The Simple Leaf

This was my “christening” tea for my Breville. It tastes fantastic, as I expected it would. Rich, chocolate-y and so good. My Dawn is all gone now. I am so sad that The Simple Leaf is gone too. But, I am glad that I saved this little bit for the first brewing in my Breville because it made the occasion all the more special. Here is a link to my full-length review of this tea:
http://www.teareviewblog.com/?p=12247

Was able to carve out a very few brief moments to enjoy this at my parents’ farm yesterday before a day full of packing, power washing, and insurance headaches. I think I may be getting my chops back - could really enjoy the dark, cocoa essence that I’ve been reading about.

In case you need to know, it is impossible to put one’s life completely back together from scratch in three weeks working 14-16 hour days. Therefore, since it’s a lost cause anyway, I am going to resolve to carve out a little time to restore with a cuppa and a good book (right now, I’m hanging on to my Good Book for dear life) every day. Life can wait.

Thanks again, Doulton, for providing this lovely respite-in-a-pouch.

Revisiting this one and how much it smells like a bouquet of flowers. I read somewhere that most Darjeeling “blacks” are actually a mixture of green, oolong and black, hence the multi-colour appearance they commonly possess, but are just labeled as “black”. Odd. But explains a lot.

Light and floral and also strongly walnutty, just as I remember.

The cold has won for today. Home with a tea that reminds me of being sick as a kid only 100000000000000000 times better, Mountain Malt. I’m sure a medicinal tisane with no milk or sugar would be better for me physically, but oooooooooh this is so perfect for me emotionally :) Rich malty comfort.

Very delicious. A nice surprise of deep, rich flavors. Thank you Jessica for sending me this sample. I regret not tasting this sooner.

Home today to write a paper. Sound familiar? ;) I need some serious POWER this afternoon, and there is one tea that makes me feel like I can climb a mountain – you guessed it! Mountain Malt! I am sipping and envisioning coherent thoughts, good grammar, and some razzle dazzle! (just a little razzle dazzle – I know!)

Cold, grey, miserable. A paper to finish. Mountain Malt is definitely the “best tea for the day” (like Little Edie picks the “best costume for the day” – any other Grey Gardens fans here?)

Strong and flavorful. Get up and go in a cup. A classic with milk and sugar. I made the 16 oz mug, and oh, it is making all the difference!

No notes yet.

Thanks to LiberTeas for the sample of this.

I’ve never had a green tea from India, so it was fun to try one. This isn’t one I would seek after, but it was pleasant enough.

The leaves looked like I would think of as a small-leaf green phoenix oolong (if there was such a thing). They smelled like Gunpowder green tea, somewhat smokey and pan fried.

The flavor was like dragonwell/long jing, in that it was something like chestnuts, stir fry, but not as good. However, it had a very strong note of honey at the top of the mouth that was quite tasty and interesting. Strange too, to feel like it was a savory flavor on the one hand, and then a sweet one on the other (aftertaste).
As I said, it’s a pleasant cup.

No notes yet.

Thought I might as well have a Simple Leaf weekend :) This tea is on severe ration – I probably have 10 pots left – forever! The thought makes me so sad, because gosh, what a tea! Roasty, chocolatey, chicory, caramel, earthy, DELICIOUS! Just simply exquisite. So unique. So good.

Rainy cold day: perfect for a strong milk and sugar Indian tea to have whist curled up reading (Philip Pullman’s I Was A Rat! Such a funny, sophisticated, satirical little children’s book! I love it!). We haven’t had Mountain Malt in awhile and oh, was it delicious! Warming and invigorating. I can’t believe how flavorful it is at a mere 3 minutes! I’m glad I got the big pouch when I ordered since the Simple Leaf is no more :(

Sipping this, I’m really missing Simple Leaf. There were so many other teas from them I wanted to try. Mountain Malt, Black Frost… I think I repeat myself every time I drink this tea. But they shut down so suddenly; you would think they would need to sell off some of their stock first. Where did all of that tea go, I wonder?

Sipping this very hot and savouring it. I have a calculus test to take in a little under two hours. I can never bring myself to worry over these things, and sipping tea only calms me more. I hope I pass.

Dirty, dry malt, raw cocoa, this is such a wonderfully confusing tea. I’m no chocolate fan, but I can understand what people mean by ‘raw cocoa’. That dusty, astringent, dirt taste, with hints of very bitter chocolate. I’m so glad I still have a few good scoops left. This is not a tea I want to finish off. We’re still getting acquainted.

