Verdant Tea (Special)

This is one of Verdant’s Intelligent Nutrients teas that I received when I was subscribed to their Blends box. This is no longer listed on their website. In fact, I was unable to find any of the Intelligent Nutrients teas so I’m assuming they are no longer making these. I don’t even think they are doing a Blends box anymore actually. It looks like they are doing a CSA box for each of the farmers they support which sounds like a really cool thing. I’ve participated in a CSA before and really loved everything about it. To see that they are doing the same with tea farmers is really exciting. I am curious to know what happened with the Intelligent Nutrients collaboration, whether it had run its course or just didn’t fit in with their new vision after moving to China. There were a few I enjoyed, some that I did not, and one that I absolutely loved. I still have quite a bit of each left so I thought I would have a cup of this one today.

The dry tea is long, dark, and twisty with a few small berries mixed in. Before steeping, it smells a little spiced. Not like a sweet spice, more like a spicy root. I can’t quite place it. After steeping, the aroma and taste is more of a roasted flavor. I can taste the lavender too, blending with the roast, but I probably would not have picked up on it if I hadn’t looked over the ingredients. It’s kind of drying but also sweet.

This tea smells so refreshing. It’s light and crisp like fresh laundry and springtime with the windows open. After steeping, both the leaves and the liquid have taken on a roasted aroma. I added some honey, as usual, and this cup is quite enjoyable.

Second Steep
6 ounces water + 212 degrees + 1 minute, 5 seconds

The second cup tastes a little lighter but still has that roasted quality. I noticed while this cup was steeping that there were tiny flowers floating between the tea leaves. I’m not sure what they are but I’m not picking up any floral qualities, at least not yet. This may be my favorite of the Intelligent Nutrient teas so far. It’s one I would probably buy. I might also check into purchasing the base tea which I believe is Qilan Wuyi Oolong.

Sipdown! 223/365!

Looks like this is where I logged my tea the last time I had it… there are too many entries that don’t match the text on the bags, making this horribly confusing. (I have, simply, “Jin Jun Mei”, purchased from Verdant. I also have a bag that I received in a reserve tea club box, which might be named the same.)

Anyways, this tea. It’s delicious. I barely had enough for a cup, but it was so flavourful and rich. Would have been better if it was fresher, too!

Backlog.

Grumble. So I’m writing these incredibly backlogged tasting notes between calls at one of my jobs, and am making a bit of progress today since it seems to be fairly quiet so far… but this is definitely not the most comfortable environment in which to be writing – there’s some sort of issue with the heating/cooling system in this building, and it is NEVER a good temperature. Right now, the ducts above me are blasting cool air and creating a breeze that is freezing me. When they are turned off, the call centre starts to get super hot and stuffy (I question whether there are any settings between “COLD” and “HOT” on the thermostat).

Anyhow, grumbling aside, new Verdant tea, woo! I believe I had some Verdant Jin Jun Mei quite a while ago (3 years? Possibly from Azzrian), though I don’t even know if it would have been sourced from the same farmer or not. I don’t recall what I thought of it (and can’t access my tasting notes right now to check, of course), but I probably didn’t much care for it, since back then I had a strong bias against most unflavoured blacks. This bias has of course, changed, and I am enjoying this tea with its smooth, slightly malty and sweet breadiness. Definitely not a favourite over my Taiwanese Black or Laoshan Black, but it’s still a nice morning tea. One interesting thing to note, though – I’m oddly reminded of Alphagetti while drinking this tea. Yes, the pasta shapes in tomato sauce. Not the tomato though, just the pasta. I guess they have some flavour note(s) in common!

Uhhhh… Verdant used to have a Jin Jun Mei, a while back… and then there’s this new one… but I don’t know which entry is for which? It looks like what I had a few years ago was the Wild-Picked version, but I’m suspicious that this is the wrong entry for what I’m looking for, because it’s listed as “Special”, but I just bought it normally from the website…

Anyhow! I somewhere have another note or at least, entry that I’ve had this tea before, but this is the first tasting note I’m posting on it. I do rather like it – malty, bready, yeasty… and rather resilient to my 5+ minute infusion (I forgot about it). I’m being too distracted right now to remember what else I thought of it, but it was good :)

Oh my goodness, the licorice!!! The scent of clove is strong before steeping but afterward all that is left is the licorice. I didn’t even finish my cup. I’ll keep the rating where it is in case age has affected this, but this cup was awful.

