Yu Lu Yan Cha Black

I didn’t do much of anything today since I am still on the mend from my mouth surgery, or really I should say I didn’t do much because of the pain killers making me kinda derpy. I seem to be healing up nicely, just in time for International Tabletop Game Day and the grand opening of Shang Tea’s new tea bar. It will be a very busy day tomorrow.

Today I am reviewing Verdant Tea’s Yu Lu Yan Cha, an experimental black tea from Xinyang in Henan Province. The name Yu Lu Yan Cha is a combination of ancient names for Henan and Shandong provinces, and creator Wang Yanxin’s name, which I think is pretty awesome, but you all know me and my love of learning something new. The aroma of this tea is a blend of sweetness and earthiness, blending cocoa and honey with rich nutty qualities and a very slight hint of fruit. There is a very interesting afterscent (totally a word now, I am making it official) that reminds me of an old leather bound book, it has that sweet yet rich papery aroma with a hint of leather. Why yes, I have spent far too much of my time sniffing paper, I sniff everything though so it is not unusual.

Into the gaiwan the leaves go! Once the leaves have been given a nice short bath the aroma becomes even richer blending cocoa, peanuts, and oakwood. Yes the aroma has gone from earthy to woody, I ain’t mad at that (I can’t believe I am still using that as a catchphrase…curse you PS2 era games!) in fact I think it is quite delicious smelling. The poured off liquid is quite sweet and cocoa heavy with hints of nuttiness and an almost creamy quality.

The first steeping is at first faintly sweet, like a touch of honey, it then explodes into a rich cocoa and peanut flavor that fills up the entire mouth. The taste fades to a malty quality with the subtle honey like sweetness that lingers in the mouth for a few allowing you to really savor the sweetness.

Sadly the only notes I have written down are from the fist steeping, but I did get a total of five before I called it quits with this tea and went to slumber land. It was one of those ‘oh hey I am going to sit down to a nice gongfu session’ when suddenly there are plans for dinner that no one told me about, so I ended up sipping with my supper and not taking any notes. I can say that the taste became richer and maltier with the honey sweetness becoming stronger as well. The nutty and cocoa tones from the beginning reached a crescendo around the third steep and were replaced mostly by malt and honey. When this tea comes back into stock I certainly recommend giving it a try, because experimental teas need lots of ‘testing’ for proper science!

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/04/verdant-tea-yu-lu-yan-cha-tea-review.html

Now that I’ve tried this tea again I’ve noticed a a smoothness and lingering honey aftertaste, which makes it distinct from Laoshan Black. I may considering buying some the next time around.

It smells chocolate. The dry leaf and the liquor. Drinking it it’s very different : I get much patatoes notes, very stong ones and malt. However I get a smocky after taste, light but present.
This is a very uncommun tea. I never had such a tea, nothing I can compare with. It has a lot of personnality.

While cooling, honey notes are growing as well as chocolate ones.
It is a light bodied tea to me but I didn’t steep it very long because I had no parameters to steep it (and I’ve beentoo lazy to search on VT’s website !)

Dexter3657 sent me a huge sample of this one so I can play around this one a little again. Thank you very much for sharing.

Accompanied with pancakes and maple syrup to honour my dear Canadian fellows here on Steepster. Thank you all for the last Swap which was almost a 100% Canadian Swap :)

-Preface
I do not think I have had a bad tea from verdant yet but I have yet to have one that is worth their prices. This is another prime example, obviously I understand you are buying small batch productions of quality tea and I am sure his costs are high but to me garden to cup freshness only really matters when you are buying first flush or spring plucking green/green oolongs(I am excited to try their shi feng dragonwell when the time comes). Darker teas may actually improve with age(pu er unquestionably) so if you can afford to pay over a $1 per cup (4g/cup most tea are +$8/oz.) then by all means verdant is the not a bad option but I am still waiting for that tea that blows my mind and is worth almost double what I would pay at any other shop(anxiously waiting to try their 10 yr aged TKY in my cupboard). To clarify Verdant has some great teas but Im broke as hell lol so anything over $7/oz has to be something really special for my budget at the moment.
-Review
(Back log)I western brewed first time around and got a pleasant cup definitely different from laoshan black flavor profile wise. I do get the slight sweet potato notes not as much as I had hoped but still pleasant. I can not recall anything amazing about this tea which is never a good sign but I do like it and will gladly drink the rest of the bag, I will not re purchase but glad I tried it.

Tea of the morning here… I have not gong fu’d anything in ages but my arm is feeling better so maybe I can think of this as part of my physical therapy. ;-)

I did my first steep for around 20 seconds in the gaiwan. Definitely getting the smoky aroma that other people have mentioned. There’s a nice starchy/sweetness to this along with the roasted notes. What if someone threw a sweet potato onto the campfire. hmm.

Going in for the second steep I notice the wet leaves smell strongly of tobacco. I did this round for around 20 seconds. Personally I am picking up some bitterness in the finish that I’m not too keen on, this is harsh for such a short steeping time. I’m getting honey and bittersweet chocolate.

Third steep I did Western style with a steep time of around 40 seconds. I am just not finding myself enjoying this much. I ended up putting soymilk and sugar in it to make it more palatable.

I don’t know if I messed it up somehow but I don’t think this one is for me, sorry….

Not nearly as good as Laoshan Black or the chai version but it’s still a good cup. I just put in an order to Teavivre since I haven’t ordered from them in ages. I think I’ll rotate my orders from the companies so no one feels left out and I don’t run out of yummy tea! So next time I order it will be Butiki’s Teas turn :D

sad. people…I so sad… I sipped this down !!!! o.O

I love this tea so much!!!… sniffles

Ok…is not the end of the world, especially since I have another sealed ounce (which I am sooo hoarding). Hopefully this will be back in the fall lineup. If it is…I am so gonna order an obscene amount (obscene for me, anyway)…perhaps in the style of TTF :) and then i’m gonna hoard that obscene amount… so there! :-)

I LOVE YOU, YU LU!!! Please don’t ever leave my cupboard!!!

Amazing tea with long finish!

Mmmm. I got this as a free sample in my last order, and while I never would have chosen it myself, I’m very glad that the folks at Verdant slipped it into my box. The tea brews up to a lovely deep amber, quite a bit darker on first steeping than the most recent batch of Laoshan black.
The first steep is very chocolatey, especially when piping hot. As it cools, malty, earthy undertones start coming through. It’s not bitter at all, but as I finish my cup, I notice a slight dryness in the back of my throat. It’s like the faintest memory of astringency, but an astringency that I didn’t notice while I was drinking. This reminds me a lot of the Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong (“I can’t believe it’s not scotch”) from Yezi Tea, actually.
Second steeping, much more earthy. I can pick up the mushroom notes that others have mentioned. When I sniff the cup quickly, I pick up a slight citrus scent that I don’t really taste. It’s very malty, but there’s another taste that I can’t quite identify. It’s a pretty familiar taste for me, but I just can’t place it. The third steeping, and the last one I drank last night, was very light and sweet and slightly floral. It reminds me a lot of the current run of Laoshan black, actually.

This tea blew me away!! I am completely in love with the laoshan black so I was anxious to try this one. It was amazing! You get the subtle chocolate notes of the laoshan which I love but this tea was a little more assertive. I prefer intense, dark, black teas so this made me happy happy.I immediately went online to buy a large pouch of it only to discover it was sold out!! I will anxiously be keeping track of this tea and a possible spring shipment. Luckily I have enough left for 1 more pot. In the meantime I will pout until I can get my hands on more. It’s a truly wonderful tea!!