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journalogging #4 of 4

Another great sample from Bonnie, this one comes with a small amount of unfounded hesitation on my part.

After comparing my notes to what I read from others here, I will summarily agree with those who enjoyed this one and felt foolish for worrying they wouldn’t. Butiki, you have my full attention!

journalogging #3 of 4

I must admit that I had never heard of Gyokuro before seeing it in the bag along with the others in the “welcome to tea” samples that Bonnie benevolently sent last week. I’m so very glad she did though because it truly stands up on its own in terms of having a differentiated flavor profile.

I first tried the preparation method of putting 2tsp in the bottom of a gaiwan and then covering it with ice, drinking sips as it melts. I was so intent on following directions literally after my fiasco (albiet a tasty one) with the Pu’er from Happy Lucky’s that I missed the point entirely and allowed this process to unfold in an air conditioned room that gave me a small gulp’s worth after around two hours of ice melt. I prefer my Lagavulin neat and I must say that gulp of Gyokuro made the hair on my neck stand up! note to self – try that again, outside, in the sun, and borrow some common sense if you are temporarily in short supply!

Luckily I was able to salvage the leaves and run them through a more traditional hot preparation and it was significantly, no, drastically better. English pea and macadamia nut are what came to mind as I enjoyed a yummy round on the Green.

journalogging #2 of 4

This one is from a local tea house in Colorado that Bonnie was gracious enough to add in with the other samples she sent. Thanks!

Alright! This one makes Pu’er number two! So similar yet so very different from the first one I tried..

I should start by saying that although I wouldn’t undo this encounter for anything – now wouldn’t be now if then wasn’t then – you should probably stick to 1 tsp per cup like the tea house recommends instead of being savvy with a digital scale and thinking 3g is the same thing as 1 tsp just because you read it somewhere! ..insert anecdote about men and following directions.. Regardless and moving on, using 3g per cup will yield a blackened amber colored liquor that reminded me of the water in the okefenokee swamp from a camping trip I took with my parents when I was in primary school! (Although I’m quite sure this tastes miles better and the comparison is just as it relates to the color.)

My experience with Gong Ting Wang in the early western style steepings was reminiscent of standing on the beach in a light jacket waiting for a sunrise – the saline presence was light and airy like the breeze coming in off of the breaks at that time of day. Simultaneously, there was a humming profile of warm dark whole wheat loaf that had honey butter spread across and then was left to it’s own devices for long enough that the two had become one.
In the middle to later steepings, most of the briny top layer faded as a more velvety toffee sweetness carried the flavor arc to a deliciously subtle waning. Tasty!!

journalogging #1 of 4

Thank you to Bonnie for this decadent sample from TeaVivre!!

As I’ve never tried a straight White, this one completely refashioned my perception and respect for what they have to offer! This Bai Hao Yin Zhen is fragrantly refined and tempered living hayfields yet is also tinged with the slightest salt balance in the cup. The buds were amazingly downy and delicate but tripped the light fantastic when given the chance over five steepings. Simply quite wonderful and a splendid offering from TeaVivre!

Yay! I was so very excited to receive this order a few days ago from Verdant. After reading what seems like volumes of reviews and snippets around the web, I was finally going to try my first Pu’er! Now enough blabbering, it’s time to set the tone..

Mid-mornings in Colorado during this time of year are very centering in and of themselves. Warm sunlight that basks without baking and the slightest of constant breezes are enough to turn my feet into lead when I am sitting on the back porch facing the front range of the Rockies. It was on just the right kind of in-between sort of morning that I came to know my first Pu’er.

Measuring 2.6g into the glass gaiwan, I let a rinse course through the leaves twice. 4 seconds and zero breaths later I sat holding a cup of the lightest of amber colored odysseys. And then it began.

The first steep coated my mouth in ambience, it was an overture of something indefinable. By the second, there was a sparkling tingle that held what I can only describe as a memory of a vanilla wafer. Not the taste itself, mind you, but the way your mind creates a flavor when you think back on having tasted something. The third, fourth, and fifth took the memory and made it real. A taste that matches what cedar planks smell of continued to build just behind the vanilla and overtook it by the sixth, as the vanilla wafer retracted into a wider sweetness that lost any defining characteristic but presented most openly on the exhale. Seven through ten were muddled in my mind as my thoughts strayed from concentration on what I was drinking to chasing fleeting ruminations on the patchy cloud patterns and a passing squirrel. Strange how this cup makes it both incredibly easy and incredibly hard to focus!

If this is what I can expect from Pu’er going forward, I believe I will have to examine it in a far different light from other teas. No rating on this one though – seems like bad form to rate the first.

EDIT After trying several others and gaining even just a small amount of perspective, it doesn’t seem fair to Verdant not to rate this one as it really is worth your consideration!

Thank you to Bonnie for this amazing sample from Teavivre!!

I woke up this morning excited to start the day! Tuesdays and Thursdays mean “swim” class with my daughter – although it’s really more like splash around in the pool at the rec center. Regardless, at 15 months old she is a ball of energy and I love the time we are able to enjoy together doing anything at all. 45 minutes of romping in the shallow end left me waterlogged and ready for brunch so it was home and happy in the kitchen next for me! Bonnie was so kind to send me a wealth of samples which I received last night, and I promptly set aside this BaiLin Gongfu knowing that it would be the perfect way to start delving into the myriad of duct tape labeled packages with steeping times and anecdotes jotted carefully across them. This was my first taste of what Teavivre has to offer and I must say that I was very impressed! I was admittedly doubtful when I saw the sample packaging, thinking that it looked more like a bag of novelty candies than tea.. however it is very efficient and locks the flavor in nicely.

