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drank Jingshan Earl Green by Verdant Tea (Special)
6117 tasting notes

Sil totally didn’t drink her whole half of this, heh. I suspected as much and seeing her rating….. Anyways, since I do not have the same aversion to blergamot, I hoped I’d like this blend better… until I opened the package. Surprise, lavender! In retrospect, joining the Verdant Blends Club was not the best idea for someone who doesn’t like a lot of “herbal” ingredients, which pretty much all of the blends are full of. There was the odd blend that didn’t contain such things (and it was usually a hit!) but… not often.

Enough said, onto the tea. I initially thought that I might like an earl green with a high quality green base, but I did not anticipate the lavender. I’m not generally a fan of it in tea; it reminds me of soap, and usually takes over in a blend. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what it’s doing here, too. Aroma? Lavender with a hint of…. citrus? No… that’s actually also lavender. Sigh. Flavourwise, there’s a big hit of lavender, followed by a very refreshing and lovely citrus (definitely not bergamot). It’s actually quite lovely, and I’m surprised that it’s able to emerge from the lavenderfest (which is still lingering, mind you). Actually, to be fair, I think I can smell a touch of citrus from the cup, as well as a touch of creamy jingshan. It’s just very difficult to detect. The lavender is just far, far too dominant here – a more apt name would have been Lavender Jingshan with a Hint of Citrus.

Overall, I’m pretty disappointed, especially since I think that minus the lavender, this might actually be really tasty. I might try removing the lavender buds another time, but I’m pretty sure that the essence has been thoroughly transferred to the other ingredients, so it’s probably not worth the time. If you like drinking a cup of lavender, this tea is for you. If not, don’t bother despite the enticing name.

ETA: Kind of the same as the Sleeping Bear blend for me; on the third or fourth infusion now, and there’s still too much lavender in the forefront, but I’m really enjoying the creamy aftertaste of the green tea. I feel like there would be so much potential here if there wasn’t any lavender! Or, just a touch.
Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 2 min, 0 sec
6 comments
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TeaBrat
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blerg, lavender and bergamot…

Tabby
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Hey, I’m totally drinking something with lavender and bergamot, haha. I like that combo!

Cameron B.
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Ick lavender. Totally tastes like soap!

Tabby
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I completely understand. That’s how I feel about jasmine.

Dinosara
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Yeah they tend to go overboard with some of the ingredients. I’ve gotten some blends club fatigue at this point.

Anlina
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Lavender and bergamot is one of my favourite flavour combinations, so this sounds really tasty to me.

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Comments

TeaBrat
Delete

blerg, lavender and bergamot…

Tabby
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Hey, I’m totally drinking something with lavender and bergamot, haha. I like that combo!

Cameron B.
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Ick lavender. Totally tastes like soap!

Tabby
Delete

I completely understand. That’s how I feel about jasmine.

Dinosara
Delete

Yeah they tend to go overboard with some of the ingredients. I’ve gotten some blends club fatigue at this point.

Anlina
Delete

Lavender and bergamot is one of my favourite flavour combinations, so this sounds really tasty to me.

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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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