This is very, very light in color and flavor. I should have used two teaspoons, even for a 6-ounce cup. It’s smoky with a lingering licorice aftertaste. I can taste clove as well, though it’s overwhelmed by the cloying licorice. Ultimately, I’ll be drinking this one down quickly so that I can start on another cup of (hopefully) better tea.

This has an incredibly malty, savory aroma once steeped. Before steeping, it smells mostly of clove. I over-steeped and probably used too much tea so this is just a touch bitter but not at all like I was expecting. I can taste the coves slightly but it’s mostly the tea. I should mention that the leaf on this is beautiful – stiff and tightly wound into curlicues. I’m tasting a little artificial sweetness about midway through the cup. It reminds me of licorice. There may be some in the blend or in the oil that was used. This tastes somewhat smoky too and I’m wondering if I mistakenly labeled it as bitter at first when in actuality it is smoke I’m tasting.

This has an incredibly surprising fragrance right out of the bag. Believe it or not, it smells exactly like my husband’s shaving cream. It’s that cooling mentholated smell mixed with the sweet spiciness of cloves. I can see the cloves in the dry mix along with the black tea and what appears to be citrus peel. There could be ginger there too, maybe, and a bark of some kind.

After steeping, the aroma is different. It’s tobacco maybe. Most of what I smell now is the black tea. With some of these scented teas I’ve noticed that the scent of the essential oils is really strong in the dry tea but fades or vanishes altogether once the tea has been steeped. I often can’t detect any of the fragrance at all in the flavor of the liquid.

Unsweetened, this tea tasted extremely bitter to me, but after adding honey it is much more palatable. The tea itself tastes very complex. I may want to try the black tea on its own at some point, without the spice. I can still smell the menthol, but taste mostly a lightly spiced black tea. Cloves come to mind first and foremost. There is also a perfumy quality to it.

Second Steep
8 ounces water + 212 degrees + 50 seconds

The second cup still has that lingering sweetness in the background from the cloves.

This smells mostly of anise with a touch of licorice. The steeped tea leaves have a spicier scent to them, but not like chai. It has a sweeter aroma. They also smell a bit like curry powder. I need the extra kick from the spices this morning since I’ve been fighting off a headache. I’m hoping this spicy tea will clear my head.

My grandmother passed along the recipe for a Lebanese cookie she used to make and now I make them twice a year. The recipe calls for soaking and then draining anise seeds in boiling water before adding the seeds to the cookie dough. This tea reminds me of the anise liquid I would have leftover after making those cookies. Straight anise flavor.

Second Steep
8 ounces water + 205 degrees + 1 minute

This cups smells slightly peppery, like ground black pepper.

This tea looks and smells like an herbal tea and is even called an herbal on the package, but the website lists one of its ingredients as Pu’er. I’m glad I looked there first.

There are pieces of rust colored bark in the mix and LOTS of fennel seeds. The fennel is mostly what I smell here, but it’s strange because I don’t see fennel seed on the list of ingredients. Perhaps I’m wrong, but these look and smell exactly like fennel seed to me. The rest does look like different kinds of bark so all of that fits with the description.

This actually turned out much better than I expected. It’s spiced but not overwhelmingly so.

My late entry for National Book Lovers Day.

I’m currently reading a book about parenting and childhood trauma. It’s pretty heavy at times, so I’ve been reading it slowly for the past month or so. I was looking through my list of teas to see what might possibly fit for a book like this and came across this one. Perfect. A nurturing tea and a book about parenting.

It does feel nurturing in this moment. It’s smoky and dark, which I love.

Second Steep
10 ounces water + 212 degrees + 21 minutes

Not a bad resteep. Maybe a little light but still flavorful.

Out for lunch with my brother today. Vacation tomorrow. Strong cup of black tea for breakfast. I’m feeling positive about this day. I love the smoky aroma coming from this tea. I don’t smell the coriander, but I’m okay with that.