Goodbye, oh lovely tea. My packet is now empty. (I’m not officially copying the sip-down of others, but I am trying to empty out the tea cupboard)
Cocoa-y, toasty, and warm.. such a lovely tea. Yum.

The Final Sipdown: Day 26.1

The tea. The tea. The tea is on fire. We don’t need no water, let the…

This tea is smoky. Smoky in a way that has me on the fence between wood burning fire and cigarettes. It would be full on firewood, if it weren’t, maybe ironically, for the vegetal quality underlying the whole thing. For me it’s giving it that nicotine-y tinge that’s making me think I won’t be finishing this cup.

The other flavors in it are savory and salty. There’s also a peppery note that is hitting the tip of my tongue. This is one of the least grassy green teas I’ve ever had, and were it not for the lightness of flavor beneath the smoke [and the coloring of the liquid] I may have pegged it for a black tea.

The sweeter notes don’t come into play for me until the end, and then it has an almost fruity sense about it. That fruit, however, is lending a more sickly quality than sweet and fresh…until the aftertaste really kicks in and the liquid is completely gone. Then it’s like a Febreze commercial.

I don’t know. I don’t mind a smoky tea, but this one’s poking at my gag reflex. The combination of flavors just doesn’t make any sense to me, and there isn’t really anything enjoyable about the profile as a whole. A pleasant aftertaste alone does not a good tea make.

Ah well. I appreciate Carolyn sending this to me nonetheless. And now it’s gone! Good things all around.

Teas Downed: 32

I squeezed the last little bit I had of this into one final, smooth cup of great tea. It’s got such a nice, rounded flavor to it. The malt, roast, starch, and fruit notes all dance around so well with each other – it’s truly a shame that the supplier is no longer in business.

A strong yet sensitive type, this tea is! It came out malty and a little astringent, with a rich and doughy smell and thick texture. I second the sentiments of those who are looking for an alternative supplier to The Simple Leaf – this is a fantastic example of the bready, malty black tea style.

I’m done my paper! 14 intense pages. I am very happy and relieved. I wanted to drink some tea in celebration, and I chose Dawn. All I had to do was smell it as it was steeping, and I knew I made the right choice. I am almost embarrassed to say that I audibly moaned when that earthy chocolatey aroma hit. Ohhh, this one is so special.

No matter how many times I drink it, I can’t get over the flavor. Tangy malty chocolatey earthy chicory planty. This tea hits me in a primal place. I just want to say Mrrrrrrrrrrrrrrooooooowwwwwww like a very happy cat and leave it at that!

Need to start off the day with someone decent. So I turned to Dawn this morning. Yum…

Soothing yet energizing. :)

I love – love – love this tea.

Smooth, rich, malty, bake-y taste with chocolate. YUM…

Thanks for this MandyB!

This was Darjeeling-reminiscent! But I cannot tell you in which way! I just kind of reminded me of Darjeeling. It tasted like a green tea or a black and green blend tho. This was quite masculine to the nose…wait…that sounded funny…it didn’t smell like a MAN!!!! LOL But I think you know what I mean by that…

In the middle of the sip there was a slight fruitiness that came and went quickly and the beginning and end of the sip was more nutty. This was different and pretty good!

I promised myself I’d try this again with cream and sugar, so here we are. I steeped it up pretty strong, until I could really smell the yeasty baked goods aroma of the black tea, then added a good dollop of cream and some sugar to boot. How nice! It’s very comforting this way, and doesn’t lose track of the characteristics I like most about this tea. I really think it’s only my imagination, but I keep thinking there may be a hint of cinnamon in there – probably only because I really want to have a gooey sticky bun to go with this and don’t!

What a wonderful weekend of Assam teas! I think this chilly weather is bringing out the Assam love in me :) I adore this one because it has the classic malty Assam taste, but it also has an earthiness to it that I appreciate very much. I also can’t complain about the jolt of energy it gives me :) Very unique, and very, very sad that the Simple Leaf is no more. I really think about when is the perfect time for this tea, and Dawn, because I know that I won’t be able to get it again :(

This is my last bit of tea from The Simple Leaf and its really too bad as they had fantastic tea. The tea steeps up golden in color with a floral honey smell. The taste is nutty, vegetal, buttery and slightly spicy. This is a very nice tea and I wish I could buy more, but alas they are no more.