Early Summer Laoshan Green

So I have zero clue of how to do this well but here goes nothing. Im trying this in small steeps but totally just winging the temperature and amount of tea haha. Mostly I figured this is a decent way to keep me drinking tonight for a bit.

First steep I’m not even sure how to describe the smell coming off this tea. Hell I’m not even sure how to describe the tea. It’s not the green that I’m used to but it’s a really refreshing tea.

Second steep: did I mention the beautiful color of this tea? It’s a great yellow…one I’d almost think about painting my bathroom. The other half didn’t like this steep. This one is less vegetal to me…like there are other things hiding there that haven’t come out yet….

Third steep: this one is my favourite…not sure what the earlier taste is but that’s now gone and I’m left with a really fresh subtle green.

This is one of the best green teas I have ever had. It easily ranks up there in my top 5 favorite teas of all time. I have had the spring and autumn harvests, two autumn harvests (2011, 2012) now. I have to say that while Autumn made me like Laoshan greens, the spring made me appreciate them, Summer harvest made me love them.

It’s very rich and creamy for a green tea with a hint of salt. The vegetal notes are green beany, soy bean, edamame, not at all bitter and absolutely no astringency. It is naturally sweet and crisp and creamy and I know it sounds contradictory but it’s there…I tasted it and it was good!

I could drink this everyday, but I don’t want to lose my appreciation for it and take it for granted. I can typically get five really good steeps out of it. First steep is typically around 165* for about 30 seconds. After that about 175* for 30 seconds. Then I just up the steeping by a little bit, 45 seconds, then a minute, then a minute and 30 seconds. After that the flavor starts to get dull with a bite of bitterness to it. Now I know what I’m making with breakfast tomorrow morning!

This was such a yummy surprise when we received this as a sample. It’s a green tea picked in the summer time, and usually all that tea is good for is making tea oil products! Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating, but still- you almost never find a Chinese green tea that will admit to being a summer tea, let alone find one that’s drinkable and interesting.

This is nothing like that. This is a really really delicious, solid green tea. When I think of this one and how it’s different from other Verdant Laoshan greens, the word buttery comes to mind. I know it was so buttery on my first sips that I actually exclaimed, “Buttery!” In fact, it’s almost the tiniest bit salty, the way great chocolate chip cookie dough batter should be.
It is warm and full, vibrant and verdant, and not bitter or stony to me at all. I steep this in a gaiwan, and it gives for as long as I want to steep it. I’ve enjoyed waking up to this green tea.

In fact, I think this tea is a even closer to my ideal Laoshan green. It’s hearty and beany and super warm, but I don’t think I’d call it robust. That word seems more appropriate for something that leans towards bitterness and astringency, and this one does not at all. It’s smooth and thick, and fills the mouth with one complete taste. It feels more humble, but in a way that’s more powerful. It is not simple, but it knows exactly what it is and will not tease you with games of hide and seek.

For me, this is a green-tea-drinker’s green. It’s what I’m really looking for in green tea, and it is so inexpensive that I can stock up on lots of this to use for playing in fun blending experiments and what have you.

I wish I’d taken better notes on this tea, but I didn’t: I just drank it. I think that’s fine. This is a tea you could think about as much as you want, but you could also just sit and enjoy in a relaxed way. It’s like that girl or boy next door.. you’re best friend. You know someone’s going to fall head over heels for them someday, and you can appreciate that right along side your own experience of them: relaxed, easy going, free of complications that are tangly and unpleasant, full of those quirks that makes them someone you’re happy to spend your free time with.

whoops.. going on a tangent.

whoops.. going on a tangent.In conclusion: a super solid, really yummy tea. I don’t really want to ask anything more of it. My ideal Lao Shan Green. I haven’t had this actually for a week, but now I’m really craving it. Perhaps after dinner..

This summer, I have been enjoying the Laoshan Northern Green from Verdant Teas, and have taken a real shine to its sugar snap pea flavor and nice light aroma. When my supply was out, I perused both Steepster and the Verdant Tea’s website, where I found some great videos about the farm, and a great description of this Early Summer Laoshan Green. I was intrigued, placed an order, and quickly received my package, filled with teas I can’t wait to experience and enjoy.

I loaded up my medium size glass gaiwan with 4 grams of tea, and did a quick steep of 175F water for 30 seconds (the website says 3 seconds, which seemed too short to my eye). Wow, what an interesting aroma! Somewhat like boiled peanuts or butterbeans – and a hint of saltwater sea spray. And the taste was just about the same. Very solid, sweet and possessing that bit of umami flavor that I have not experienced outside of Japanese green teas. It was so very good, that I followed the initial steep with 4 more, and then started to get a bit of bitterness. I left the leaves in cold water overnight, which cold brewed me just a tad more.

Today I am sipping on this tea once again. I haven’t even started any of the other teas I ordered, other than taken a good healthful whiff of the Artisan Revival puerh tea that David so generously included with my order (read my Steepster review of that one, for another fantastic tea). The only problem with this tea experience (I say with great sarcasm), is that I can’t get the lyrics out of my head:
…
Some people are fat, some people are lean
But I want you to show me the person
Who doesn’t like butterbeans
Yay!

Well, you can have your yams
You can have your collard greens
But if you want to please little ol’ me
You better fix butterbeans
…
Anyone old enough to recognize this snippet from “Butterbean” by the B-52’s?

