Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Shan Valley
Tea Description:
This tea hails from Pyin Long within Northern Shan, Myanmar. This is also a first flush tea and is an everyday drinking tea. This tea is a reddish color.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
How lovely!
I was a little surprised when I first opened the pouch of tea and took a good look at the tea inside. It looks like a black tea … or at the very least a well-oxidized Oolong, but the label said that it was a green tea.
And even though it looked like a black tea, the dry leaf possesses the aroma of a green tea! A very strong vegetal scent, much like the smell that fills the kitchen when I’m steaming green veggies. The leaves produce a fairly dark liquid (darker than what I usually see with a green tea) with a vegetative scent.
The flavor is not quite as vegetal as I would have expected, given all the veggie smells I was picking up in both the dry leaf and the brewed tea. Yes, I do taste a grassy/vegetative flavor, but that’s not all I taste, nor is it the strongest flavor that I taste.
I taste notes of flower and fruit (somewhere between apple and melon), and a lovely buttery overtone. The vegetal notes taste very fresh and invigorating – it’s a very refreshing and satisfying beverage. It has a well-rounded flavor and while it is a thick, broth-like tea (in both taste and texture) and the buttery notes are strong, it doesn’t feel heavy as I sip it, nor does it leave the palate feeling coated with that buttery sensation. It is very easy to drink, with a pleasant flavor that is sweet – but not too sweet – and savory.
Another GREAT tea from Shan Valley!
Kyaukme Black Tea (2014) from Shan Valley
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Shan Valley
Tea Description:
This is a first flush black tea, and is the highest quality black tea that Shan Valley offers. It is from the Kyaukme Northern Shan state. The tea leaves are evenly grinded and have a strong flavor. It has a coffee-like look.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
When I opened the pouch of this Kyaukme Black Tea from Shan Valley (a 2014 Spring Flush!), the first thing I noticed was the grind to the black tea leaves. This CTC tea has a very fine chop, resembling some of the finest ground coffee I’ve ever seen. But don’t let that dissuade you! I find that with fine CTC teas like this, the flavor is more robust – like a good kick in the pants for the days when you need that sort of thing!
But one thing to be aware of when you have a finely chopped tea leaf like this one is that the brew time should be adjusted. There is more surface area that is exposed to the boiling water, and therefore it releases more of it’s flavor quicker than a whole tea leaf would. It also releases more tannins into the liquid, which means that if you steep this tea too long, you could wind up with a bitter tasting cuppa. So, cut the brew time here, I wouldn’t recommend a longer brew time than 2 1/2 minutes, especially to start out. After you’ve tried it, you can adjust the time to your own particular tastes.
The aroma of the dry leaf reminds me a little bit of coffee – like the earthy background notes of coffee. There are notes of earth, wood, and even hints of grass and flower to the dry leaf. The fragrance of the brewed tea is very similar to the dry leaf, except that it smells more unified. I smell fewer distinct ‘earthy’ or ‘grassy’ notes to the brewed liquid, and more of a melded scent that is composed of many less distinguished notes. It is a very satisfying aroma, though, like the kind of scent that you want to experience first thing in the morning: like a wake up call in the morning.
The flavor is strong! Like I said in a previous paragraph, the fine CTC chop means a good, strong brew, and this tea proves that statement. This is a BOLD tasting tea. This tea will give you that much needed kick to help shake the sleep that you’re still feeling when you first wake up.
It’s rich and satisfying with a very pleasing flavor. Robust and earthy, with notes of fruit (reminds me of something between plums and raisins), with a nice, molasses-y sweetness. It’s not bitter (although, as I said before, if I had oversteeped this, it would definitely be bitter … so watch your steep time with this one!)
The sip starts out with a sweet note that builds into an earthy note. There are wisps of smoke and tones of wood in the distance. I taste notes of grass to this too, but not in a green tea sort of way. It tastes more like what I’d imagine some fresh grass that had been roasted might taste. Still barely insinuating a vegetal note without actually admitting it outright. It has sweet undertones with dry fruit notes.
As I near mid-sip, these flavors I’ve mention develop. I taste very distant floral notes, most of which are hidden behind the more forward earthy notes. As the sip approaches the finish, a dryness is introduced, similar to what you might experience with a dry wine. The finish is dry and the aftertaste is clean. The astringency here is dry, clean and I feel a slight puckery sensation across my palate well into the aftertaste. It’s not unpleasant … it feels very clean and refreshing, actually.
A really rewarding cup of tea. It’s quite unlike any other black tea that I can remember, but at the same time, it has similar qualities to those familiar favorites. I’m enjoying this.
Laoshan Village Chai from Verdant Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Tea Description:
Chai is a wonderful thing. When the spices and tea are just right, there is something alchemical about the flavors with or without milk and honey. We set out to build a better chai, starting with the tea. We use our chocolatey, malty Laoshan Village black tea as the base, and build up from there with traditional additions like cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, and peppercorn. We found that it wasn’t quite rich enough as a simple chai, so we added burdock root for a graham cracker sweetness, fennel for a lingering aftertaste, elderberry to deepen the flavors and finally, saffron strands to make the whole concoction perfectly smooth and creamy.
