Autumn Hearth Send Message

Roses and orchids and jasmine oh my! I can’t stop inhaling the vapors of this liquor. It smells like the purest perfume (I’m actually seeing white flowers when I breathe in) balanced with one of my personal favorite scents: cedar. Somehow the tea found its way to my lips and took me by surprise, I actually gasped. This is sooo heavenly, it tastes just like it smells and more. Reminds me of the lilies of the valley that grow under my parents oak tree. White choral bells upon a slender stalk, I can here my mother singing. I love Yaboa on its own, for its sparkling sweet hay notes, but this, this is nothing short of alchemy!

Reading others reviews makes me even more sad that I apparently cannot appreciate this variety of Dancong. I had a Mi Lan Xiang from Chicago Tea Garden and got the same grey clay taste with a slight astringency, even though I am doing very short steeps. No honey or orchid to speak of, maybe a tad bit of grapefruit (based soley on the fact that I don’t like grapefruit) and I didn’t even get much aroma from it. I’m not sick, my water is nicely filtered and my teaware was properly cleaned and rinsed with boiling water prior to use so no residue or oders. It is a little better after the third steep, but gets weak by the sixth. This and CTG’s both to have a nice sweetness that lingers on the tongue once swallowed but its getting to that point that’s the issue. I have not completely given up hope, I have a pitcher of this cold brewing in the fridge after reading Verdant’s newest newsletter. Here’s hoping I find more to appreciate.

Oh yes this is hitting the spot, a perfect summer after dinner tea! The rich creaminess of the Laoshan Green is coming through clear and is well supported by the mint and fennel, both of which are very refreshing. I think I may even appreciate the Laoshan Green more in this form and its my favorite of the blends so far (okay so the prototype grey and it are tied). I would definitely reorder more if it was available but am looking forward to trying the new Laoshan Apothecary Green and the Bergamot Rose as well as to cold brewing this one, but for now, several steeps lie ahead.

This seems very familiar to me, though I have never had another chrysanthemum pu’erh, I suspect chrysanthemum is an ingredient in one of my Traditional Medicinals. It’s floral in more of a fresh herbaceous way than remotely perfumey, which is a very good thing and works nicely with the earthy pu’erh which starts to come through on the third infusion. Short infusion this time around, will try western in the future.

Last of the free samples from Fong Mong, sorry this took so long to get to reviewing this one. This is my first Taiwanese black tea so I might not have the best reference points. It is so unlike the Yunnans I have been drinking lately, absolutely no roughness or savory notes. However it does remind me a smidge of Bailin Gongfu and Laoshan Black. It definitely has cocoa notes but it’s sweetness is not chocolaty but mineral (which is something I love). Of course I am brewing this starting at 15 secs so that does bring out a lighter more sparkling quality. Looking forward to spending the day with this and I have enough to brew western as well to compare.

Mmm the smell of this conjures up holiday memories, its all mulling spices and whole cloves simmering on the stove. But there are other more exotic notes and it is truly intriguing. It brews up a beautiful deep warm wine in my mug and a lighter more vibrant pink when poured into my sipping cup. I’m not anti-hibiscus but this is a tad tart for my personal tastes at least this evening, I get the orange and a hint of clove but can the fennel is escaping me. It has the opposite problem that the Spiced Elderberry Pu’erh had for me yesterday, not enough spice coming through in the taste. I’m sure it can be played around with time wise and I’m sure it would be brilliant with cider. Must rebrew so I can breath in the heavenly aroma. Ooo yes! There’s that touch of licorice sweetness. Second steep at 1 min is perfect for me!

So this blend was at the top of my wish list and when I heard it was being discontinued I had to pounce and order all the other blends for good measure. Elderberry intrigues me and while I believe I’ve had it’s root in some medicinal tinsanes, I don’t think I’ve really experienced its flavor before. I was a bit unprepared for the intensity of the spice notes though. Again I don’t think I have much experience with ganghal and while I love me some ginger, for some reason I was imagining clove. The smell of the dry tea is potent and did nearly make me sneeze. The husband was actually standing next to me in the kitchen when I opened it and based on the expression on my face, he declined the offer to sniff. I inhaled again more carefully this time and found it to be rich, exotic, culinary and comforting.