Second Steep
8 ounces water + 205 degrees + 1 minute, 15 seconds

This is good, kind of lightly smoky. The dry tea has a spiciness to it which I’m guessing comes from the essential oil. I can see coriander seeds but it doesn’t have that spicy sweet lemon aroma that typically accompanies freshly ground coriander. The wet leaves smell more smoked and less fragrant than the dry leaves.

I’m having this with honey and a bit of light cream. I eventually want to try this with maple syrup. It seems like quite a few of the notes I’ve read about smoky teas show people using maple syrup as the sweetener so it must offer something to this particular type of flavor. The only other smoked tea I’ve tried is Twinings Lapsang Souchong which I really enjoyed and which had a much stronger smoky flavor. I’m not sure how the production of the teas differs, but I really would like to taste more smoke in this one.

Second Steep
8 ounces water + 212 degrees + 50 seconds

My second cup brewed up darker than my first. It’s definitely a little stronger after the longer steep. My desk smells suspiciously like cigarettes now.

Third Steep
8 ounces water + 212 degrees + 1 minutes, 10 seconds

This third cup tastes much like the second. It still has a bit of smokiness but it’s fading.

Mastress Alita’s Monthly Sipdown Challenge
December 2022 → A white tea

Finally finishing the last of this tea, the oldest in my cupboard. Since all previous tasting notes tell me I’ve never really been able to taste anything but flower water, I decided to go wild and steeped this longer, hotter, and with double the tea leaves. I can definitely taste it now. XD

So it’s very bitter, but aside from that it does have actual flavor now. If I could find a way to pull this flavor from white teas without pushing it to bitterness, I’d be immensely happy. I’ll keep playing around with my white teas until then. For this blend, the jasmine comes through most of all, but there is also a taste of menthol and the scent of lima beans. I probably won’t finish this because of the bitterness, but I’m glad to have pulled some flavor out of it nonetheless. Progress! Kind of.

This is basically really aromatic flower water. There isn’t much flavor and any flavor is coming from the scent rather than the taste, I think.

I did some browsing on Reddit earlier and found a post titled

I can’t taste white tea. Is there something wrong with me?

and had to check to be sure I didn’t write it. just kidding. sort of.

There were several responses and more than a few mentioned ignoring the steeping parameters given by the tea company and using boiling (or near boiling) water instead of water at a cooler temperature. At this point, I’m willing to try anything to taste my white teas. I’ll be scorching the next one. If that doesn’t work, we’ll just be cold brewing and calling it my water consumption for the day.

These Verdant blends are so powerfully fragrant! This one smells strongly of juicy fruit and flowers. There are long strips of fuzzy white tea and bright pink flower petals. There are also golden flower buds that resemble lemon seeds. This smells wonderful – I hope the aroma carries over into the flavor. It’s quite stunning. Both the steeped leaves and the liquid still have that floral scent. I was a little worried that this would be bitter because of the high temperature, but it seems fine. It’s lightly floral, not overpowering at all. It’s a nice, gentle cup.

Second Steep
6 ounces water + 190 degrees + 50 seconds

This second cup smells just as floral as the first. It must be the jasmine. The tea leaves are starting to look a little faded, and this cup is bitter, unlike the first. It was steeped according to the package directions so I’m not sure what changed. Maybe 50 seconds was too long. Maybe the hot water finally penetrated the leaves and was too much.

This is much better with added honey. The flavors really come out. I’m enjoying this now that it’s cooled. I think this would make a wonderful iced tea.

I wanted something different this morning, something lighter. This turned out to be a nice choice. I haven’t had this in a while. It was stuffed in the back of our tea cabinet. I steeped it longer and at a lower temperature and it came out flavorful, not too light at all. It’s not something I would purchase more of but it’s a nice cup to have every once in a while.

This tea blend has an incredibly strong scent. It smells very floral and somewhat sweet. I can also detect the sweet spice from the cardamom that I can see in the bag. Alongside the cardamom pods are whole flowers with yellow centers and white petals, each about as big around as a nickel. There is a mintiness in the aroma as well, perhaps from the lemongrass. The Tieguanyin itself is beautiful. The shades of green vary from that of dried mint to as deep a green as cooked spinach.

The liquid brews itself to a golden yellow in a short 30-second steep and smells primarily of the floral Tieguanyin. The tea liquid has good flavor and seems to be the right strength, but I’m not tasting any of the additions I picked up on in the aroma.