1186 Tasting Notes

My order of reserve Verdant pu’erhs came this past week, and I am finally trying one out!! I have also been using my gaiwan the past couple of days, about time! This one smells so wonderfully woody in the bag. The leaves are quite fine and separated, definitely a lovely loose pu’erh.

I did two quick rinses in the gaiwan, and then steeped for about 4-5 seconds with boiling water. The steeped liquor is a dark rich brown color, with a hint of red in it too. Like a garnet in the bubble cup. The smell is again woody, a bit musty.

As for the flavor of the first steep, there is a lovely wood flavor. Musty too, my boyfriend said it is like an old piece of wood lol. This is also I think only the second time he has had pu’erh, and the first time he hasn’t just been sipping from my cup to taste it! (maybe I should have started with something a bit tamer, like Noble Mark lol). I do get that as well, the musty, aged scent of a log sitting in the damp forest for a few years, slowly breaking down and absorbing the forest scents. Mmmm. Yes, to some that might sound weird, but to me it is quite relaxing and grounding. I feel a bit of the caffeine from this, a pleasant relaxing feeling. There is also a bit of a sparkling texture already, that clear, fresh feeling.

Overall, I am enjoying the first steeping of this. Hoping to do a few more before we head out to get some shopping and our pumpkin. It also is looking like rain here, so I want to just sit inside and watch Star Wars with the guy and cat and sip this shu throughout the day. :D can’t wait to see what the next few steeps bring! No rating yet, as I need to have a few more cups and sessions to fully experience the flavors and form an opinion :)

Flavors: Musty, Wood

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89

Ahhh, this tea. When I just need a solid, dependable cup of black tea in the morning, this never fails to disappoint. It’s rich, malty, just sooooo good. I’ve raved about how much I love this tea many a time before, so see previous notes for more info :)

I plan to do some yard work with the guy today, get some errands done, and relax with tea with him hopefully. Enjoy the fine autumn weather, maybe carve our pumpkin tonight :) there’s a fair amount of stuff to get done, but we aren’t in a hurry to do it. :)

Lala

I had this one today too!

mrs.stenhouse12

Hooray! Such a tasty tea! I need to try Oktoberfest by A&D, your review has made it sound amazing!

caile

Pumpkin carving is such fun – enjoy!

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95

My morning tea on this bright, warm Monday (hooray for it being warm again!). This is still one of my favorites, it has everything I love – spicy ginger, pepper, green rooibos, caffeine free, good to fight off bugs…it’s just the best. Wish I had waited to use my DavidsTea free 50g of tea on this one, as it’s one of the few I actually always keep in stock. See previous notes on this tea!

Oh, and if you want to watch something to brighten your day…watch this haha, I laughed so hard at work I was almost crying :D even better, it’s from my city haha would have loved to watch it live! Oh, and Ellen has now posted it on her facebook, so you know it’s big when..haha, enjoy, and happy Monday!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erN6mNw1iB4

Tealizzy

Lol! Thanks for posting!

mrs.stenhouse12

Haha no problem! I love it :) haha

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89

Having a cozy, sweet and spiced cup of this tonight while I READ (yes, I am actually finally READING a book for pure enjoyment! I have missed it so much!) a new book I bought while shopping today. This cup is tasty with the addition of honey as usual, a bit toasty, mostly a rich sweet flavor from the fennel and berries. I am nearly at a sipdown for this, one more cup! It’s been kicking around since last year, so it will be nice to finish off and decide if I need to restock! See previous notes on this tea :)

Fjellrev

Haha yeah, reading for leisure is always bizarre once you’re down with school.

mrs.stenhouse12

Haha agreed! It’s taken me so long to get back into it..I used to read all the time. Now, not so much..but this might be the start at least!

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83

I was crazily craving Second Breakfast or Red Tailed Hawk this morning after posting in a thread regarding black tea blends, but in keeping with my lowered caffeine intake (I would say no caffeine but decaf has a tiny bit still) I instead chose this tea this morning. It really is quite tasty for a decaf, it has a nice almost fruity malty flavor, bright and fresh, and the sweetness comes out wonderfully with milk and sugar, which is how I’m having it this morning. Smooth and tasty, perfect for this fine Sunday morning. The clouds are a bit pearly, it’s a bit overcast but clearing, just a relaxing almost misty feeling from the clouds. It feels like a relaxing day, but I know I will be vacuuming later and doing other non-relaxing things. It’s what I do :) see previous notes on this tea!

