96
drank Laoshan White by Verdant Tea
6105 tasting notes

Just brewed some of this one up, and OH MY GOODNESS this smells so incredibly delicious! Like creamy caramels mixed with that delicious vegetal flavour… it is all I can do not to gulp this down, but I’d surely burn my throat quite badly.

Cool faster, tea!!! Updated tasting note to come…

Also, for reference, I brewed ~4g of this in ~6oz. of 175F water for about 30 seconds. All approximate, yep. If this is as delicious as the aroma, hopefully I can replicate it…

ETA: Ok, I have very little experience with straight white teas, but this one is absolutely amazing! I love love LOVE vegetal greens, particularly ones with a natural rock sugary sweetness (like the Dragonwell-style Laoshan Green), but this is completely something else. Not rock sugar, but definitely creamy, sweet caramel with that Laoshan background. Amazing. I only picked up a sample of this one, but I suspect a full ounce or two may be headed my way sooner than my bank account would prefer…

ETA again: Yummmmm. I would be hard-pressed to identify this as a white tea over a green, but I really don’t care… this one is so good!

ETA a third time: Second infusion, 175F for a minute, is astringent but not unpleasantly so. The vegetal, green-beany flavour is very present, and leaves a strong, caramelly, vegetal aftertaste. Oh so good. I do, however, think that a 45s infusion may have been a touch better – less strong! Or more water. Either way, this is one yummy tea.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 0 min, 30 sec
Bonnie

This has great resteeping qualities too. Love this and restocked it myself too!

Kittenna

I’m hoping to re-steep it a bunch tonight! It looks like the vegetal greens I like, which do not fare well when left overnight and gain a metallic flavour (whereas oolongs and blacks are usually great the next day too).

Bonnie

This is one that I would carry with me and keep adding boiling water to in a small glass thermos all day.

Kittenna

Nice! Didn’t get bitter? Or did you keep taking the leaves out?

Bonnie

If you drink it down (we’re talking an 12 oz thermos which I have with a strainer), you can add more hot water and drink more during the day. Put in the leaves, water and get going sipping as you go…later add more water. I’d drink a couple infusions first then transfer the leaves to the thermos for the later infusions so that there is little chance of bitterness.

TeaBrat

I need to bring some of this to work with me today. :)

Azzrian

Can’t wait to try mine!

Bonnie

Although this one does give me a tea buzz.

Kittenna

Yeah, I can definitely see why this would give you a tea buzz, Bonnie! And Azz, you need to try this one ASAP! It’s delicious. If you like the Laoshan greens, it will be a hit.

Amy – I need to acquire a travel mug that does not smell like chai, and then bring some to work! I have a feeling that even a mild chai flavour would have a big negative impact. Stupid Timolino. Stupid chai.

SimpliciTEA

It’s great to hear that the He family in Laoshan is broadening their tea repertoire by producing a quality white tea.

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Comments

Bonnie

This has great resteeping qualities too. Love this and restocked it myself too!

Kittenna

I’m hoping to re-steep it a bunch tonight! It looks like the vegetal greens I like, which do not fare well when left overnight and gain a metallic flavour (whereas oolongs and blacks are usually great the next day too).

Bonnie

This is one that I would carry with me and keep adding boiling water to in a small glass thermos all day.

Kittenna

Nice! Didn’t get bitter? Or did you keep taking the leaves out?

Bonnie

If you drink it down (we’re talking an 12 oz thermos which I have with a strainer), you can add more hot water and drink more during the day. Put in the leaves, water and get going sipping as you go…later add more water. I’d drink a couple infusions first then transfer the leaves to the thermos for the later infusions so that there is little chance of bitterness.

TeaBrat

I need to bring some of this to work with me today. :)

Azzrian

Can’t wait to try mine!

Bonnie

Although this one does give me a tea buzz.

Kittenna

Yeah, I can definitely see why this would give you a tea buzz, Bonnie! And Azz, you need to try this one ASAP! It’s delicious. If you like the Laoshan greens, it will be a hit.

Amy – I need to acquire a travel mug that does not smell like chai, and then bring some to work! I have a feeling that even a mild chai flavour would have a big negative impact. Stupid Timolino. Stupid chai.

SimpliciTEA

It’s great to hear that the He family in Laoshan is broadening their tea repertoire by producing a quality white tea.

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Profile

Bio

I have always been a tea fan (primarily herbals and Japanese greens/oolongs) but in the last year or so, tea has become increasingly more appealing as not only a delicious, calming drink, but as a relatively cheap, healthy reward or treat to give myself when I deserve something. I should clarify that, however; the reward is expanding my tea cupboard, not drinking tea – I place no restrictions on myself in terms of drinking anything from my cupboard as that would defeat my many goals!

My DavidsTea addiction was born in late 2011, despite having spent nearly a year intentionally avoiding their local mall location (but apparently it was just avoiding the inevitable!). I seem to have some desire to try every tea they’ve ever had, so much of my stash is from there, although I’ve recently branched out and ordered from numerous other companies.

I like to try and drink all my teas unaltered, as one of the main reasons I’m drinking tea other than for the flavour is to be healthy and increase my water intake without adding too many calories! I’ve found that the trick in this regard is to be very careful about steeping time, as most teas are quite pleasant to drink straight as long as they haven’t been oversteeped. However, I tend to be forgetful (particularly at work) when I don’t set a timer, resulting in a few horrors (The Earl’s Garden is not so pleasant after, say, 7+ minutes of steeping).

I’m currently trying to figure out which types of teas are my favourites. Herbals are no longer at the top; oolongs have thoroughly taken over that spot, with greens a reasonably close second. My preference is for straight versions of both, but I do love a good flavoured oolong (flavoured greens are really hit or miss for me). Herbals I do love iced/cold-brewed, but I drink few routinely (Mulberry Magic from DavidsTea being a notable exception). I’m learning to like straight black teas thanks to the chocolatey, malty, delicious Laoshan Black from Verdant Tea, and malty, caramelly flavoured blacks work for me, but I’m pretty picky about anything with astringency. Lately I’ve found red rooibos to be rather medicinal, which I dislike, but green rooibos and honeybush blends are tolerable. I haven’t explored pu’erh, mate, or guayasa a great deal (although I have a few options in my cupboard).

I’ve decided to institute a rating system so my ratings will be more consistent. Following the smiley/frowny faces Steepster gives us:

100: This tea is amazing and I will go out of my way to keep it in stock.

85-99: My core collection (or a tea that would be, if I was allowing myself to restock everything!) Teas I get cravings for, and drink often.

75-84: Good but not amazing; I might keep these in stock sparingly depending on current preferences.

67-74: Not bad, I’ll happily finish what I have but probably won’t ever buy it again as there’s likely something rated more highly that I prefer.

51-66: Drinkable and maybe has some aspect that I like, but not really worth picking up again.

34-50: Not for me, but I can see why others might like it. I’ll make it through the cup and maybe experiment with the rest to get rid of it.

0-33: It’s a struggle to get through the cup, if I do at all. I will not willingly consume this one again, and will attempt to get rid of the rest of the tea if I have any left.

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