Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Assam Black Tea, Bergamot Oil, Blue Cornflowers, Ceylon Black Tea, Jasmine, Spearmint
Flavors
Bergamot, Bread, Citrus, Citrus Zest, Malt, Mint, Spearmint, Sweet, Tannic, Tea, Floral, Jasmine, Astringent, Drying, Bitter
Sold in
Bulk, Loose Leaf, Sachet
Caffeine
High
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Shae
Average preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 4 min, 0 sec 7 g 13 oz / 379 ml

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13 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Strange. Thought I had reviewed this one already. It’s hot out. So this one just made sense. Thank you Shae for the sample! It’s a good blend for a hot day. Brisk black tea along with hints of...” Read full tasting note
    71
  • “I still have a few samplers from this company in my stash I’ve been trying to work through. The company suggested this one as an iced tea, so that is how I prepared it — I used the full 7.5g...” Read full tasting note
    79
  • “Shae’s ADVENT CALENDAR, December 5 Where to start? I am writing this note about 3 hours after finishing my cup. I was in hurry making a picture, so it’s pretty much simple (I like it anyway), but...” Read full tasting note
    81
  • “My friend dropped off three Piper and Leaf samples this morning. I steeped a sample, resteeped, added sugar, and put it in the fridge to chill. I waited a few hours to try it, but honestly all...” Read full tasting note

From PIPER & LEAF Artisan Tea Co.

SOPHISTICATED. MINTY. FLORAL.

Drifting jasmine, a minty breeze; true southern classic.

Ingredients: Ceylon Black Tea, Assam Black Tea, Spearmint, Jasmine, Cornflowers, Bergamot Oil

Brew 1 tsp in 212 degree water for 3 minutes

https://piperandleaf.com/product/front-porch-special/

About PIPER & LEAF Artisan Tea Co. View company

Company description not available.

13 Tasting Notes

71
1233 tasting notes

Strange. Thought I had reviewed this one already. It’s hot out. So this one just made sense. Thank you Shae for the sample! It’s a good blend for a hot day. Brisk black tea along with hints of lemon and slight varnish under tones that linger with the bits of astringency. It was okay hot this morning but I’m liking it better cold.

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79
1216 tasting notes

I still have a few samplers from this company in my stash I’ve been trying to work through. The company suggested this one as an iced tea, so that is how I prepared it — I used the full 7.5g sampler to make a quart of iced tea. I steeped it hot, then chilled it in the fridge.

At least with this preparation, I’m getting a rich malty flavor but no drying/astrigent qualities (though I have a feeling it might be a bit bitey if it were steeped hot and drunk right away). This isn’t the sort of bold Earl Grey I was imagining, though I do taste the bergamot; it feels a bit gentler than I’ve seen in some blends (though it could just be the preparation, this may be my first time drinking a bergamot-flavored tea iced!) and is reading more as a vibrant citrusy note, as if I added lemon and lime wedges to my pitcher. What I really enjoyed about this, though, was how the bergamot was blending with the flavor of spearmint; the spearmint was so crisp and refreshing, and made a lovely flavor pairing alongside the citrusy bergamot, bringing out a slight mojito effect. I didn’t get any floral notes from the tea, despite the addition of jasmine in the ingredients.

Not sure how this would compare if taken straight up and hot, but it does make a refreshingly solid iced tea!

Flavors: Bergamot, Bread, Citrus, Citrus Zest, Malt, Mint, Spearmint

Preparation
Iced 4 min, 0 sec 7 g 32 OZ / 946 ML
Shae

I know not everyone loves this blend, but I enjoy this one (especially iced). I’ve never really thought of this as an Earl Grey, so that could be why I like it so much – no expectations. My brother usually adds a bag of Twinings Earl Grey to his large pitchers of sweet tea and, even though I probably wouldn’t be able to pick out the bergamot if I didn’t know it was in there, it does add something special to the tea. I think of the bergamot here as more of an accent in that way.

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81
1839 tasting notes

Shae’s ADVENT CALENDAR, December 5

Where to start? I am writing this note about 3 hours after finishing my cup. I was in hurry making a picture, so it’s pretty much simple (I like it anyway), but there isn’t any view of blend today. The official image is right though!

