Canton has become one of my preferred tea companies and today I’m reviewing one of their flowering teas. It’s called Sweet Osmanthus and I expect it will be both beautiful and delicious. My glass teapot met my ceramic floor about a month ago so I’m making do with one of my Brandy glass, hoping it will have enough room to steep properly.

The dry ‘bulb’ is tightly woven into an unusual shape (unusual compared to other similar teas I’ve had), and it smells slightly floral. Placed it in my glass and poured almost boiling water on it – steeping it as I would any other Silver Needle. It started to bloom almost instantly, exposing the orange Osmanthus leaves that were hidden away in it’s center. The liquor turned a light orange color which surpised and delighted me and the scent grew more floral by the minute. The scent reminds me of lilies but with a hint of mandarin with it. Steeped it for 3 minutes then tasted it and it is really good. I expected it to taste perfumy but it doesn’t, slightly nutty with a smooth finish and a clean lingering aftertaste.

When I was finished savoring it, I rinsed the flower in cool water to put on display – hoping it will hold it’s shape for a few days so I can enjoy it…

You can purchase the Sweet Osmanthus Flowering Tea directly from the Canton Tea Co. website.

Over the past year, we have received fantastic support from the tea community; from the tea companies that keep us well stocked with tea for review, and from our viewers that continue to visit and read our staff’s fantastic reviews. We figured it was time to reward our viewers, reviewers and tea companies alike with our first giveaway!

Dan from Tea Pottery Canada (http://www.teapotterycanada.ca) has graciously donated a beautiful teapot for us to give away to one lucky viewer. You can see the photos of this amazing teapot below. This hand crafted teapot has a value of over $150.00 – and it can be yours! (View the teapot here)

How can you win?

It is very simple, all you have to do is sign up for our brand new newsletter. You can do so in the right menu, or on our Newsletter page. One lucky winner will be randomly chosen from all the subscribers, past and present, to our newsletter.

Everybody is a winner!

When you sign up for our newsletter, not only do you get a chance to win this gorgeous teapot, but you will also receive special offers, promotions, industry news and weekly digests of the reviews posted on the website! We never send spam, and you only receive relevant information pertaining to It’s All About The Leaf, and tea. You really have nothing to lose, and everything to gain!

The draw will take place on Monday December 6th, in order to get you this special teapot in time for the Holidays. So don’t delay, enter RIGHT NOW for your chance to win!

Gunpowder is one of my personal favourites, for green tea. However I have only ever purchased it from one or two sources, so I was excited to be able to try it from a company whose gunpowder I had not tried before. Gunpowder is a simple green tea, but sometimes the differences between the same tea from different companies can be quite noticeable.

The dry leaves hold the intense grassiness I have come to associate with most gunpowder greens. After steeping this tea and straining off the leaves, I notice that the steeped leaves have a very dark, almost smoky scent, and I worry that I’ve accidentally heated the water too hot and scalded them. One whiff of the prepared tea banishes that negative thought from my mind, as I am greeted by rolling vegetal tones with a touch of sweet grassiness.

These same aromas swell in the flavour of this tea, and the grassy sweetness permeates all taste buds. The smokiness of this tea is stronger than other gunpowder greens that I have tried, and it is a good addition, in my opinion.

I give this tea a 77 out of 100 on my personal enjoyment scale.

You can purchase the Gunpowder directly from the Adagio website.

Dear Tea Companies,

Your packages’ brewing instructions matter.

No Love,
Me

Let me explain. I have run into many a situation where I’ll get some amazing sounding tea. I’ll read the instruction on the label, and do what it says. I have to trust that the company who gives me a tea, knows how to make it the best. It will look lovely, the leaf will smell lovely, and the brew will be the most beautiful color ever.

And then that first sip will make me cry. Wonky preparation details will take my little cup of heaven and make it undrinkable.

Such was the case with my first experience with Royal Garland by Samovar. Many of my on-line tea friends experience heighten states of being when they have Samovar teas. So I was really looking forward to the experience of this tea. And then I got it, and read the package where it called for 2 tablespoons of leaf being steeped in 5 ounces of water for 3 minutes. MEH?? I know some teas, especially the fluffier ones, break that 1 cup = 1 tsp golden rule, but this sounded really funky. And everything I’d read says that more leaf = shorter steep. This just couldn’t be right.

