Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Tea Description:
Master Han is a remarkably talented crafter of wild picked pu’ers and black teas whose workshop and ancient plot of tea forest is an hour’s walk to the nearest gravel road in a national forest preserve. We were lucky enough to meet him at his first tea conference. Tucked away in a hidden corner behind slick modern displays with uniformed reps from Xiaguan and Menghai, Master Han and his young apprentice seemed apprehensive about the operation. We were on our way to a panel on gongfu brewing when the sheer beauty of a bag of his wild-picked black tea caught us in our tracks.
NOTES: grape, olive oil, linen, scotch, honeycrisp, coconut
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Master Han’s Wild Picked Yunnan Black from Verdant Tea is a rather light cup, not that it lacks any flavor whatsoever, its just not as in your face with robustness as some teas. Robustness? Well spell check passed it so it must be a word. Regardless, this cup is lightly sweet with a sourgum like flavor, there is also a wild grape flavor coming to the top of the notes. The tea is clear to the bottom of the cup. The color is dark, like black tea should be but it is transparent. There is a slight drying sensation on the tongue while sipping, perhaps this is the linen note mentioned?
The flavor of black olive comes out as the tea cools just slightly and that is the note that lingers most on my palate. It is a lovely savory note to mingle with the sweetness of the tea, balancing it nicely. A lovely yam flavor develops more so as the tea becomes a bit cooler, and I am sure that further steepings will bring about that scotch, and coconut flavor I am looking for. Also I notice as the tea cools more the black olive note becomes more of an olive oil flavor which is interesting.
Verdant once again delivers one of the most unique tea offerings and I am so happy to have sampled some! Learn more about Master Han here.
Taiwanese Dong Ding Oolong from Verdant Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Tea Description:
This Dong Ding exemplifies the union of sweet and savory flavors that are a hallmark of Taiwanese oolong craftsmanship.
Taiwanese oolong is an incredible and worthwhile counterpoint to the Tieguanyin growing cross the straights in Anxi. While mainland oolongs tend to be more floral, Taiwanese oolongs edge towards savory. In love with the unique taste, we are pleased to have found this standout example despite difficult growing conditions in Taiwan this past year.
The wet leaf aroma is like being in a small bakery with rising whole wheat walnut currant bread in the oven and redwood bark’s warm smell wafting though an open window. The first steepings start with a bright raspberry tartness followed by a darker note of flax and spicy green peppercorn. These initial flavors swell and then diminish leaving a sweet whipped cream pound cake aftertaste.
Later steepings expand upon the spicy flavor with the sweetness of red bell peppers and the savory satisfying taste of fried cactus paddle. The aftertaste moves towards sweet corn bread and lingers long after the tea is gone.
NOTES: pound cake, raspberry, peppercorn, corn bread, flax, cactus
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
A tea like Taiwanese Dong Ding Oolong from Verdant Tea must be experienced over several steeps, otherwise you will miss out on so much flavor and complexity. I won’t say that this is my all time favorite tea from Verdant Tea, but it is very nice and should be experienced.
I will start by saying I am a little disappointed that I never got those pound cake notes, corn bread notes, or even really any raspberry notes, but what I did get was flavorful, and delicious.
Early steeps give off a nice light flavor, white floral notes, a dash of a pepper note, but only very slight, and a wonderful earthy note like well nourished soil, not to be confused with dirt. This Taiwanese Dong Ding by Verdant has a perfectly sweet flavor, not too sweet, but just right. To me this resonates most as a floral milk oolong.
It is slightly vegetal, with some nutty goodness, and in later steeps becomes even more milky and creamy with a full mouth feel. It is weighty, buttery, slightly astringent, and really quite good. I still am looking for some of those dessert notes, but sadly not finding them.
Toward steep four and five I am still getting a wonderfully flavorful cup which becomes even more creamy, maybe this is where the cake note comes in – through all the creaminess, but for me I wish it had a little more because while it is creamy, it never quite develops into a full on cream like flavor, rather teases and hints at it. Perhaps if I were finding that raspberry note I would enjoy it more. This is not to imply I am unhappy with the cup, but I would have been more happy had I not seen those yummy notes that I am missing out on.
