Nature's Tea Leaf

Thanks to Nature’s Tea Leaf for a generous sample of this tea.

This oolong, like the dragon pearls before, is so much fun to watch steep and unfurl. You really have to brew these teas in a clear vessel, otherwise you’ll be missing a good tea show.

This is a very nice and solid tasting oolong. Very robust and not bitter at all. This is a good pure oolong without flavoring. Nice and smooth with some buttery notes and a natural hint of sweetness.

In its heyday, I wrote odes and sonnets to this foolproof, goofproof, steepworthy, forgiving, bread-crusty brew. Just steeped my last full mug this morning, and by last, I’m afraid I really mean last, as it appears that Nature’s Tea Leaf is no more. Moral: things end. Make every sip matter.

Sipdown. This is in the running for the most gentle, bready, smooth, wonder-filled, idiot-proof black tea I have ever loved. Need more!

While I don’t think I’ll ever manage to pare down my tea stash to the lean and mean chosen few that I really have the space for, of late, I’m finding myself gravitating to comfortable tried-and-true basics that wear as well as an old bathrobe.

This is one. Today, used a larger mug with the same amount of leaf, so it’s lightly-silk-and-toasty instead of the heavier cocoa-ness that comes out in a stronger concentration. And it’s still good.

I rarely mess with ratings and slider bars, but this one I’m dragging all the way to the end of the happy scale.

Yeah…this is one of those I’ve logged so often there’s nothing new to tell you except it needs to be imbibed often. Especially on six-degree mornings. It’s toasty. It’s un-ruinable.

Made this a little longer and stronger than usual today in hopes of focusing addled brain (“Oh my ears and whiskers, so much to do!”) and getting a lovely rye melba toast taste from it.

There’s a Shel Silverstein poem, “Jellyfish Stew,” I used to read to my son. Substitute Fugian Congou for jellyfish stew, and it fits: Oh, Fujian Congou, I’m loony for you, I truly adore you; I love you, I do..

Well, except when you get to the “tastes like glue” and “slimy with goo” parts.

Bitter and sweet, smooth, can’t ruin it even on a Monday morning; even one punctuated with bad poetry references.

This is very non tea-y, but I’m on Cup #3 and the brain cells are just not firing this morning. Trying to describe in print what I could demonstrate in a second and a half. Are these instructions clear enough for you to follow, especially those of you who grew up without seeing it demonstrated weekly by Mickey, Davy, Mike, and Peter?

Face forward with arms around your partner’s shoulders. In unison, partners throw their right legs forward and out (your right leg will cross your partner’s left leg). Then partners throw their left legs out and forward.

Thank you for the consultation.

It’s so cool this morning, the quilt I just washed and hung out on the line is steaming—I can see its breath!

Sometimes, it’s less the flavor and quality of the tea than it is the aesthetics. Boiling a kettle instead of pushing a button, making a whole pot instead of a hurry-up cup, watching the Tardis appear and disappear on the mug (heat-sensing mugs kind of mess with the granny vibe, but hey).

But this morning, we’re not skimping on flavor or quality, either. This is good stuff, even though I under-leafed. Not getting the usual cocoa-coating in the mouth; leans more to the fruity side today.

Happy fall.

I’m missing a tasting note on this one. The one where I thanked a kind mystery donor for surprising me with a packet of this lovely stuff.

I was thankful for said donor again this morning when I just stuck my nose in the pouch and smelled it. So cocoa-y and burlap sacky.

Ohhhh, how I had missed this! And despite the reams of fruit-and-cocoa perfection I could write about it, must cut it short and quit stalling. Deadlines. It’s gonna be a duct-tape day. (…as in, duct taping oneself to the writing chair.)

Last of my packet. Sad to see it go. For Steepies who need a boot-in-the-backside morning tea, this one should go in your permanent library. Cocoa-y, stout, can’t ruin it, even when you’re down to the last of the sample and don’t have quite a whole teaspoon to make a full cup and you close your eyes and grab the first unflavored black tea you can find to round it out (Ahmad Hampton Breakfast) and it’s still wonderful…yeah, I’m awake. Maybe.

I haven’t sampled that many, but so far I haven’t met a Fujian tea I didn’t love (Adagio’s Fujian Baroque is tasty, too). Pleasant fruit and cocoa notes; isn’t picky on the steep time; just plain good no matter how you make it.

Uh-oh. We’re down to skimpy-ration level. This is definitely going on the wish list, underscored in red.

The package recommends a 2-3 minute steep. Followed that recommendation this morning, and while it’s still lovely good, I believe I prefer it my way: dark and rich, more toward the 4-5 minute mark.

Back under my own roof enjoying a real cuppa in my own mug with my own water. Love, love, love this cocoa-y, bittersweet brew. Too good to mess up with milk or sugar.

