Nature's Tea Leaf

Another apple tea from StarFevre!  Thank you!  Originally, when I first tried this in the year that StarFevre sent it over, it had an apple flavor that was quite good. At this point, the apple flavor is so OFF, due to the age of the tea, so much so that it will be the rare tea that I actually give up on and just throw in the garbage.  I hate to do it, but the flavor is just Not Right at this point.  I tried it yesterday and again today and I just can’t do bad tea. It was ONCE okay though! I will just have to think of all those teas I DIDN’T give up on!  And I will not count this as a sipdown.

Another cup of this because it was in sight. Haha. It was tasty enough.

Travel mug tea #3 for Easter outing

Tasty enough in a travel mug; mostly tastes kind of like a roasted oolong. Good accompaniment to sweet Easter treats.

I had no idea what to expect with this tea. Yes, oolong. But sechong has no meaning for me, so it was a mystery! My first impression was disappointment, because the little rolled balls look to be fading in colour (I expected a vibrant green) – but after brewing, it turns out it’s clearly a roasted oolong, so the colouring is exactly as it should be. Didn’t take good notes about the flavour, but it was pretty good. Light roastiness, nice sweetness. Apparently it’s a blend of a few different oolongs, which is interesting; I need to pay more attention next time. Overall, a pretty tasty cup.

Thanks to Nature’s Tea Leaf for the original sample, and Sil for passing it on!

This was a good way to start the morning! I picked this tea up yesterday and brewed in a gaiwan.

With no other white tea experience to compare this to, I can say the flavor is somewhat fruity and evident, bu not whether it is strong or strongER than other white teas.

I enjoyed the pleasant aroma of the beautifully bronze liquor the leaves produce. The taste reminds me of some oolongs I’ve sampled recently, but the mouth feel is different. The flavor is lighter and lingers more on the front of my tongue than my entire mouth.

I understand this is low in caffeine, so I may steep some more as an evening cup to share. In any case – a very pleasant experience.

I try every so often to understand white tea. It bamboozles me. Not being a particularly intuitive person, I don’t want to have to chase down whatever flavor is in my cup. I want it to find me.

I didn’t have to run quite so hard for this one, a thoughtful sample tossed in with a Nature’s Tea Leaf order. Leaves were huge and virtually untouched; some stems in the bundle as well, but that isn’t a turn-off. Steeped as precisely to instructions as my sloppy methods allow, it was a honey-goldenrod color, satiny in texture, and a little sweet and soapy in taste. Soapy in a good way. And cornsilky. A nice little spring break in the middle of a very weary week.

From the EU TTB

Today’s work cold-brew. I used approximately 1 tbsp of leaf in just under 2 litres of water, and left it in the fridge overnight for around 9 hours. The resulting liquor is a pale gold, with a mild gingery scent.

To taste, this is just about as I expected. There’s a mild initial lemon flavour, which is quite sour in the way of lemon zest, but thankfully not too overpowering. The ginger emerges in the mid sip and adds a pleasing spicy warmth which lingers at the back of the throat. Even though I’m drinking this cold, the ginger makes this one seem very appropriate for a chilly early autumn day like today. It’s somehow warming and comforting. The white tea base is pretty perfect, adding just a touch of hay-like sweetness while letting the flavouring shine. This’ll probably be one of my last cold brews this year, so I’m pleased to be ending on a positive vibe. This is definitely one I’d consider purchasing in the future.

This was my first loose leaf green tea, and the one that got me totally hooked on green tea and tea as a whole. I got a 2 oz. bag and a glass tea pot so I could brew this the right way. I loved how subtle and sweet the grassy flavor was, completely different from the bitter tasting grocery store green tea bags. I got teavana’s dragon well after finishing most of this so I could compare the two. I can definitely decipher a difference between the two, but I love both. I noticed this one is a bit stronger than teavana’s and I actually like it a little better. I would definitely recommend this tea.

what is it with flavored puerhs? i tried to steep them longer but i just got stronger lavender, lol. but i liked this flavor best (side by side with samovar’s blood orange and davids coffee puerh)

Tasting #1 – Steep Time 1 Minute
Very light in color, hardly any flavor above the heat. But I could drink it like this all day.

Tasting #2 – Steep Time 3 Minutes
A light roasted flavor, not at all like roasted rice but more similarly to the kuki hojicha.

Tasting #3 – Steep Time 5 Minutes
The flavor hasn’t changed much since the last tasting

Tasting #4 – Steep Time 8 Minutes
No hint of astringency and I’ve gotten used to the unique roasted flavor by now. This would easily be a good tea to drink all day long without worrying about it.

Cold Brew
I used 1TBSP and 1TSP for 32oz of cold water and let it steep for 24 hours before tasting. Cold brew is supposed to be a concentrate, but either I need to add more tea or I have a strong palate because I just drink this straight out of the bottle. The tea is lighter in flavor than when hot and there is no astringency even though I let it steep for so long. Delicious and refreshing, my preferred way to drink this tea.

Sipdown! This turns out to be really good at making me sleepy. I used a little more leaf than last time, so the brew was earthier this time around. It’s still very smooth and soothing. Thanks to Starfevre for sending it to me!

My stomach started growling during dinner. No pain, just… strange noises. I hoped some pu’erh might silence the grumbling. I wanted something easy to drink and settled on this blend, which came to me courtesy of Starfevre almost two years ago. It’s definitely easy drinking. Sweet and floral. The first cup stopped the weird stomach noises, but they started up again when the cup was done. Time for more! This seems to be fairly low in caffeine. I’m pretty caffeine-sensitive but I’m actually getting sleepy. This is just so smooth and sweet… it tastes more like an oolong than any pu I’ve had yet. The leaf easily yielded three solid steeps. The third steep was earthier than the first two but still mild, sweet, and floral. Thanks Starfevre!

