Nature's Tea Leaf

sipdown! i had a few cups of this this morning while cleaning up the house a little and getting calls about work stuff. grrrrr. this was a really nice, light, mellow tea. i’m sorry to see it go but really enjoyed having it around!

this is a tasty smooth light brew. i love the honey notes in this and how the brew is just an overall pleasant cup to start the day.

Nature’s tea Leaf was amazing enough to send me some samples of their tea via my friend in the US. I’ve had them for a bit now, but wanted to make sure my taste buds were back to normal before trying them.

I have to say, if this is a hint of things to come, I am really looking forward to the other teas from Nature’s Tea leaf…even if i do have to get them via my friend in the US. I am totally down to do that! This is a really nice “every day” black. The tea is smooth and slightly sweet, though not so much as my earlier teas from this morning. it’s not an overly malty black but that’s ok because the sweetness and the flavour going on is great. The back end of the sip really is reminiscent of honey.
Thank you Nature’s tea leaf for letting me try this one! I’m looking forward to the others :)

Ancient Alphabet challenge – U

So I got a bit creative with ‘U’. I was going to have this tea to represent ‘N’ but I realized I only had two other ‘U’ teas and they were much newer than this one. So I’d rather have this one represent ‘U’. This tea with these OLD chocolate curls really needs to be sipped down. It’s fine! It’s a roasted oolong, so I can’t really taste the chocolate at this point anyway.

thanks so much Naturestealeaf.com for the samples! Always appreciated! I LOVE their Chocolate Midnight Black tea, and this one has the same chocolate shavings, so I thought I’d try this one too. I steeped for 3-4 minutes. Looking at the cup, it looks so creamy from the chocolate shavings that it looks like I added cream or milk! Peeking in my infuser, the many white and dark chocolate shavings are now melted, so the second cup should be like a normal oolong. The oolong leaves are so dark, you’d think it would taste like a dark oolong. This one doesn’t, though it is hard to describe… it’s a lighter flavored oolong with the sweetness from the chocolate. It seems more white chocolate than dark.

Second steep // 4 mins at boiling // This steep was better! It seemed like all of the white chocolate was gone in the first cup (but I could have swore all the dark chocolate seemed like it was gone too when I looked in the infuser) but in this steep, the chocolate and oolong have melded together into a better flavor. It seems darker somehow and a better match. I don’t know what happened… the boiling water? The leaves opening up more? It seeming less like cream from the white chocolate? Hmm. It’s also odd that this oolong doesn’t have the flavor of any other oolong I’ve had. It’s doesn’t taste roasted, peachy, floral or vegetal, though I guess it did have a vegetal flavor for a second in the first steep. I mean, I had a roasted oolong a couple days ago that tasted like charcoal, and this one doesn’t taste like that. I’ll have to try some more later. It definitely doesn’t taste like the Tiekuanyin that is also delicious from Nature’s. This blend doesn’t come close to the perfection that is Chocolate Midnight Black… but give both of them a try!

Sipdown! I cold steeped the rest of this tea in my takeya iced tea maker, phew!

Must sip down more! Anyways, this came out really nut shelly tasting. I’m sitting back, crocheting a commission and watching awful california DMV driving instruction videos. http://youtu.be/E9H0yON1Xf0 to relearn how to drive again. Gosh, those videos are terrible yet helpful.

I’m having some gaiwan runs with this tea while I can tomatoes.
Seems a little early to can them, but my grocery store had some really nice romas for 4 lbs for $1 so I bought a lot of them to make 3 quart jars worth – I should of got more, but I only have 3 jars! Everything went really smoothly and easier than I remember canning to be. Though, I enjoy using my gaiwan when I’m doing work in the kitchen, maybe the tea made it more relaxing?

This tea is much better running through a gaiwan! It came out sweeter! However, 4th steeping suddenly got too astringent!

I watched way too much Korean dramas yesterday – I got hooked on the show “Faith” and I think I watched 4 or 5 episodes. Since I vegged out the entire day, I feel drained today.

This tea kinda is like a green tea, with a little lotus seed and walnuts steeped up. I would love a bit more nutty flavor, but this tea is nice as a twist to regular green tea. If you like nutty teas and want something a little different, give this one a try!

Full review and pics at my blog http://oolongowl.wordpress.com/2013/02/01/lotus-nut-green-tea-from-natures-tea-leaf-tea-review/

Overall impression: A delicious pu-erh with just the right amount of mango flavor to make it special.
Packaging: Zip-lock foil pack with a clear front; steeping instructions on label
Dry scent: delicately fruity; can easily recognize mango
Cup size: I light-leafed this, as is my wont, but 2 tsp. in my 14 oz cafe cup brewed a LOT of tea!
1st steep: 2 min (approx). I did not rinse this but the brew was very clear; mango scent more delicate, but still definitely there; lovely amber color; taste smooth with a creamy mouthfeel. (Yes, I’m actually learning to use that word!) I kept thinking I tasted the marigold petals as well, giving it a slightly vegetal taste and added complexity. I like to try flavored teas with and without sweetener, but had my first mug of this one half consumed before I could bring myself to add anything to it. Truvia sweetened the brew, but did not really add anything to it as it’s fine on its own.
2nd steep: Color still dark amber. Mango scent and taste somewhat reduced, but still a very nice pu-erh tea. Very satisfying, even when I left about 8 oz. in my cup overnight and finished it cold in the morning — the mango is even more pronounced in the cooled tea.
Add’l steeps: 3rd steep was still a nice dark amber but quite weak (still nice enough to drink, though!), and I retired the spent leaves to my houseplants. Still, 42 oz. from 2 tsp. of tea is impressive.
Would I buy this again? Yes

