Tea Leaf Co

Edit Company

Recent Tasting Notes

drank Rock Star by Tea Leaf Co
1 tasting notes

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

74
drank Rock Star by Tea Leaf Co
921 tasting notes

Ah, Sunday, my least favorite day of the week. No mail, half the restaurants are closed, and everywhere closes early. I know I am just being a spoiled brat, but I have been looking forward to having some sushi for quite a while, things just keep panning out that I could not have that delicious food that I so desired…until today! Ben left to fetch me a favorite treat but came back sad, alas, it is Sunday (we both keep thinking it is a day different than it actually is, I blame his new work schedule) meaning the restaurant was closed. I feel much like a sad, molting, parrot.

Today we are taking a look at Tea Leaf Co’s Rock Star, a white tea blend of blueberries and Bai Mu Dan, I do not drink as many blended teas as I used to (for shame) but I still get excited when I find a new blueberry blend, since it is frequently my favorite. To be listed among blueberry blends that I like, it has to taste like sweet fresh blueberries, not nasty tart unripe blues, honestly this is one of the few things I do not mind if it tastes extra sweet like blueberry muffins or blueberry candy, I really like my berries to be sweet. Looking at the ingredients, it turns out the berries in question are actually dried Elderberries, and the blueberries come from blueberry essence, which is interesting. The aroma is rather strongly in the blueberry camp, strong sweet blueberry with a tart undertone, and a finish of fresh vegetation and crisp lettuce. Bai Mu Dan always smells a bit like lettuce to me, making it seem crisp and fresh.

The now thoroughly soggy brewed up leaves take on a richer aroma, with notes of lettuce, a touch of pepper, loam, and of course a blend of sweet blueberries and tart elderberries. These last two notes seem pretty even with each other, the sweet does not overpower the tart and vice versa. The liquid is honey sweet, with notes of, well, honey, and of course blueberries and a touch of fresh green.

The taste is rather soothing and light, not a strong tea, the primary note that reigns supreme is honey and gentle vegetation. There is a tiny bit of pepper and loam, and a finish of sweet blueberries that linger well after the sipping has finished. The blueberry is pretty mild, but happily it is a sweet blueberry taste, which is good since I am not a fan of the tart. So, this was an enjoyable tea, it did not wow me, but I did enjoy it, I think also it could make a really tasty ice tea, if you are into that kinda thing.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/04/tea-leaf-co-rock-star-tea-review.html

masked185

Haha I’m the strange opposite. I wish more things closed down on Sundays. In general I wish it was like the olden times when on the weekend practically nothing was open. I’m the oddball like that though and kinda a hermit when I’m able to be.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

87
drank Jubilee by Tea Leaf Co
1 tasting notes

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

80
drank Soul Good by Tea Leaf Co
921 tasting notes

It has just come to my attention that this is my 500th blog post, since I only just noticed this I did not come up with an epic plan or some celebration, oops. Ok, I lied, I did celebrate, the only way I know how! I celebrated by acquiring more Scourge because I HAVE AN ADDICTION!! Also I found out who my first match is in the league…it is the most experienced guy at Tabletop, whose PHR army I have admired for a while, and who is totally going to stomp me into oblivion. But I wanted to play against his PHR as a way to see if I wanted to take them up as a second army, so go me!

Onward to Oolong Week! Today we are having a looksie at Tea Leaf Co’s (or TeaLC if you prefer) Soul Good, a blend of Oolong (of the green variety) Apple Pieces, Ginger, and Natural Essence, all of these are certified organic. I found myself rather intrigued by the idea of mixing a green oolong and apples together, fruit and flowers just sound pleasant in my mind. And the aroma is quite floral, with notes of orchid and hyacinth, and then hello chestnut and of course apples. The blend of spices and apples give it a cider feel, which is fun mixed with flowers.

I decided to do a kinda psuedo gongfu thing, mixing western and eastern steeping styles, which seems like fun with this kind of blended tea. The aroma of the soggy leaves is a blend of flowers and fruit, though not a fruit I was expecting! There is the apple and spice, orchid and…cantaloupe? This is not the first time I have had an apple tea smell like melon, so my nose did not do as big of a double take as it maybe should have. The liquid is a blend of warm apple cider, ginger, orchids, and a bit of distant melon at the finish.

The taste of this tea is an interesting thing. It starts off with a blend of sweet and tart apples, it wavers more towards tart as it moves to the midtaste, the ginger pops up in the midtaste as well. Around the end the blend of flowers and melon show back up, specifically orchid and cantaloupe, ah cantaloupe, my least favorite melon (maybe? I used to hate watermelon and now I love it, tastes are weird) but I admit that I do not hate it, it blends really well with the orchid and lingering apples. I am a bit wishy washy on this tea, I am not a fan of tart apples, so I wish it would have been all sweet, all the time, but I did really like the balance of spice and flowers.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/03/tea-leaf-co-soul-good-tea-review.html

Sil

grats!!

