122 Tasting Notes

My first-ever Pu-erh! Thanks for widening my horizons with this sample, Verdant. It’s my first official day of summer break and I’m celebrating with tea! Also, I lined up a position for the fall. Feeling golden!

These little tea buds are so cute. Fuzzy and smaller than I expected – they look like little sheaths of wheat. After the rinse they smell strongly of… something I can’t put my finger on. Sorry, that’s not helpful.

The tea tastes interesting and has an unusual mouth-feel. It’s a good tea but I’m not loving it. Maybe with a little resteeping it will grow on me, but so far not so much.

Edited to say: Chaqi like woah! Maybe I do like this tea…

Bonnie

This isn’t at all like any other puerh I’ve tasted and I’ve had at least a hundred or more puerhs (lost count). Some people think the flavor is like an exotic spice…mace possibly. I prefer to under leaf steep it in a gaiwan and let it cool a little. There’s a rock sugar or stone quality I like too. It’s an interesting tea.

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99

This was my birthday tea, made possible by the lovely and talented Lily Duckler. Thank you so much, Lily! This tea does not disappoint. I am a big fan of the early spring tieguanyin and I was interested to compare that with ‘Top Grade’ tieguanyin. I was so happy to have the opportunity!

The top grade smells a little different: more mild. After the rinse it smells amazing. Visually it has less stems and is a little more uniform. The taste has similar notes, of course, but this one is a lot more floral. I was getting lilac in addition to the springtime daffodil taste that the regular tieguanyin has.

I am treasuring this tea. It is only for special occasions — like my birthday and my 111th tasting note! Thanks again, Lily. You and Verdant continue to amaze!

Bonnie

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Stephanie

Happy birthday! That tea sounds amazing…lilacs! :D

High Adventure

Thank you! So delicious. :D I highly recommend.

Lily Duckler

Oh- I’m so glad to hear you are enjoying!! Thank you for your kind words, but I can’t take any credit. I pass it all along to Master Zhang. Happy Birthday :D

Michelle Butler Hallett

Happy belated!

Verdant are amazing me. I thought I’d tried it all. HA! I haven’t even tried rating Verdant teas, because they’re in a whole other class from anything else I’ve drunk, and I am now quite spoiled.

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74

This tea looks interesting! White and downy on one side (so soft!) and dark, almost purple, on the other. Beautiful contrast. The leaves smell a little like hay to me. I’m hoping for lots of chaqi — I need a boost today! Lots of work to do with very little energy to do it.

The tea is a lovely white wine color and smells very strongly of hay. It reminds me of when I was young and used to hang around the local stable to take riding lessons and bond with the horses. Gotta love it when a tea brings back memories!

This tea makes me think of summer. It’s light and has a clean flavor and I’m getting hay, hay, hay. I like it! So far I’m not feeling super energized, but definitely more relaxed.

Resteeping now… let’s see how this tea changes. There are a lot of stems. Still getting that strong clean hay taste but there’s some grassy notes coming out too. This is an interesting tea, and a little different from the other Verdant teas I’ve tried. If you are a white tea fan, or have happy memories of feeding hay to horses, try this tea!

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I am not my best right now. The day really took it out of me. I was considering skipping my much beloved after-school tea and just going home to crash (by crash I mean do more work while watching reruns of Call the Midwife, teachers are never done working). Reading Bonnie’s description of this tea changed my mind! I’m trying the sample I just got. I hope it soothes my achey body and chases away my blues. Is that too much to ask from a tea?

Look at these cute little leaves! So tiny, curly, and almost black. No, looking at them in the light they have a purple cast to them. Interesting!

This tea smells delicious. I detect a slight smell of that Laoshan Black chocolate I love so much but it’s tempered with other scents. It brews up into a lovely golden cup of tea.

I’m having trouble describing this tea. It’s wiping my mind blank in the most peaceful way. I’m so glad I decided to have tea and that I went with this one. I may be blanking on taste and smell descriptions but I can tell you I’m feeling warmer and more relaxed. I don’t know if it’s the ritual of making tea or the tea itself but I am feeling better. I’m so glad Verdant encouraged the He family to try Oolongs! You can taste the love in their tea.

Hesper June

So glad that it made your day better! Thats always the best kind of tea, isn’t it?

High Adventure

The most supreme! This tea has a special place in my heart now for that very reason. I hope your day is going swimmingly, sweet Hester!

Stephanie

I have some of this on the way to me and I can’t wait to taste it

High Adventure

I hope it treats you as well as it did me! Happy sipping. :)

Bonnie

We should all drink a toast to feeling good with tasty tea!

High Adventure

Sounds like a good idea, Bonnie. Let’s all raise our glasses… cheers!

Bonnie

Call the Midwife is a favorite! I just finished Foyles War on Netflix which is fabulous too!

