Tea Leaf Co

I’m pretty sure I bought this three years ago and it has been languishing in my cupboard after only about half was used. Until recently.

My husband has a semester and a half before he finishes his degree in data science. The stress has been intense. Lots of sleepless nights. So, I suggested a sleepy tea. I figured a combination of mint, chamomile, valerian, and lavender might at least help a little.

Now, this tea smells really bad, as expected. Like dirty feet or underwear. The steeped tea doesn’t taste like that at all, but I still add an extra teaspoon of peppermint leaves to kinda drown it out. And I drop a spiral of honey into it for sweetness. Then it goes over ice. This makes a pretty satisfying, refreshing tea that my husband now requests almost every night. And I like the ritual of making tea, so I always do… though it always reaches him with a few sips missing…

I realize I’ve never reviewed this because I always go to bed as soon as I’m done drinking it. Makes sense.

Anyway, I love valerian teas. Sure, valerian smells like gym socks, but it gets the job done. Tea Leaf Co did a good job covering that up. The dry tea is a nice mix of chamomile blossoms, spearmint, lavender, and lemon balm. All very soothing, sleepy herbs. I can definitely smell the valerian as I measure out my teaspoons, but it doesn’t translate into the steeped tea. No, the final product tastes mostly of spearmint and chamomile with a touch of lavender. Pleasant and inoffensive.

I can’t say that this is something I’d want to drink just for the taste, but it’s perfect to sip if you need to go to bed early. Or if you’re sick and out of NyQuil. The best part, aside from making you comfy and heavy and ready for bed, is the fact that there’s no grogginess the next day. You don’t feel the effects when you wake up, which makes this a winner.

“Mighty” is an Earl Grey with a TON of extra flavoring added. It’s like the Kool-Aid Man breaking through walls. “OH YEAH,” he yells. “BERGAMOT.”

For the full run down of this tea, go here:
http://sororiteasisters.com/2016/10/01/mighty-organic-earl-grey-black-tea-tea-leaf-co/

After my first cup a few days ago, I drank the hell out of this until my 20g baggie was no more. It was very tasty! Especially with a little splash of almond milk. No particular spice dominated the blend, and while I couldn’t pick out the taste of coconut, I think it lent to the smoothness. Really enjoyed it!

I had this last night (Happy belated Halloween!) while watching Ash VS Evil Dead. … Side note, loved it. It has scares and was hilarious and, of course, has Bruce Campbell (♥).

Anyway, the tea. Nice and sweet vanilla-y white chocolate, but doesn’t overpower the black tea. I did add a dab of honey as I am wont to. I saw the nice big chunk of white chocolate when I put the tea in, and really expected to see it again when it was done steeping, but it fully melted into the tea. Nice. With other teas I’ve “had to” fish chocolate bits out of the steeped leaves and add them to the tea in hopes of wringing more flavour out of them, so it was nice to see it was completely gone in two minutes. Overall, nice sweet tea, I’ll enjoy it while I have it.

This is the first oolong I’ve legit enjoyed. Honestly I started avoiding them because I often get this (for lack of a better word) “plasticky” aftertaste from them. I don’t have that here though, huzzah! Might be that I prefer darker oolongs, since I think my previous ones have all been fairly pale, so I’ll have to try more and see.

Anyway, the dry leaf smells amazing, I stood in the kitchen huffing the bag for perhaps a little longer than I care to admit. Dry leaf also looks very pretty with the bright safflower petals. The tea itself is lightly sweet, not in your face about it, just pleasantly mapley with a slight nuttiness. I added a bit of honey after the initial taste because I’m a honey fiend, but really, it was fine without it.

I’ve been drinking quite a lot of Oolong recently, and some of it has really challenged my assumptions about the variety. I thought for a long time, for example, that I didn’t like Oolong at all. Then I realised that mostly what I don’t like are dark or roasted oolongs, but lately I’m even beginning to wonder whether that’s true. Mostly because of teas like this one!