But, I decided to trust the tea company. The leaf was gorgeous and smelled amazing. But when I tried that brew… Oh, when I tried that poor abused cup of tea, I almost sprayed the room. It was horrid. Bitter, astringent, and just plain awful. And it was a goodly portion of my tin, since it had called for so much leaf. It honestly took me a good few months to think about trying the tea again.

But, luckily, this tea story has a happy ending. I, after asking around for suggestions of brewing parameters, played with brewing some additional cups. And I’ve gotten the brew to where it’s pretty darned good. It’s a light yellow color, with a clean and slightly astringent flavor with overtones of cashews. I can get multiple yummy steeps out of the same, much smaller, amount of leaves. This is a really nice oolong. Just don’t use the preparation techniques on the container!!

You can purchase the Royal Garland directly from the Samovar Tea Lounge website.

Recently we received a shipment of teas from Distinctly Tea, a company in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. I exchanged several emails with Distinctly Tea, the net effect being a very interesting assortment of samples being sent for review. Among these, one caught my eye personally – the Lapacho Vanilla Chai.

We are always asking the tea companies to send something different – there are only so many “Silver Needle” teas that you can review, and Distinctly Tea has definitely come through on that front. The Lapacho tea was something that I have never before seen, and I have seen a LOT of teas! So I decided to give this one a try.

The primary ingredient (base) is Lapacho Bark – something I have not encountered before. Usually that leads me to do a quick bit of research – but I was looking for something to go with my morning eggs so I grabbed this to try. The scent was distinctly cinnamon and vanilla – two things I enjoy. The sweet vanilla scent was so subtle as to almost not being detectable, but that made it more intriguing, so I brewed up a quick cup using boiling water, and steeped it for 6 minutes.

The liquor was a clear golden flavour, and the scent of the brewed cup was subtly spicy, with no hint of the vanilla after brewing. It smelled vaguely like a spiced indian chai, and indeed, most of the ingredients reflected this, but it was not an overly strong smell, which I believe is a reflection of using the Lapacho Bark as a base.

The taste was very pleasant. Not a hint of bitterness anywhere, and a sweetness from the spicing. Anise stood out to me, with a sweet black licorice undertone, but not so present to turn off anyone that does not like black licorice. All in all, the cup was very enjoyable, and I found myself relaxing into it, and enjoying every drop. I could not identify anything that I could particularly attribute to being the taste of Lapacho Bark, so I got curious and decided to check out exactly what it is.

It turns out it is the inner bark of a tree used by Incas for many different types of ailments. It is used as an antibacterial, antiviral, anti-fungal and anti-many other things. It seems that in great quantities it may have some undesirable side effects, however, in small tea quantities, no problem.

All in all, this was a very enjoyable tea, and I would recommend it to someone that is looking for a alternative to a black tea chai – it is subtle and relaxing with no bitterness or drying in the mouth – I would imagine it would be a great finisher to a Yoga session or Meditation!

You can purchase the Lapacho Vanilla Chai directly from the Distinctly Tea website.

Product Description: Real chocolate draws your eye. The scent of exotic spices pulls you closer. By the time you taste this rich and complex black tea, you’ve already fallen in love.

The first time I tried a tea from Talbott Teas was last year and it was their Chocolate Almond Allure and I instantly fell in LOVE.  Not too long ago I was corresponding with Dr. Steven Nakisher from Talbott Teas on Facebook and he ended up sending me a few samples to try and possibly review.  I was so excited!  This was the customer service all other companies should take notes on!  They are so nice to customers and potential customers!  AND they have some really awesome ways to promote their products!  Their website is wonderful and their labels and tins are clean, crisp, and tastefully done!  Overall, Talbott Teas, is probably one of my favorite tea companies!  They seem to have the complete package!

One of the teas that I have tried from them recently is their Cocoa Cardamom Seduction.  I must say I was ‘taken’ by the name… does that mean “Mission Accomplished?” Perhaps.

The first cup I had of this I could clearly see ALL described ingredients! I couldn’t stop sniffing it!!! It was an AWESOME Chocolate Peanut Butter type smell.

