Thread: Tea anyone ??!!

I'm drinking some High Mountain green tea this afternoon. I feel healthy.

I meant to post this on Friday. I've been so busy with work that I'm lucky to have enough time to make tea these past few weeks never mind post about the ones I'm drinking. But this was a lapsang from my latest round from Verdant. It is stunning tea. I've had other lapsangs that were sharp, all smoke, and rather harsh. This one is really nice. Very balanced and has more to it than a blast of smoke to offer. A great lapsang if you are a fan or were not into the sharpness of another that you may have tried. Leave it to Verdant to knock another out of the park.

This is from the Verdant website.

This cozy black tea is expertly smoked for a chocolatey, creamy brew with well-balanced pine . . .
Beautifully balanced, delicate and masterfully smoked, this exquisite Lapsang Souchong style smoked Wuyi black tea is an incredible find. It is crafted with care by the Li family, growing their tea in the Wuyi mountains in Xing Village. We loved their last harvest so much, we couldn’t wait to see what their new Autumn harvest would be like. The Li family devotes most of their harvest to fine Wuyi oolongs, honing the difficult craft of rolling and roasting, so it’s no wonder the floral and delicate qualities of fine oolong comes through in this Lapsang Souchong. Anyone who enjoys roasted oolong or chocolatey black teas will love this unique offering.


The aroma of the autumn leaves has fresh pine sap and notes frankincense resin from the pine needle smoking process. Intriguingly, a nuanced saltiness comes through to compliment the tatami mat wood aromas, much like the saltiness of fine Japanese incense. While many Lapsang Souchong teas assault the nose with their intensity, this tea offers a more mature and subtle experience.


The flavor is warm and cozy, evoking smokes roasted on a campfire and sprinkled with fresh ground cinnamon. Beneath the decadent flavor is a nuanced aroma of hot cedar sauna or wine-soaked oak barrels. Fruity dark floral notes shine in the aftertaste as marigold and sumac. These sweet and tart florals are actually strengthened by the light, delicate smokiness of the tea. The pine smoke flavors bring out the signature mineral notes of Wuyi tea, and push forward a beautiful hot chocolate taste that lingers on.


This tea steeps out for many infusions, yielding a refined and clean tea more vaporously musty than smokey, with the sweet and salty kick of brown sugar. We highly recommend trying this tea, especially for lovers of full-bodied black tea or Banzhang sheng pu’er. It opens up a whole new way of thinking about smoked teas, and offers a gorgeous perspective on the terroir of the Wuyi mountains.

A really nice white tea today. The flavor was creamy, oat/whole grains, and a wisp of menthol/eucalyptus.

Originally Posted by OCDshaver

...A really nice white tea today. The flavor was creamy, oat/whole grains, and a wisp of menthol/eucalyptus.
...

Not a 'tea' as such, but if you like a creamy feel try Burdock root, very creamy indeed....

Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider

Not a 'tea' as such, but if you like a creamy feel try Burdock root, very creamy indeed....

Never heard of that. What does it taste like? Is it used in herbal blends?

Originally Posted by OCDshaver

Never heard of that. What does it taste like? Is it used in herbal blends?

I buy it loose from the health food shop and mix it with licorice root, etc etc. It tastes a bit musty. Hard to describe. It's good for inflamation. I use it to try and help my joints...

I have always hated the burrs of the Burdock plant and have some to one side of my house. I thought I had them about all removed this year. Now I will have to look into this more and maybe let them grow next year to try out the roots.

On second thought NO! I know plenty of places to get them in the wild if I want to.

Enjoying a nice sample provided from Verdant today. Its an Oolong from Wuyi Mountains "Big Red Robe". This is a roasted Oolong but not as toasty in flavor as I expected. Its very floral. I've yet to have a bad one from these guys.

This is hibiki-an's kuradashi match super premium.

It's very good but, unfortunately, I drink koicha grade matcha rarely enough that they all taste pretty similar to me.

It's very deep and flavourful but I'm yet to discover the big difference between this extra aged kuradashi cha and a regular koicha...



Perhaps all will become clear as I work through the tin.