1705 Tasting Notes
I hoped that I would like this a more, but it was kind of a medium tea for me.
The smell is nutty and a little green no matter what, whereas the tea itself was very straightforward. The viscosity was great and the buttery creamy notes were well balanced with the roast and florals, but there was not much more going on than creamy, floral, and a little bit roasted. I could be too spoiled by the Qing Xin varietal versions of a Dong Ding, but oddly enough, I actually preferred the Cui Yu Jade that Alistair sells for cheaper over this one…never mind roasting is an art that should be preserved. I liked it marginally better than the old style, but the old style was a more sophistaced tea overall.
I might add more notes to this one as there have been some cool florals from the wet leaf that come out every once in a while, but know it is a straightforward tea. I liked it western and grandpa more than Gong Fu so far.
I finished this off in the past todays in a great goodbye. I’ve had an interesting relationship with this one.
This was one of the driest blacks I’ve had, but also one I liked. I loved it the first few times because of its immense cocoa and pumpernickel stout like notes, and its sneaky honey notes and maple that would appear from the cocoa and the grain. That was at the edge of winter to spring. Spring and summer, it tasted like a pumpkin seed dry spell. It made me think of caraway, but not quite as spicy….don’t rely on me for that note. The cocoa and pumpkin seed are the best nuances to an overall nutty and malty tea. Sunflower seeds was the nut that I could think of personally.
The last few brews were incredibly chocolaty and malty. I decided to add some cocoa nibs to the last brew, and it was so comforting to drink. I could have made my own passage du desir if I had candied chest nuts because holy crap was it sweet. It was almost boozy never mind there was no flavoring…though the nibs were the sweetened variety.
Anyway, I am thankful that I finished off. I would have some again in the future, but I have had sweeter Bai Lins and recommend this tea if you like it on the dry side western or gong fu. I still think it is a little overpriced.
Thank you Alistair!
I liked this one more than I thought I would. I’ve also westerned and grandpa’d teas more than I thought I would, so I could not give you guys a good impression of this tea gong fu even though I can say it was good.
The dry leaf smell was immensely thick, roasty, and almost glossy like syrup. When I heavily leafed it, the roast dominated the tea amidst a woody backdrop and some moments of nuttiness and cooked red pear. The florals grew out in the later steeps with high leafage as it gradually got a little sweeter. Gong fu, it was buttery. Western with less leafs, it was also very buttery with a little less roast. The fruity pears and florals popped in the second steeps and combined incredibly well with the savory notes pushing me from liking to enjoying it.
I could see myself drinking this one often. I almost prefer it to the Red Buffalo because of its honey sweet fruit notes and its florals, but the roast can be so thick and powerful with the other notes that it makes me think of turpentine…..as weird and crazy as that sounds. Think florals combined with sap and pine wood….nevermind this tea is more on the fruity end when you brew it right. Lesson here: brew less leafs for longer for fruity, more leafs shorter steeps for woody butter. Unless someone objects. I otherwise recommend to try this type of tea at least once, and those who know what they are looking for would be more enamored with this tea.
Reading the other note on this was interesting.
This was excellent. It was a Dan Cong that was much greener than I expected, but it was INCREDIBLY savory and sweet for a dan cong. I got the butterscotch notes, honeysuckle, honey for sure, lots of guava and orange, orchids, green beans, coriander, and some sublte spiciness with the general roast. This was all Gong Fu, starting with 20 seconds and adding 10 seconds more, 20, 30, and so on until a last Grandpa brew to soak out every aroma and flavor.
It’s a glamorized and expensive Dan Cong for sure, but man was it sweet. I’d rate it a 95 in terms of taste, but a 75 in terms of price. It is worth a pretty penny and I would savor it, but I think it is a little more expensive than what I would pay for….though you can bet your hind end I would drink it. Mega snobs who love Dan Congs, this is yours, and if it does not meet your standards, then you my friend have a very experienced and particular palette.
Interesting. 10 grams to contemplate, and I liked this one greatly but did not love it.
So it had the awesome qualities that we look for on here: it was an oolong, but it was roasty and chocolaty as any of the blacks we all love, so it was smooth and floral. But the addition of the roasted osmanthus adds another weird dimension of EXTRA buttery florals and roast like….popcorn and cherries. Yes, popcorn and cherries. More specifically, kettle corn popcorn with some florals and a hint of cherry sweetness. And then it provides me an image of a calligraphic painting of a deep black cherry wood tree with red blossoms amidst sunny orange and intense white background.
