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I finished the last of this tea a couple days ago and honestly had to take a little time to process my impressions of it. I do not have a ton of experience with Vietnamese black teas. The few I have had have been really hit or miss for me. On that note, this tea was another miss, but I do think it has a couple of redeeming qualities and can understand why some people may like it. With that in mind, I graded this one a little leniently, but I still would not recommend it to people looking for a unique and memorable tea.

In the glass, the liquor showed a dark golden amber. Delicate aromas of roasted nuts, nutmeg, toast, and malt were just barely detectable on the nose. In the mouth, faint notes of nutmeg, roasted nuts (hazelnut, chestnut), toast, and malt mingled with a subtle astringency and what I can only describe as a trace of brininess. The finish was not particularly long, offering fleeting impressions of toast, malt, and nutmeg.

Honestly, I really found this to be a bland, boring tea. I kind of doubt I will remember much about it within a couple of months. I didn’t find it bad, just dull. There wasn’t much going on with it. It was very smooth though. I could see it taking cream and sugar fairly well. I could also see it maybe working in a blend. On its own, however, this tea doesn’t offer much of note.

Brewing up the last of my sample of this, I am reminded that I need to start purchasing more green teas from Verdant Tea. I have yet to have a bad experience with any of the green teas I have purchased from Verdant. This one was certainly no exception.

I ultimately decided to do a simple Western two step infusion for this tea. I generally do not steep green tea more than twice, simply because I think that the first two steepings of most green teas are the best. The water temperature was 175 F. The steep times were 2 and 4 minutes respectively.

The first infusion yielded a pale greenish yellow liquor. Mild aromas of grass, bamboo, asparagus, and cream were present on the nose. In the mouth, I detected strong notes of cream, oats, soybean, grass, and bamboo underscored by fleeting impressions of asparagus, honeydew, and cantaloupe. The second infusion yielded a slightly darker liquor with strong aromas of grass, bamboo, and cream with a subtle background fruitiness. In the mouth, strong notes of cream, oats, grass, bamboo, asparagus, and soybean were framed against a backdrop of honey, honeydew, and cantaloupe before a long and creamy fade.

This is a really nice Chinese green tea. It is not particularly complex, but it gets bonus points from me for its approachability and unique flavor profile. Make no mistake about it, this is a very appealing tea that is easy to drink. I really like that little bit of fruity sweetness displayed by this tea.

Prior to this morning I had a little packet of this just sitting in my tea cabinet. I received it as a free sample with an order from Verdant Tea around a couple months ago. With my recent consumption skewing heavily in the direction of black and green teas, I have not had much of a chance to review many oolongs. After working six days straight and dealing with unseasonable cold, however, I decided that I needed something a little heavier to wake me up this morning. It was finally time to break this one out and spend some serious time pondering it.

To brew this tea, I decided on a multi-step Western infusion. Normally, I follow the brewing guidelines suggested by the vendor, but today, I decided to lower the water temperature just a tad. I still kept it within a range acceptable for most oolongs, but the last time I brewed a tea from Verdant, I found that their suggested temperatures are slightly on the high side for my taste. The initial steep times were 2 minutes, 2 minutes, 4 minutes, and 6 minutes. I allowed for an optional final steep of around 8 minutes just in case. I settled on this method because I have had a lot of success with 4-6 step infusions with aged oolongs in the past. I figured one could work here.

First Infusion: The liquor produced was an attractive pale yellow. Mild aromas of freshly cut grass, roasted nuts, minerals, and wood were evident. In the mouth, I found a pleasant mixture of grass, butter, mineral, moss, toast, wood, and herbal notes that were somewhat reminiscent of ginseng.

Second Infusion: The liquor produced was slightly darker than the first infusion. Stronger, brisker aromas of grass, wood, nuts, minerals, and herbs were present on the nose. Complex notes of leather, tobacco, nuts, brown toast, char, butter, wood, grass, roasted barley, wet stones, moss, minerals, herbs, and steamed buns rolled across the palate.

Third Infusion: The liquor produced was about the same color as that produced by the second infusion. Mild toast, roasted barley, butter and mineral aromas were evident. In the mouth, toast, char, butter, roasted barley, nut, moss, stone, herb, steamed bun, and mineral notes began to give way to creaminess.

Fourth Infusion: The liquor produced was slightly paler. Very subtle aromas of grass, roasted barley, and toast were just barely detectable on the nose. In the mouth, very mild notes of grass, barley, toast, nuts, and minerals were chased by creaminess.

I did try a fifth infusion, but there wasn’t much flavor, so I won’t detail its results here.

Overall, I am pleased with this experiment. I think this is really nice as far as aged oolongs go, and fortunately, the roast characteristics aren’t overwhelming. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this tea to those looking for an oolong with a good deal of complexity.

