Mighty Leaf Tea

Earthy spicy dark—heavy on the Keemun— with cream. The cardamom shines above all else here.

I adore this tea. I like the powerful cardamon and black pepper zing of it. I like that cinnamon is way in the background in this combination. I like that the black tea base here beats its chest with enthusiasm amidst the spice medley. I reach for this blend when I need a strong-kick-in-the-pants kind of tea, even with milk and honey.

It seems I was bombarded by every conceivable kind of chai tea in autumn, so I got a bit tired of chai until the tea festival came around with their fantastic samples. It reminded me how much I do enjoy chai, the traditional way with milk and sweetener.

This one for me is a whole-hearted yes.

This is my favourite chocolate mint tea of all time (and I’ve tried at least 10). This one actually wins over multiple loose leaf teas. Very flavourful and can be re-steeped multiple times with no loss of flavour. This tea also makes an excellent latte or iced tea.

This tea is very flavourful and sweet. It can be re-steeped at least four times. I highly reccomend this for anyone looking for a straight rooibos.

This tea is quite good. I enjoy it most piping hot and very strong, though I find it quite good mixed with a white chai to add some spice. I think it could make a good iced tea with some berries mixed in :P But it’s nothing special.

Origin: Sri Lanka
Tasting Notes: Powdery with a rose finish

Flavour
Persian Delight has a deceptive, enigmatic side. The ingredients of ginger and clove suggest that the flavour may be spiced, having a floral chai type vibe. However, these distinctive characters are barely present in the taste. Instead the flavour is heavily dominated by a heady, powdery perfume and a minor nutty note, giving the tea a very soft feeling. The Sri Lankan black tea is not lost in the complex mix of sweet flavours, unveiling a strong, dry taste, despite the softness that surrounds it. Drinking this tea is like being enveloped in the presence of your Grandma, hinting at a bold and adventurous past, but only presenting an orderly, graceful nature at present. It’s weirdly comforting and stringent at the same time.

See more at www.tastethetea.co.uk

Strong mint and some ginger on the nose. Mint gives it slick and syrupy mouthfeel. Citrus mint on the front, ginger kick on the back, with a lemongrass backbone.

Nutty, thin, lacking body and depth.

Partial review from www.tastethetea.co.uk ’ Oolong is known for its ability to go through multiple brews and develop in flavour. No brewing technique was stated on the packet, so it was a little bit of trial and error! The first steeping was brewed for 2 minutes creates a light and delicate brew and emits the first tickle of coconut in the undertones of the flavour. The second cup, left for 4 minutes, developed a medium body with a coppery, metallic taste and a mild coconut undertone. The third steeping was left for about 10 minutes. This retained the medium body, however most traces of coconut disappeared and were replaced by a gentle citric palate. The fourth round produces a very light body, but is still quite pleasant. At this point I stopped steeping the leaves and used fresh ones.

partial review from www.tastethetea.co.uk ;

Gosh where to start on this one! This has unexpectedly become one of my all time favourite blends due to its completely otherworldly characteristics, having the ability to send you travelling through space and time. When brewed for a couple of minutes the flavour is medium bodied, smokey yet smooth, bordering on sweet. The tastes and aromas of Russian Caravan are so suggestive that by merely closing one’s eyes the experience develops into anything your mind can imagine, As the description suggests this is a storied blend, seeping with adventure and inviting you to create your own. One minute you could be a sailor in the dusky Shanghai docks or in Victorian London, as a little urchin next to a crackling coal fire. The possibilities in this cup are endless stories for you to discover, making it a perfect companion brew for a good book.

Sample from evol ving ness Wasn’t too sure about this one given the number of flowers in the tea but as always, i’ll try anything , just in case :) this one is an interesting tea. i love the clove and cardamom and the base tea here is really nice. i think if you were someone who enjoys floral teas, this would be a hit. It’s not super floral, really more of a rose flavour that blends in with the spices. I think it’s a pretty neat tea – just satisfied with me sample :)

Also…WAY COOL ADDITION of pistachios in this tea! can you imagine? pistachios! plus rose? neat!

I’ve been drinking this in the morning and enjoying it. It’s very vegetal and seems to take a little longer to steep really strong, which is good for me, since I tend to oversteep my tea quite easily!

After about 3 minutes it has a lovely, clear green color and is delicious when brewed very hot. I still prefer a sencha-matcha blend but this has still been making me happy.

Sample from evol ving ness this one…not so sure about. I had a hard time getting past the scent of this one – it was coming across as really floral. in the sort of “shoved my head in potpourri” sort of way. Drinking it, was a little better than that though..and the flavour was closer to lychee. I actually think this is a pretty decently “lychee” flavoured tea, but i can’t quite get past the smell :) thanks for letting me try this out evol!

Note to self: Next time try brewing at 170˚F for 2 minutes.

Update: I brewed it correctly and it’s a nice simple tea to drink at work.

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First infusion: 5oz of 175˚F water for 1:15. Beautiful aroma of jasmine, but the tea flavour is very subtle. Perhaps I should’ve brewed it hotter and for longer.

Second infusion: 5oz of 190˚F water for 1:30. Tastes slightly bitter, I probably burnt it a little. Fairly one-dimensional flavoured tea.

Third infusion: 5oz of 185˚F water. Tastes smooth and subtle, a bit watered down though. This is probably the last possible infusion this tea can handle.

Sample from evol ving ness

This one’s pretty tasty as far as Christmas teas go. I like that this has a nice sort of cinnamon, spice taste underlying the other things going on. I also really like that the clove isn’t overpowering. I find “holiday” blends often have WAAAAAY too much clove. this one is also pretty – even if it does remind me of potpourri a little :) thanks for the share evol!

Tasted vaguely like an herbal tea, not particularly chamomile-y or citron-y.

sample from evol ving ness as i have to get through a few samples as well as get started on the GCTTB. I brewed this one up thinking it was a straight black for some reason. However as soon as the water hit the leaf, i knew that wasn’t the case. Sadly this isn’t a tea i can get behind. I suspect it’s the rose and lychee combination. I get zero chocolate from this one. Nothing wrong with the tea itself, but for me, this doesn’t work. Always happy to try new things though, so thanks evol!

Very rich and sweet vanilla scent and flavor, on a base of strong, decent quality black tea. I got this as an after-Christmas sale item, and I can definitely see that it would be a cozy tea to have around the holidays. I’m always partial to vanilla, so this was a good find, and it’s nice to know that it is naturally flavored. For the evenings, though, I think I might need to restock Vanilla Comoro again…

I had this one yesterday at a friends while playing board games. Not a bad bagged tea – creamy vanilla orange…wish is was a little more creamsicle orange but overall a decent cup.