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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..