Flavor and aroma descriptors are fascinating.
Take two people drinking the same batch of tea steeped for the same amount of time in the same cup and both could still pick up different nuances. Step beyond that though and think about some of them.
Tar. Granite. Compost.
Not many who say that a tea has these characters but even if they do you have to wonder, so… did you chew on some tar? Lick some granite? Perhaps it comes down more to the aroma seeping into ones nose and enveloping the liquid flavor? Why get so philosophical?
This tea is intense, that’s why. It teases with a toasty earthy aroma that quickly dissipates the moment th water is poured on the leaves. High minerality in flavor.
I probably did like a rock or two in middle school. Master Zhang has perfectly roasted this tea to create notes of honey that pair so deeply with the toast notes. Steeped for over three minutes and it gives me hints of bourbon! Stop playing with me!
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Description:
“Mi Xiang” is literally honey fragrance, and a few sips give credence to the name. In other finishing styles, honey usually takes a backseat to more powerful florals and fruit flavors in Tieguanyin, but Master Zhang here has brought out the subtle, thick and rich honeyed quality of Tieguanyin through his precise roast. We have so much respect for Master Zhang’s values in roasting tea. So many workshops will roast to impart heavy handed roast flavor, and in doing so, burn their tea and compromise its original integrity. Master Zhang roasts slowly and with perfect precision so that even a tea this dark tastes only of itself and not of roasted flavor. The result is a tea full of honey, toast and oak, a cozy delight in cold months.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Chocolate Chamomile Curiosity Brew Black Oolong from Verdant Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black/Oolong
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Tea Description:
This blend is inspired by the connection we see between fine chocolate and fine tea. Our Laoshan Black and Wuyi Big Red Robe have strong natural notes of cacao that we wanted to bring out and play with. The end result is a rich, sweet and sparkling brew that brings out the best in both the tea, supported by the cacao nibs. Marigold provides a richness that complements the sweet flavors of chamomile, cinnamon and fennel, while the mint gives just enough of a clean sparkle to counterbalance the flavor of raw cacao. Enjoy this curious brew hot or cold and add a touch of buckwheat honey for a real treat.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Thanks to my SororiTea Sister TheLastDodo for the sample! I’ve actually been quite curious about this one for a while (pun not intended), but Verdant isn’t a company I’ve had much chance to explore and I’m wary of blends with chamomile so getting the chance to try a small quantity of this one was just perfect!
The dry leaf smells faintly of milk chocolate, and has even fainter fennel and mint notes as well. I know from the ingredients list that the mint in this blend is Spearmint; but based on scent I wouldn’t be able to differentiate.
Steeped this one up hot; it’s a lot softer than I expected and very, very smooth. The chocolate is the focus here and it’s accented quite nicely by the cinnamon and the fennel which are subtle but add a delicate, sweet spicyness. The natural malt from the Laoshan Black is delicious; and the spearmint creeps in right at the finish to add a lovely, refreshing coolness. Also, thankfully, I can’t taste the chamomile!
All in all, this was a great tea! It had a rich flavour, but not an in your face one and with the chocolate and mint pairing it made me think of a really fancy, well executed tea version of an After Eight chocolate. Mmm!
Nurture #4 Black Tea from Verdant Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Tea Description:
Intelligent Nutrients’ Nurture #4 is warm, cozy and balancing. We are using the Li Family’s lightly smoked Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong black tea from the Wuyi Mountains as the base for a smoldering base to pair with certified organic Nature #4, and draw out the natural sweetness of the tea with elderberry and coriander. Like sitting by a crackling fire, this comforting blend brings warmth and balance.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
From the time that I first opened the package to the last drops dripping from my gaiwan into my cha hair, I was practically seduced by the flavor. I love the smell of this tea! To put it bluntly, it smells like musky hippie perfume that all those Tibetan souvenir shops always sell in one form or another. I know, not the most glowing description ever written, but I freaking love that hippie perfume. It’s slightly sweet and smoky, with perfume notes that evoke ancient biblical spices. Frankincense? Myrrh perhaps? I cannot for the life of me put my finger on it, but I am so intoxicated by the smell.
The large, long and lightly twisted leaves are dotted with coriander, and if you can look hard enough, you can see tiny dried elderberries hiding out, same color as the leaves. I gongfu’ed this tea and was delighted by the changes in flavor profile each infusion brought to the table. The new copper penny colored brew presented different combinations each time I steeped it. The first steeping I smelled a scrumptiously peppery aroma. I tasted the peppered aroma on my tongue, as well as that hippie perfumery.
The woody notes transitioned me into the next infusion, where I got a slight lavender essence, and upon smelling the top notes, I found a warm welcome of bread and malt notes. The smoke was an afterthought, until the third time around. I half wondered if there would be any smoke to it at all. But it came out to shine in the third round. It was as if someone had just blown out a match. Not so sting to turn you off anything smoked for the rest of your life, but just a hint so that I could taste the other fascinating notes. This time I got a vanilla orange spice to compliment the hint of smoke.
Sipping and enjoying this tea sent me on a sensory overload trip. I was transported to a different time and place. I know that most people upon hearing the word ‘perfume’ being used to describe tea will most definitely run for the hills. But there is so much more to this brew than the hippie cologne. Each time I took the kettle and dowsed the tea, it showed me a different card hidden in it’s sleeves. If I had brewed it any longer, it may have tried to pull a rabbit our of my cup. This is truly a strange brew.
Mrs. Li’s 2014 Shi Feng Dragonwell Green Tea from Verdant Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Tea Description:
Mrs. Li’s father was one of the most respected professional tea tasters in Zhejiang, and a farmer since age 16. Mrs. Li is proud to carry on her father’s tradition of hand picking and roasting pure, organically-produced Dragonwell.