Ubacat

Congratulations on 500 notes!

OMGsrsly

Congratulations!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

82

Is there a world outside my desk? I seem to have lost track of it! I only say this because I have spent more or less every waking moment painting my Sourge army the past couple days, and I can say so far they look glorious! I am so much happier with my current paint scheme, to sum it up in two words, how about ‘chitinous’ and ‘biomech’ just as a little spoiler. You can all bet that when I am finished I will be showing them off. Part of my reason for the rush is I am joining my local gaming store’s Dropzone Commander League, I was not sure I was going to be able to, but as an early birthday present to himself Ben is paying both our way in. Sometimes, he really is too much.

Today I am giving myself a little TeaLC with Stay Calm and Relax, and herbal blend of Lavender, Chamomile, and Cinnamon, which I admit sounds like a fascinating blend of things. Also I could use the relaxing aspect of a flowery tea since I have felt progressively worse, yuck! But enough about me, how about you pretty pile of flowers, how do you smell? It smells both comforting and pretty, intensely heady lavender mix with the straw like floral notes of the chamomile, these are joined by warm and sweet cinnamon at the finish. I am not sure how much credit I give the health aspects of aromatherapy, but I can certainly get behind the emotional aspects, and let me say, lavender is one of those smells that just makes me feel so peaceful.

You know, I noticed something a little odd from the wet leaves, other than I always forget how plump chamomile flowers get, I noticed that there is a slightly yeasty, almost cake batter like aroma coming from them. How neat, though odd. Other than this cake batter note, there is the distinct floral explosion that is lavender. The liquid is primarily chamomile with lavender following close behind and cinnamon bringing up the rear.

Tasting time! I love how it has a slight purple tinge to the liquid, it is one of my favorite thing about lavender teas. So here is the sad-ish truth of the matter, I have noticed that teas that have that much lavender in them tend to be a bit on the bitter side, but this is also one of the few type of teas that I break my ‘rules’ such as they are and add a nice dollop of honey to. There is something really delicious about drinking warm chamomile, lavender, cinnamon tea with wildflower honey, they play of the sweetness of each other, the cinnamon warms you up to your core, and that lavender lingers forever in the aftertaste. I seem to really be on an herbal kick lately, something about this time of year seems to bring that out in me, probably because they are full of flowers!

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/02/tea-leaf-co-stay-calm-and-relax-tea.html

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

82
drank Jubilee by Tea Leaf Co
921 tasting notes

So, I went to the doctors yesterday, mostly a maintenance visit, but also in hopes that he could do something about my insomnia (previous treatment had stopped working) and to send to me an allergy specialist. Both things worked wonderfully, I have a referral and some fancy new medicine to make me go night-night. I have mixed feelings on the meds themselves, on the one hand I slept for 14 hours (wow!) but on the other the act of falling asleep was rather unpleasant, so we shall see how that goes. My reason for sharing this with you is because I only woke up an hour ago, and hopefully this blog won’t be too loopy sounding!

So, today we are looking at Jubilee! No, not the (kinda terrible) X-men character who is rarely useful (especially if you are getting your info from the 90s animated show) but TeaLC’s colorful herbal blend. One thing this tea has in common with that Jubilee is the colorful fireworks in the tea, or at the very least a colorful blend of (all organic) Green Rooibos, Rose Petals, Mango Pieces, Calendula, Orange Peel, Apple Pieces, and Natural Essence. I am a sucker for colorful herbal teas, something about blending vibrant flower and fruit bits just makes me happy, which is probably the reason I would do just that as a kid with flowers from my mom’s garden, sometimes I would get really lucky and end up with a tasty tea. The aroma of this blend is a mixture of flowers, fruit, and Green Rooibos, which smells and tastes very different from its red counterpart, it has a sweet honey and straw aroma, with just a tiny hint of grass. The rose aroma blends well with the mango and citrus, giving the tea a tropical feel.

Giving the tea a steeping in my tea apparatus, the aroma that drifts out with the steam is much rosier and fruitier, with mango taking center stage, after this initial burst of sweet honey and freshly mown straw. The liquid is sweet and very heavy in the citrus department, along side this strong orange note is rose and straw, it smells quite fun, like a summer garden party.

