97

It’s been a while since I went for a tea blend, but the recent tasting notes on this one stirred my curiosity enough to give it a go. I asked David for a sample of this when I saw him recently, and he was happy to send me home with enough for two drinking sessions. I just brewed it up in the past hour, needing to shake off my grog from the long caffeinated work day and night of dancing that preceded my very reluctant rise from the bed this morning.

I put two and a half teaspoons of this blend in my Ruci pot and proceeded with my typical gongfu brewing routine for Chinese blacks: immediate wash, then 5-second first steep, followed by +5 seconds for each infusion following. My initial reaction, the moment the liquor passed my lips on the first steep, exactly echoed the one-sip-wow! that ssajami mentioned recently. There is a beautiful sparkling bite at the front of the tongue as soon as I take each sip. I implicate the formidable alliance of Laoshan Black, Big Red Robe and Xingyang Imperial in yielding this rich sparkle through their combined command of that quality. This is true synergy! The Yunnan Golden Buds further enrich and sweeten the deal, making for a very luxurious texture and flavor profile.

If my description of the above synergy is framed in the language of organized crime, it’s because drinking this blend has made me a bit shifty-eyed, as though it were too good to be legal. I have tasted each of the teas in this blend separately, and they are all great and powerful teas, but I wasn’t expecting (really… could not imagine) the indomitable strength that would come of their conspiring together. I imagine this blend is like an exacting and perfectly organized plot to execute a jewel heist of historic proportions… and all of its culprits managed to capture their loot and escape without a hitch.

This blend is super, and upon trying it I have new respect for David’s taste… which is something I thought I already had the highest respect possible for. What an excellent surprise this was! I will definitely be buying a supply of this blend, and exploring more of the Alchemy offerings.

E Alexander Gerster

Love your write up of this wonderful tea! The synergy in this tea is amazing. The cha qi in this tea really knocks my socks off. I love the organized crime angle… I found it nearly “sinful” it was so unexpectedly good.
When I first saw the blend described, I thought of that line in “Ghostbusters” where the heros had to remember not to “cross the streams” or suffer annihilation. These teas create streams that join up to make for an invigorating and satisfying brew.

Charles Thomas Draper

To good to be legal. Great line….

Spoonvonstup

Great image! Totally true. Do I sense major motion picture? Tea+Heist+Ghostbuster.. how could this go wrong?

Geoffrey

Haha~! Great comments, everyone. Thanks for the appreciation. When writing some of these notes I just try to amuse myself, and it’s nice to know that others sometimes enjoy these little language games of mine.

@Spoonvonstup – So here’s my pitch… A commission of obscure underworld origin falls upon a small outfit of exiled Scandanavian hackers to hatch a plot against impossible odds to infiltrate the PRC Bank of National Treasures and steal the last legal harvest from the Da Hong Pao mother bushes. Suffering extreme adversity, including partial capture and loss of life, in the course of this operation, some members of the group succeed in escaping with their loot… BUT, needing resources to recover their imprisoned comrades, our protagonists try to collect on their commission, only to find that all trace and record of it’s source has vanished. The obscure director of their heist may just as well have never existed… Meanwhile, CRP secret services and Interpol are quickly closing in, as the hackers desperately hunt for the phantom author of their contract… until one of them stumbles upon the first sure lead, revealing that the man who ordered this heist has been dead for decades! And now, the hackers begin to realize that they have not only to elude the hunt of international agents, but as well a far more dangerous hunter within them: Madness.

Geoffrey

And it’s just occurred to me that there is only one possible title for this picture:

BIG
RED
ROBE
E Alexander Gerster

Hah! I love it…. Did you ever see the movie Tea Fight? http://bit.ly/ua668h
Being a fan of Asian cinema, the drama you outlined made me think you might enjoy this! :)

Geoffrey

Oh Dear… I’m afraid to even look… BUT. JUST. CAN’T. STOP… I must.

Geoffrey

Dear God… I just read the synopsis. I must I have this film!

Thanks for the tip, E.