Read my full review here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2015/10/16/brown-sugar-organic-oolong-tea-leaf-co/

This + honey + almond milk = yummo. I found it a bit bitter without additions, which is likely my own fault because if I’m not oversteeping, I’m overleafing. Aside from that I don’t have much to say about this tea, it’s exactly as described, a creamy vanilla earl grey. I quite like it and may have to have a sip-off between it and DT’s Cream of Earl Grey.

This is the last of my freebies from Tea Leaf Co.‘s Instagram giveaway. I had tried it before, but not reviewed it. I’ve been so busy between work and taking care of an injured kitten my mom found. (Who is doing great and almost back to normal now.) She’s a little Tasmanian devil and can be seen ad nauseam on my Instagram. Link’s on my profile.

Now, this is a more darkly roasted oolong than what they used in Soul Good. The leaves are the color of dark chocolate, mixed with gorgeous scarlet safflower petals. It’s very pretty. The aroma reminds me so much of brown sugar oatmeal. The nuttiness of the oolong really plays that up. It’s definitely breakfast-y.

The brown sugar aspect is comforting and a little nostalgic. There’s something about it that kinda reminds me of pancake syrup. You know, the American kind with hardly any actual maple in it. All this pairs very well with the roasty but not smoky oolong. It’s a little on the hearty side, and while I’m drinking it iced, I feel it would be great hot on a cool fall morning. Definitely recommended.

Ugin the Spirit Dragon, aka my Betta, is a total weirdo. I have had a LOT of Bettas in my life, like seriously I have had over 20 in my life (I at once ran a sort of Betta rescue where I bought the saddest Betta at a pet store and attempted to nurse it back to health, but realized giving the stores money for ill treated fish was not in anyone’s best interest, at least I had happy fish at the time) and I know their various quirks and such. This one thinks its a catfish. Ugin will knock the food from the top of the water (Bettas are top feeders, meaning floating food) watch it as it sinks, and then flips vertical to eat them off the bottom of the tank, rummaging around in the substrate like the world’s most colorful catfish. Also, you get geek points if you know who Ugin is, as a hint, my Otoclinus catfish who shares his tank is name Sarkhan Vol.

Today’s blog is all about a tea that is kinda a last hurrah for summer, or at least for me it is. Tea Leaf Co’s Angel of Mine is a blend of White Tea and Roses, with natural essence. Now the reason I say this is a summer tea, roses for me just symbolize summer, that heady aroma reminds me of gardens and walks with my mom to the store. Totally specific memory, but on the way to the store there was a house that was really just roses that have taken over the house, they gave their last big bloom this time of year. The aroma of the tea is, unexpectedly, roses! Not nasty rose perfume, but the aroma of blooming roses, under this heady aroma is a tiny touch of crisp lettuce and melons.

Into my tea steeper thingy the leaves and petals go, making my little tea corner smell like blooming roses. The wet leaves definitely smell like roses, but also a nice crisp white tea, with notes of melon, sage, lettuce, and a bit of crushed vegetation. The liquid is a mellow blend of roses and white tea, one does not overpower the other, which is good.

Ah, this is such a nice, mellow, tea! Great for sipping when you want to relax with a pile of craft projects in front of you. Or a mountain of books. I love tea with roses, it might be one of my favorite additions to tea, so I like it when you can taste the roses without being overpowered by them, and this tea does that. The tea has roses throughout the entire sipping experience, but there is also a cooling note of melon and lettuce, with a note of sage at the finish. The finish is honey sweet with a lingering note of rose. This tea hit the spot, especially now that the evenings are getting cooler.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/08/tea-leaf-co-angel-of-mine-tea-review.html

Man, I am really enjoying Terraria again, which is kinda funny to me since when I quit last year I pretty much swore to never go back to the game. Not sure if it is my outlook that changed or if the new updates since I quit added that level of balance to the game that I felt was missing. Regardless the reason it has turned into a really distracting time sink, which is good because I am currently on hold with the whole moving thing. Hopefully in a week, maybe two, and since all my painting gear and most my tea gear is packed up, it gives me a really good outlet.

