Many thanks to Andrew at Simple Loose Leaf who provided me with a $50 credit to use towards their subscription service. This was the first tea that I was sent in my six month plan.
My first cup of tea was prepared at 208°F (3m), which is one of the preset temperatures on my water boiler. Initially I found the tea to be overly astringent while hot, much more so than I care to drink. I let the tea cool to room temperature and the astringency disappeared, leaving me with a nice strong cup of Earl Grey with a hint of vanilla peaking through. This will be my chosen temperature for when I want to drink this tea either iced or at room temperature because once it cooled I was left with a great bold flavor that I enjoyed, but none of the astringency that I found while it was hot.
Seeing that 208°F left me with a more astringent cup that I preferred I decided to drop the temperature down to 205°F (3m) for my next cup. This left me with a nearly perfect cup of tea. It had a bold flavor, similar to my previous cup, followed up by a hint of vanilla and only the smallest bit of astringency.
Check out the full review on my blog
http://www.notstarvingyet.com/index/2013/10/8/tuesday-tea-lady-earl-grey-black-simple-loose-leaf.html
If you’re considering an order with Simple Loose Leaf use coupon code NSYSELECTION25 to receive 25% off.
Oooh, I have this one coming too. Thanks for the heads up. I’ll remember to cool the water a bit.