The tree covered mountainside tea fields of Mrs. Li are fed by sweet natural spring water from Dragonwell, and are protected from excessive heat or sunlight, creating a sweet and crisp brew with not a trace of bitterness. At the peak of freshness, her tea changes the way that you think about green tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Recently on Steepster, there was a discussion on where people would be getting their Dragonwell teas this season. To that discussion, I think I might suggest this Mrs. Li’s 2014 Shi Feng Dragonwell Green Tea from Verdant Tea! Because … oh wow! This is one seriously spectacular Dragonwell!
I tried last year’s harvest of this tea, and at the time I was reviewing it, the tea had sold out. So, this is a tea you DO NOT want to hesitate on … because hesistation can mean the difference between getting some of this tea and having to wait until next year! This is a very special, very FRESH, limited edition tea that is well worth dropping everything and ordering some right now.
Since this is a very special Dragonwell, I decided that I should take it through it’s paces, and infuse it as many times as I could get flavor from it.
My first pot of this tea is sweet and toasty. The tasting notes on the website suggest “warm nutty cashew” and that’s what I’m tasting. It’s sweet, roasty-toasty, nutty, and creamy. It’s a nicely round flavor. The texture is soft and brothy and creamy. I emphasize ‘creamy’ here because it’s got that kind of taste and texture that makes me want to curl up in a bubble bath and just drink this. A sip of this tea and I can feel the worries and stresses of life melt away and I feel like I’m in heaven. It’s so luxurious and wonderful.
The second pot proved to be even sweeter and more intensely flavored than the first. I am still getting that warm, creamy cashew flavor and I’m also noticing more of a “browned butter” note: sweet, nutty, creamy and with a hint of savory. The creaminess in the first cup was more like a sweet cream sort of flavor, whereas this is more similar to the creaminess you’d experience from a brown butter sauce.
The third infusion had more of a “green tea” sort of taste, with stronger vegetal tones and as the description on the website suggests, hints of “matcha” like notes. Still buttery and nutty and sweet, I find this infusion to be a little less sweet than the previous two and a little more savory than they were. However, this still tastes sweeter than it does savory.
I am finding myself in utter AMAZEMENT by my fourth and final infusion (hey, I might have scheduled this for early in the day, but it’s getting late as I write it!) because this is still sweet and creamy and delicious! The flavors are getting lighter now than they were in the first three infusions.
And as promised, I am tasting notes of sweet, candied citrus, and yes, even some brown sugar notes. The creaminess has waned somewhat compared to the first three infusions, but I notice lovely creamy notes (particularly connected with the nutty tones, think a creamy cashew butter) but these creamy notes are more of a flavor than a texture.
If you’re looking for an exceptional Dragonwell – this is it. I highly recommend this. I know I’ve tasted a lot of Dragonwell teas and I’ve enjoyed most of them – but this one – this one is truly unique from the “usual” Dragonwell and deserves a place in the very upper echelon of those that I’ve tried. You would be hard pressed to find a better Dragonwell than this.
Laoshan Genmaicha Green Tea from Verdant Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Tea Description:
Laoshan Green Tea is the epitome of humble beauty, a tea cultivated on the slopes of a Taoist holy mountain, naturally shaded by ocean mist, and sweet and creamy like a comforting dessert, yet unknown outside Shandong province where it grows. As Laoshan Green grows into its role in the west as one of the top rated, most highly praised green teas available, we thought it was time to return to its humble roots with a Laoshan Genmaicha.
This Genmaicha is warm, comforting and savory, a perfect balance of toasted rice and creamy green tea. We take a mixture of fragrant jasmine sticky rice for its sweet, thick milky quality and blend it with our own locally harvested Minnesota wild rice, picked on canoes on our northern lakes, and carefully toasted in tiny batches in-house to yield the perfect puffed rice for Genmaicha. The wild rice adds a deep nutty and vaguely floral sweetness that perfectly compliments the green-bean taste of our fresh Laoshan Green.
Taster’s Review:
Laoshan Genmaicha Green Tea from Verdant Tea is not available from the vendor at the present time, but, I decided to do this review anyway, in the hope that it will become available soon! It’s a really lovely Genmaicha!
It is also one of the more unique Genmaicha teas I’ve ever come across, and for that reason, if you are a “purist” and are looking for the traditional Japanese style Genmaicha, you may find this to be a bit too different for your taste. There’s nothing wrong with being a purist, mind you! I’m just saying that this tea is certainly different from the standard Japanese green tea blended with toasted, popped rice.
I infused these leaves twice, and the two infusions really tasted very much like two different teas! The first infusion tasted very much like the Laoshan Green tea with very subtle toasted rice notes. The vegetative tones were prominent, with creamy notes that melded quite beautifully with the vegetative tones. However, it was difficult for me to taste the “Genmaicha” in this tea … that is I didn’t taste a lot of the toasted rice flavor, and I found myself wanting to taste that sweet, nutty flavor together with the luscious creamy tones … because I thought they would just be … heavenly together!
The second infusion was definitely my favorite of the two, and that’s because this time, I could taste the toasted rice! It was still not quite as prominent a flavor as I normally experience with a Japanese Genmaicha, but it was more prominent than the first infusion. The Laoshan Green tea was not quite as creamy or vegetative this time. It was still very flavorful, but the flavors were more mellow this time, and I suspect that this is why I could taste the rice.
I found this Laoshan Genmaicha to be a really unique Genmaicha experience … perhaps one that is a bit too different for the purist, but for someone like me, who enjoys trying teas that take a twist on a classic favorite … this one is right up my alley!