Today’s tea comes from Tea Leaf Co, specifically it is their tea Wish Upon A Star, a very pretty name that I am not really sure matches the tea, but you all know by now that I am always thinking teas and names do not blend perfectly, it is a quirk of mine! The tea is a blend of Tea (specifically some from China) Rosehips, Rose Petals, Orange Pieces, and Natural Essences, I have to admit the idea of rose and orange being blended together fills my mind with a few Persian themed deserts that I am now craving. The aroma is strong with the orange, specifically it smells like dried oranges and zest, with a touch of rosehip sourness, and a nice burst of sweet roses at the finish. If you are a rose hater, I can say that the rose does not overwhelm, it was Ben approved since usually he has to leave when I am steeping rose teas, he is sadly not a fan, but the aroma of this one did not scare him off.

Into ye ol’ steeping apparatus the leaves go! The aroma of the tea as it steeps is pretty orange-y, though once I pour off the tea and sniff the leaves themselves, the rosehips really show off. Strong sour and citrus notes waft out of the leaves, along with a delicate rose note. The liquid is quite mellow, with notes of orange and a touch of roses, with a very delicate note of distant smoke.

The tea is quite delicate, starting off with sweet and juicy notes of orange with a heady rose. Again the rose does not overwhelm, it is not like sitting in a rose garden, more like sitting next to a single cut rose. This moves to a slight sourness from the rosehips and finished with gentle honey sweetness. This tea is rather refreshing, a great summer time tea, I wish the green tea notes would have been stronger, but the orange and rose blended quite well for a seasonally appropriate sip.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/08/tea-leaf-co-wish-upon-star-tea-review.html

This was another freebie I won on Instagram. Yay!

The first thing I want to mention about this tea is that they actually used a nice oolong base. Some companies are bad about using low-grade, cheap oolongs since they plan on overpowering them with their flavorings anyway, but this is not the case! The dark green, semi-glossy leaves are rolled into cute little nuggets. They’re blended with a generous amount of minced dried ginger root and chunks of apple.

The aroma is heavenly. Bright, sweet, and apple-y with a heavy note of ginger ale. Now, the description calls this an apple cider oolong. I know when people think of apple cider, they often think of cinnamon. But no, it’s just apple, oolong, and ginger.

The flavor lives up the scent. It’s a well-rounded, slightly nutty, slightly floral oolong with a very natural and realistic red apple flavor. I can practically taste the peel! The ginger is present in the forefront but not overpowering by any means. I’m enjoying it over ice and it is so refreshing. I know I’ll be making an order with Tea Leaf Co eventually, and when I do, I’m definitely going to have to get this again.

Sipdown! This was full of flavour, but I think that the coconut was starting to go off a bit, since I detected some underlying tartness this time.

Getting close to finishing this tea off too. It’s good, but I’ve got a whole lotta David’s Pumpkin Chai now, as well as a whole lot of Golden Moon’s Masala Chai, so I want to sipdown some of the easy-to-finish stuff in my cupboard. Probably 1 or 2 more servings left.

When I first opened the package, I immediately smelled the spices and the orange peel, but I didn’t smell much coconut at first. However, I could definitely see big flakes of coconut in the dry leaf, along with flecks of ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, and orange peel. The leaf was just lovely to look at. Eventually, I did notice the smell of coconut, but it was light and faint at the back of my nose near my soft palate.

Full review at http://booksandtea.ca/2015/07/tea-leaf-co-tea-reviews/

The brewed smell was quite similar to the dried smell: sweet, soft, fruity, powdery. I added a spoonful of agave nectar (too much, I realized in retrospect) to the cup, which helped bring the flavour forward. The apple was gentle and appeared mostly on the back of my tongue. The ginger was there if I squinted, but it wasn’t that strong.

