Autumn Laoshan Green

Finally, my first Verdant experience! I’d been holding off on trying them because I wanted to get some more brewing practice under my belt, but the other day I just said “screw it” and snipped open my sample packet of the 2012 harvest.

It’s intensely vegetal & beany every which way (dry & wet leaf, liquor aroma, and flavor), probably more so than any other tea I’ve tried. There’s a taste of char that gives it a somewhat aggressive edge. I searched for the pumpkin but couldn’t find it, which is unfortunate because the tasting notes of pie and biscuits played a big part in drawing me in.

I can tell it’s a very high-quality tea, but I’m not sure how much I personally liked it. I’ll definitely try it again and use bottled mineral water (and get around to reviewing it less than two days after the fact).

My first Verdant Tea tasting!

Not very good at describing what I taste yet but I’ll do my best.

Dry leaf: Small little swirls that smell vegetal. Alfalfa, peas, green beans… Stuff of that nature.

I followed the western brewing instructions from Verdant because I don’t have a Gongfu set. So one minute in 175 degree water. The liquor is a bright yellow green. And it smells so good! It smells like creamy spinach and green beans. Also has a buttery scent to it.

Taste!
Being new to loose leaf teas, this tastes so interesting! It’s hard to describe. As I sip it all I can think is creamy, buttery, green beans. Ha. Spinach too! It’s so good! I haven’t had many loose leaf greens so I can’t really compare this to anything but I’m really satisfied with this purchase!

I had this on Wednesday during the snow storm, gong fu style. It is creamy and has the taste of aromatic spices, tasted almost just like the pumpkin pie I had the night before for Christmas dinner with the in-laws.

I got 8 steepings out it before I had to continue to work on grad school applications and return to the real world. I also think I am going to save this one for when I need to unwind once classes start back up.

SO rich and creamy. and sweet. its just mouth-wateringly mmmmm…. This doesn’t taste anything like any other green tea, or like anything else really. I don’t really know how to describe it, it’s certainly unique. Deliciously rich and satisfying, perfect thing for a chilly winter night.

I just finished my third infusion of sencha and decided to follow up with the Laoshan. I really love my sencha, so I was expecting to just have a simple cup of green tea. Not at all. The first thing I noticed was the creaminess of this tea, followed by an earthy sweetness. The green vegetable component is there as well, but not as I experience with my sencha. I am so impressed by this tea!

Nice delicate green tea. good balance of flavors, well rounded and balanced. Very pleasant.

This is my first sample from Verdant Tea and I’m truly impressed. A wonderful green tea that is well balanced. It has a nice vegetal taste while also having a fair amount of sweetness reminiscent of a Bi Luo Chun. Overall a wonderful choice. I’m definitely going to be looking for more green teas from them.

I’m going to be honest here and admit that I’m quite picky about green tea and have only found a few over the years that I really liked. But I had high hopes for this one, because I really enjoyed the Laoshan Black. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. This certainly isn’t a bad tea…the leaves are tightly curled and unbroken and hold up to re-steeping and the tea is nice and smooth with no bitterness and little astringency. But the flavor just wasn’t my favorite. It has such a strong green bean taste, I felt like I was drinking the cooking water from a pot of beans! Definitely not something I’d repurchase, but I’m still glad I had the chance to try it.

Sometimes I lose a review while typing it in here, usually because I accidentally close the browser. Oh well.

In a nutshell the first few infusions of this green tea were very sweet, with a nutty, buttery kind of taste and an undertone of asparagus. It was really smooth and enjoyable. The first infusion tasted like sweetened oats. The vegetal tones took a back seat to the other flavors and did I mention it was really sweet? I enjoyed this green tea a lot. It smelled like malt, and had just a subtle aftertaste of it.

This is sweet and creamy, and very good. I particularly like how mild and forgiving it is. I dislike astringency and therefore don’t love many green teas, but not a bit in sight here!