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I’m trying to get back in the swing of things on here. Maybe not as dedicated as I was before, but at least an occasional note here & there. I was afforded this sample some weeks ago by my ole’ pal Pureleaf. I saved just enough to try to write a review on.
It’s a nice tea for sure. Seldom am I disappointed with Verdant’s offerings. It’s not as sweet as I expected, but still smooth & pleasant. I used a generic gong fu style as I typically do. Small amount of water/quick infusion. I generally start off like this with teas I’m unfamiliar with, then after I get a few steeps out of it I bump the amount of water & time to switch to a more western style infuse.
Anyway this tea is mildly malty to me. It does contain some sweet notes as well. Really a well proportioned blend of the two. I like the after flavor & I’m happy too that there is little astringency or dryness.
Sadly my time with this tea was cut short. I made a FATAL mistake when going to pour water for third steep in the pot. I can use the term fatal because I ‘killed’ the leaves. I use a Stanley thermos as a carafe for my boiled water since I’ve still not gotten off of the pot & purchased a water boiler.
I also keep one for coffee…. you can see where this is going.
I immediately poured the cofftea out but it was too late. the coffee had impregnated itself into the leaf. Ruined.
Again no tune today;

Haven’t done this in awhile. Got this tea from JAS-e Tea little a while ago. To start off I know nothing of yellow teas & little of whites. That said my expectations weren’t high. Would not have mattered if they were though because this tea was fabulous! Without an idea of how to prepare it I scanned around for a few until I felt just confident enough to wreck it, grabbed a gaiwan & some 155,or so, degree water, & I jumped right in. Not quite gong fu, but a healthy amount of leaf for a quick infuse. The overall buttery impression was so strong that I think of corn on the cob… the kind from the county fair… lathered in creamy butter. The vegetive was something akin to asparagus or even a fresh green bean-but sweeter. Something reminded me of rice as well. Silky smooth with no astringency (if you’ve seen me before you know about astringency and me) & a nice after flavor. I steeped it close to ten times & was still happy with what I was drinking. It started to resemble more of what I’m familiar with in a green tea as it got up in steeps with a slight metallic bite, but that initial 3-4 cups blew me away. Thanks to Stephen at JAS-e for your service.
No tune today;

I’ve been drinking on this all day but I elected to start some fresh leaves to write this note (twist my arm already).I prepared this in a 120ml gaiwan. I rinsed the leaves, allowed them to cool and ‘rest’, and then steeped for roughly 10 seconds. Initial liquor was a light yellow with a hint of orange. At first sip I was met with a pleasant mix of light smokiness with an appropriate sweetness to accompany it. There was a slight drying effect, though not too much. I didn’t really encounter any bitterness so all in all the astringency factor was low and left a crispness in my mouth.
The after taste is worthy of boasting. I love it when a sheng leaves it’s mark on my palate as this one did. I was especially intrigued by how much this tea was present in the nasal portion of my palate as well. Though I don’t actually do it, I bet this would even be good iced. A great aged sheng in my most humble of opinions. Thank you all of my adoring fa…we covered that already didn’t we?

I know it’s been a few since I’ve checked in, but I’ll give her my best shot now with this tastey little tea I recieved from Autumn Hearth. Thank you so much.
After consulting the Verdent website I followed the western style instructions. Though it was a generous sample that AH sent I didn’t want to attempt my first gongfu out of fear that there wouldn’t be enough it I would ruin this tea.
I would love to tell you just how complex and vibrant the first cup was, yet I only got a mere sip before my wife confiscated the mug…she seemed quite pleased with it. The second steeping still proved to be delightful, though I can only assume a certain portion of the complexity had been deminished.
What was left was a roasty cup with almost floral notes. Not sure about the elderberry or apricot from the description, but there was a bitter sweet thing that maybe I can associate with citrus.
Though I did enjoy this tea it reminded me of a sample of Tie Kaun Yin I tried, but slightly more astringent. I personally was turned off by the dry feeling in my mouth, especially when the sip I got out of the first infusion was very buttery and smooth.
I hate to leave such a short and less than informative note on this one. Maybe if I woulda had the first infuse it may have been different, but I don’t want to sound like I’m belly-aching over it. It’s a good tea for sure.
tunes-everything from Gotye,The Heavy,Awolnation,Jonah Smith,Tom Waits,Panic!At The Disco,& Jack Whites new one.

I must thank Azz for this fine little sample. I say little, but it appears from the website to be what they send in a sampler. It comes in one of those cute little tins that you can get about a full pot out of and she never even opened it. I can only assume she had drank it somewhere before.
I like this tea alot! There’s one definitive destinction as to why that is for me. It has the perfect balance and delivers the vegetive crispness, yet without crossing the threshold and becoming astringent or bitter. It has the nutty notes I love, yet is still somewhat buttery in the mouthfeel. It’s light and airy with a slight to moderate sweet note as well.
As it cools I find the vegetive notes begin to outweigh the roasty ones, which turns out not to be unpleasant to a roasty prefering drinker such as myself. I steeped this one four times. The latter two steepings the vegetive and roastiness was toned down and what was left was a buttery sweet gulper. I don’t like for my cup to cool, but sometimes you get distracted queing up the next song, which leads me to my musical pairing.
tunes-Im back on a Mumford&Sons kick=White Blank Page/Thistle and Weeds/Dust Bowl Dance/I Gave You All/Sigh No More/To Darkness-Kripa.
Alas I have yet to get the new album, but the portions you can play from the website lets me see I want it.

I have to admit that I was skeptical of this tea since it is A) a green tea, and B) it has jasmine in it. Turns out my skeptisisms were unwarrented.
I brewed me up a large cuppa this golden/green colored drink merely so I could cross it off of my ‘possible teas’ list. As you can see by my opening statement it turns out that is in fact a possible drinker. I can’t say I’m in love with it, but given that I haven’t liked many greens or any of the jasmines I’ve tried it’s still fairing well enough.
First thing that came to mind on the first sip was buttery, real buttery. After that I found myself questioning what was different about the green flavor. Partly it was the addition of the jasmine, though that was pretty tame, yet there was something else difficult to nail down. It’s a kind of malty green hay thing that, again, is difficult to nail down.
There were some sweet notes present as well, but I didn’t get any of the fruity or honey I read others may have found. I steeped this one a few times and found that the distinctly different notes that jumped out in the first cup had all mellowed and melted into a harmony of flavors.
Even though greens aren’t typically my thing I must still comment on the qaulity that Teavivre delivers. The pearls were beautiful and unfurled into delicate slender leaves. Even though it was AZZ that sent me this sample I must add Angel to my gratitude for the opportunity to experience this tea. Azz you were very gracious to send me so many samples to learn from, and Angel you have made it possible for many people to experience your teas and to taste and see what it is that you offer. Thank you both.
tunes-Gactic,albums-From The Corner To The Block/Carnivale Electicos.