And now we’re back to Darjeeling for a little while. I polished off the last of this prior to going to work this morning, so I have been getting a feel for this tea for the last 3-4 days. I have to say I really like it.

Prior to infusion the leaves show a dark green with delicate aromas of grain, must, and Muscat grapes. After infusion, the resulting liquor is a dark golden amber. Aromas of Muscat grapes, toast, grain, straw, honey, malt, caramel, and must are evident on the nose. In the mouth, notes of caramel, toast, malt, and honey quickly give way to notes of grain, must, and straw. Pronounced Muscat grape notes pick up just before a balanced, layered finish of straw, honey, toast, malt, and grape. Bitterness and astringency are mild to moderate.

I really like this Darjeeling. It is a little rough around the edges, but it displays quite a bit of depth while remaining approachable. Compared to the Dooteriah Estate Darjeeling offered by Simpson & Vail, this tea is not as smooth, but is more complex and displays greater character overall. I could get used to having this around the house.

I finished off the last of my ounce of this tea last night. Unfortunately, I’m getting ready to start my workday, so I can’t do a full review, but I will do a quick tasting note.

Prior to infusion, the dry leaves produce scents of smoke, pine, and malt. After infusion, the tea shows an attractive golden amber in the glass. Aromas of pine, smoke, toast, sea salt, malt, and roasted barley are evident on the nose. Notes of smoke, pine, toast, roasted barley, sea salt, and malt swirl around the mouth. The finish is dry, offering plenty of toast, smoke, and pine character.

Overall, I find this to be a solid lapsang souchong. Compared to some of the others I have tried, this one is smooth and approachable. It is not quite as hearty as I would like, but I could see this being a great introductory lapsang souchong for those curious about this style of tea.

Back to Earl Grey for the time being, I have been working on a two ounce package of this tea for a little while now. I am always surprised (though I don’t know why) that every vendor’s Earl Grey offers something a little different. For example, the Earl Greys I have had from Adagio are smooth with a tart citrus kick, the Earl Greys I have had from Simpson and Vail are toasty and balanced, and the Earl Grey I recently tried from Rishi was sweet and spicy. At some point, I need to round up a bunch of the Earl Greys I have tried and/or rated and do a shootout to see which one(s) I prefer. Compared to the others I have tried, this one is earthy and somewhat leathery with a tart citrus punch.

Prior to infusion, the dry tea leaves display a lovely aroma of earth and bergamot and show a pretty blue-grey. After infusion, lovely aromas of caramel, leather, chocolate, toast, malt, honey, earth, and bergamot are evident. In the mouth, I can detect notes of caramel, leather, honey, toast, chocolate, and malt up front with tart bergamot, earth, tobacco, and must flavors becoming more prominent from mid-palate on through the fade. The finish is tart and earthy, with slight toast, chocolate, tobacco, honey, and caramel notes underpinning the dominant bergamot and earth flavors.

To me, this Earl Grey seems a little busier and more assertive in terms of character than some of the others I have recently consumed. I like that. Actually, I really admire it. I love blends with a lot of character and this one certainly fits the bill. If you are a fan of heavier, more complex Earl Grey blends, give this one a try if you have not already done so.

Breaking off from my recent Keemun and lapsang souchong binge, I decided to turn my attention to white tea. I ordered an ounce of this tea from Whispering Pines a little less than 2 months ago and enjoyed a couple glasses of it, but had shoved it to the back of my tea cabinet and forgotten about it. I guess I will now work on polishing the rest of this off before I move on to something else.

As far as preparation goes, I decided on a three step Western infusion. I followed Whispering Pines’ preparation outline and steeped one tablespoon of this tea at a temperature of 190 F. The infusion times were 3, 5, and 7 minutes.

Prior to infusion, the dry leaves showed a lovely dark green with pronounced white tips, offering aromas of cucumber, honey, hay, and a floral, nectar-like sweetness. The first infusion yielded a light ecru cup with pleasant aromas of cucumber, nectar, honey, white peach, and honeydew. The palate followed the nose, producing delicate, subtle notes of cucumber, nectar, honey, white peach, and honeydew, with subtler grain, cream, and hay accents. The second infusion produced a darker, slightly yellowish liquor and a fruitier, grassier bouquet. Notes of honeydew, honey, white peach, and nectar were underscored by cucumber, grain, hay, cream, marshmallow, and grass. I could also detect faint traces of nectarine, white grape, and apricot. The third and final infusion yielded a somewhat lighter cup with a gentle fruity bouquet. The notes of cucumber, grass, grain, marshmallow, cream, and hay skillfully balanced a melange of honey, nectar, white grape, apricot, nectarine, white peach, and honeydew. As hard as I tried, I could find nothing resembling eucalyptus, cinnamon, or honey wheat bread.

The aroma and flavor profiles of this tea tend to be what I think of when I think of a typical unflavored white tea. For what it is, it is very good. I have enjoyed my experience with it so far. This is a very subtle, delicate, and sweet tea. In the end, I would say it is a very respectable white tea.