Having this again today… it’s a little bit better than I remember it but what I’m hoping is the flavoring will fade over time and I’ll just be left with a nice loose leaf puerh. It isn’t terrible but it doesn’t taste much like raspberry anything.

Why haven’t I been drinking any puerh lately? I have no idea…. I miss it!

Tea of the afternoon here… do you believe I haven’t made it through my Nature’s Tea Leaf order yet? I’ve been busy!

So I am not thrilled with this particular pu-erh. In my opinion it is lacking in the raspberry flavor and what flavor I am detecting seems artificial and weird. It was better with a little turbinado sugar added. I will probably finish off the bag that I have but can’t really recommend it.

Meditation for the day: Real love is accepting other people the way they are without trying to change them.

This tea smells very lemony and has a lot pieces of lemon peel mixed in with the tea leaves. The tea smells like warm lemonade and the taste reminds me of lemon juice, and it even has that tart bite at the end. It would be a nice tea to have with breakfast in the summer, or maybe even as an iced tea. Calling all lemon lovers, this is the tea for you!

-Dry blend has small black tea leaves with plenty of pieces of lemon peel.
-Dry leaves smell like lemon juice. Tea liquor aroma is of warm lemonade.
-Tea liquor is a deep golden yellow color.
-Strong lemon flavor with a tart finish.
-Best with sweetener.
-Good tea. Reminiscent of warm lemon juice.

So this is my first try at a pu-erh in quite a while. Years, actually. My last attempt was a Teavana tea and didn’t go well at all, but I like to think I’m a little smarter about tea since then.

I steeped this according to the package instructions, 185 degrees for 2 minutes. From previous notes of other people about the subject, I also rinsed it off in my sink for 10 seconds so hopefully that’s right.

Brewed, the hot tea (too hot to drink yet) smells…fishy. Very slightly fishy. I have no idea if this is normal or not. The tea liquid is quite dark.

Well, this is certainly different. Very earthy. I’m not quite sure what to think about it or if I like it or not. I don’t hate it and I think I might like it in some flavoured blends but plain it’s a bit confusing.

Additional notes: I’m having this one again. I think I’m trying to have all of my chai and apple teas this autumn. I may have oversteeped this one (4-5 minutes a few minutes after boiling), but I’m so sad for the apple flavor here! If only Nature’s used a different apple flavor, it would be so much better. The black tea, cinnamon and cloves are so nice, it’s a shame to ruin it with this tangy, perfume-like apple. I’m lowering the rating.

I had to try this one! The yunnan base from Nature’s Tea Leaf is one of my favorites (though the flavor profile does seem like it would be a better match for their perfect Chocolate Midnight Black). The picture makes it look like there are only orange slices in this, but they are cinnamon chunks! I let the water cool too long when I noticed the cinnamon chunks when I was pouring this into my infuser. Cinnamon tastes best with boiling water. My bag didn’t have too many oranges, but I’m okay with that! Rather than have apple pieces, the tea is actually infused with apple flavor. After four minutes steeping, this certainly tastes like cider! I do wish the apple flavor was sweeter, otherwise the black tea itself would make it taste more like some kind of apple dessert — like one of those whole apples wrapped in a pastry and baked. I’d compare the apple flavoring to Della Terra’s Caramel Candy Apple, but not the other apple teas I’ve tried from DT — just that one. (I guess they use different apple flavors?) The yunnan wasn’t terribly pronounced here… as I suspected, it really fits with the chocolate blend. It’s still great though! The second steep was ALL cloves! No apple, no cinnamon, no black tea. It was very weird, and I had it at boiling this time. I don’t think I’ll steep this twice the next time. I can’t believe there is a black tea that doesn’t hold to two steeps…. unless you really really like cloves! I liked the first steep anyway. (I’ll just go for one steep longer than four minutes next time.) It’s a nice spicy apple blend that would be great on an autumn or winter day. However, I could drink their Chocolate Midnight black tea EVERY day of the year.