Thanks for the prayers. The good news is that tests went fine, Mom is home, and nothing requiring immediate action. 80-something bodies just begin to wear out. (Actually 40-something bodies do too, but let’s not go there.)

Just a note of further confirmation that this one just works. This time, I was short on both water for a full pot and on time, and it still steeped richly enough for a lovely wake-up, since the woodpecker in my golden maple tree is too timid to do it: tip….tip….tiptip…uh, sorry to bother you, tip…

Been looking forward to Saturday simply because I can enjoy this slowly, not on the morning run. Didn’t much watch steep time; just plopped in a generous amount of leaf and let it go. Just as deep-cocoa and dark-fruity as before.

Yay! Another tea I get to label “forgiving.” Put it in … whatever … it’s going to be great. Breakfast tea friends, this is a gotta-try.

It’s been a good long while since I had a tea that (with apologies to GeoffreyNorman) made elephants dance and planets align. But I do believe I saw a morning star scootch a little to the left when I had my first sip of this one ;)

As usual, I went a little past the recommended steeping time; likely closer to five minutes than four. In doing so, we coaxed out a lovely, rich, thick dark cocoa-powder flavor with rich autumn fruit in the background. This is what burgundy should taste like (the color, not the wine).

My only regret is that I’m headed to work and can’t make a whole pot. Nature’s Tea Leaf, you made my morning!

I came on here to review this and saw that I haven’t added it to my cupboard again since I drank the last pouch. Well, I just added it but it will be taken off again soon because I am about to finish this one off again.

Sometimes I wish I could make myself just order from two or three companies and have a nice, neat, matchy tea shelf. But then a company does something so well that I have to venture off and order this one from here and anither from there. That’s how it is with this tea for me.

This is a really basic tea, nothing super fancy but I think it has really good flavor and makes for a great breakfast blend for me. I served it at Writers’ Group a couple of nights ago and a man said he didnt drink much black tea because it is bitter to him, but this one wasn’t bitter and he liked it. He had several cups in fact.

I had it hot earlier and the pot long since cooled off but I didnt want to pour it out and I didnt want anything else hot, so I am drinking it cold and it is really good. I guess I will be re-ordering this again, and possibly some of their greens as well.

This was so good yesterday that I just had to have it again today. This was the first tea of tea party, as I wanted a great unflavored black tea to pair with our food. Today we had slices of homemade buttermilk bread, buttered and toasted, then spread with black currant jam, lingonberry jam, and/or Double Devon Cream.

How good was it? It was the only one of today’s teas that my guest requested a second cup and though she liked the other teas, said that this one was her favorite of the day.

Smooth, cocoa-y, hearty without biting, this is indeed a great black tea.

I was hungry but I have had a moderately angry tummy since yesterday. I wanted black tea with a snack, but I knew I couldn’t drink just any black tea or I risked making things worse. I thought this one from Nature’s Tea Leaf that was sent as a very generous sample (I STILL have some left, thank goodness!) would be just the thing. It is delicious and would satisfy the black tea craving, but it is smooth enough not to upset things further. At times like this, Assams are out of the question for me.

This is an excellent Chinese black tea. I steeped one teaspoon of leaf in 8 ounces water, resteeped, and poured it all in my big Christmas mug. This accompanied second breakfast which was cinnamon toast, heavy on the brown sugar and cinnamon. So yummy! I have really got to reduce my cupboard enough to order several teas from this company. This one and their Dragon Pearl Green are definitely on the list.

Grrrrrr! That was the sound that escaped me, and that was when I smelled the leaves. Same sound, a little louder, escaped when I sipped the first sips.

This is a delicious black tea. Often, black tea from China will use Asian parameters for steeping the tea and I find it too weak that way and change to Western brewing. This one is super just as they say to make it. It is smooth yet bracing, lightly cocoa flavored, and there is something arresting about the flavor that grabs your attention, but isn’t rough.

This and their Dragon Pearl Green Tea are so good they could be the base for a very nice small cupboard.

This is a free sample provided for review by Nature’s Tea Leaf.

My daughter and her fiancé stopped by tonight and since I had not had lunch the past two days working at early voting, I was ready for something for my tummy! My middle and youngest daughters had made fresh home made bread, so we cut the loaf, got out some plain butter and Kerrygold Garlic and Herb Butter and made a pot of black tea.

The leaf is somewhat fine and wiry. I used below boiling water for just over two minutes. The result is a cup of black tea with strong cocoa notes, maltiness, and heft. I told the others it was toothsome! I drank this plain and it was smooth enough and hearty enough for me. Because this is a really characteristic Fujian black that I associate with breakfast I tried it almost with milk and sugar. I think I may like it best this way!

This is a good example of Fujian black tea, strong enough for breakfast, smooth enough for any time! Thank you for the opportunity to try it, NTL!