I probably brewed this different than most, choosing short steeps in hopes of getting the most out of the pu’erh. The first infusion was the most spicy and I could barely make out the elderberry or pu’erh. I probably would have been happier treating this as a rinse, however I think I would have loved it as a fall/winter blend, just not what I was expecting from this one. The second infusion still carried quite a bit of heat but notes of dark tart and swee berry started coming through with a bit of earthy pu’erh. The third was probably my favorite, a nice balance of all three elements and with a nice mustyness that carried over into the fourth infusion as well.

I didn’t get to spend as much time with this tea as I would have liked, it being Father’s Day and all (brewed up the husband a cuppa Scottish Breakfast in the morning). However I look forward to experiencing this western style, maybe with a quick rinse to lessen the spice. More than anything though I want to try the 2008 nuggets this is based on and see if I can find some of these notes in it, which I suppose is the point. Really should have ordered it at the same time.

Funny that this is the first of the Verdant Alchemy Blends I am trying when it was always the one I was least, ahem, curious about. Don’t get me wrong, it sounds like an interesting flavor challenge, but I don’t think chamomile and I get along. However I ordered all eight of the that were available earlier in the week and since this one is staying for the summer it would be a shame not to try it in case I do like it and want to order more.

As for why it was the first one I tried of all the blends, well I suppose thats not quite true actually, I tried the complimentary sample David included as soon as my package arrived this morning. I was trying decide what tea to brew to start off the day and kind of hoping there was some Imperial Breakfast tucked in there for me. This Laoshan Earl Grey prototype fit the bill well. I’m guessing it is the prototype for the Bergamot Rose Laoshan they released yesterday, just sans rose. It was light on the bergamot which is a very good thing for me and so very very chocolately. I seriously loved it and I’m sure what they released is amazing as well. I’ve never tried a chocolate earl grey and though I know they are available, I probably never will. This seemed like the natural version of that and I would take it any day, it was a truly delightful cup(s) I had four or five of them :)

So that put me in the mood for this tea, as well as the Lavender Earl Green. I thought surely the latter would be my evening cup but we had pizza for dinner so Laoshan Black and Big Red Robe sounded much more stout than potentially dainty perfume (I’m sure it actually wont be). In fact I think an after pizza needs to be made from Big Red Robe, a nice Pu’erh and Laoshan Black (again should have ordered the Imperial Breakfast when I had the chance, new one sounds great as well).

I’m rambling too much and I haven’t even described this. Well it smells wonderful, I love mint and the scent from the loose leaf was both soothing and stimulating. When the leaf hits the warm mug I get more of the Laoshan aroma, but not nearly as strong as the sample this afternoon. Once brewed the aroma leaves remind me of some decadent dessert more than any one ingredient. Hot I get all chamomile and mint and twinge of astringency and I thought following the 2 min suggestion was a mistake. As it sits a bit though I can pick out more of the chocolate and it is honestly very nice. Something I will have to experiment a bit on, I loved the shorter steeps with the Laoshan Earl Grey.

I’m looking forward to diving into the rest of these samples, I feel less intimidated by then than say the Golden Fleece that remains unopened. Also my Verdant drawer is officially too full, I’m keeping these eight blends in the kitchen in a nice divided gift box with Upton, Teavirve and swap samples. This should also promote drinking. Right now I wish someone would reinfuses my tea for me, I have a sleeping toddler on my lap.

Love! I want to scream out loud that I love this tea. In fact I did shout it down the stairs at the husband. I knew this was the next tea I wanted to try when I opened up the tiny tin I placed it in awhile ago when I got it as a complimentary sample. It smells so familiar though I couldn’t quite place it till the first sip. I had a moment of panic, thinking I had somehow drunk this sample, forgot to log it, replaced it with Bailin Gongfu and forgot to relabel. Not a chance, but those first few sips were so decievingly Fujian in nature, by which I mean grainy, malty, cocoa sweetness and a hint of juicy dark fruit. But then came the butter, honey and spice all also wonderful and present unlike my unfortunate Yunnan black brewing yesterday. This is a very flavorful, complex, yet balanced black and I’m only on the first five sec infusion. More to come. Three steeps in, getting darker richer and more savory, LOVE!!! Ohhh steeps 5 and 6 so unbelievably sweet and steep 7… intense sweetness but now with a dark thickness that reminds me of Twin Elephants Trail Shu, oh… my… swoons

Had some minor issues with steeping both gonfu and western style mostly due to water and teaware issues but did get some good first and later steeps with this. Can’t say I got much honey or cinnamon but a very nice linen texture that tickled the tongue and a sweet finish that lingered on the palate.