987 Tasting Notes
I took a chunk that was about 6.5 grams and rinsed it a few times. Then I did steeps of 10, 20, and 30 seconds, but even after all of that steeping, the chunk still didn’t break apart into smaller leaf. Ultimately, I had to break it apart by hand after the third steep to get any traction. The first steep was extremely light, though the longer steeps were darker. All in all, the brewed tea ranged from mid-orange to deep burgundy/red.
The taste was as uncompromising as the dry leaf. I didn’t get much flavour development beyond notes of fish, earth, and something resinous like cedar or pine. After the fourth steep I gave up, because this thing just wasn’t happening. I’ve heard that good shou can be really rich and chocolaty, but this tea was way too much effort for so little satisfaction.
Plus, I did not like the way I felt after drinking it. I started to notice the kind of jittery, tapped-out muscle tension that I feel when I don’t get enough sleep — a cold, stringy hissing across my body that made me feel like I had pulled an all-nighter!
Full review at http://booksandtea.ca/2015/10/white2tea-october-2015-box-lots-of-puerh/
Getting close to finishing this tea off too. It’s good, but I’ve got a whole lotta David’s Pumpkin Chai now, as well as a whole lot of Golden Moon’s Masala Chai, so I want to sipdown some of the easy-to-finish stuff in my cupboard. Probably 1 or 2 more servings left.
Soooo close to finishing this one off. Probably another cup or two left. Once this is done, I’ll use the tin to store the pack of “Sun Cloud and Mist” tea that I ordered from 52Teas, which is still incoming.
This is a pretty inoffensive green tea, but I’ve gotten over it. There’s not a lot of there there.
The leaves were dark little curls of sage green with a faint powdery patina to them. I took the whole sample (about 4.75 g) and followed Verdant’s recommended instructions for gong-fu brewing: 80°C water with an initial steep of 10 seconds and an additional 4 seconds per subsequent steep.
The resulting brew was a bright yellow-green, slightly cloudy, and intensely flavourful. There was a slight sharpness to the tea that reminded me of a Japanese green, but over time that buttery smell won out. I’d say that the second and third steeps were the most flavourful, and that there was a noticeable drop in the intensity of the flavour from the fourth steep onwards. This tea was just beautiful to look at, though.
Full review at: http://booksandtea.ca/2015/10/verdant-teas-5-for-5-sample-pack/
The first steep was a pale yellow and I could smell and taste the traditional TGY notes of flowers and cream. However, there was also an underlying green and fruity flavour to it that reminded me of pear. Now, I’ve never had a pear-flavoured oolong, but I can totally see the appeal.
The second steep was a bit deeper in colour, more of a buttercup yellow. It was a bit sharper and tarter, but overall it was still quite mild. My sister, who was visiting us that day, had a sip and told me that it made her think of mangoes — interesting!
The third steep was the mildest and palest, and was quite delicate. I let it cool, but even cold it was quite refreshing. After the third steep, the leaves still hadn’t completely unfurled but they were a gorgeous forest/emerald green.
Full review at: http://booksandtea.ca/2015/10/verdant-teas-5-for-5-sample-pack/
The first steep was a deep brown and very well balanced between the flavours of the roast, earth, and wood. Very smooth. No astringency. The second steep was a bit milder, with a funky tangy taste to it, but it eventually settled down into more roastiness, this time with a fruitier undertone. The final steep of 40 seconds was the lightest in both colour and flavour, with a deep amber tint and creamy/floral notes coming to the fore. Overall, this was a remarkably smooth Wuyi oolong.
Full review at: http://booksandtea.ca/2015/10/verdant-teas-5-for-5-sample-pack/
The first steep was amazing, resulting in a pale brown brew with a thick smell of malt and cocoa powder. Cocoa city! I can sense some of the butter/grain notes of the green tea, but the flavour deepened here and became much more savoury.
The second steep was similarly malty, with an underlying bitter bite that reminded me of cocoa nibs. However, it was very smooth, with no astringency.
The third steep was very mild, and the wet leaf by now had an underlying note of raisin, which made me think of raisin bread. The tea was by now quite pale for a black tea, but still soft, savoury and delicious. I can see why people on Steepster like Laoshan black so much by now!
Full review at: http://booksandtea.ca/2015/10/verdant-teas-5-for-5-sample-pack/
The dry sheng leaves were dark brown with some khaki stems and slivers of white visible. The dry leaf didn’t smell like much — just your typical “sheng” smell: a little bit of smoke, tartness, and fruit. I used the whole sample in my gaiwan and did 6.5 steeps (during the 7th steep there wasn’t enough water left in my teapot to fill the gaiwan all the way) ranging in length from 6 to 12 seconds.
Throughout every steep, the liquor was extremely light and clear, ranging from a beautiful peachy colour in the first steep to a nice pale amber in the final steep. Verdant’s website said that this tea had strong notes of plantain and lychee, but I didn’t really get that here. Instead, I got some generic apple and grass notes, with a flavour of hay coming into play around the 4th steep.
Despite the relative mildness of the flavour, the tea did have a really good, thick, mouthfeel. Not quite syrupy or creamy, but there was definitely substance to it. There was absolutely no bitterness, but the later steeps did have some astringency to them, resulting in a cottony, gauzy feeling in my mouth. They also tasted some what mineral and smoky.
Full review at: http://booksandtea.ca/2015/10/verdant-teas-5-for-5-sample-pack/
Holy fuck, people. HOLY FUCK. Trudeau didn’t just win the election, he punted the Conservatives to oblivion. I was convinced that despite the Liberal uptick in the polls, Harper was going to pull one last rabbit out of his hat and still win the election. For the Liberals to not only win, but get such a commanding majority is a highly pleasant surprise.
I drank two steeps of this tea to give me caffeine for the election results. I got a nice scent of cinnamon from the first steep, and a nice fruity undertone from the second steep. Overall, a decent cuppa for the evening; the roastiness was a nice complement to the crispness of the outside air.
Currently watching Mulcair’s concession speech. Still picking my jaw off the floor. I wonder when Harper will do the dignified thing and concede as well. I guess hiring a fancy Australian campaign fixer that traffics in using racism as a divide-and-conquer tactic didn’t turn out so well, did it? :-D
The majority vote in my province was conservative. I was rooting for the liberals, but I think the main reason why the liberals were so far ahead is because alot of people would rather stick their vote on the card away from conservative. And liberals were clearly a better choice then the NDP’s They wanted Harper out pretty badly.
We were listening on the radio at work as they were counting votes, and when they announced that Trudeau had won not just as a minority but as a majority my manager literally cheered. He was so excited! Had I not been on till helping a customer I may have done the exact same…
OH! Also, they’re reporting that Harper’s already conceded ^^
I thought it was going to be a minority government. It really surprised me that it was majority.
Harper didn’t give his speech until midnight my time (about a half-hour after I wrote the above note), and even in that speech, he didn’t talk about stepping down from leadership of the Conservatives. That piece of news went out in a separate press release. I guess the words “I’m not going to lead anymore” really stuck in his craw. (Jesus fuck, I hate that man.)
I LOVE THIS ONE!
