Tea Trail 2004: Willow Grove Workshop

Tea type
Pu'erh Tea
Ingredients
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Flavors
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Caffeine
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Edit tea info Last updated by Bonnie
Average preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 1 min, 30 sec

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28 Tasting Notes View all

  • “I followed the instructions on the verdant site, to brew this tea gongfu style. The wet leaf is of an old ancient pine forest, deep and earthy, black as night. It’s a smell I love. The flavor is...” Read full tasting note
  • “First of all, yes, I’m alive. I’ve been amazingly busy recently, with professors really ;piling on the work as the semester draws to a close. But today I have a bit of time, so I’m doing a review...” Read full tasting note
    89
  • “My tiny tasting cup finally came! I’ve had this sample from Verdant for awhile now but I wanted to wait to try it until I could give it attention and lots of steeps. This is my first tasting note...” Read full tasting note
    87
  • “This is somewhat contradictory tea: it’s earthy but light at the same time. It also has a “clean” taste. It’s a perfect after dinner tea. I had vegetables from the farmers market, black beans with...” Read full tasting note
    100

From Verdant Tea

A uniquely clean shu pu’er with both warming and cooling qualities, a sophisticated musky profile, and a sparkling texture like fresh mint and basil leaf. . . .

Our first generation Tea Trail brick from Yongming workshop became an instant favorite for its potent cooling notes and clean body. This older tea embraces the same spirit as the first Tea Trail but builds on it with a complexity all its own.

The aroma of the wet leaf is that of pine sap, wet forest moss, rosewood, and wafting incense. The flavor builds on the aroma with a first steep that is altogether refreshing. it reminds us of water drawn from an untouched and perfectly clear stream, with mineral notes picked up from smooth stones lining the stream bed. Then, after the refreshing cooling sensation a lush warmth begins to build. Though obscure, the best way to describe the flavor is in its relation to the rich aroma of antique lacquered furniture that has absorbed decades of incense. Trailing the lush warmth is a musty sensation that is almost vaporous. It reminds us of the smell of fine, crisp parchment paper.

As we continue with more infusions the clean cool sparkling begins to play on the wamth building in the chest, creating a thrilling taste experience. The sweetness and flavors of fresh mint and basil leaves come through. Later, the tea begins to take on a thicker body with a flavor similar to whole wheat bread, while at the same time maintaining an intense juiciness. In late steepings, the warm spice and incense flavors remind us of cinnamon baked apple.

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28 Tasting Notes

368 tasting notes

I have had very little “new” tea lately, if you have been curious about my conspicuous absence. I am preparing for a long trip abroad and between wanting to avoid leaving a cabinet full of leaf that is slowly going stale while I am away and wanting to save money, I have been using up a lot of existing stock, and have been avoiding purchasing anything new.

My great joys lately has been not only my 230ml Mr. Chen yixing (http://camellia-sinensis.com/en/teapot/theiere-de-m-chen-ch-3) which I have been using for sweet shu and Yunnan golden, but also my newest, teensy, tiny 150ml black clay Mrs. Sheng yixing (http://camellia-sinensis.com/en/teapot/theiere-de-mme-sheng-sg-8) which I use to steep lapsang souchong — it seems fitting to me to put this moody, smokey tea into a black clay pot. Someday the clay will look and smell like a well loved briarwood pipe.

But, I ran short of shu pu-erh with a few weeks to go before my trip, so I decided I needed something special to see me through the last days and I grabbed a couple of ounces of this leaf from Verdant.

This is a significantly mustier tea than the shu I tend to keep around as daily drinking leaf.

The dry leaf has a sharp, leather/jerky kind of aroma to it.

The wet leaf has the smell of a rotten log, just broken open to the air, with the tang of an old steel sink an aged cabin.

The cup itself is dusty and mineral. Well water from deep in a cavern. The rich, spongey loam of the deep forest.

And yet, this cup is very gentle. For a first steep I find myself seeking out these notes, not trying to climb out from under them. I hope this doesn’t prelude to only achieving a small handful of steeps with this leaf.

Update in a few hours.

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec
Bonnie

Such an interesting description! Hello friend Jim! Blessings to you as you journey (to Asia I hope). Blessed Nativity.

