LeafSpa Organic Tea

Tastes like a guilty pleasure without the guilt.

Full Review: http://www.teaviews.com/2010/11/03/review-leafspa-organic-honeybush-tea/

This is herbal perfection. Nothing else need be said.

Full Review: http://www.teaviews.com/2010/08/18/review-leafspa-organic-rooibos-green-tea/

I liked it a lot, but didn’t love it. However, it makes for a good evening cup when paired with just a dash of actual honey. For something bolder, though, go for her redder sister.

Full Review: http://www.teaviews.com/2010/07/30/review-leafspa-organic-honeybush-green-tea/

Hooray! Thanks, LiberTEAS, for sending me this! I really like it and it’s a GREEN tea! I have had trouble finding a green tea that doesn’t taste bitter or isn’t dry, this solves that plus it has the beautiful addition of jasmine!

This was another sample sent to me by the lovely LiberTEAS – Thanks Heaps!

And it made for a great afternoon pick-me-up that I really needed today .. I didn’t let it steep for the full 5minutes as I was using a cup infuser and a sip from a spoon at 4min tasted a little bitter, so I removed the leaves and added a generous amount of milk & sugar as that’s how I most enjoy Earl Grey ..

Like the others have said this isn’t a strongly perfumed tea, and the flavour isn’t as full-on as I’ve come to expect from an Earl, but it does have an obvious orange/citrus finish ..

The re-steep was definitely my favourite too, and I found it had much more of those *Early notes than the first despite using the same temp & time ..

It’s not a patch on my **favourite Earl, but I’m sadly currently out of that and this does make a nice standby – in fact I think I’m going to use the other half of my sample right now!

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Nice and mild tisane. Relaxing. Although the ingredient list has some strong and vibrant flavors: peppermint , hibiscus, orange, the tea is mild and naturally sweet. The orange does not predominate and honestly, I don’t taste it very much. I also would not say this tastes like ice cream either.

Did a second steep of these leaves, 185 for 4 minutes. The color is a bit darker, just a bit. Getting less honey on this steep and more of a grassy, earthy taste. Still a light taste with no hint of bitter. Does have a slightly oily mouthfeel after the sip is finished, but it’s not bothersome.

This is another sample from my friend Lucy’s daughter’s shop. Again, rather than adding an identical tea under her name, I’m reviewing under this, since the ingredients/description are identical. Hopefully Judith will tell me her source.

Again, I can’t believe how much a difference actually temping the water makes (yes, I know, I should have known, but thought eyeballing the water was good enough). The first time I brewed this, I didn’t like it at all. It was bitter and weedy, and didn’t taste “right”.

This time, I brewed it for 2 minutes at 185 F. The color is that of a pale champagne. The taste reminds me of honey: that floral, slight hint of pollen that’s similar to chamomile, but sweeter. I’m not sure I’d actually purchase this one, but will certainly be a smidge sad when this sample is gone.

Not as good cold as hot, but still yummy :)

OMG! This tea is awesome!!! Thank you Rachel for sending me some of this! I love this tea. I am pretty sure I am gonna have to purchase this at some point because I am always looking for a good night-time caffeine free tea as I currently only have one good one!

I made a pot of this last night! First off the dry tea was very pretty and it had real apple chunks in it which was pretty cool. I was actually a little afraid to try it based on the smell because it smelled kinda like apple juice and I really dislike apple juice.

This tea tastes awesome, very appley and sweet but not overly so. I actually first thought caramel apple, and I just found out it has caramel flavor in it so it really nails the flavor in that department. I was actually so excited to drink the second cup that I burned my mouth – haha.

Can’t wait to finish off my pot that is in the fridge, I hope it is as good iced as it is hot!

Backlogging.

A dose of Kenchanjangha. Too many days back to remember the deets. Oh noes. Finishing this backlog tonight so I can write proper tealogs again.

1st steep: 2 min.
2nd steep: 2 min 15 sec.
3rd steep: 3 min.

My husband and I shared a pot of Kenchanjangha this afternoon while watching this week’s Mad Men then cooking dinner – naked baked salmon with just a touch of sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, pole beans (long, flat green beans), and sweet potatoes with brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon.

I don’t know what was off but the Kenchanjangha didn’t come out as it has in the past. The first two steeps were bitterer than usually and the last steep was on the weak side (it’s usually as flavorful as the others). Perhaps it was steeping in a teapot instead of by the cup or perhaps it was too much leaf. I intentionally used to bit more than normal but not by very much.

I nearly forgot to mention. I love the smell of this tea (okay, I love the smell of quite a lot of teas). It’s different from any other I’ve smelled before and I had yet to be able to put my finger on quite what I thought it smelled like. Today I distinctly thought it smelled like nice really dark chocolate or unsweetened dark cocoa powder. My husband did not get this when I asked him if he smelled it too and I’m not entirely sure it’ll smell like that to me again next time I have it.

1st steep: 2 min.
2nd steep: 2 min 15 sec.
3rd steep: 3 min.

Backlogging. Tuesday afternoon.

Kenchanjangha – the addiction continues. This series of steeps came out on the light side compared to the previous ones.

1st steep: 2 min.
2nd steep: 2 min 15 sec.
3rd steep: 3 min.

Backlogging. Sunday afternoon.

This is the tea session that began what is turning into a week long Kenchanjangha addition. It’s also really fun to say Kenchanjangha. I also thoroughly enjoy sniffing the dry Kenchanjangha leaves before steeping. They smell like something I can’t quite put my finger on yet so I keep smelling them and trying to figure it out. I got green, toasty, roasty, a bit of sharpness, a very slight bit of smoke, and some peach this time. All three cups were as good as always.

