Tea time: 2021 Zhu Rong from Verdant Teas
Oct. 17th, 2021 12:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gurdymonkeyIt's October, which means hot drinkies are back on the menu. One of my FB friends posted an ad from Verdant Teas last week and they had 10% off on their tasting kits which include five 25g bags of tea, so I sprung for the Liquid Gold assortment. Which, of course, arrived late Friday after a very long week and I knew I needed not to be up all night after dosing myself with caffeine. And there was an event Saturday, so I didn't get around to a session until today.
All the teas come packaged in resealable mylar zip lock pouches (which is good because all my tins are spoken for at the moment) - and there was a freebie 5g sample Laoshan roasted oolong in my shipment as well, which is one of those touches I always appreciate.
The Zhu Rong is named for "a legendary dagger-wielding warrior-queen of Yunnan descended from a god of fire." The blurb from Verdant Tea's website continues: "The toasty-savory spice and sweet, creamy boxy of this Yunnan black tea evoke the kingdom of Dian, an independent state before it was conquered by China and renamed Yunnan. Dian Hong is a relatively new kind of tea introduced in the 80's that has recently taken China by storm for its full body and depth of flavor that comes rom its signature downy buds. While budset black teas from Fujian tend to be very crisp, Yunnan golden bud harvests like this Zhu Ron are much bigger and creamier."
My Cuisinart kettle pre-sets don't quite jive with the recommended temperatures on any of these teas, so instead of the 205F listed, I opted for 200F - slightly lower doesn't seem to hurt much, but too high will not bring out the tea's best. First steep was a fast 8 seconds, with 5 seconds added for each successive steep.
All the teas come packaged in resealable mylar zip lock pouches (which is good because all my tins are spoken for at the moment) - and there was a freebie 5g sample Laoshan roasted oolong in my shipment as well, which is one of those touches I always appreciate.
The Zhu Rong is named for "a legendary dagger-wielding warrior-queen of Yunnan descended from a god of fire." The blurb from Verdant Tea's website continues: "The toasty-savory spice and sweet, creamy boxy of this Yunnan black tea evoke the kingdom of Dian, an independent state before it was conquered by China and renamed Yunnan. Dian Hong is a relatively new kind of tea introduced in the 80's that has recently taken China by storm for its full body and depth of flavor that comes rom its signature downy buds. While budset black teas from Fujian tend to be very crisp, Yunnan golden bud harvests like this Zhu Ron are much bigger and creamier."
I just about fainted from delight when I inhaled the scent coming from the newly opened bag. Heavenly! Sweet spices, honey (or maybe caramel), toasty notes. I could have stood there happily huffing the bag, but it was time to pour some water on these beautiful golden brown twisted leaves.
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51599979936_9d8eaafe7a_b.jpg")
My Cuisinart kettle pre-sets don't quite jive with the recommended temperatures on any of these teas, so instead of the 205F listed, I opted for 200F - slightly lower doesn't seem to hurt much, but too high will not bring out the tea's best. First steep was a fast 8 seconds, with 5 seconds added for each successive steep.
Tea is a lovely reddish gold in the cup, no bitterness at all, soft on the tongue. Try to imagine a honey that was not sticky or cloying, just a clear, sweet flavor that holds up beautifully to multiple steeps. (On the third at this writing, can probably get several more easily.)
Definitely a tea fit for a queen!