This is a really nice flavorful cup with key notes on my palate being floral, creamy, milky, and vegetal. Its not nearly as strong as other Dong Ding I have had, and I do love Dong Ding Oolong. Of course this is a lighter roast but even still it is lacking many of the qualities I am used to in Dong Ding. Again that is not to say I don’t like it. I like it a lot, but I am confused a little by this tea. I plan to work with it more to see if I can uncover more of what it has to offer.
Mrs. Li’s Shi Feng Dragonwell Green Tea from Verdant Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Tea Description:
True Shi Feng Dragonwell is one of the most admired teas in the world, officially endorsed by Emperor Qianlong as the archetypal green tea. We sourced this limited batch from an old friend, Mrs. Li, whose family has a plot of land at the heights of Shi Feng (Lion’s Peak). Tea lovers make the long hike up gravel and dirt roads to reach Mrs. Li’s farm and buy a bit of her precious harvest. Because of our unique friendship, we were able to secure a few pounds to share.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
My review of this Mrs. Li’s Shi Feng Dragonwell Green Tea from Verdant Tea is somewhat bittersweet because … this is easily the finest Dragonwell green tea I’ve ever tasted but unfortunately, this tea is not available for purchase at this time. On the Verdant Tea website it reads:
This special edition tea has sold out. We are hoping that Mrs. Li will let us have more of her Dragonwell later this year or in the spring.
Sadness!
But also … JOY! Because I do feel very fortunate that I’ve this opportunity to be tasting this tea now. As I said before, this Dragonwell is the finest that I’ve tried. I love Dragonwell tea, and sure, I’ll still enjoy other Dragonwell teas that are from Mrs. Li’s tea farm. But this one … this tea stands alone in a class by itself.
It has a delicious nutty flavor that is sweet, smooth and offers very little astringency. The tasting notes on the Verdant Tea website suggest a cashew-like flavor for the “nuttiness” that I just mentioned, and I get that. Yeah, that’s quite cashew-like, and I can almost feel that sort of nutty “creaminess” that I experience when I munch on a handful of cashews. Cashews are one of my favorite nuts, and that sweetness that is almost soft and creamy is one of the reasons I find these nuts so enjoyable.
There is a slight grassy tone to the flavor, and I noticed that vegetative tone immediately with my first sip. The vegetal notes fall somewhere between sweet grass and lima bean for me. And as I continue to sip, I notice a mineral-like note toward mid-sip.
What is most remarkable for me with this tea, though, is the creaminess it presents. I usually find Dragonwell teas to be more on the pure, clean tasting side – and this tea does possess that quality as well – but this also has a taste and texture that is creamy and almost vanilla-esque. It is quite dreamy!
I LOVE this Dragonwell. If my cupboard could contain only one Dragonwell tea, this would be the one I’d select. If someone were to ask me for a green tea recommendation to serve to someone with impeccable taste, this would be one of the first teas that would come to mind. This is a tea worth trying – and I do recommend keeping your eye on the Verdant Tea website to see if this tea becomes available again … it’s definitely worth the effort!
Master Han’s Wild Picked Yunnan Black Tea From Verdant Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Tea Description:
Master Han is a remarkably talented crafter of wild picked pu’ers and black teas whose workshop and ancient plot of tea forest is an hour’s walk to the nearest gravel road in a national forest preserve. We were lucky enough to meet him at his first tea conference. Tucked away in a hidden corner behind slick modern displays with uniformed reps from Xiaguan and Menghai, Master Han and his young apprentice seemed apprehensive about the operation. We were on our way to a panel on gongfu brewing when the sheer beauty of a bag of his wild-picked black tea caught us in our tracks.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Verdant Tea is among a handful of tea purveyors that I consider to be the very best, and so when I see that they have a tea that I haven’t yet tried – like this Master Han’s Wild Picked Yunnan Black Tea – I am quickly putting that tea in my cart when I am tea shopping!