Loose
Appearance: pink rose petals, large sencha leaf, balanced
Aroma when Dry: grassy floral rose notes
After water is first poured: rose floral, slight grassy notes
At end of first steep: clear
Tea liquor:
At end of steep: clear
Staple? likely medicinal
Preferred time of day: evenings
Taste:
At first?: floral rose notes, creamy buttery notes close
As it cools?: Notes open and smooth
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No
Lingers? Slightly floral bodied buttery notes

Second Steep(5 min):
At first: very perfumy, floral rose notes, hints of bitter on close
As it cools: perfumed rosewater

Third Steep (5min):
rosewater
Fourth Steep(5min):
rosewater

Loose
Appearance: grey green,
Aroma when Dry: sweet, nutty, earthy
After water is first poured: Lotus and Lima bean Manju
At end of first steep: warm manju and rice
Tea liquor:
At end of steep: hints of green
Staple? Possible
Preferred time of day: afternoon, evening
Taste:
At first?: notes of sticky rice, earthy lotus manju,
As it cools?: notes sweeten, get nuttier, earthier
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No
Lingers? yes, tart, earthy

Second Steep(5 min):
At first: a bit sweeter, earthier, brothy notes

Loose
Appearance: green, mostly Parsley leaf, tea leaves noticeable
Aroma when Dry: sweet, herbal, juicy
After water is first poured:
At end of first steep: buttery Herbal notes
Tea liquor:
At end of steep:clear
Staple? Yes, medicinally
Preferred time of day: as needed medicinally
Taste:
At first?: sweet, buttery, herbal, chewy, slightly bitter close
As it cools?: bitterness starts to fade, gets very slightly brothy
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No
Lingers? Yes, herby parsley notes

Second Steep (3 min)
Light and brothy

By George, I am IN LOVE with this tea!
Full review on http://sororiteasisters.com/ on the 6th of Feb but for now – the snippits:

When I saw Dandelion White Tea from Nature’s Tea Leaf I nearly squeed and I KNEW I HAD to have it!

This tea … it tastes just like buttery sweet simmered veggies. It reminds me of my veggies from my stir fry before I add one of the many sauces I usually add.

I am fairly new to Nature’s Tea Leaf as a tea company but I have been looking over their site more since I obtained this tea along with two others from them and I have to say it is wonderful to feel this type of excitement over a tea company.

Dandelion White Tea is creamy in the mouthfeel with a velvet like feeling, more than silky, thicker than that. Its so very naturally sweet I would think adding sugar would make it just too sweet.

The name of this tea is so pretty that you just know that you’re in for a good cup of tea. The dry blend is very pleasing to the eye with perfect curls of white and dark chocolate. There are some full-size tea leaves in the blend also. The smell of the dry leaves is very soft, which is fitting for the ‘whisper’ in the name. The texture of the tea was a nice surprise – a little cloudy in the cup and very creamy. Although very light, the flavor is of mint with just a hint of chocolate. This is unlike any other mint tea that I’ve had and a nice change of pace. I think I’ll make my fiancee a nice, warm cup of this when he comes home – he loves mint teas and has been outside coaching soccer all day (in the snow/ice!).

-Dry blend has large whole tea leaves, broken pieces of peppermint leaves and white and black chocolate curls. The chocolate curls dissolve while steeping.
-Dry leaves smell lightly of mint and chocolate. Tea liquor aroma is vegetal and minty.
-Tea liquor is a cloudy golden yellow color.
-Soft grassy flavor with a hint of rich chocolate. Nice lingering minty finish.
-Best with sweetener.
-Very good tea. Creamy, refreshing mint tea. Sweetener brings out more of the chocolate flavors.

I often find that chocolate teas don’t quite live up to their name. Chocolate flavoring, artificial or natural, just never seems really chocolatey to me. So when I reach for a chocolate tea I usually just wind up having hot cocoa instead! So how do you fix that? Well, add chocolate to your tea, which is exactly what this blend is!

This still isn’t as chocolatey as hot chocolate, but it’s close! And unlike hot chocolate, it’s not one dimensional. The oolong gives it wonderfully roasty flavor and some soft floral notes as well. And it definitely curbs my chocolate craving with way less calories! I mean I assume there are some since there’s whole chocolate bits in here, but it’s not a powdered sugary slurry. Thanks Nature’s Tea Leaf!

Only a few days after I get this sample I came down with a sore throat. So I give this herbal a try. I know there’s other stuff in this tisane but all I can taste is the chamomile, it’s overpowered the tea. I added some honey and it is soothing my throat a little, but not much more than any other tea would.

It’s not bad but I don’t think I would order it again. Chamomile doesn’t really effect me, but it might help others fall asleep. Also the vitamin C might be helping me with my sore throat/possible cold behind the scenes.

Sipdown!

Cold steeped! This one is pretty floral that it moves into the peachy zone. There is a hint of bitterness end of sip. Much better cold steeped than hot – the last time I made this hot, it was in a large pot for guests and it got pretty bitter undrinkable, thus cannot be oversteeped.

I had way too much fun with this tea’s appearance! It was like being a little kid again and arranging Cheerios on a plate!
The rings were so pretty too and looked amazing up close and steeped!

Taste? Moderate level of jasmine with a bit of dryness at the end. Not much “wow” factor in flavor, but the appearance is so cool!

full blog review of me playing with my tea http://oolongowl.wordpress.com/2013/01/24/jasmine-daughter-rings-from-natures-tea-leaf-tea-review/