Charles Thomas Draper

I have to see it too….

Spoonvonstup

Wow! I must see that movie!!!

E Alexander Gerster

I wish I had a copy to share. I purchased mine and thought it was a hoot… It was passed around among my friends for about a year and now I have no idea who has it… but is worthwhile to add to your collection! :)

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E Alexander Gerster

Love your write up of this wonderful tea! The synergy in this tea is amazing. The cha qi in this tea really knocks my socks off. I love the organized crime angle… I found it nearly “sinful” it was so unexpectedly good.
When I first saw the blend described, I thought of that line in “Ghostbusters” where the heros had to remember not to “cross the streams” or suffer annihilation. These teas create streams that join up to make for an invigorating and satisfying brew.

Charles Thomas Draper

To good to be legal. Great line….

Spoonvonstup

Great image! Totally true. Do I sense major motion picture? Tea+Heist+Ghostbuster.. how could this go wrong?

Geoffrey

Haha~! Great comments, everyone. Thanks for the appreciation. When writing some of these notes I just try to amuse myself, and it’s nice to know that others sometimes enjoy these little language games of mine.

@Spoonvonstup – So here’s my pitch… A commission of obscure underworld origin falls upon a small outfit of exiled Scandanavian hackers to hatch a plot against impossible odds to infiltrate the PRC Bank of National Treasures and steal the last legal harvest from the Da Hong Pao mother bushes. Suffering extreme adversity, including partial capture and loss of life, in the course of this operation, some members of the group succeed in escaping with their loot… BUT, needing resources to recover their imprisoned comrades, our protagonists try to collect on their commission, only to find that all trace and record of it’s source has vanished. The obscure director of their heist may just as well have never existed… Meanwhile, CRP secret services and Interpol are quickly closing in, as the hackers desperately hunt for the phantom author of their contract… until one of them stumbles upon the first sure lead, revealing that the man who ordered this heist has been dead for decades! And now, the hackers begin to realize that they have not only to elude the hunt of international agents, but as well a far more dangerous hunter within them: Madness.

Geoffrey

And it’s just occurred to me that there is only one possible title for this picture:

BIG
RED
ROBE
E Alexander Gerster

Hah! I love it…. Did you ever see the movie Tea Fight? http://bit.ly/ua668h
Being a fan of Asian cinema, the drama you outlined made me think you might enjoy this! :)

Geoffrey

Oh Dear… I’m afraid to even look… BUT. JUST. CAN’T. STOP… I must.

Geoffrey

Dear God… I just read the synopsis. I must I have this film!

Thanks for the tip, E.

Charles Thomas Draper

I have to see it too….

Spoonvonstup

Wow! I must see that movie!!!

E Alexander Gerster

I wish I had a copy to share. I purchased mine and thought it was a hoot… It was passed around among my friends for about a year and now I have no idea who has it… but is worthwhile to add to your collection! :)

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Tea drinking, tango dancing, rock climbing, and reading are my main activities of interest.

Currently obsessed with Fenghuang Dancong Oolongs and Wuyi Yan Cha. My fascination with Pu’er is steadily growing, and I imagine it will take over one of these days.

I typically don’t feel ready to say anything conclusive about a tea (and thus, say nothing) until I’ve tried it three or four times, which helps prevent both false positives and false negatives, and offers a more comprehensive sense of a tea’s dimension and character.

As of 01/12/2012, I’ve accepted full-time employment as the Business Development Manager at Verdant Tea. From that date forward I’ve decided to stop rating teas on Steepster due to my professional stake in the tea business. I have no interest in manipulating the rating system in our favor or against other tea businesses. All my ratings on Steepster were made before my employment with Verdant Tea, and reflect nothing more than my personal opinions as a tea drinker.

I want to continue writing tasting notes without ratings from time to time, for both our teas and teas that I enjoy from other businesses; but as my life has now become much more busy, my activity on Steepster will be lessened. And in any case, my future contributions here will have to be made on my personal time.

Location

Minneapolis, MN, USA

Website

http://verdanttea.com

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