad it’s not the opposite and the pumpkin note gets stronger with every steep!
Yeah it’s changing now, more spinach notes, maybe some sesame, although I haven’t had much of it to know exactly what it tastes like, but it definitely has a different flavor than the first steepings! Something stronger in there, fresh and tasty :)