Jim Marks

Yes, I’m headed to Japan for a good chunk of December.

May your Nativity fasting be a blessing.

Bonnie

Oh Hooray!!!

Invader Zim

Have a great and safe trip!

LiberTEAS

Both teapots are gorgeous … my favorite is Mrs. Sheng!

LadyLondonderry

Wishing you safe travels and a happy stay in Japan, Jim!

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82
15006 tasting notes

Drinking this one today….should be a fun time. First steep reminds me of old books. (Hey no one said this would be a good tasting note…more to come)

Really enjoying the later steeps of this one. There are earthy notes here, but it’s kind of like tasting a wet forest. looking forward to more steeps.

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812 tasting notes

Oh yum! not my very very fave of the recent puerh-splosion i’ve been experiencing, but definitely in the top 3.
i always forget how much i like a really good puerh. until i drink one.

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76 tasting notes

Sipped this earlier today while sitting in the sunlight, and filled a couple pages in my handwritten journal with flowery language about it that I won’t bother you all with. But in summary, this tea went something like this: Earthy/Minerally > Extra minerally > Meaty/savory/smokey > creamy/sweet(?!)

Of course in my head it was something more like being part of a hunting tribe tracking prey through the mountains in the harsh winter, then celebrating the successful hunt with much feasting. But that is just the sort of thing that happens in my head when nothing exists but myself and a cup of tea.

This tea makes me feel less sad regarding the ’06 Tea Trail offering that is no longer available.

Terri HarpLady

Now this is a review that I can relate to!
I love your imagery! Thanks for sharing!

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66 tasting notes

I am drinking this one right now. brewed 5 grams in gaiwan.
once the leaves open up, it has a nice vaporous quality for severall infusions.
smooth mouthfeel and rich, mellow flavor.
the initial fragrance of the wet leaves seemed rather earthy, though the taste and aroma is perfectly clean.
nice reddish brown, mahogany color infusions. highly infuseable, as a good shu should be.

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1
3 tasting notes
Bonnie

I challenge you to write an authentic, unbiased review on the taste of this Pu’erh. You are clearly an authority by your own blogging about how distainful Steepster is and how much you loathe Verdant. Points are based on flavor, aroma, color…the whole experience… and not price or how well you like or dislike the vendor. Can you do this? Do you have the nerve?

Bonnie

you have an audience of three…

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93
2 tasting notes

This tea is absolutely fantastic. I was surprised by its texture even though I’d read a bit about it before brewing it. This is, by far, the cleanest pu-er I have ever tasted. But the clean/cool/almost minty feeling of this tea matches the musty/earthy flavors in a strange but amazing way. It almost seems like it shouldn’t work, but it does. Very well.

The smell of this tea is like rain in a thick forest; it’s slightly damp and musty, yet clean and comforting. It has a quality that I can only describe as similar to smelling the spine of an old book on a foggy morning.

Early infusions were clean. They had a very pure quality to them that was almost like drinking cold spring water, but with hints of leathery flavor and a musty aftertaste developing over time. As I kept going, infusions began to taste more full-bodied, and a smokier mineral taste developed. The lightness that defined the earlier steepings began to be replaced by darker tones, but the clean texture stayed. I also began picking up on the “old book” tones that were present in the scent. Near the end this tea was dominated by cedar smoke and leather with undertones like warm apple pie, while the aftertaste developed a sweetness and the clean texture was still alive and well.

Overall, amazing. But difficult to define, and even harder to explain.

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330 tasting notes

I got a sample from Verdant labeled Tea Trail 2004 Shu Pu’er. I am not sure this is the same tea, so I’m not rating it in case it’s not.

I brewed this in a gaiwan, very short times. It brews very quickly – it’s quite interesting. I get the deep forest earthiness that is referenced in the other reviews, but not much else. It’s enjoyable to me in that it’s very intense without being bitter. Not something I would want to drink everyday.

I think I have one more Verdant pu’er in my stash to try, will definitely be giving that a whirl. I am much less hesitant about them now. I don’t think pu’er will ever be my favorite type of tea, but it definitely interests me now.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec

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79
57 tasting notes

It took a few steepings for the flavor to start to come out.

This tea goes particularly well with strawberries with a little yogurt or whipped cream.

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