Full review at http://booksandtea.ca/2015/07/tea-leaf-co-tea-reviews/

Sipdown!

I made the rest of this tea in my iced tea pitcher and added some lemon-flavoured honey. I deliberately overleafed to get a strong flavour, and this way I could really taste the rooibos. I can smell the rose and mango, but couldn’t taste it that much. Ah well, I may restock this next summer.

The dry leaf for Jubilee was a mix of rose petals, calendula petals, green rooibos, and mango pieces. The smell was like ripe, juicy mango edging into overripeness. In the back, contributing to that overripe smell was the rose, adding a bit of tartness, and the calendula, adding a bit of floral peachiness.

Full review at http://booksandtea.ca/2015/07/tea-leaf-co-tea-reviews/

There is something incredibly hypnotic about this time of year, something sleepy and just a little bit magical. The air gets heavy with heat, humidity, and the sound of cicadas, the sky goes from brilliant blue to a perpetual haze, and the storms are not as frequent but when they do show they are full of heat fueled lightning. It has been mostly rainy and cool (for the Midwest) this year, and I have been very glad for it, and it seems the current heatwave will be over by Tuesday (hooray!) meaning back to nice coolish summer weather. Also luckily my cold seems to definitely be on the way out, clearly medicinal Minecraft helped yesterday.

Today is a day for Brown Sugar by Tea Leaf Co, and now that song is stuck in my head, fun side story, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure fourth arc has my favorite character, Bruno Buccellati whose Stand (magic superpower, let’s just go with that, it would take too long to explain) is called Sticky Fingers, his name is a reference to Brown Sugar and his Stand is a reference to the Rolling Stones album the song is from…and it is probably one of the few Rolling Stones songs I like. So that totally random rambling aside, this tea is a blend of Dark Oolong (the smoky tones make me think it is maybe a Wuyi) Natural Essences, and Safflowers. The aroma of the leaves smells like Canada, or at least what Canada is thought to smell like: maple syrup, campfires, burnt sugar, and more sweetness…that is totally what Canada smells like, right? It smells yummy, I certainly hope that Canada smells like this!

Into ye old steeping apparatus the leaves and petals go. Fun fact, thanks to the inspiration of my instagram friends, when I move and have my own tea room, it will be called the Tea Lab, so my pseudo-alchemy equipment will fit perfectly. So, after steeping the aroma takes on a surprising note of stewed plums with a distinct caramelized brown sugar note, hah, name drop! Blend in maple syrup and molasses and a touch of smoke for a sugary sweet explosion. The liquid is a sweet blend of caramel, brown sugar, maple syrup, and campfire, wow what an impressively sweet tea!

The taste is intense! So many sugary notes without actually being grossly sweet, it is the taste of caramel and brown sugar, burnt sugar and smoke, and a touch of plums. I like how it tastes of sweetness but only has a hint of sweetness, that is a really neat effect. The finish of the tea is a lingering sweetness and smokiness, like eating plums roasted over a campfire.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/07/tea-leaf-co-brown-sugar-tea-review.html

Hair dye can be very very messy, I had forgotten that little fact. I have become very proficient in dying my hair blue and not making a giant mess, heck I barely ever need to clean the sink after I am done. I must be off tonight (well duh, I am still a bit tired after a 37 hour bought of insomnia, but whatever, hair dye!) because I got it EVERYWHERE. I dropped the bottle and kept spilling it, which sucked! I ended up having to bleach the sink and floor, and scrub my skin…which is double suck because the dye I use has aloe and I have to be REALLY careful not to get it on my skin. Hmph. So I sit and let my dye set, a perfect time to blog!

Today I am looking at Best Zest from Tea Leaf Co, I knew from the moment I opened the bag and sniffed the tea…this is a tea that needs cold steeping. A blend of Lemongrass, Ginger, and Tulsi, it smells so refreshing, and with it being so hot lately (I miss my cool rainy weather) I wanted that refreshing citrus cold…preferably in a dainty crystal glass. The aroma is super awesome, strong herbal and green notes of Tulsi, it is like basil but not, it has that slightly green and sharp notes of basil without the actual basil smell. Also sweet and green notes of lemongrass (so weird that I love that stuff now) and a hint of ginger heat and spice. It smells like a summer day to me!