I read a note from Shae it’s great iced/cold. I was quite confused as I preapred cold brewed tea once and well, it was pretty much okay.

It’s not plain tea which is a plus and honestly it surprsied me how many notes are already here on Steepster. It seems quite average, so let’s see. The aroma of dry leaf indeed reminded me iced teas available here (read: sugary drinks which aren’t with tea at all, I wonder if it is different over there). On sweet side. But I really like blue cornflowers in the tea. They made me smile right in the morning.

I have used only one teaspoon, to avoid bitterness and too much tannic note.
I think it went great and after 3-4 minutes steep (till I finished the photo session) it was just right. The aroma was same, just stronger and taste was indeed like iced teas! I really think it can work perfectly as iced/cold brewed tea. It was mellow, yet brisk, like with added sugar/stevia maybe and bit citrusy. Not really sure about the bergamot (it wasn’t calling me I am like an Earl Grey), but it was nice. The mint didn’t get any cooling effect for me, but maybe it was too little for me or just not that prominent. I didn’t get any jasmine.

Notes to self: To re-try iced/cold brewed. Keep an eye on clock more carefully.
Photo: https://flic.kr/p/2kdxGyy
Song pairing: https://www.jamendo.com/track/896970/reality-bites

Flavors: Citrus, Sweet, Tannic, Tea

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 10 OZ / 300 ML
White Antlers

Your Jamendo track reminded me of Bill Bragg:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uNeMY89wxs

ashmanra

I like the photo, Martin! I find it hard to get good ones. I tried taking some for Sororitea Sisters reviews but I am not good at it. Plus I always ended up seeing dog hair somewhere in the scene! Ha ha! The song is nice and sounds like something I would love to listen to in summer for the uplift!

White Antlers

ashmanra LOL! I sell on Ebay and am always checking my photos for cat hair.

AJRimmer

Ha, when I was selling on eBay, I just gave up on getting rid of the cat hair and put a note in each auction saying that there would probably be hair on the product.

ashmanra

You guys are so funny! I guess if I sold things I could say it came from a home with a non-smoking dog, but that is about the best I could promise.

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3226 tasting notes

My friend dropped off three Piper and Leaf samples this morning. I steeped a sample, resteeped, added sugar, and put it in the fridge to chill. I waited a few hours to try it, but honestly all sweet tea tastes best after it has chilled for a whole day to me, minimum is probably eight hours.

Though it is called Front Porch, I am actually drinking this on the back carport which never has cars in it, just rockers. A huge fan is blowing on me because it is 94F with a heat index of 103F.

I will see how this tastes tomorrow, but my assessment now is that it needs more flavor, so I probably should not have combined two steeps. My husband said he tastes the mint mostly, but I barely noticed it. I got more bergamot, but it wasn’t a lot of bergamot. Mostly high notes without a lot of middle and base.

I try not to add much sugar but I think this could have used more just to up the flavor. It isn’t bad, but at the prices they charge I expect it to be absolutely stellar.

Tried it again tonight now that it has had more time to “meld” as my Mother always said. It is better. I think the problem is I don’t like bergamot on Ceylon, and the Earl I enjoy much is with a Keemun base. I think most people would enjoy this and it isn’t bad, just not quite living up to my high hopes in this sticky summer weather.

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439 tasting notes

Ah the joys of a TTB, you know nothing about a tea until you try it. This one smelled interesting, maybe a bit minty so I brewed it up strong and finished off the sample. I’m not a fan of bergamot or jasmine and the first few sips had more of a minty taste so maybe this tea is ok? As the tea cooled, it smelled more like jasmine and has a bit of a bergamot aftertaste. Sipping to the bottom of the cup all I get is jasmine and bergamot. Glad I got to try this, and it’s a reminder of the flavors I stay away from :)

Flavors: Bergamot, Jasmine, Spearmint

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60
961 tasting notes

TTB #22

I didn’t love this one, but I think it’s because I drank it hot. It’s basically an Earl Grey with jasmine and mint added and it wasn’t the greatest combination hot. But it looks like this was actually intended to be an iced tea and I could see how it would be quite refreshing iced!

Flavors: Bergamot, Floral, Jasmine, Mint

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
Shae

I love this one iced and sweetened!

