Autumn Hearth Send Message

Another Verdant white tea night. The aroma of dry leaf when it falls to the bottom of my warmed mug is incredible, so green and creamy, it takes me away, leaving all my cares behind. Lovely dark curly leaves turn vibrant green when steeped for mere seconds and produce the palest gold liquor. Now in this tasting I can’t help to compare this to the Aged Yunnan White I drank last night whereas the description contrasts it more with the green. In this respect I find the first steep to be quite creamy in addition to being silky, its just a very different silky than the silver needle, it’s thicker and greener and milkier, yes milky. And yes, I am very much reminded of the Laoshan greens, but this white suits my taste buds better than the intense but still delicious greens. I have a hard time pinning down the second infusion but the third brings new sweetness which has coated my tongue and seems intent to stay and I am very content with that. This is so very good and I am so grateful to be drinking this, thank you to the folks at Verdant Tea and the farmers of Laoshan for their continued innovation, hard work and artistry.

Now this is my comfort tea of the evening. So pure, so silky, so hydrating. The leaves are stunning silver and silky to the touch, they glisten and darken when brewed. The liquor is silky on the tongue and so just enlivening. The word nectar keeps coming back to me, flower nectar not fruit, yet some how I think that would be too sweet, or sticky or even astringent, this is just divine but I’d so honeysuckle is fairly accurate. Ooo and there is peach in the bottom of this cooled cup. Brewed three short steeps in a row in my 10oz glass infuser mug only a third of the way full, all of them heavenly and I’m going back for more.

Fourth steep is more familiar white tea territory, herbaceous, rosemary, bit of pine and hay. Fifth has some creamy green tea qualities and the sixth I’m sipping on? Smells like honey, tastes like honeydew and several of these infusions have left the sensation of cocoa powder on the tongue. I know I’ve tasted several of these things before, but not all from one tea and not all so pure. Oh how I wish I could buy I cake of this to age.

I wasn’t planning on trying this one today but had need for it. As I was taking my used tea leaves and watermelon rinds out to the compost I heard rumbling in our garbage can. Now I had spotted a groundhog in this morning in our backyard and poking around the garage. It seemed unlikely that such a large bodied small legged creature could find its way into a garbage can still upright, but I knew it was also unlikely it could find its way out.

But what I found when I peered into the bin was a small raccoon. I backed up and told him it was okay to come out, he didn’t. I walked around to the driveway and tilted the can over away from me, still he didn’t come out, I walked round the fence and saw he was stuck in the top corner of the bin so I again walked around carefully and reoriented the can. He was slow getting out and once he emerged I thought he was injured he dragged his body with his front legs and layed down under the front of my car and there he stayed while I called animal control and got voicemail.

We watched each other and I talked to him. He refused a dish of water and watermelon rind (I was careful not to get close). Luckily my sister and brother-in-law were five minutes away when I called them. Brian accessed the situation cautiously, moved around things in the garage, giving the raccoon a chance to bolt, he nudged him with a mop, he was breathing but didn’t move. He had me moved my car, told me to take everyone inside, my sister started crying. The raccoon took its last breaths and Brian scooped him up in a snow shovel and took him behind the garage. He suspects a local raccoon disease as there were no obvious wounds, but who knows.

My sister was still shaken up and I offered everyone tea. I was out of Chocolate Chamomile Curiosity Brew and knew lavender wouldn’t go over well, this seemed to fit the bill. We all found it very soothing and tasty. I think I prefer the Temple Green a bit, but the coriander and cardamon are very well behaved and the creamy green base comes through wonderfully well. Will have to try this iced. Sorry if that was depressing, but I needed to vent.

Ohhh this is lovely! I missed out on the original Imperial Breakfast, but I love Laoshan Black, Wild Picked Yunnan Jin Jun Mei and Big Red Robe and will be trying the Aged Silver Needle and Willow Grove later today. I’m greeted first by light silvery chocolate sweetness, yes definitely the Laoshan (also can’t wait to try the new harvest of it by itself) and maybe some sweet sparkling notes from the shu. Then it turns all warm and sunny, liquid gold, a bit buttery with a dash of cinnamon and black pepper, ah the taste of Yunnan. Then back comes the chocolate with a stoutness this time (Big Red Robe) and then all those flavors meld and round each other out and I find my cup is empty with all the flavors lingering on my palate and that was just one five second steep.

Edit: Have yet to brew this western style for the husband, but drinking this morning the first infusion is like eating cocoa butter, not that I’ve ever ate cocoa butter mind you, but this is what it reminds me of. Second infusion is like dipping bits of dark rye bread into this cocoa butter and the third is more like the bread itself. While I prefer the first and second, it is a lovely gradual way to greet the day. There shall be much rejoicing with the Autumn Blend is made ;)

Astringent horses, astringent horses, I miss riding, astringent horses… Oh hey! Looks like I should be using 195 F water, sigh, that’s better. See previous note.

Spent the day with this (as much as I could with a very clingy toddler) and may have to come back to it again tomorrow, as I didn’t reinfuse as much as I could have. This one is tricky, its a subtle shape-shifter, a bit elusive, yet rewarding when you sit and listen.

It starts off silky, with a hint of wood, spice and nut. I had a hard time pinning down the walnut, but once I pictured my tongue running over those tannic silky membranes I was there. I get a hint of cedar, but not nearly as much as other shengs, its more just woodsy, but not any particular variety of forest. There is juniper and apple when you look for it (or read about it). However it is mostly dirt and spice. Not hot spice, but a rough, dry, anonymous Yunnan dirt and spice (but not just peppery). Right now I feel like sheng evokes dirt and shu moist soil (don’t get me wrong I lovvve tasting the earth) but I am overly tired and need to come back to this in the morning.

