58 Tasting Notes

We are into 40ºC+ days here and it is far too hot for tea. I’ve switched to gin and tonics and with a stretch of the imagination they are almost like a tea… right? Gin is really just botanicals infused in alcohol and tonic water is the same but with water?

I need to get my iced tea jug going again but if I have to be honest, I much prefer other chilled [read: alcoholic] drinks to iced tea.

Sil

Make tea Infused alcohol! :)

TheSurfinSipper

Long Island Iced Tea? (I have to say I prefer a GnT thought) although I did also once have an incredible Earl Grey Martini…

Kiki Libertine

Pomegranate tea daiquiris. But I’ve never been one for the classics.

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This is the first of the teas I won in RiverTea’s pre-launch promotion.

I’ve had a few cups of this now, brewed both western and gongfu style, and have enjoyed it. I’m no Tie Guan Yin expert but I’d happily drink this tea again.

I’ve decided to hold back on a rating until I know what the price point is because I factor ‘value’ into my ratings and RiverTea are yet to make their prices public. Like I mentioned above, I’m a bit of a Tie Guan Yin novice, but I’ve still formed an idea in my mind of where I think the price might be for this tea and it will be interesting to see if I’m right when the store is launched.

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75

I had this cold brewed today with milk and maple syrup because I was too lazy to make up a simple syrup. It needed sweetening but perhaps that was because my 6 hour brew turned into 8/9 hours when I went to pick my parents up from the airport and their plane was delayed…

I liked it a lot better than hot. I still feel like it is lacking something. Maybe it just isn’t for me.

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82

I started a new job this week and my workplace doesn’t have a kettle (what?!) so I’ve not been drinking too much tea, mostly coffee. I did an overnight cold brew of this though and it is delicious, like sunshine in a cup.

I’d never cold brewed a darjeeling before but it worked really well. I left it a bit longer than I usually would because I slept in and it is really interesting to get the flavour of a darjeeling that strong without the astringency.

SFTGFOP

Do you know what year the Darjeeling is from? Good luck and congratulations on your new job.

alice

I think it is last years but I can’t remember. The tea centre cycles their Darjeeling offerings seasonally so what is available is generally reasonably fresh.

SFTGFOP

That’s good. I always drank their tea in the shop (In the CBD) in Sydney. I really wished I had just bought their tea and drunk it at home!

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Another tea from Sil (Thank you!) and I agree that this has a lot of similarities to Laoshan Black.

So far I’m enjoying this one more than the black tea. There was a strong aroma of roasted potato in the Laoshan Black that was a bit overpowering for me and it doesn’t seem to be so predominant here.

I’ve decided not to rank this tea because I feel that if I was drinking it in cool weather that I’d probably be ranking it much higher, it seems like a perfect warm cozy cup. We are well into 30ºC+ days now and I find the light floral flavours of green style oolongs much more appealing in this weather. That is hardly this teas fault though and it is delicious.

I only had a sample of this one but if it comes back for sale I’ll try to grab some to stash aside for cool nights.

Sil

So glad you liked it. :) If you need me to be a verdant tea mule for you, feel free to let me know

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When warm weather starts my tea drinking really starts to drop. It isn’t even summer yet but yesterday it reached 36ºC. Needless to say, I haven’t been too keen on hot beverages but have been a bit too lazy to make up jugs of iced tea.

This morning is a bit cooler so I sifted through Sil’s samples and grabbed this one. About the time I started drinking it my hayfever set in so I haven’t been able to enjoy it as much as I’d like. The first steep, which I’m on now, has a lovely fresh cucumber note but with that unmistakeable sensation of hot liquid on tastebuds that are switching off. Hopefully by the later steeps my antihistamine will have kicked in.

Thanks Sil :)

Sil

boo on hayfever!

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68
drank Earl Grey by Henry Langdon
58 tasting notes

I popped this in my iced tea jug and have been drinking it over the past few days. I’ve never really been too keen on the idea of iced early grey but am really enjoying it. This time around I brewed it on boiling water and then chilled it but next time I’ll try a cold brew over night.

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90

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70
drank Silver Buds Yabao by Verdant Tea
58 tasting notes

When I opened this packet I was greeted with a familiar sight. My parents have a camellia sinensis plant that is often covered in these little buds. I’ve never drunk them though and was really excited to try it.

I prepared this using the gongfu method on the verdant website which produced a very pale brew with a faint pine and honey aroma. Thankfully the flavour was stronger than the aroma, with the first infusion producing a delicate sweetness with lovely woody notes and some kind of tropical fruit that I can’t quite pin down. I started enjoying this a lot more as it cooled and could see it making a wonderful delicate unsweetened iced tea.

For me the whole experience is let down a bit by the aftertaste which is reminiscent of chewing up paper to make spit balls back at primary school (don’t pretend like you didn’t do it too!). It is also such a subtle flavour that I think if it was drunk with food the enjoyment would be completely lost.

This isn’t a miss for me but it isn’t a hit either. Some sips I think “yes! yum!” but others are just “meh”. It is so unique that I’m really pleased that I got the chance to try it. Thanks Sil :D

Sil

Glad you enjoyed it more than I did. :)

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79

Another Verdant tea tea that I get to try thanks to Sil. Your package is coming I promise!

The power went out here this morning before I could make myself a cup of tea so I was very much looking forward to this by the time I got the chance this afternoon.

I haven’t enjoyed an oolong this much since the stash I brought back from Taiwan last year ran out. I’m an old fashioned kind of person who prefers to shop at stores but unless you are looking for a flavoured oolong around these parts you are pretty much out of luck. I was almost at the point of not bothering with oolongs anymore but this has kickstarted my enthusiasm again.

I brewed this one in a gaiwan (or my makeshift version) as per the website. It has a great savoury but slightly sweet flavour, just like the taiwanese oolongs I remember. For me it is predominantly green beans and sweet corn in the earlier steeps with jasmine and sweet pea coming on as the session continues.

I’m very out of practice when it comes to oolong but this is one I’d happily drink again, except that I can’t because verdant have it archived. Still, I’m pleased that I had the opportunity to try it :)

Sil

Yay! So glad you’re enjoying trying the teas out :)

Bonnie

Look for it again. Sometimes they come back. Buying tea in season, flying it to the U.S. and not letting the tea sit in a warehouse is why these tea’s sell out. If you get updates, you’ll be informed when new tea arrives back in stock after harvest.

Sil

Bonnie- sadly verdant doesn’t Ship to Australia either. But maybe lily would be able to do something for Alice if there were no fruits or what not in them

alice

Yes I have spoken to Verdant and they’ve told me they will make exceptions to their no Australia policy if I am happy to pay the full shipping cost and take full responsibility if it gets nabbed by customs over here. I was having a chat to a tea merchant here the other day and he says that Camellia Sinessis alone is completely fine to import so as long as I stick to straight teas I there would be no issues.

I’ll have to get through all your samples first Sil and some of my own tea before I order though so I’ll keep an eye on what is in stock.

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I am fond of tea and tea paraphernalia.

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