Jingshan Earl Green

i’m pretty sure dinsoara and i aren’t the only two people on steepster who have this in their cupboard. Come on people fess up! That being said…this will NOT be in my cupboard for long. this one is destined to visit some other sucker…er i mean tea lover. But sil? WHY would you do that to this poor tea? well let me tell you…this tea has nearly everything i hate about life in it. First off….it’s a green tea. Which, on it’s own does not make for hatred, but wait..what have we added here? BLERGAMOT! gahh!! the dreaded evil flavour to kill them all… bah! and then… just for a real kick in the face, to make SURE i would hate this tea, because after all, i can sometimes get past the blergamot in some teas…. what did verdant do?

sigh they added lavender. A flower that has no place in anything but bath products..and even then…only bath products that aren’t going to live anywhere near me. When my mother and i went to france for a month..it was almost impossible to avoid. and now.. it’s here.. in my tea..looking so pretty and innocent…hanging out with blergamot as if to say.. suck it sil… we’re in this together…

….all that and i’ve only opened the bag to measure out a spoonful into my mug.

brewing….waiting….the aroma takes over my house…my other half calls from the other room…WHAT IS THAT? are you putting on lotion at this time of the day? I thought you hated lavender…

no dear…it’s just that this tea and i have a date…i can’t let it win…

BEEEEEP goes the microwave… crap.. GAME ON!!!

alright tea… i’m on to you… i WILL drink at least a sip of your deadly poison.

cautious sip… noseful of blergylavender…GAH!

I’m pretty sure is what it would taste like if i started licking lavender soaps randomly in those tacky gifts shops…maybe add a little spinach and a squirt of orange and hey look…it’s a tasty soap salad.

feck. no thank you.

buries the rest of her half of the sample in terri’s teabox mwahahahahahahaha

(why can’t i rate a tea zero? also…not rating this as low as i want to, because admittedly some of you out there might actually enjoy the taste of lavender and blergamot…together in a taste hot green mess. At least the tea is pretty? cough)

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 am certainly behind on tasting notes. Well, here is me catching up. They will all be fairly brief!

I just sipped this one down, after drinking it regularly as a cold brew. I actually really liked it as a cold brew! Apparently I never logged it as a hot brew, even though I did have it that way once or twice. In the hot brew, it was over lavender-y, without enough bergamot. I tried another incarnation of this ages ago (in the “Alchemy Blends” days), and it was really similar.

Cold brewed, the lavender tamed itself a bit and it was a better balanced green earl grey. Still not my favorite blend but I had no problem drinking it up.

I’ve been eyeing this tea with much trepidation. Sil has nicknamed it Tea of Doom, & included it in my box, heh. I had company this morning for a little while, company that enjoys tea. Company that actually prefers flavored teas, so I whipped this one out & served it, LOL. I used half of the sample, & the rest is going to Dag :)
Of course, I am not a fan of bergamot, although on rare occasion I can tolerate a few sips, usually from Tony’s mug.
I do love lavender in my garden, in a bath, on insect bites, on a cotton ball in my ear if I have an earache, or in little dream pillow in my bed. I don’t like it in tea so much, it’s like drinking bath water. I tried cooking with Herbs de Provence, which includes lavender, & it pretty much ruined the meal for me, although everyone else ate it.
So how was it? Both of my friend adored it. One even asked where she could get more.
MOAR???
Interestingly, it didn’t gross me out as much as I thought it would. It kind of tastes a little nostalgic, like the hippy herbal teas of my younger days, but it isn’t something I’d ever want to drink again.

I am particularly fond of this blend of Green tea, Citrus, Bergamot and Lavendar.
The lavender is not fully present in in the cup or the nose,but lingers lightly in the aftertaste.
There is a lingering taste that is somewhat like pine to me and yet is very pleasant.
I have not seen other great reviews on this blend and yet, I love it.

Good morning steepster! It’s a beautiful Saturday morning, I just made a pile of pancakes and have leftovers for later, it’s partly sunny out, and I’m having a delicious cup of this tea to start off the day right. Today it’s even more crisp green tea with citrus, not as much lavender, and it’s just perfect for the morning. I’m going seed shopping with my mom today for seeds for our first garden, and will also pick up some other gardening goodies hopefully (watering cans, more hoses, etc). Looks to be a fine day on this 3 day weekend, and maybe even going to the lake tomorrow! See previous notes on this tea :)

I really like lavender, but it’s about all I taste here. Much too delicate for my clumsy palate.