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65
3986 tasting notes

Work – 11:00 AM

Sorry I haven’t been posting as much lately! I’ve been drinking a lot of advent calendar teas, which don’t get written about here yet… Plus there was Thanksgiving, of course. But hopefully now there will be more tea-drinking! At least until December 9th, when I’m heading to France for a week…

This one is from my Piper & Leaf subscription. It sounds interesting – Earl Grey with jasmine and spearmint basically. All of those things appeal to me, so I was happy to see this blend in my monthly package. Although I think this is intended to be an iced tea, that’s not something that I drink in the cooler months.

The base here is definitely brisk, and somewhat astringent as well. The spearmint likely exacerbates this a bit as well. Otherwise, it’s a nice amount of spearmint with jasmine and bergamot as supporting flavors.

My issue with this is, the base tea just doesn’t have enough flavor to make up for the astringency present. It’s very light on flavor – I don’t really get much other than briskness. And because of that, this one isn’t really for me.

P.S. – Piper & Leaf has some discounts going for Cyber Monday today, including 40% off their 35g packs of loose leaf!

Flavors: Astringent, Bergamot, Drying, Jasmine, Spearmint, Tannic

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML

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921 tasting notes

The first one up is the oh so evocative Front Porch Special, which is basically an Earl Grey with spearmint and jasmine…ah nothing quite beats a fresh glass of iced tea with mint on a hot day, it is so nostalgic for me. This makes a mean iced tea, just the right amount of briskness and bergamot with the cooling sweetness of mint and jasmine. Luckily the bergamot and jasmine are both fairly light, so I don’t have to worry about being overwhelmed by two flavors I am only lukewarm on. I tried to foist this off on Ben to try, but he is not a drinker of cold tea, what with being from the north (like really north.)

For blog and such: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/06/tea-box-express-june-box-tea.html

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75
2170 tasting notes

I picked this up, along with a couple of other Piper & Leaf teas, at the market last month with my mom. Piper and Leaf typically offers several loose leaf teas for purchase, but the main “attraction” is always the iced tea. They serve it up in big quart jars for guzzling while browsing the local wares. We always fill our jars with this sweet iced tea when we go, and this time my mom chose the Front Porch Special. One sip of hers and I knew I had to grab some of this to take home for myself.

As usual with the Piper & Leaf teas, this blend is very fragrant and smells very sweet. There are at least two types of black teas in here from what I can tell, though I’m not sure what they are. Both are small, but one is long and twisty and the other resembles tiny pellets. The mix is flecked with blue and yellow flower petals and green mint leaves. It’s quite colorful.

I used roughly 8 ounces of water here, but by the end of the steep I was left with only 6 ounces of liquid or so. Those leaves were thirsty! Once the hot water hits the tea leaves, the aroma of the mint completely takes over. The flavor of the mint is there, but it’s been overwhelmed by a certain bitterness. After the addition of honey, I can taste the mint more clearly.

Second Steep
8 ounces + 195 degrees + 4 minutes

The color on this second cup is lighter than the first but still dark enough to make me believe that this will be a good cup. I dropped the temperature this time around and it has certainly helped with the bitterness. The mint flavor has dissipated and left me with a still-satisfying cup of black tea.

Flavors: Bitter, Mint, Sweet

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
teatortoise

Try slightly more than the teaspoon, for three minutes. See how that goes.

Shae

To help with the bitterness? I will try it – thank you!!

teacock

Hi—I was wondering if you have tried “velvet bliss” from piper and leaf? I have tried some of their flavors, and love supporting local and family business….

Shae

I haven’t! Is it a good one? I love the name. I’ll have to look for it next time I see them at the market.

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553 tasting notes

Thank you again Shae! This is one of the best teas I have ever had cold brewed. Sweet, slightly floral, citrus twist, smooth black tea base. Very well balanced.

http://www.cuppageek.com/index.php/2015/05/25/tea-of-the-day-front-porch-special-from-piper-leaf/

Flavors: Bergamot, Jasmine, Mint

Shae

My mom filled her jar with this one last time we went to the market. I chose something different, but after one sip of hers I went back and bought a bag of the dried tea to take home. It is so good!

Nichole/CuppaGeek

This one is my favorite of theirs so far!

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