Autumn Harvest Laoshan Green is a green tea from Verdant Tea. Autumn Harvest Laoshan Green is from the He family farm in Laoshan Village, Shandong Province, China.
I have a giant pile of teas and samples that I haven’t gotten around to trying yet. It is pretty bad. While I was waiting for my rice to cook, I figure I should get the gaiwan going. My little crochet Owl Laoshan came over with my sample of Autumn Harvest Laoshan Green with a disapproving look on his face.
We went to the computer and saw this tea is out of stock for the new Verdant Spring Harvest Laoshan Green. It also finally clicked in my brain that it is now spring. I just received my preorder for Verdant Tea spring teas too! Crap! Time to drink this autumn tea ASAP!
Those spring harvests really sneak up on us tea drinkers. You got all this tea you are working on (or in my case, haven’t tried) then the big spring harvest OMG SUPER FRESH teas arrive and BAM! Your greens and whites seem old and need to be steeped…. so you can work on the new teas. Sigh.
DRY LEAF: Autumn Harvest Laoshan Green has a smokey hay scent. The tea has an interesting appearance of thin, tightly rolled ringlet curls.
STEEPING INSTRUCTIONS: I followed Verdant’s steeping instructions for this tea – 175F for 3 seconds, adding 3 seconds at infusion number 3.
First Infusion: The 3 second steeping went fast! The tea smells a lovely sweet and savory green with a gentle pale yellow green colour. Taste? At first the flavor is light, but as I sip, there is a creamy mouth feel that sweeps through bringing in an oaty sweetness that lingers. Very lovely transition of flavor!
Close up of the leaves in the gaiwan – kinda looks like spinach! Great deep green colour!
Second, Third Infusion: The colour perked up more yellow and I got a stronger vegetal flavor similar to wheat grass. It was like the oaty flavor grew grass into the next infusion! The tea is still sweeping through with creamy and sweetness. End of sip, the tea goes to a high point of vegetal hitting right below that line of it becoming bitter – very daring!
Fourth Infusion: The vegetal flavor weakened and is asparagusy, paving the way for the sweetness to be more distinct. The sweetness is carrying a sensation of spice along with creamy. 2/10 on Astringency-o-meter – at end of sip, the tea is adding a drying effect on my teeth, but not unpleasant to drink.
Fifth Infusion: The astringency now carries across the entire sip. I’m getting a little roasted sesame flavor, which matches the astringency as if I’ve been chomping on the sesame seeds.
Those cute tea ringlets have unraveled and bloomed!
Sixth Infusion: Very interestingly, there’s a little less astringency, being back to end of sip sensation. I’m getting a warm vegetal sweetness. Verdant describes it as pumpkin, I kinda think it more vegetal squash flavor. Like kabocha squash and eating a little of the peel.
COLD STEEPED: Cold steeped Autumn Harvest Laoshan Green is quite interesting. It is very creamy, coating the lips even. The flavor upfront is oaty vegetal that finishes off with sweet hay – all lingering after sip along with the creamy sensation. No bitterness or astringency.
COMMENTS: Sorry guys, Autumn Harvest Laoshan Green got reviewed late.
Overall, Autumn Harvest Laoshan Green has great transitions between all the flavor notes. I love the sensation of the oaty flavor blooming into grassy notes in infusion 2 and 3, very amazing! I’m excited to get my hands on Spring harvest version, I can compare the two! Woooot!
BONUS!
