The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

Normally my after lunch tea is a pu-erh but I really wasn’t sure since I had Indian food for lunch. Decided to go with something tried and true… I would like to try some other moroccan mints sometime to see how they compare with this one. I think it is a bit on the light side but refreshing.

still… winning!

I must admit I feel like a shmoe for liking a tea that comes from a big chain store like this one. Mostly I do support small vendors and local businesses tho’!

I got my shoe inserts today from the podiatrist so I am hoping my foot pain is a thing of the past…

Wanted to treat myself to something nice so I stopped into the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and got a cup of this. I don’t normally go for minty things but I wanted to try this anyway.

This stuff is awesome – you definitely pick up the nutty, slightly smoky flavor of the gunpowder and the mint is not meek either. It is a very delicious blend which I think would also be really good iced. Loved it! I went back to the store to buy a tin of this (loose leaf tea bags), it was a bit pricey but I am worth it. :)

I absolutely love this iced. It has a really pleasant apricot aftertaste.

No notes yet.

This tea tastes like the typical English Breakfast: Brisk, Bold, and slightly malty. Longer steeps of this tea (upwards of 3 minutes) turn it bitter.

This tea is much the same in composition and overall feel as the other teas I’ve had from his company, though I would say this one is closer to the vanilla tea than the Earl Grey, which I feel was more successful than these other two. Like the vanilla, the tea base on this has a tendancy to get bitter, though this one lacks the creamy sweetness to smooth it over. The passion fruit flavor is fairly tart, but also has a mellower side which keeps it drinkable. These are so far decent enough teas and at least a step up from the conference teabags I would likely be having otherwise.

This morning I picked up this tea, one of the few other options at the coffee shop (I was disappointed that they don’t have any of their oolong teas for ordering; no doubt because they only have sachets at the shop). I steeped this for approximately 3 minutes, definitely not longer, and it still had a faint bitterness at first, though that faded as it cooled a bit. I’m getting the idea that the teas from this company are highly flavored, but so far they’ve been high quality flavors (if only the same thing could be said about their tea base). The vanilla here is strong but rich and a bit creamy with definite caramel notes. Unfortunately the black tea base has a tendancy to get bitter, and even when it’s not it’s not really that tasty. But a decent wake up tea this morning.

Hey I figured out how to use the sliders on my iPhone! Turns out my problem was trying to actually slide (silly me) them instead of just tapping. :p

Well I’m stuck here in Las Vegas for the next few days because I’m at a scientific conference. I wasn’t really expecting a lot of tea options in the area so I was pleased to find this coffee shop that also has “the tea leaf” in its name. They have more options for take away than your typical coffee shop but to start I decided to try their Earl Grey. It’s a pretty decent tea; nothing to write home about but definitely drinkable. There’s only one other review for this on Steepster and it’s a pretty bad one that complained about the stong bergamot. Yes, this is a bergamotty tea but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, at least to me. I love bergamot and prefer my Earl Grey with robust bergamot, as long as it’s done well. Here it’s not bitter or astringent, but pleasant and citrusy. The black tea base is smooth and pretty tasty. As it cools the bergamot does get a bit astringent, so this is one of those teas that’s best enjoyed hot.

No notes yet.

No notes yet.

A great Darjeeling for for those who wish to try it. You do not have to worry if it is first or second flush. I would not suggest steeping too long… It gets too bold quickly.

A good light black tea. With a a little honey and milk it makes a great latte.

No notes yet.

Hmm… I’m drinking this tea as I type this, and I’m wondering how to express my sentiments.

The aroma is very odd… When I opened the tin (which I like a lot, by the way) the smell was strangely perfumed. I was skeptical, thinking that maybe the Coffee Bean added artificial flavors to it. Sure enough, upon closer inspection, “natural and artificial flavors” right on the label. DAMN!

Oh well. I am drinking the tea, but I prefer a more organic tea. I bet this would tast much better over ice. I will report that tasting when I get my hands on some cubes.

Anyhow, super-fruity. No need for sugar, because cups from this brew are full of orangey-currant-yness. A lovely, red color, too. I’m holding onto this tea because I paid $8.95 for 170g for it (which is reasonable for a tea like this).

If you love vanilla, this tea is great and a must try. If not so much, this will be too sweet for you. As said before, it’s easy to over steep this tea and it becomes very bitter tasting. I try to not steep the tea over 4 minutes, as I’ve found it gets bitter when you pass that mark.

I wasn’t expecting much from this one, but it caught me by surprise. The peppermint taste was bold but not overwhelming, and it was thoroughly creamy. A very good holiday tea latte from TCB&TL!

Holy Bergamont Batman! This is labeled a flavored black tea on the tin, and man is it flavored. Usually Earl Grey teas have enough bergamont to cut thte acidity of the black tea, but this one the bergamont is so overused it can be nauseating. I steeped only one bag for caution and I was so overwhelmed with the bergamont. It is a necessity to put some milk with this tea, at least that helps to mellow out the bold bergamont flavor, if bold means insane. The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf usually has good quality teas, this is just overboard.

I am not particularly a fruity tea fan, but this one serves it purpose well as a flavored black tea. The tin says a “fragrant infusion”. Please caution yourself with that note. Once I opened the can , I was shocked at how much of an apricot infusion there was. The actual tasting of the tea wasn’t that good. This tea is better served as an aromatic. The ceylon is detectable, but that is mostly due to the ceylons acidity and natural floral tones. This tea is for amatuer tea drinkers.

Drinking the tea latte variety from the Bruin Café at UCLA. Not bad, not bad. Personally I like my chai a little bit spicier than normal, so this cup’s a little bland in comparison…

I had this in the store a couple nights ago, so I’m not exactly sure how long I let it steep. Probably around 4 min or so at who knows what temperature. So keeping in mind that this tea may not have been brewed correctly… meh. I didn’t like it very much. I was expecting something like a Dan Cong Oolong, but peachier. What I got was a pretty earthy oolong base with some vaguely peach notes, although nothing like the natural fruitiness of some oolongs. I think I might have enjoyed the oolong without the peach, actually, since I do like that earthy taste, but overall it just tasted kinda weird.

Thank You for being delicious.

I tried this iced my last evening in Las Vegas. I’m not sure what the quantity of leaf or steeping parameters used were, but it was pretty weak for a 32oz humongous jug of iced tea. The color was a light pink/mauve color. I had a bit of honey added per the barista/tea guys recommendation. I really enjoyed this tea. It had a light, sweet berry flavor. The honey brought out more of the sweet berry flavor and smoothed out the taste. I would love to place an order with them and try some of the other herbal blends. Need more herbals in my cupboard. This tea was delightfully impressive, wish I had more nights to get more!

This is the only Dragonwell tea that I’ve ever tried, but I really enjoy it. It has a warm, sweet, kind of roasted aroma. The taste is really grassy with some bitterness as an aftertaste. There’s another taste in there, but I can’t decide how to describe it. It’s a little more woodsy than the normal sweetness of green tea.

I can’t wait to look more into Dragonwell teas and see what else to try. =)