1st steep: 2 min.
2nd steep: 2 min 15 sec.
3rd steep: 3 min.

These steep times work well as a good place to start. This tea does not take a fourth steep.

Backlogging. Three days ago.

This is the last tea I had left to try from the four free tins I won from LeafSpa. The first three were quite good and I’ve drank them multiple times each. But it is summer and hot and I tried to try a new tea when I can concentrate on it at least some. (Ironically, I’m not concentrating on this tealog very well. But I am four tealogs behind and it needs to get posted while the tea is still fresh in my mind.)

This tea is a green darjeeling, which is somewhat uncommon as far as my googling told me, and indeed, the leaves look like a darjeeling, except in shades of olive green with hints of black. They smell strong and distinct, unlike other greens I’ve smelt, but I can’t put my finger on what the smell is reminiscent of exactly. Musky? Musty? Pungent? Sharp? But in a good way.

The reason I was looking up green darjeelings was because 2-3 minutes at 180°F seemed like it might not be the ideal temperature for it and I wanted to confirm it correct. I didn’t find much. I did find a site specializing in darjeelings which recommended 2-3 minutes at 150-175°F. So I tried it at the parameters that LeafSpa suggested this time with a mind to try a lower water temperature next time.

1st steep: 2 min.
Woody. Bamboo! Different and tasty.

2nd steep: 2 min 15 sec.
More vegetal than woody. Still yum.

3rd steep: 2 min 30 sec.
Light. Leafy. I need to steep this one longer, at least 30-45 seconds longer.

4th steep: A really long time.
Since the third steep was light, I decided to steep this one three minutes instead of two minutes and 45 seconds. Very little color and tasted like water. I steeped it another minute. The same. Another two and a half minutes. The same. I left it in and walked away to do some stuff before bed. The same. This tea hold out for a forth steep, but that’s okay cause the first three was quite good.

The wet leaves looked like a pile of raked leaves in autumn, but in greens and browns instead of fall colors. They grew bigger with each steep. Both the wet leaves and the tea smelled nutty, citrus, and apple at some point during the steepings. I have more to say about both the smell and the taste but I’m not remembering as much as I’d like to. I plan to drink this again next time I have an afternoon tea, which is not often during the summer as that is the hottest time, if I don’t want something else specifically.

I’m rating this tea a 72 initially, which is in the middle of my good range (60-80). I do suspect it will go up. I kind of think as I drink it more that it will switch with the Blink Bonnie from LeafSpa and be the higher rated of the two. But, I don’t know. I like the Blink Bonnie quite well too.

This tea only takes three steeps. Increase the steeping time of the third steep by 30-45 seconds or more. Later, try at a lower temperate.

My order of this just came in this past weekend and last night I finally got around to opening up the box and steeping some of this tea! This time when I made it, it didn’t come out as strong and flavorful as it did the last time with my sample so I am thinking I either need to add more tea or try a higher temp. (I did this steep around 180 I believe). Or it could have just been user error all around, but still it was yummy, just not that yummy strong honey/vanilla taste that I remember last time; I will try again soon!

Woo hoo I finally tried this tea thanks to RachanaC! Ummm nom nom nom this is so good and silky feeling and the vanilla and honey taste as if they were creamed together in perfect harmony. I find myself gulping this tea and then sipping it and maximize the pleasure I am getting from this… I am off to order a big tin of this while it is on sale! I can totally see this as being one of my “go to” teas like my jasmine pearls…something I can enjoy at anytime of the day. Ugh, this is SOOO good!

My teapot was all ready to receive my hot water, my teaspoon of tea inside… when I knocked it over and spilled tea all over the floor (luckily, the teapot was saved). As I listened to the tiny leaves get sucked into the vacuum I thought to myself, “this better be worth it.”

And of course it is. The instructions explicitly say not to steep over 3 minutes or it will become bitter (and we know how I loathe bitter black tea), so I went with two minutes. This is pretty good with my breakfast. I still don’t love plain black tea, but my “understeeped” variety is good for me. There’s a little woodsy aftertaste as it cools down, which is always a bonus for me.

A very earthly beautiful tea. Some time went into these.

I’m trying to drink mostly green and white tea today…dentist appt that I am scared to death about…eeekkkkkkkk

This was nice…

Fairly sweet. Buttery! Semi-grassy…check out my other notes…

Thanks to LiberTEAS I was able to try this one! :)

This one was a pleasant surprise. It’s sweet and semi-smooth and a tad buttery. I had half of it HOT and half COLD…bother were winners!

The results of the steeps after leaving the tea leaves in the fridge overnight. I’m not sure I liked doing that. Although, I wouldn’t rule out doing it again completely if the need arose again. It did not come out as good as resteeping the leaves straight through. But this set of steeps over the course of two days didn’t come out as good as the first set I had. So I think it is not having left the tea leaves in the fridge over night for sure. I think it is not the tea either. I think it’s likely me, possibly my tired, sometimes allergy head. But I still liked this tea this time.

3rd steep: 3 min 30 sec.
Light. Not too much flavor. Result of coming out of the fridge? I did let them come to room temperature first before steeping.

4th steep: 3 min 45 sec.
Young pale yellow sweet hay again. Good.

5th steep: 4 min.
Tasted watery when first sipped right after steeping. Put aside to cool a bit and see if the flavor came out. (This tea seems to have more taste when cooled just a bit after steeping but still hot.) Ended up absentmindedly drinking the cup and not noticing if it still tasted like tea or had gone to watery. Think it’s likely it still tasted like tea or it would have jumped out at me that it was watery. Will try a fifth steep again, possibly more time if not strong enough. The cup did have color.