I want you all to know that Tao is vigorously pawing at the window, it is her way of telling me she wants it open, but Tao is unaware that it is still really hot out and I am not losing any of my precious AC. So, I am sure this tea would be fantastic hot, but I clearly made the best choice ever, because when it is hot sometimes you really just want a cool thing to sip before bed, and a cold steeped herbal is awesome. The Tulsi notes are what come in the strongest with this slightly peppery herbal greenness, with just that hint of basiliness (new word, yay!) and a tiny bit of anise like taste. This moves on to a very refreshing burst of lemongrass which is like a sweet blend of lemon and a touch of hay, just think mild lemonade with a grassy sweetness. Lastly is the ginger which adds an internal warmth to the back of the throat and stomach and prevented my stomach from having a freakout like it does sometimes with cold stuff, so yay for the powers of warming chi! I am going to have to get a LOT more of this tea, it is great as a last cup on a sweltering night, flavorful while being mild, cooling while also being warming.

For photos and blog: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/07/tea-leaf-co-best-zest-tea-review.html

I won this tea on Instagram in a giveaway! Thanks a bunch, Tea Leaf Co! They let me pick out three blends from their site, and so far I have been very impressed! It was super hard to narrow it down to three. Seriously. There were like eight I wanted.

I had to pick the coconut chai. There’s no way I could resist. Upon opening the envelope, I’m greeted by a powerful and delicious aroma that reminds me very much of Zhena’s Gypsy Tea’s version. However, this decadent blend is mixed with orange peel, which I don’t think I’ve ever had in a chai. It’s sliced very thin, but in large pieces mixed throughout with coconut shavings and the usual chai spices. The cardamom is only broken up slightly, leaving almost whole pods here and there. Mmmm.

I’m having it iced, with a splash of 1% milk. The cinnamon and ginger are in the forefront, making me think of a gingerbread man. Clove and coconut follow, and finally I taste black tea and a tiny hint of the orange peel. Stephanie from Tea Leaf Co warned me that this chai wasn’t super coconutty, which is true, but I don’t mind one bit. It’s wonderful.

This is going on my re-order list… especially since Tea Leaf Co. has a sleepy-time valerian tea. I have to try that!

I had been warned that I would be blown away when I opened the bag, so I purposefully did not unseal it until I was ready to brew it. Delicious aroma – mostly brown sugar, a little maple. I think I could have been happy just smelling it all day but I know you want to know about the flavor too.

The color of the leaf was dark, almost like a black tea so I knew that it would be very oxidized (my favorite). I love seeing safflowers in leaf; they add such a pretty touch. I honestly don’t know what they do flavor wise but remember, we eat with our eyes first and my eyes were really feasting on this. I picked the cup and saucer for the shoot based on the safflower color.

The color of the brewed tea was remarkable. It was a golden orange color that reminded me of sunsets over the ocean.
Full review and photos: https://tealover.net/2015/07/tea-leaf-co-brown-sugar/

This blend really intrigued me because it says apple cider oolong…
Had to try it :)
The blended/flavoring of this is more complex than most oolong blends that I have tasted. It is as if it has been infused with cider itself. Personally, the aroma of this tea is off putting and I really dislike smelling it each time I go to drink from it; but as a drink, the taste is quite nice. Being as complex as it is on my taste buds, as in hard to decipher what all is going on, I find myself wanting to sip more of this unlike other blends that I don’t understand that tend to not invite me back to another sip.The leaf looks nice and the apple pieces are rather large compared to what I have seen. I am thankful that the amount of ginger isn’t to the point of drying my mouth out, though there is a semi dryness from it (I experience this with every ginger tea so far though).