Thank you TeaBrat for sending me this sample! I am very curious about flavored pu-erh, and I have enjoyed the teas I’ve sampled from Nature’s Tea Leaf in the past, so I’m looking forward to giving this tea a try.

Well, this tea pulls no punches. I get the earthy taste of pu-erh and a burst of orange flavor. I’m not getting any other notes. Earth and orange. It works, and I’m enjoying my cup. I really like citrus flavored teas, but I also like how the deep earth note of the pu-erh keeps the orange from being too much. As the tea cools I keep trying to find a chocolate note in here even though there isn’t one. My mind is trying to pin this tea down as something it recognizes, but these flavor combinations are new to me in a good and interesting way. I’m grateful that TeaBrat gave me such a generous sample because I want to try this tea again.

Sipdown! This is good, but I’m starting to think I need a little something extra in my chocolate teas or I’ll find them boring. This is one of those times—I made a pot and by the end of it I almost didn’t want to finish it. The vanilla is a nice touch and keeps everything creamy, but I’m finding myself hoping for some spice, some fruit, something. Ah, well, plenty of good chocolate teas in my cabinet.

I am in love with this and it is a total surprise. Normally, I prefer spicy cinnamon, almost like red hots. Upon sniffing, I thought this would be that. It is definitely not, but it is something I have never tried before. The oolong is the primary flavor and it is really deep and rich, and the present but not overwhelming cinnamon make me think of delicious baked goods. Specifically, kind of reminds me of cinnamon bread. Mostly bread, with a hint of cinnamon. Weird, huh? Weirdly delicious.

First off, I am a big fan of Oat Straw tea, and was sad to see no one had listed any yet here on Steepster!

Oat Straw is such a mild, lovely tea. Great for kids and adults alike, it has a super mild, grassy and slightly sweet flavor that is like a warm summer day in a mug.

It has fantastic properties, too – high in b vitamins and magnesium and calcium, it is a great “nerve tonic” – super soothing and calming. Perfect before bed.

Anyway. This oat straw is high quality and really fresh smelling and looking. Nice mild grassy/oat flavor. I use this primarily to blend into other herbal blends. I steep for 5 minutes, but sometimes make an infusion and let steep for 4 hours.

From the Round 3 Here’s Hoping TTB

Meh. There is a definite cider taste, but the base tea is too weak which makes the tea taste more like watered down apple juice.

This is super duper floral, and very pretty to look at. I enjoy it, but I am not sure I like florals paired with a puerh base. To me it sort of muddied up the floral, which possibly cuts down on it being too perfumey…but I would have preferred a bit less muddle. But I love lavender.

Thank you Maria for your awesome sale! I couldn’t resist. A surprising burst of flavors in this one! So I’ll just list them: Something vegetal, maybe cucumber with grassiness. The fresh grass flavor isn’t on the level of the usual green tea though, just enough to notice. Sweet melon: it’s been a while since I’ve had any melon, so I’m not sure which one… the green one. There are also creamy hints of lemon. But again, I’m shocked there is so much flavor here. I like it! It’s actually very unique from anything else I’ve tried. This is supposedly a green tea but it really seems like a white tea. I’d say it tastes like a green tea AND a white tea. Some mouth fuzzies, so I’d probably do a quick rinse the next time.
Steep #1 // 25 min after boiling // 2 min

I cold steeped this one last night. When I came home from class at 2, I made sunny side up eggs, with diced potatoes and onions (hey I hadnt eaten yet, so technically it was still breakfast for me), and strained this into a big cup.

I’ve been sipping on it for the last hour or so, and I got to say that I’m impressed by the amount of flavor. I’m not seeing anyone else mention this, so I don’t know if its just something that came out because it was cold-steeped, but this is super floral! I had to double check that it wasn’t scented, because that’s how strong the floral is. And I’m not getting any hay or oat taste. There’s a slight fruitiness but the main note is floral. It’s actually not bad, considering how much I wasn’t a fan of that cherry rose tea cold steeped.

Thank you Dinosara for your sale, with some of them being free. :D This is supposed to be brewed at 195 degrees so I waited for the water to cool ten minutes after boiling. The dry leaves certainly look good. The flavor is a mid-level briskness, it kind of tastes like something fruity, maybe cherry. Not that delicious, and don’t use this blend to judge Fujian teas. It does have the flavor that reminds me of 52Teas new black tea base, so I don’t love this tea, but if 52Teas does use a Fujian base, the fault is completely mine, since most of the time the Fujian tea just isn’t my thing. I usually love most of the teas from Nature’s, so it’s a little disappointing! I know others like this one more, so I might save this for a teabox.
Steep #1 // 10 min after boiling // 3 min
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 min

I like this one. The main flavors are rose and lavender with the pu-erh giving an underlying earthiness to the tea. The base tea also gives off the hint of spice. It’s something that is hinting at cinnamon but isn’t. It actually reminds me of the smell of the air in the mountains early in the morning. There is a clean, spicy scent that I love. It sounds like this tea should not work – rose, lavender, earth, spice – but it does. The blend of flavors works very well. I’m not tasting the jasmine, but I’m not missing it either.

I’d like to pick up more of this tea. It’s not something I’d drink everyday, but I would enjoy a cup every now and then.

Yeeesh. What a difference time makes.
Last time I had this I thought I loved it, but I made a mug the other night and couldn’t even finish it, I dumped it. All I could taste was chemicals
Not sure if this had anything to do with being sick or not but it turned me off so much I won’t even bother trying again.

A shame. But it’s not like I needed anymore tea anyway.

Blech!