The tea brews up lighter in color than I expected … or perhaps the word I’m looking for is more transparent. It is a transparent copper color … not really “pale” … just not quite as dark looking as a typical Yunnan black. The aroma is rich and sweet.
On the website, the first taste mentioned under “notes” is grape, and indeed, that is the first taste I noticed when I took my first sip. Not really a “muscat” grape that you’d experience from a Darjeeling, this tastes more like the grapes that my grandparents used to grow in their backyard when I was young. They were the kind of grapes with seeds in them, and the flavor was less sweet than the seedless grapes you find in the grocery store this time of year. It was a more complex tasting grape … something that I wasn’t really able to appreciate a lot as a kid (back then, I just wanted the sweet, seedless grapes!) but, now I find myself missing that unique flavor that you simply don’t find in the grapes that are readily available today.
There is a pleasant sweetness to this cup, but it is not the caramel-y sweetness that I often associate with a black tea, nor is it a molasses-y or a honey-esque sweetness. This is more like a fruity sweetness, like a crisp, sweet apple. The tasting note on the website suggest a “linen” like flavor, and I get that too. What I’m really enjoying about this tea is that the more I sip, the more flavors I discover. There is a pleasant malty tone to this cup, but, without the strong sense of caramel-like flavor, it is a “thinner” kind of malty taste.
I found myself searching for the olive oil notes … and by mid-cup, I recognized a flavor in there that remind me of that taste. Sweet and slightly spicy.
This is seriously unlike any Yunnan I’ve ever tried. It has some familiar Yunnan qualities to it, like a malty, spicy tone, but … the best way I could explain this is that it has some of the dark qualities of a Yunnan, combined with the complexity and smooth, soft textures of a dark Oolong.
It’s really quite a lovely experience … one I’m really glad I decided to try when I found it on Verdant Tea’s website. And I notice that the supplies are limited of this tea – so if you’re interested in trying this truly unique Wild Picked Yunnan Tea from Master Han … you should order it quickly before it’s gone!
Laoshan Black Chocolate Genmaicha from Verdant Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black, Oolong
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Tea Description:
A warm and comforting take on classic Genmaicha with the addition of Wuyi oolong and cacao nibs. . .
Genmaicha has humble origins- originally toasted rice was mixed into a pot to make expensive tea leaves go further in a time of less plenty than today. Toasted rice was combined with green tea or even broken twigs and stems to make a hearty and warming brew. At the time, green tea was for more widely available than black tea, but given the warming qualities of genmaicha, we thought that a humble hand-picked black tea from Laoshan Village would be the perfect companion for toasted rice.
This batch of Laoshan black is particularly malty and sweet, qualities drawn out by hand-crafted Minnesota wild rice and organic fair trade jasmine rice toasted in small batches. We add organic cacao nibs to give a darker and more comforting aftertaste, and a touch of Shui Jin Gui Wuyi oolong for its nutty caramel notes and savory aftertaste. All together, we think this new take on Genmaicha very much embraces the tea’s humble origins and stays true to the warm and satisfying nature of toasted rice tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I love Genmaicha and Laoshan Black Chocolate Genmaicha from Verdant Tea is no exception! This tea delivers exactly what it says it does in its description! I love the use of a Wyui oolong which provides a nutty sweet backdrop but I love even more the rock mineral flavor that gives this tea an overall earthy quality. I guess it makes me feel like while even though this tea is on the sweeter side it is also quite savory and I love nothing better than a sweet and savory flavor combined!
I was rather surprised at what a clear cup this turned out to be, a lovely amber brown color but I can see right to the bottom of my glass. The mouthfeel is on the creamy side but has a bright finish.
I love the toasty rice flavor and it really shines through! The cocoa nibs offer a delicious chocolate taste that is really nice, not fakey tasting at all.
I was expecting a bit richer of a flavor though. While there is a lovely caramel note, chocolate holds its own, and the rice is a lovely touch, overall I find it rather on the thin side in comparison to Laoshan Black on its own. Even with that said however I really think Verdant did well to offer us something completely unique and I would recommend this tea as it is so comforting as it is toasty, warm, sweet, malty, and quite decedent.