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92

I enjoy this blend. The rose is dominant, which I absolutely love. Rose is a relaxing scent to me. It doesn’t make me as tired as, say, a sleeptime extra or a yogi bedtime blend, but it is a resftul and relaxing cuppa. I can’t taste the licorice at all, which I say with joy!

You should try this tea.

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I avoided this tea for awhile due to the odd, cloying smell. It seemed a little articial to me, which is not a complaint I’ve had about Kusmi’s tea in the past. I decided to go with a black tea today to hopefully mentally stimulate myself for my meeting in 10 minutes. I’m taking the tea with me and will report back later.

I chose this particular tea because a co-worker gave me a beautiful gardenia and it is making my desk area smell lovely. Flowers have been on my mind thanks to that. Bouquet de Fleurs 108 it is!

I wish the mini-tins had steeping instructions! To the website I go. Oh, this is interesting stuff… I might have to update the description. Okay, tea is ready to go! Will sip during my meeting and ponder tasting notes. Later ’gators.

Hmm… perhaps judging a tea by the smell is like judging a book by the cover. This tea is delicious! No wonder it was a favorite of the Russian royalty. I feel fancy-pants just thinking about drinking the same tea a royal family. There is a flavor coming through that reminds me of that initial smell. It reminds me for all the world of clove. It’s not overpowering, and not bad, just… a little off for me.

This tea kept me going through a brutal meeting. It was a good tea, but perhaps not one I’d order again. If you like Kusmi’s Russian blends then give this one a try. The Russian blends are all similar due to their bases but they are all unique in their own way.

Hesper June

Ooo! you gave me a sample of this! I cant wait to try it;)

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99

Classic for a reason! Yum… chocolate for breakfast…

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This tea is gorgeous! It smells amazing (lovely bergamot) and it looks charming with the rose petals. Just the sight of it puts a smile on my face!

When I poured in the hot water the tea immediately separated: rose petals to the top, tea to the bottom, and orange peel going either way. The smell of roses is really coming out as it steeps. Mm… the scent of roses is one of my favorite smells. It’s so relaxing to me!

The tea itself smells great too, now I’m smelling all the elements. Who would have thought chocolatey Laoshan Black would blend with bergamot and rose? Well, Verdant did, obviously! Good idea, guys.

This is a whole different story from the Laoshan Genmaicha I tried. This has a sweetness from the rose petals and a hint of Earl Grey… but it’s so much more than a simple EG. It resteeps nicely, too! The flavors change, of course. The rose is a little washed out and the tea base comes in stronger.

You have done it again, Verdant! Another order, so soon? I’m tempted! Plus, I’ve had my eye on some teaware… not that I need it — we’re moving! Buying more breakable things would be a bad plan. Thank you for this beautiful blend!

Look how pretty: http://instagram.com/p/aheljdRM1a/

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96

Coldsteeping! My very first cold steep. I started this about 4 hours ago. It is much more astringent than when made as a hot tea, but the green and floral flavors are really coming out!

Stephanie

I really enjoy oolong cold steeped!

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86

So excited to try this tea! The description sounds lovely. The leaves smell toasty and almost sweetly sap-like. I’m drinking extra tea lately to fuel me through the long days that come with the end of the school year. I’m going to miss these kids a lot but not the workload! Summer is so close I can taste it!

Mmmm… this tea smells good! It smells so good that I’m drinking the rinse. Is that a bad thing to do?

YUM! This is a delicious tea. I guess I’m an Oolong fan — who knew! Over and over the teas that capture my senses from Verdant have been their Oolongs. Especially this one and their spring Tieguanyin.

I’m having trouble drawing parallels to the smell/ taste of this tea. Words are failing me. The leaves are staying tightly rolled shut and producing a tea that is the color of white wine. I’m getting a slightly woody taste in the best possible way.

This tea has reinvigorated me! I was feeling depleted and ready to be done for the day, but after drinking this I think I have another hour or more in me. Is this chaqi or caffeine? Both? Who cares!

This is a fantastic tea. I almost don’t want to make another Verdant order so soon after my last one, but I really like this one! Oh, tea hoarding…

TheTeaFairy

Love your review and your enthusiasm, I do understand why! Oolongs are amazing and this one particularly. I’m a die hard black tea lover, but in the past year, I have drank tons of different oolongs and I can now say they have almost surpassed my love for blacks…

High Adventure

Thank you for the compliment! I used to think white teas were my favorite, but I keep discovering new favorites. Oolong is amazing! I had no idea they were so complex or that green and roasted were so different.

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I’m a lady who loves tea and writing online reviews. I feel like Steepster was made for me, I’m just late to the party.

I teach young kids with special needs, which I love to do. Tea keeps me happy, energized, and sane!

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