I like this tea. I have drank it 3 times now and it is a nice tea to go to if you just want to relax. I purchased this during the black friday sale. I’m glad that I did. Sugar snap peas with a buttery finish.

Second tea, Early Summer Laoshan Green

120 ml Gaiwan, 2 gr tea, 78C water temperature, 1 min first steep +30 consequent

Appearance dry leaves: Curled very small stems and leaves
Color dry leaves: Dark green, maybe from roasting?
Dry smell: Nice, potent, nutty, a bit of roastiness and maybe some spicy hints.
Salivating, can’t wait to try them :)

Gaiwan lid aroma: Very light, nutty hints so I smell the leaves afterwards
Wet leaves smell: Mainly potent, nutty, vegetal and herbal undertones
Color: Pretty light green color
Clarity: Clear but not crystal clear, could be better

Flavor: As expected after smelling it plus some more roastiness, especially if you brew it at higher temps, not very sweet. Very vegetal, it has a nice hint of astringency that clings that gives a spicy aftertaste
Body:Almost full bodied, depending on the amount and steeping time
Aftertaste: Nice fading vegetal and spicy with a salty overtone, didn’t linger that much.
It has quite some stamina but main flavors just fade after 3rd brew and roastiness and a hints of astringency take over later brews.

Salivated just afterwards, wanting to try more, I even salivate now that I’m writing this, lol!
I don’t think it could got at near boiling temps, but I guess it could withstand some heat.
I could even eat the leaves, the ones I tried were lovely!

Overall a bit harsh and not very well ballanced, but I really loved the effect it had on me.
A bit bold but with good stamina, I really enjoyed the “flaws”. I’d rate somewhere around 80 again.

*This thing about rating is strange, I would never rate above 93(or something) so 80 is quite much and I’ve read some scientific papers about rating that are race-dependent so I thing there should be no numbers on the site

Experience buying from Verdant Tea http://steepster.com/places/2886-verdant-tea-online-minneapolis-minnesota

Age of leaf: Stated as harvested in early summer; I received the tea in mid to late fall and brewed it up right away.

Appearance and aroma of dry leaf: Tiny tightly curled, wiry dark-green leaves and buds. Aroma is earthy, and my mouth started watering when I really started taking in the smell of the leaves; it was as if the aroma triggered some autonomic reaction in my body to remind me of the importance of eating healthy green vegetables! That was a very interesting experience! (I suspect this may happen with other quality green teas) It seems that there is a nutty note hiding somewhere in there, too.

Brewing guidelines I have taken information from more than two separate steeping sessions into consideration for this review (I list the parameters for only two). On the first steeping session I used my standard green tea parameters, including using one rounded tsp tea per cup of water; on the second session (below, in parenthesis) I used hotter water, steeped it longer, and I used a little more than one rounded tsp of tea per cup of water. Glass Bodum pot used with with leaves floating freely. Stevia added.
……….1st: 172, 1’ (182, 1.5’)
……….2nd: 177, 1.5 (179, 2’)
……….3rd: 182, 2’ (187, 3’)
……….4th: 185, 2.5 (190’, 4’)

Color and aroma of tea liquor: < Later on the color >; Slightly sweet and vegetal aroma, pleasant.

Flavor of tea liquor It’s funny that I can’t find any details in my notes for this, the most important detail! However, what matters most is that my wife and I both like it. And I ­*can* remember that it tastes fresh, vegetal, slightly sweet, and I think there is a hint of chocolate running around in there (but I may be thinking of the Laoshan Dragonwell).

Appearance and aroma of wet leaf: Smells of fresh cooked spinach. <I still need to do my standard wet leaf analysis, but from what I remember when I composted it, I think the tea will be comprised mostly of whole leaves and buds>

Value: Good. This is David’s least expensive unflavored green and at his ‘bulk’ prices (or on sale) this tea is affordable for me.

Overall: The appearance of the dry leaves (and later, the wet leaves) impressed me right away, as I have never seen anything like it before. I like the aroma of both the leaves and the tea liquor. Yet, while I liked so many things about this tea, I was not impressed with the flavor in the first steeping session; not that it was bad, it was simply weak. So I emailed the owner, looked at the reviews on Steepster, and used the information from David’s reply and the reviews to make adjustments to my steeping parameters: go with higher temperatures for longer periods of time, and slightly increase the tea to water ratio; Lo, and behold! I got much stronger flavor! It does have a bit of astringency if brewed too long, but it doesn’t really distract from the enjoyment of the tea. I enjoy watching the leaves as they steep while hanging on the top and bottom of my glass Bodum pot; none of the lower grade green teas hold themselves in such high esteem! I really wanted to like this tea; and it turns out my perseverance—giving it a number of chances—paid off! I do really like this tea. Thank you David, and a big thank you to the He family in Shandong Province, China.

A nifty green tea. I am really enjoying the nuttyness of this green, and it gets smoother with each steep. I stopped at six infusions this evening, and gulped down each glass faster than anticipated. Delicious. Verdant’s greens are really impressing me!

Upping my-already high-rating! After the second steep, this tea is coming dangerously close to disturbing my light oolong wheelhouse. The sweeter notes that were a bit hidden in the first steeping really came out in the second.