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79

I haven’t reviewed this tea either yet, and I’ve had at least one cup of it! Well, I will tonight. This was from the August blend box I believe…I have since quit the blends box as I was just accumulating too much tea, and some of the flavors (sarsaparilla) were just not to my tastes. Ah well, it was fun while it lasted.

Onto this tea! The dry smell is very strongly cinnamon, a bit off-putting for me, as I am not the biggest fan of cinnamon. There is also a toastiness that kind of reminds me of coriander in it. I steeped it for just over 2 minutes with boiling water, and added a bit of honey because it just seemed to go with this blend lol. The steeped smell is also a bit toasty and still cinnamony but not as strong.

As for the flavor, this one is kind of interesting. There is definitely cinnamon, quite a bit of it, and that toasty flavor is still there. It reminds me a bit of Campfire Blend by Verdant actually. It must be the cinnamon-ginger-vanilla combo lol, and Campfire Blend has orange peel instead of lemon. Interesting! I don’t find the licorice to be too overpowering, yes, it does add a smoothness to the end of the sip, not unlike Bravissimo by DavidsTea though. I also am pretty neutral about licorice, and even like it in some blends. Not getting much spicy ginger, which I find a bit disappointing, as I am a ginger fanatic lol. The honey I would assume makes this sweeter and smoother, it goes quite nicely. I probably should have reviewed it without honey, but I just felt like adding it tonight. #noregrets

Haha, anyways, overall this isn’t a bad tea. I am liking it more this time than the first time I had it, maybe the addition of honey is what it needed. It’s maybe not a favorite, but it’s not a bad tea and I will gladly drink through the rest of the bag, although I might save it for when I actually have a cold. Thanks to Verdant for the opportunity to try this tea in the Blends Club!

Flavors: Cinnamon, Toast

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81

So many teas I haven’t added to my cupboard it looks like! Well I bought this one quite a while back (late summer) and have had a cup or two since, and am having one tonight for the nettles, which TerriHarpLady swears by for allergies. I also bought straight nettles but am chicken to try them straight lol. All in good time!

Anyways, this tea! The dry smell is rosy and sweet, and the cinnamon is slightly present, but a sweeter cinnamon scent than the harsh spice in other blends. I steeped it for around 5 minutes with boiling water, and the steeped scent is very light, slightly floral, and nice. Oh, and the dry leaves looked to be at least 80% nettles haha lots of green anyways, so that’s good!

As for the flavor, this tea is quite light. The floral notes of the rose come through with light cinnamon, and the nettles provide a herby backdrop, as they have quite a herbaceous flavor in the other teas I’ve had them in (only Nettle Leaf by Davidstea, since discontinued). The rooibos provides a bit of a scratchiness on my throat in this blend, maybe because it’s with cinnamon, so that is a bit unpleasant, but other than that I like that this is a light, refreshing blend.

Overall, a tasty little tea. I need to have a few more cups to fully make my mind up about it, but as I am going to try to have mostly herbals for the next little while (my caffeine cleanse that I do every few months or so lol) this will be a nice choice. I also need to decide which teas to get with my DavidsTea points! Trying to decide which teas I need 50g of lol, the ones I usually stock up on I already stocked up in late summer, so might be tough to find the right ones. Ah well, this might be a contender!

Flavors: Cinnamon, Floral, Herbaceous, Rose

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82

Good afternoon Steepster!! It’s an absolutely beautiful day outside here :D +20 degrees C according to my phone! This is extremely odd October weather for us, so I am just going to enjoy it and not ask questions…my day has consisted of a few cups of tea this morning, laundry, and of course yard work because when it’s this warm out, I enjoy doing fall clean up work! Raked some leaves, vacuumed the deck for winter, and a little bit of pruning :) life is good.

However, after all the yard work and stirring up leaves and dead plants, my allergies went on a rampage and my arms are full of hives and I was sneezing and coughing away. I’m drinking this tea with some honey in hopes of avoiding taking an allergy pill (tired of taking so many of them lol), and so far it is doing the trick! The hives are subsiding and I can breathe much more clearly :) so yeah, I need to be careful how much yard work I do lol, it’s a bit rough on the system sometimes. So hard to stay inside though on days like today!!! See previous notes on this tea, my number one go-to for allergy/respiratory problems it seems lol.

