Nature's Tea Leaf

Second steep. Cherry dissipates pretty quickly, but it still leaves the nice pu-erh base. Not too muddy tasting.

And of course, it tastes better because…
a) it’s warm enough to taste it outside while watching laundry on the line fluttering gently in the sunshine
b) it’s sipped in the company of Tazo, our free-range, no-strings-attached, no-obligation yard cat. (Solid black. Citrus green eyes. Tazo just fit. No special emotional attachments to the brand.)
c) it’s accompanied by fresh brownies and a fistful of malted milk eggs.

Amazing what happens when you read the directions. Two teaspoons. I had been way underleafing. Done properly (well, I never know if I’m doing pu-erh properly…) it tastes like a good slab of cherry pie.

Based on the NTL varieties I have tried, the one thing I’ve observed they consistently do well is create real-tasting fruit flavors. Not a bit of artificiality about this one.

Contentment. Warm, full, mildly sleepy, schlepping around in sweats in the early afternoon.

This tea is as cozy as your favorite fleece blanket. The earthy pu-erh is a perfect base for the cherry flavor. Gives it a wonderful black cherry personality. Not artificial tasting at all. Another Nature’s Tea Leaf winner!

Last of the packet. If you’re aching for something spring-y and perky to shake up tastebuds that have been dulled by too many mornings of heavy builders tea, this is.

Close to a sipdown on this one, but it has been a great occasional change-of-pace tea with apple-accurate flavor. Real peel, not Jolly Rancher. Because it requires a short-ish steep time, probably better for elevenses or afternoon instead of early morning, but it has a lovely refreshing personality.

Ever have one of those weeks where you feel like you’ve been tied with a bungee to the back of an emotional roller coaster car and drug up and down the tracks?

Yeah.

Then you know what a blessing a full, deep night’s sleep can be. So for a change, a full-strength, industrial grade morning cuppa wasn’t necessary. Instead, opted for something with a little “refresh” in its personality. This is; a little astringent (makes me keep licking my lips) and the apple-peel bitterness that makes this tea distinct.

Anybody try this sweetened? I keep forgetting.

Turned off the alarm clock, sweet spouse let me sleep in, so I didn’t need open-yer-eyes-you-lazy-clod tea this morning for a change. This is pleasant, not too tart, but not artificially sweet. Tastes real.

If spring ever gets here, I would like to try this iced before my sample gets all sampled up.

Revisited; actually watched the timer this time; improved results.

It’s always a pleasure to drink a fruit-flavored tea that accurately replicates its namesake. This does—not Jolly Rancher Green Apple candy, authentic green apple. Mouth tastes and feels like I’ve been crunching on a Granny Smith.

Somewhere in the back recesses of my cupboard I think I’ve got a leeeetle bit of Adagio caramel left. I’m thinking a little mix-and-match magic might be fun later today…

I oversteeped this, so I’m going to do it right before I make a final conclusion.

This morning at 4-5 minutes instead of 2-3 minutes, it tastes like Granny Smith apple peel, rather than apple itself. (I don’t do peel.) A little bitter. There’s potential here, though. Do-overs needed and pleasantly anticipated.

Bitter brew may suit me…yesterday was one of those days when everything that came out of my mouth was gall and wormwood. Just a taste of my own medicine :)

With so many teas at my fingertips I seem to have focused on this one for the last few mornings. It is a light, mildly vegetal green that also manages a hint of fruitiness. Not sure what my water temp is but the hot tap from the water cooler seems to be the perfect temp for this one. Everyday I look at the selection in front of me and every day I choose this. Yum!

Tazo the cat said I needed a cup of this today. (Yes, he’s still outdoors.) And then promptly tried to keep me from drinking it by head-butting my hands until I petted him according to his specifications. Both hands, full attention.

If you like cream in your tea, or sweet and pastry flavorings, this is one to try. Best with a very light touch on temp and time to keep the milk from tasting like hot milk, if that makes sense.

The sweet condensed-milk flavor in this is so strong, it rates a “weird,” but a good weird. Bet you haven’t tried anything like it! (And if you like dairy, creamy, caramelly, desserty teas, you need to try it.)

I half-and-halved it with some basic unflavored Ceylon and that cut the strength to just about perfect.

This is interesting stuff! Good interesting, not the “interesting” you use as a polite adjective you use to avoid hurting somebody’s feelings. The dry leaves smell pleasantly of Carnation Evaporated Milk.

And that’s the flavor that comes through pretty strongly—more milk/sugar with a little tea in it instead of tea with a little milk/sugar in it. And enough caffeine to get you out the door to do what has to be done. (It’s looking like a has-to-be-done day.)

Denise from Nature’s Tea Leaf mentioned that this one is a good blender-inner. Looking forward to trying that soon.

After a crazy morning getting my reviewer sample information to our packaging folks I thought I’d make myself a nice big cup of Organic Silver Needle. I don’t have this one often but when I do I am never disappointed. The smooth mellow flavor that has just a hint of fruity sweetness makes me go back for sip after sip. As an NTL employee I will refrain from rating.

Someone left a window open in my office last night so I have had a chill all morning. I grabbed my trusty bamboo spoon and tea maker and went into the tea room (not unlike the chocolate room in Willy Wonka minus the oompa loompas). I decided on the Gunpowder Green since I haven’t had it yet. Let it steep about 90 seconds. The brewed tea was bronze in color and the flavor was just what I needed. Warm, mellow with the teensiest hint of smoke. A very nice mouth feel with no astringency. Definitely a warmer upper.

