Alright, it’s Friday and I want to drink something unique or good. My first thought was some Pubertea, but I don’t feel so happy about some BS shipping on it so I’ll wait till the sour feeling goes away. I went to the stuff I’ve bought and found this 2016 single tree sample I bought for those who helped with the Sheng Olympiad because I didn’t want to have another year of controversial tea; even if the highest end was great. Whatever I write about this please know that Verdant provides great service to me as a customer and I value the teas they bring to the community regardless of claims. I drink for myself and at the end of this session I’ll let you know how I feel.
First thing, 100g is $49.00! That’s a hefty price on a sheng; not to mention 100g cakes are pretty much just an enlarged beenghole. Opened up my 5g sample and saw this was maocha from which makes sense for sample portions and all but I wonder if that changes the taste. Either way, brewing will be much easier. From the looks of the leaf, this has the look of terrible Dacong or some ugly mocha from 4 years ago; like the stuff I bought on Aliexpress once. Not the best first impression, but shou looks like cow patty so who’s to say looks will determine anything. So here go!
Steep one and I can smell the darker notes on this rather than the lighter ones of fruit. I suspect there will be some medicinal taste within some forest elements of damp wood if the smell aligns to the taste.
It was at this very sentence that I decided to stop taking notes. Then it was this sentence that I got back to my computer to let you know that I ate oreos with milk after the 6th steep because my mouth and throat were feeling dry. Also, just so you know, I decided to go back to this sheng after the sugary snack… what am I doing to myself?
So this session lasted roughly three hours by time I was done and only 16 steeps; not sure if I pushed the heck out of this or if it goes that long. The look of this leaf is just pure ugly. I had a huge stick going through my pot the entire time with many stems showing me their side that the sun never saw. Just not appealing looking. The aroma stays constant of wet leaf steam and light mossy bark. There’s no taste of moss, but the medicinal taste is somewhat like what you get when a little aloe for a sunburn gets in your mouth. A little cooling feeling and a little ‘oh that is nasssssssssssssssssssty’ going on.
For me, this tea is 100% void of bitterness which is awesome for a sheng. Admittedly, I’m not sure if this is the same type of material being picked as others due to the look and taste. With no sort of feel at all, other than wanting some oreos, and the look I’m kind of suspicious. The taste never has a sweet side to it and the to the best of my ability I would say this taste like a girl cologne; you know that kind marketed towards a ‘sporty’ man but it smells kind of sweet like whoever is wearing it wants to smell like the candy at the bar around beers. Anyways, I tried this tea and pushed it pretty hard because I had one shot at it. With that said, I wouldn’t want to revisit it within the next year but I am also curious to how easily the cakes break or if they were pressed very loose like the Bill Clinton I have downstairs. I wonder if someone could name a cake Bill Clinton or Snookie… wait, there should be a loosely pressed shou named Snookie.
Verdant has the best roasted oolong period when it comes to the Autumn Laoshan Roasted Oolong and some great black teas for someone who isn’t a black tea drinker, but this is just not my thing. The tea they put out in the spring that was older than the USA was pretty good and had the notes of fruit I enjoy… it’s just this is for a different set of taste buds.
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I’m sorry for the unpleasant experience, but I’m glad it allowed you to produce this entertaining note!
L.P., I have to say that I think this is a great note. I have often felt the need to explain my attachment to Verdant recently, and I feel the same way you feel. I think they do a wonderful job of bringing unique, high quality teas to the market, and in my experience, their customer service is exceptional. When I started getting back into loose leaf tea, I stumbled across their website and decided to give them a chance based on their tasting notes. The way they broke down flavor components was very similar to the way I described what I experienced whenever I drank tea. At the time, I frankly could not have cared less about puerh, so I was not aware of the controversy they had generated. I’m still not sure how I feel about it, but I concern myself more with how a tea tastes than how it is marketed. That doesn’t mean I don’t care about honesty and transparency in marketing, but I ultimately feel that as a customer it is more my responsibility to judge my experience with a given product rather than my perception of the story behind it.
I should also point out that I recently received a sample of this with a recent order. I’m not looking forward to it.
Well, I typed two paragraphs and it vanished.
Anyways, I’ll drive to you next spring or summer since you’re not far.
I find Verdant to have great TGY and black products for the most part. When it comes to WUyi and Dancong it is hit or miss. Then with pu’erh it’s more or less something they don’t specialize in; reardless of that, I want to try them out for sure.
Let me know how you find this when you try it
Will do. I find with Verdant that I almost always greatly enjoy their roasted Tieguanyins, though the greener variants I personally find to be hit or miss. Their other Anxi oolongs I also find to be hit or miss. I almost always enjoy their black and green teas. I actually really enjoy their Wuyi oolongs for the most part, but I have yet to try them all. So far, I have really liked their Bai Rui Xiang, Bai Ji Guan, and Qilan. I go back and forth on the DHP. It seems to depend on the year. I have yet to try their Dancong, but then again, Dancong is not really my thing. Of the few pu’erhs I have tried, I find that I prefer the Xingyang stuff over the Zhenyuan.
I remember stumbling upon the pu’erh controversy as well, but I agree with eastkyteaguy. I’m pretty much a strict green + herbal tea drinker and I find Verdant’s teas are some of the best I’ve ever had.
I’m sorry for the unpleasant experience, but I’m glad it allowed you to produce this entertaining note!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BN0VxXHARcv/
L.P., I have to say that I think this is a great note. I have often felt the need to explain my attachment to Verdant recently, and I feel the same way you feel. I think they do a wonderful job of bringing unique, high quality teas to the market, and in my experience, their customer service is exceptional. When I started getting back into loose leaf tea, I stumbled across their website and decided to give them a chance based on their tasting notes. The way they broke down flavor components was very similar to the way I described what I experienced whenever I drank tea. At the time, I frankly could not have cared less about puerh, so I was not aware of the controversy they had generated. I’m still not sure how I feel about it, but I concern myself more with how a tea tastes than how it is marketed. That doesn’t mean I don’t care about honesty and transparency in marketing, but I ultimately feel that as a customer it is more my responsibility to judge my experience with a given product rather than my perception of the story behind it.
I should also point out that I recently received a sample of this with a recent order. I’m not looking forward to it.
Well, I typed two paragraphs and it vanished.
Anyways, I’ll drive to you next spring or summer since you’re not far.
I find Verdant to have great TGY and black products for the most part. When it comes to WUyi and Dancong it is hit or miss. Then with pu’erh it’s more or less something they don’t specialize in; reardless of that, I want to try them out for sure.
Let me know how you find this when you try it
Will do. I find with Verdant that I almost always greatly enjoy their roasted Tieguanyins, though the greener variants I personally find to be hit or miss. Their other Anxi oolongs I also find to be hit or miss. I almost always enjoy their black and green teas. I actually really enjoy their Wuyi oolongs for the most part, but I have yet to try them all. So far, I have really liked their Bai Rui Xiang, Bai Ji Guan, and Qilan. I go back and forth on the DHP. It seems to depend on the year. I have yet to try their Dancong, but then again, Dancong is not really my thing. Of the few pu’erhs I have tried, I find that I prefer the Xingyang stuff over the Zhenyuan.
I remember stumbling upon the pu’erh controversy as well, but I agree with eastkyteaguy. I’m pretty much a strict green + herbal tea drinker and I find Verdant’s teas are some of the best I’ve ever had.