I was pleasantly surprised by how delicate this tea is, but that seems to be the case every time I drink a blend with Green Rooibos, I am so used to Rooibos being so strong that its delicate green side surprises me. The taste starts as a delicate blend of roses and straw with a touch of honey sweetness, this transitions to sweet oranges and a touch of mango. This touch of mango gradually builds into a heavy mango explosion as it finally ends the sip, as expected the mango lingers as the aftertaste for quite a while, no complaints here since mangoes are one of my favorite fruits. So yes, even though this tea shares its name with a very lame (though useful at summer parties) X-men character, it is memorable and enjoyable.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/02/tea-leaf-co-jubilee-tea-review.html

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

100

I’m back, baby! Yeah, yeah, I had to start out with a Futurama quote, I mean how could I not? I am typing from my new computer and Bender is a walking computer, so it fits. It is good to have my own computer again, even if technically I am renting it until I have it paid back, well kinda, I am telling Ben it is our computer meaning he can use it whenever he wants, and once I have it paid back it will be mine, all mine, MWAHAHAHA. Yours truly is weird when it comes being in debt, and Ben makes sure to tell me I am being ridiculous quite often. The computer is pretty great, I have determined that I can definitely play Minecraft on it (thank the tech gods!) and the keyboard is the perfect size for my tiny hands. However this computer has possible the worst speakers and mouse I have ever used, the speakers I have an immediate fix for, but I lack an external mouse. I plan on somehow scrounging up some money and buying a Logitech Trackball mouse again, it was the one I used for years with my old desktop and I adored it.

Enough of the computer talk though, this is not a tech blog (well it is kind of a geek blog) it is a tea blog, and it is always time for tea! Today’s tea goes out to all my snowed in people on the East Coast (I am so jealous of your snow) Tea Leaf Co’s (Tea LC) Golden Sun Kiss, Organic Citrus Oolong. This is a blend of Oolong (specifically from Wuyi) Citrus Peel and Slices, and Natural Essence. The essence made me rather excited, because it means that most likely the tea will smell like intense citrus instead of the bathroom spray favored by my grandparents once upon a time (best bathroom air freshener ever, but do not want my consumables tasting like it) now don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with artificial flavors and such, I love candy as much as the next person, there are just certain flavors that I do not like, and orange is one of those. So, giving the leaves a sniff and whoa, hello Orange Julius! In case you live in part of the world where those don’t exist (I am so sorry) it is a mix of ice cream and orange juice for a super creamy cup of yum…you can also say it smells like orange sherbet. It very much so mixes creamy notes and orange, under these notes are delicate honeysuckle and a tiny touch of earthiness. Me likes the way this smells, but I am a sucker for Orange Julius (Julii is the correct plural I believe.)

I decided to go Western style for this one, though it was tempting to brew it Gongfu style because it is an Oolong and I find myself always drawn to breaking out the gaiwans. The leaves look quite lovely in my little steeping apparatus (if I start calling it the Alchemy steeper, will you know what I mean, I use it so often that hopefully so.) The leaves have that same delightful Orange Julius aroma along with pepper, sweet cream, distant blooming honeysuckles and a touch of orchids, and lastly a tiny bit of grapefruit. The liquid, well, I burned the tip of my nose because I stuck it in the tea, such a graceful creature am I! The aroma is very sweet, a blend of cream, a touch of citrus, and a distinct aroma of orange blossoms, it is delightfully floral and citrus, reminding me of my orange blossom water that I occasional bathe with. The very definition of decadent.

So funny story, as is usual I tasted this tea and wrote notes about it before I wrote the blog, at the time of tasting (it was yesterday, as those who instagram stalk me know) Ben was home, relaxing a bit before work, when I take my first sip and make such a racket that he insisted on having some, at first I refused to share and then relented. I was reluctant because about I would say 80% of Oolongs Ben does not care for, but he took a sip and said ‘That actually tastes really good’ and handed my cup back to me. So always nice to find a tea that one of the most picky tea sippers I know actually likes. As for how it actually tastes, well, it tastes like an Orange Julius mixed with delightfully floral tea, it is primarily fresh oranges and vanilla cream, this creaminess lasts into the midtaste, and the the finish is flowers. Specifically it is a blend of orange blossoms and honeysuckle, the honeysuckle lingers into the aftertaste for quite a while. In case you are a person who wants a little tea romance for Valentines Day, Tea LC is having a neat little Teagram promo, always a fan of themed promotions.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/01/tea-leaf-co-golden-sun-kiss-tea-review.html

Dr Jim

If you’re jealous, send a truck and you can have a few tons of snow from my driveway.

TeaNecromancer

Hehe, I am tempted! I love snow, but this year Kansas City has gotten like two inches, tops.

DeliriumsFrogs

That tea sounds sooooo goood! My daughter made a berry smoothie today, which for some reason has made me think of orange julius all day long (seriously, typing this out right now is making my mouth water.. haha!).

Login or sign up to leave a comment.