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83

Sipdown! It’s been another busy week at work so not much tea logging, but I am finishing this off at work and it is quite good. Might pick up a bit more of this for the winter, it’s pretty tasty. See previous notes on this tea!

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84

It’s cold and rainy here, and the list of my usual teas has been becoming boring lately for some reason…maybe the change in season? So I decided to try a new to me tea tonight! And I also wanted shu for the weather..but not the usual suspects lol. Something rich, something warm, rich, comforting! Also had another ridiculously busy day at work with more overtime hours (think I have maxed out my allowed banked hours for the year now) and my head has been hurting on and off today from the cold, rainy weather outside. So this one has to be tried!

A disclaimer – I had some garlicky pasta for dinner lol, so hopefully it doesn’t impair my tasting! Also am replacing the Brita filter and just cleaned the kettle, so this is made with tap water and hopefully not too vinegary water lol. I rinsed the kettle and reboiled it and threw that bunch of water out, so we should be good!

The dry smell is a bit musty, a bit earthy..not overly strong smelling, but definitely a shu pu-erh, in a good way! I did a 25s rinse (steeping Western style), and the leaves smelled a bit fishy still, so did a second 15s rinse and the wet leaves open up to this strong, woody scent! Heady! Mmm a wet forest, perfect for what I want tonight :D so the actual steep was for 30s, the liquor is fairly dark, and there is a smooth woody scent to the cup.

As for the flavor, yes, that darn garlic from my dinner is interfering a fair amount lol, but I can discern a light earthy flavor, not too strong, certainly not overpowering or fishy to me! There is a hint of that olive oil flavor I know from that awesome black tea that Master Han made, what was it…oh, Master Han’s Yunnan Black! Yes, that is definitely in there..but the earthy woodiness tones it down and mutes it. It is a bit musty, but in a good, damp wood way. And I detect a hint of sweetness somewhere in there, kind of in the middle of the sip to the end of it, maybe the fennel making an appearance. I also get a slight linen aftertaste for some reason, I like it, but maybe it’s the mustiness lingering.

Overall, this is tasty and warming. This is such a pure tea, it feels fresh and cozy simultaneously. It is exactly what I needed tonight – grounding, relaxing, comforting, just what I needed. Now I’m even more excited for my incoming Verdant order, which consists mostly of the new pu’erhs they just released! Now that I have experimented with more pu’erh, I am excited to get back to the ones from Verdant, previously the shu’s were a bit much for me with their bold flavors, but now I can appreciate them :)

Anyways, a tasty tea! Not sure how to rate it since the garlic is interfering, so rating subject to change :)

ETA – I resteeped this tea!! Landmark moment lol, I hardly ever resteep anything anymore. I am quite enjoying the calming sensation from this tea, and how it warms me fully, even my emotions. I would consider ordering this again just for the good vibes I get from it! :)

Flavors: Wet Wood

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Profile

Bio

Hello all, I am an electrical engineer (read:NERD :D), who is a bit obsessed with tea! I discovered loose tea in 2011, DAVIDsTEA in 2012 and it took off from there. I really started drinking/enjoying tea because it was excellent to take to class in the morning and because I can’t handle coffee! (unless it’s a really good cappuccino or latte, or decent decaf haha)

I enjoy a variety of teas – current favorites being ripe and raw pu’erhs, chinese black teas and herbal/green rooibos blends. I also enjoy white, green, and oolong teas, although I tend to drink them more in the warmer months. I have also tried matcha and guayusa, but I don’t drink them too often as I am a bit sensitive to caffeine. As a result I don’t drink black teas as often as I used to, but in moderation I can still enjoy a wide variety of teas.

Oh, and I have a severe peanut allergy and try to avoid most other nuts, just to be safe. Limits my tea choices a bit, but that’s ok. However I have tried almonds and found out I can eat them, so I have been trying a few teas with them in them.

mrs.stenhouse12’s rating system
(as of 04/19/13)

95+: Absolute favorite, will try to always have it in stock, and when I don’t I pine over it!
90-94: Awesome teas, will probably purchase again a few times
80-89: Very good tea, may restock at some point
70-79: happy to have tried and will gladly finish, but not restock
60-69: not horrible, but not the best, will finish if I have some though
50-59: not a favorite, probably will have a tough time finishing the bag
-50: yuck. I don’t want to have it ever again.

Location

Canada

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