Ingredients: Laoshan Black Tea, Ginger, Cinnamon, Clove, Fennel, Cardamom Seeds, Cardamom Pods, Elderberry, Peppercorn, Burdock, Saffron.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
As I’ve mentioned before, I love chai and while I’ve tasted and reviewed many really wonderful chai blends, I don’t think I’ve found one that lives up to my Masterpiece Chai. And while this Laoshan Village Chai from Verdant Tea is REALLY good, I can’t really compare it to my Masterpiece Chai because they are really two very different chai blends.
As with any chai, though, it is important to consider the base tea. And Verdant Tea used their Laoshan Black tea which I previously reviewed, and in my opinion that makes a big difference in the brewed cup. The flavor is rich and malty and even has hints of chocolate-y notes in the background and these notes add so much to the overall cup.
The “usual” spices – cinnamon, clove, ginger and cardamom – are all present and are balanced quite well here. Also sometimes found in chai blends are pepper and fennel; Verdant added some of these spices to this chai as well. These spices make up a delicious base of spices that bring to mind many of the usual terms that I use to describe chai: spicy, sweet, tangy, and zesty.
But Verdant Tea was not content to stop with just the “usual” and added a few other interesting spices such as burdock root and saffron. And WOW what a difference these two spices make. The burdock root gives it a sweetness and a sort of “bread-y” depth. Together with the ginger, it gives a flavor that is a bit like gingerbread.
The saffron adds such a distinct flavor to this as well as an amazing aroma. Savory bitterness but also a delightful sweetness and hint of spice that you don’t typically experience with a chai … except for those that might include saffron.
I absolutely LOVE the way the spices come together here. It is spicy, but not what I’d call super-spicy or spicy-hot. Instead, it is more of a savory spicy flavor with medium heat. This is more flavorful than it is spicy … if that makes sense. This is a chai I’d recommend to someone looking for a fairly warm but not too spicy chai – one with a good balance of spices that keeps the taste buds actively exploring. This is also a chai I’d recommend to foodies because of the diversity of flavor to the cup.
Superb! Very well done, Verdant Tea!
Laoshan Northern Black from Verdant Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea (From Verdant Tea: The first batch of this tea sold out, but a new autumn harvest of it is now available.)
Product Description:
This is one of the pioneer black teas from Laoshan. The village only started experimenting with making black tea out of their uniquely bean-like green tea a year or two ago. This batch is the first made by the phenomenal farmers we work with. It is malty, chocolatey, perfectly smooth and honey-like.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about the Autumn Laoshan Black here.
Taster’s Review:
This tea is incredible!
As I sip this black tea from Laoshan, my first thought was that I am noticing many similarities between this and a Fujian black tea: both are very rich, full-bodied, with a sweet, chocolate-y undertone.
But as I continue to sip, I begin to take note of a malty tone as well as a honey-esque flavor, and these are flavors that I probably wouldn’t experience from a typical Fujian black – which is more likely to have a caramel sweetness and a powder-y cocoa-like profile. That is to say, a well-stocked tea cupboard should have both of these teas in it, as I don’t think that one would replace the other.
The flavor is incredibly smooth, with very little astringency and no bitter taste to it … with the exception of a slight bitterness from the chocolate-y undertone. It is just barely there, but, when I focus upon the chocolate notes, I can taste that hint of bittersweet. There is a pleasing flavor of spice to this cup as well, I am picking up mere hints of cinnamon and perhaps even a slight peppery note as if a few Yunnan leaves had managed to sneak in to the package of this tea. There is also a deep roasted flavor to this … reminiscent of charcoal. Not smoky, exactly, but, more of a deep, roasty-toasty kind of taste.
The second infusion brought some interesting changes to the cup. The body is lighter than the first cup, which is not surprising, but, what is surprising is how this slightly lighter texture has allowed the spice notes to express themselves fully. This tastes quite cinnamon-y now, in fact, you might think that you accidentally sprinkled some cinnamon in the cup! The cinnamon is sweet and melds with the honey notes quite nicely.
A remarkable black tea, I highly recommend it.
Laoshan Northern Green Tea from Verdant Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Product Description:
Hearty and rich, this green tea could stand up to any meal, if you could stand to do anything but appreciate its complex flavor. From the Taoist Holy Mountain of Laoshan, the leaves are hand picked and slowly dried over a wood-fired wok. The tea is bean-like, and sweet, with grassy undertones and a thick body.
Taster’s Review:
The aroma of this tea is fantastic. It is as close to what I’d imagine a sun-drenched grassy meadow filled with wildflowers to smell like as any other green tea I’ve ever experienced. I can smell the grassy tones, the crisp sweetness of the air, and the beautiful flowers. It smells fresh. It smells amazing!
The flavor is equally as amazing – and there are some rather unique characteristics about this tea that I don’t often experience with other green teas. The above description is correct: I can taste the bean-like notes there, giving it a rich thickness not only to the texture but to the taste. Unlike some green teas, this doesn’t taste “light.” Nor does it feel light – the body here is smooth, rich and substantial.
It has a mild sweetness with hints of nutty flavor. Far in the distance, I can taste a very subtle roasted tone that compliments the nutty tones nicely. There is also a very distant floral note to this tea that is difficult to pin-point because just as quickly as it appears, it disappears. It is teasing my palate!
This Laoshan Northern Green has an interesting vegetative note that is somewhat grassy and somewhat like steamed spinach. There is even the earthy, savory tone at mid-sip that reminds me of the flavor of steamed spinach.
A very lovely green tea experience is in store for anyone who tries this tea! I highly recommend it.