Edit: It has been revived and this time round I’m doing longer steeps, first thirty then a min and I’m on 2 and a half mins right now. The tea, or maybe I or perhaps both of us are responding better to this. Yes it is still musty and vaporous but there are some solid notes also, mint and clove, not strong clove, but like the taste and feeling of old fashioned clove gum after you’ve been chewing it for awhile and the flavor is starting to fade. That. Let’s push it to three and then I think I will have to revisit the Farmer’s Co-op 03 and Star of Bulang 06 before my other pu’erhs arrive tomorrow. I still find it a heck of a lot easier to enjoy shu, but I’m learning. Edit edit: this is gooood, went for another and another, might not stop ;). Will definitely be starting at 30sec after the rinse next time!

It’s official I am in love with shu. It has to be the most rewarding tea for my taste buds and this one is no exception. At first this reminds me of the Yanxin’s Reserve ‘04 Nuggets with their creamy angel food sweetness and notes of cinnamon, but in these last two infusions (steeps 4 and 5 after the rinse) it takes on this juicy dark berry note and very well be a good stand in for the Peacock Village ’04 Shu, if I am unable to stock up before it sells out (okay so they are both low stock but this one is certainly more affordable, I may have to do a side by side tasting). But seriously this is delicious and can stand up to the ’04’s, just imagine once it ages… I love what it’s doing to my mouth, oh no my cup is empty, must brew more!

I thought it was only fair to come back to this, now that I have tried three other Bai Hao’s. It was a sip down and my fifth session with this tea. It has been a bit hit or miss and I really wish I could recreate the first time. This really did best with a 3 min steep, which is what I should have started off with today, but apparently I never learn. There was a fair bit of dust at the bottom of the tin and the leaves were on the choppier side. This yielded a more smokey, fiery experience, but there is also floral and sour notes. I’m lowering the rating, not that it makes a difference. No one else has tried it as its only available in a gift set with what I’ve come to realize are not so great teas. So, farewell my first Formosa, thank you for encouraging me to seek out the greater world of tea, beyond the tea wall.

I hate to say it but this one left me disappointed. It is not well suited to gongfu brewing and I should have jumped right to 3 mins after that instead of (1, 2 then 3). Because what I am experiencing at 2 mins the morning after is very drying, prickly, a tad minty turning into perfumey (I hope this isnt what they meant by sandalwood) and definitely acidic at the back of my mouth like bile. I couldn’t finish the cup, which is really rare for me. Before that it was really just boring. :/

So if you have this tea go with the longer steeps. While I liked what the Taifu did to my mouth better, neither of them had that savory, leathery, butteriness that I fell in love with in Teavana’s Oriental Beauty (exclusive to gift set). I still have one more serving of that left. Likewise Fong Mong’s High Grade was pretty good but I need to try the Top Grade.

I kind of regret buying this one. Don’t get me wrong its a decent oolong, but I should have stuck to my list and not tried to rebrowse on Steepster on my phone while at the tea counter and confuse myself. Yup I’m a tea geek. Unfortunately most of the teas I asked to see were not very strong scent-wise, except for the Sumatra Oolong Barisan which was at the top of my list, but for some reason I just wasn’t feeling the greener oolongs that day, but I think that one is really unique, oh well may be going back in the fall.

It was a nice store, a bit stark on the outside, but a very inviting layout within. When we walked through the door there was a crowd gathered in one corner listening to a bit of history on tea and watching a demonstration of their gravity pot (Perfect Tea Maker, IngenuiTea thing), they said it was magic, I chuckled. The wall the right was lined with pre-packaged tea with smelling jars, however these were mostly flavored, fruit and herbals with a few straight blacks and greens thrown in. The teas I wanted, all oolongs, were located behind the counter, in safety deposit style box/tins, it looked like an old bank or post office. While I’m sure these were ordered new, I wonder about their air tightness. There were also three samples available to taste in the center (wow that jasmine was intense).

After smelling a Darjeeling Oolong, Milk Oolong and the Indonesian and debating between four Formosas, I settle on this and was offered a complementary sample of the Formosa Fancy Superior Choice Oolong which I of course accepted. I wish I could have bought several teas in that size, but it wasn’t an option. The sample I did get is actually rated a bit higher on here and is described in their Book of Tea as having notes of sandalwood, if only I had picked the booklet up on my way in instead of on the way out. But hopefully I’ll be brewing that one up tonight and I can really compare.

So back to this tea. The dry leaf is very beautiful and variated, but like I said not very powerful. I brewed it up in my lidded mug, gongfu style with boiling to 200 degree water, starting a just three seconds, then 5, 9 and 13 secs.

The first infusion was both sweet and salty, floral and a bit muscatel. It does remind me a lot of Darjeeling as well as the Formosa oolong I tried at Adagio. The second was a tad darker and deeper, with that hint of wood coming through. The third infusion is where I came to understand something that was there from the beginning but hard to describe, it is a cocoa powder-esqueness. The toddler gulped half this cup down and said it was peachy.

The fourth is my favorite so far, it has a wonderful cooling quality that tickles the tip of the tongue and the back of the mouth. The fifth is also on the cooler side, very smooth and mild. The sixth is warmer, a bit salty and more herbaceous but seems a bit watered down. These two most recent infusions had an almost caramel like scent that I’m not getting in the taste. I’m going to try to kick it up a notch somehow.