My first infusion had a more vegetal quality than I prefer. It’s amazing how much flavor one can extract in 60 seconds. The 2nd was absolutely perfect “for me” at about 75 seconds. I won’t be providing a rating since I am an employee of NTL.

Big ol’ nuggety leaves. Lovely antique gold angel-hair color, steeped. (Stereotypical angels, that is; I firmly believe angels are really huge muscle-bound Navy Seal types; scary looking dudes. Check the Christmas story—first phrases out of the angel’s mouth is, “Don’t be afraid!”)

Enough preaching. Truth is, this was a sweet and pleasant oolong, but it didn’t wow me like the other Nature’s Tea Leaf samples I’ve tried. (Their Fujian Congou is superlative.) I didn’t get “audacious” as put forth in the tea description. I’ll have to play around with it a bit in the event I was too chintzy with the leaf. (When I don’t get a good result the first time around, that’s generally my problem.)

Chasing nine-year-olds up and down multiple flights of stairs on a church campus nearly two blocks long can wear on a body…so my body pflumped down in a chair with a cup of gentle, modestly grainy, faintly sweet Silver Needle and reveled in the quietness. I’m still not a white tea devotee, but this has enough personality I don’t feel like I’m drinking plain kettle water.

I bet I’m the only VBS teacher you know who was reprimanded for cheating during rec time. Object of the game was to throw foam balls, soft Frisbees, and other safe projectiles into the other team’s side; “cleanest” side when Miss Sammye yells “Freeze!” wins the game. We were playing kids vs. teachers, and I decided to strategize. Rather than run around fetching debris, I suggested that we play smart—simply gather the goods when they came our way, fail to throw it back, then dump it over the opposing line at the last minute. Brilliance. My timing was a little off, though—I unloaded on the “eeze” of freeze. (I am unrepentant. It was a blast.)

Though white tea is in the lower end of my favorite flavor scale, this is definitely my favorite white tea ever. It tastes. Sweet hay. Smells like a barn on the first day of spring it’s warm enough to leave your jacket on the hook.

I need to clear my head of too much work, too much sugar, too many hormones, too many looming holidays…etc. Thought something light might start the clearing process, so I broke into my sample pack.

The leaves are so lush and phloofy, you want to lay your weary head in a pillow of them. Love the 5 minute steep time, and the fact that there’s some flavor at the end of the wait. Sweet hay and wheat straw. (You know me, I don’t care for teas that make you fish for the taste.)

I don’t think I’ll ever be a white tea addict, but this one makes me a white tea appreciator.

Drinking the cold steep: This is quite nice! I think I like it better this way than hot…hah.

It tastes like Christmas, sort of like if you could actually drink a nice, light cinnamony Christmas candle without the wax. This sounds so weird, but I mean seriously, it has this really green note that almost comes off like pine needles.

Next time: a full cold steep, no steeping the leaves beforehand, and steeping for around 20 hours instead of just overnight. I always don’t want to cold steep my oolongs but somehow it makes them even more incredible!

My internet is acting so weird. When I get knocked off my connection and I pull down the menu, I can tell that all the other people with comcast lost theirs too. Blahhh wind.

This tea left my infuser overflowing with leaves! Which actually is probably not a good thing but they seemed to maintain a nice gap for water.

This is really good. It’s floral, and spicy, and just what I needed tonight. A nice mix of sweet and spicy to keep you warm while you sit in bed trying to be warm, because you disagree with your thermostat on the temperature but don’t want to pay the bill for this disagreement. The cinnamon isn’t too strong, which surprises me given the bits of cinnamon stick in the tea. I love it.

I think I was a bit apprehensive about this blend when all the samples from Nature’s Tea Leaf came, but this is really great. I think I still have 2 others, I misplaced them but they are found now. I’m still missing a couple teas from other places that I wish I could find. But I’m glad I started off again with this one!

I am definitely going to put these leaves into water to cold steep overnight though, just need socks.

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

I don’t drink white tea all that often because it’s so expensive. However, when I got this tea as a sample I was excited to try it because as common as silver needle is – I barely ever have it.

I made sure to use plenty of leaf when infusing. The first time that I steeped this, it was supposed to be for 4-5 minutes but I got distracted and it was probably closer to 7. I was worried the tea would be bitter, but thankfully it wasn’t. It was smooth as ever. I guess white tea is more forgiving than green tea.

This tea is soft and creamy, but definitely not too light, like some other white teas might be. I’m getting a nice buttery taste as well. There’s lots of flavor in this, as long as your are sure to use enough leaf.

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

I’m not that experienced with black teas beyond the basic Assam and Darjeeling, but I was excited to try this and expand my horizons. I didn’t steep this for too long for fear the bitterness would ruin my enjoyment. There is also a smokey undertone, but it’s definitely different than a Lapsang, where it’s not overwhelming.

This tea has some complexity to it. As others have mentioned, I am getting the cocoa and malty notes. It’s definitely a hearty and enjoyable tea on it’s ownn

Because it’s so strong and hearty, I decided to throw some soy milk in there to see how the taste changes. The milk definitely smooths out the harsher tones and it becomes more of a silky treat. It almost now tastes like a mild coffee to me.

Both ways are enjoyable in their own way. I look forward to exploring teas like this more.