So it should be an amazing tea if it makes me have a wild image, right? Well, I am not sure I would buy it again and again. This is worth it for a small sample, the novelty, and waking up in an intense cold Michigan winter that you don’t want to wake up from, but that’s where it belongs and what I like it for. As for those of you who get this, know what it is before you get it because it really is a unique tea.
I do not have too much to add to this note other than it was a good, mega savory Lao Shan tea with some nice herb notes at the end like sage. It had a lot of cocoa and toasty notes, and it had more fruity notes to prevent anything vegetative from happening. It could barely get bitter, but it was never astringent.
Here were their descriptors which some might agree more with especially with the toasted rice. The others like apricot and vanilla were ones that I could see, but were personally subtle.
very savory – toasted rice, chocolate
very fruity – apricot, cherry
floral – honey, vanilla
I honestly would not say no to another offer, but I would get this one in small batches to savor due to its price. I’d recommend it anyway for Lao Shan lovers who might be able to discriminate more than I can on it. It would be appealing more to intermediate new drinkers, and a decent but not guaranteed converter for those who want to drink teas straight.
Spring 2017 that was described as being:
very savory – chocolate, pastry, marshmallow, graham
fruity – goji, rasin
floral – honey, violet
And I gotta agree with Verdant’s descriptors this time. It was as chocolaty as any Laoshan teas, but it was chocolaty enough to avoid the asparagus vegetative notes while emphasizing the sweeter ones like the violet…and oh the violet was noticeable. This one was a bit more western starting at 45 sec, then a minute and a half and so on. While the profile was noticeably simpler, this tea was my second favorite of the sampler pack for its sheer sweetness. I liked that the chocolate note was picked up by goji to add a fruity edge and I liked that it was savory enough to coat my mouth.
I’d be very glad to try this again to give a fuller review because it was my second favorite black of the recent Verdant order, but I liked it for being an easy drinker or grandpa style tea that I drank rather quickly. Only let downs were price and it was not strong for more than four brews, but it was so awesome to grandpa this and not worry about it using 3 grams. I should try it gong fu again, but only problem is price.
I nominate this tea as my favorite black from Verdant I have tried so far, and I wish I got more than two samples of it.
I tried it western and a sloppy gong fu rendition of it French Press style. What I loved about it: the lack of astringency, the immensely sweet floral chocolatey notes, the cocoa and sweat potato background, and just enough dry texture to contrast with the growing honey notes and mild citrus that come to the foreground. It got lighter, but again, the brew got naturally sweeter. The first few steeps had the most cocoa, but it blends with the rest of the notes. And I could press this seven good times western to serve 4 grams in 10 oz of giant mug goodness.
So I was unabashedly biased towards this one because it is a medium black that blends all the right elements to a cocoa honey finish in notes. This is a smooth enough tea to introduce some newbs with a little bit of sugar perhaps, but it is good enough for lighter hong cha lovers…albeit it was more light to medium for my palette. The price is actually not bad either, but it is not cheap. I’d be interested to see what I can blend with it, but overall, it was my favorite of Verdant’s teas because it combines the elements of black tea just the way I like them. I have no idea if any of this was useful for you to read. Oh well, try a small sample for yourself.
I thought I’d love this sample, but I didn’t. It was fruity and creamy, but very, very jammy and salty. It has the wuyi minerals, but it was also very raisiny…and a little astringent. It might have been how I brewed it. It was sweet how I like it, but again, the dryness bugged me even at 20 seconds and 8 oz with 5 grams.
I hate that I am doing this tea a disservice, but it was way too raisin like for me and there are other Tong Mu teas that I would recommend.
Thank you for the free sample!
This tea was interesting and better than I expected, but I was not in love. I’ve had Qilans and I prefer them to most yanchas, so having this from Anxi was welcomed new experience. I’m also picky with rolled oolongs that are also roasted.
It was pleasant, floral, and softer than what comes to my mind with “dark roast”. In was more toasty and woodsy, which was the way I like it with pronounced florals like honeysuckle and orchid with something that vaguely like jasmine. It also had the berry notes at the end of some steeps, kind of like raspberry, but they were also very faint. It resembled a Qilan for sure in terms of roast and some florals, but if I were to drink it blind, I would have guessed it was a roasted Tie Guan Yin because of its texture and its buttery orchid florals.
I liked it, but I would not purchase it just out of preference. I only recommend it for those who are a fans of this terroir because it is a good example of what they can do in Anxi. I’m with a lot of the other reviewers in that I’d prefer an actual Qilan, but this roast was better than others I’ve had.