Yesterday, I finally finished my sipdown of the exquisite No. 9 Yunnan Full Leaf Black Tea from Steven Smith Teamaker. That tidbit has no real bearing on the present review, but I felt like sharing that nonetheless. Possibly due to my recent drinking preferences, I decided to keep the Steven Smith train rolling. This morning I cracked open the Keemun.

The dry leaves show a jet black prior to infusion and produce delicate aromas of toast, smoke, leather, molasses, and tobacco. After infusion, the resulting liquor is a dark, coppery amber and offers aromas of caramel, molasses, leather, toast, wildflower honey, tobacco, pipe smoke, and grain. In the mouth, I am picking up rather well-integrated notes of wildflower honey, leather, grain, toast, tobacco, smoke, caramel, molasses, and especially leather. The finish is surprisingly smooth and a bit rich, playing up notes of leather, molasses, toast, tobacco, and smoke.

All in all, I like this tea. Keemun has never really been one of my primary things (I really enjoy it, but I don’t tend to have it very often), but this one is approachable and well-rounded. Most importantly, it displays just enough complexity for me to savor. Still, I am grading somewhat cautiously because I still cannot really see myself reaching for this one very frequently. As a change of pace though, this is quite good.

A sample of this tea was included with one of my more recent orders from Verdant Tea and I have been putting off trying it for awhile. Honestly, I have been holding back on drinking a lot of white tea over the past couple of months. For one thing, I have such a hoard of high quality black teas that I have been fiendishly trying to reduce, and also, I just don’t tend to drink a lot of white tea at once. I recently finished the last of the Yabao from Whispering Pines and still have a lot of the Moondance left, but due to the miniscule amount of this tea I had on hand, I decided to bump it up in the rotation.

When brewing this tea, I settled on my usual Western three step infusion, with infusion times of 2, 4, and 7 minutes for each infusion. Honestly, Verdant Tea’s recommended brewing temperature of 205 F seemed a little high to me, but I decided to roll with it. I may try a lower temperature and a different infusion method the next time I partake of some of this tea.

The first infusion yielded a slightly greenish liquor with pronounced aromas of jasmine, honeysuckle, and lilac. In the background, I could detect subtle scents of cream and grass as well. On the palate, the jasmine, honeysuckle, and lilac merged with delicate vanilla, marshmallow, cream, oat, grass, mango, and apricot notes. The second infusion yielded a pale golden liquor with delicate aromas of mango, apricot, grass, cream, and melon underscored by delicate lilac, honeysuckle, and jasmine scents. On the palate, I detected distinct notes of cantaloupe, honeydew, nectarine, mango, apricot, white peach, oats, grass, and cream with lilac, honeysuckle, and jasmine lingering in the background. The third infusion yielded a delicate yellow-green liquor with soft aromas of cream, grass, oats, marshmallow, apricots, and melon. On the palate, notes of cream, grass, oats, and marshmallow were front and center, while faint traces of lilac, jasmine, honeysuckle, apricot, mango, and melon were still detectable in the background.

For such a seemingly simple tea, there is a lot going on here. Like a lot of the white teas that I have tried, the aromas and flavors are subtle, but are just present enough to keep the drinker intrigued. I especially appreciated the harmonious melding of aromas and flavors that was so obvious on each infusion. It is also worth noting that while most jasmine teas go over-the-top with the jasmine aroma and flavor, this one reigns it in, allowing other complexities to emerge. As one who finds floral teas to be very hit or miss overall, I can say that I find this one to be an expertly crafted jasmine tea that is well worth one’s time.

Prior to last night, it had been quite awhile since I had enjoyed a Yunnan tea. I used to adore them when I was younger, and not being in the mood to continue my Earl Grey and Darjeeling binge, I decided to crack open this container of Yunnan. I needed the change of pace, and as it turned out, this was exactly what I had been missing for years.

Prior to infusion the dry tea leaves showed a mixture of dark green and black with pretty gold tips. The aroma was a mixture of must, leather, and cocoa powder with just a hint of an almost mildewy, grassy aroma. After proper steeping, the liquor showed a beautiful dark amber with an aroma of caramel, malt, leather, must, cocoa, and grass.

In the mouth, I detected distinct notes of cocoa, caramel, molasses, tobacco, leather, malt, must, wood, grass, wildflower honey, and slight floral, herbal notes (perhaps similar to a mixture of anise, licorice, and ginseng, but I could not quite put my finger on it). This tea was distinctly smooth and rich in texture with a satisfying body and a finish of cocoa, caramel, malt, honey, leather, and wood.

Overall, I was very impressed with this tea. It reminded me of why I used to love Yunnan black teas so much and how much more frequently I need to revisit them. I think fans of Chinese black teas will be satisfied and perhaps even pleasantly surprised with this one.