After having tried other loose black teas that went vindictive and downright hostile if steeped for more than 3 or 4 minutes, I decided to play it safe and stay just inside the low end of the company’s guidelines and let it dance in the cup for 2:15 on the first go. The result was a smoothly balanced liquor of salted caramel, toffee, and signature black with just a hint of clove in the aftertaste. All in all a deliciously understated cup that left me very pleased with myself for not overdoing it! But..

I couldn’t help myself. The kettle went back on the boil and then over the unwitting leaves before they knew what was coming. 2.. 2.5.. 3.. 3.5.. 4 minutes of rolling red liquor later and I sat down to the business of hoping I hadn’t taken a beautiful thing and marred it with my ambition to pull a toasted monster from the wreckage. Oh WOW! THIS IS THE BEST BLACK TEA I HAVE EVER TASTED!! Sorry for shouting. I promise it wasn’t at you, although it was at the cup in my hands! Take every flavor I mentioned from the first steeping and crank it up 20 notches, then dip it in mocha and you might begin to get a feel for what the evil geniuses at Teavivre are concocting! Bravo!

My initial reaction to this one was just that my palate still has quite a bit of conditioning needed in order to comprehend the subtleties that others are describing. Having never tried a Dancong and only once before ever even tasting a dark oolong – Big Red Robe – that also left me feeling overmatched, I was set to merely finish out the ounce or so that came with this month’s order by enjoying the flavors for what they are and give up on trying to define them in a way that would warrant posting my thoughts here for others to read.

My wife and I are anxiously shopping for our first house and dealing with the ups and downs of balancing what we want, need, and can reasonably afford. As you can imagine or have experienced, this process can make for some trying times! After an afternoon of disappointing news from the realtor then followed by a surprisingly tasty effort at home-made carne asada tacos, I put my daughter to bed by reading a few pages of Ferdinand (about the length of her attention span) and then proceeded to doze off next to her unintentionally. When I woke up an hour later, it was too late to put on a pot of coffee so I decided to pitch the last 5 or 6 grams of Tong Tian Xiang Phoenix Mountain on the steep and make an effort at this week’s team assignment for my online classes.

And wouldn’t you know that when I stopped trying to focus so hard on what the tea was supposed to be, it stood up and demanded to be appreciated like a clingy toddler! The cacophony of flavor became distinctly layered weaves of dried apricot on the nose and what I can only imagine petrified wood might taste like on the lingering finish. Although not as comforting as other types of tea I’ve tried, in its own way it was very pleasant throughout the times I enjoyed it over the last two weeks but never more than tonight. As it is now all gone, I do look forward to trying other Dancongs in the future so I have something to compare it with and will save any ratings until then.

I put off writing a review of this blend until every leaf was sadly gone. My wife and I have nearly swapped tastes as I am leaning more toward tea after years of coffee and she is doing the opposite. (I guess working 12hr nursing shifts in the emergency department overnights can quite reasonably do that to a person!) This is absolutely one of those brews that went from a full bag to completely gone in less than a week even with us both trying to pull 4 and 5 steeps out of it throughout the days we enjoyed it together!!

small plug for a company I have no affiliation with other than loving their product – Ambrosia Honey Company’s raw honey from Longmont, CO blends AMAZINGLY well with this tea for breakfast, especially when it’s already on your biscuit with a smidge of butter..

I started out on my tea experience as an exclusively black tea drinker, so I am admittedly partial to the noir. This one warms my heart as it brings in a bawdy and rounded zing that really delivered on setting things in motion on days when I had a full plate or buzzing my head soft to enjoy the WSJ on my day off. It’s like it knew what I needed it to be. That’s weird, and creepy, and crazy, and true. Try it if you are looking for another diversion for black breakfast, but be warned – you may end up with pounds of it in your cupboard!

After trying the powerhouse that is Laoshan Green Autumn, this one does it more sneakily.. You have to be a little more quiet, a little more attentive, but the serenity is there. Between salaried work and a 14 month old, those quiet times are fleeting but this cup is great company!

EDIT After trying several others and gaining even just a small amount of perspective, it doesn’t seem fair to Verdant not to rate this one as it really is worth your consideration!

This is the first green tea that I have ever tried that didn’t come from a vending machine. I hope I haven’t ruined myself for every other green! This is amazingly complex and bursting with flavor, it really opened my mind to what loose leaf tea is about. This is my first review (and first green) so I will save a rating score until I have a bit more experience and have something to compare it too.

The second infusion, western style, was like a bowl of perfectly seasoned boiled greens from my childhood in southern GA! I know that may not be everyone’s thing and sorry to David for the description as my ignorant palate isn’t picking up on all of the flavors that I’m sure are there! This is definitely one that I won’t mind honing my taste buds with! Well done Verdant!

EDIT After trying several others and gaining even just a small amount of perspective, it doesn’t seem fair to Verdant not to rate this one as it really is worth your consideration!