The first sip I really did notice the cardamom but I think that was the idea of the whole thing, right!?  I continued to sip and certainly picked up on both the Almond and the Cocoa.  The cinnamon and cardamom pair together as they should and the pairing jumps up in front of the line but the Chocolate/Almond taste isn’t fair behind. The color of the tea liquid is a light-medium brown.

Now… the 2nd time I tried this tea… I purposely chose the loose leaf with less cardamom in it to see if there was a difference and there absolutely was! LOVELY! I enjoy it both ways, but now I LOVE the fact I can taste the difference with ease based on how much cardamom I choose to add or not add for my liking or tastes based on my mood!

So far… my favorite Talbott Tea is the Chocolate Almond Allure but this Cocoa Cardamom Seduction is a near second.

You can purchase the Cocoa Cardamom Seduction directly from the Talbott Teas website.

Kalahari describes this tea on their website as “The blend of naturally caffeine-free herb with deep flavor or roasted cacao, and fresh essence of lush, juicy ripe raspberries.”. (side note: Copy editing is available for a nominal fee – grammer/spelling mistakes on an e-commerce website are a no-no!)

I always approach samples with trepidation when I receive teabags for review. I am happy to review anything, but I WANT to like the tea. Tea companies send their teas for reviews, because they believe that they have a good product, and we receive many of these, however, I seem to have developed a bias against tea bag teas. That being said, Rooibos is naturally a small, in fact tiny leaf, so we are not dealing with fannings or dust necessarily as we would with, say, a green tea tea bag.

The smell of this tea in the bag is a pleasant mix of Chocolate and Raspberry, which are individually among my list of favorite ingredients, so we have a promising start! While the bag is brewing in the cup, I get that nose of Raspberry with subtler Chocolate undertone.

I brewed the tea with boiled water, for 5 minutes, my standard Rooibos brewing method. The color is a dark red, as are almost every single Rooibos cup I have ever had. The taste is a bit more subtle than I had expected however. I was wanting a burst of Raspberry and Chocolate, but got only a hint of each. Despite the scent, the Chocolate is the more predominant flavour, with the Raspberry just barely there. It is not overpoweringly Chocolate, which is good, but I personally would prefer a bit more tartness from the Raspberry. Since the ingredients list only Raspberry flavour, not actual Raspberry, it is to be expected that there is no actual tartness, which this blend could have benefitted from in my opinion.

Overall it is not a bad tea, but at $0.31 per bag, I am not sure that you have value for money, when you can get other loose leaf Rooibos blends for closer to $0.10 or $0.15 per cup.

You can purchase Kalahari Tea Raspberry Truffle directly from their website.

We are taking a brief break from reviews to help Steepster in getting the word out about this amazing contest! Why? Because in our opinion the tea community has never been hit with a contest of this magnitude before.

Steepster announced on Monday the Ultimate Holiday Tea Gift Contest – and I have to say, I have NEVER seen such a prize package for tea lovers as this!

Headlined with the much lauded Sorapot by Joey Roth, this prize package contains over $825 worth of tea and tea accessories from companies such as: Adagio, TeaFrog, Maeda-en, Golden Moon Tea, Art of Tea, Pearl Fine Teas, 52 Teas, Teas Etc, Earth Bound Tea, Tavalon, and Andrews & Dunham Damn Fine Tea.

It is simple to enter, just visit the Ultimate Holiday Tea Gift Contest page, and follow the simple directions. No long winded essays to write, no video testimonials, just a simple tweet or discussion reply, and you are in.

Steepster is a site that “helps you keep an online log of the teas you drink”. You can keep track of your teas, rate them, make tasting notes, and share them with your friends and followers. It is a great place to discover new teas, and share your passion of tea.

I personally had a chance to speak with Jason Roos, one of the founders of Steepster, and they are excited to be offering not only this amazing contest, but specials and features of tea companies of all size and shape through their Steepster Select program – a daily showcase of deals and favorites, a new one posted every day.

So head on over and enter the Steepster Ultimate Holiday Tea Gift Contest.

Mighty Leaf is one of few popular Canadian tea companies. As a Canadian, I celebrate that fact, and always look forward to sampling a new Mighty Leaf tea. However, in this case, I am left with a bit of a *meh* feeling.

I picked out the Green Tea Tropical from the samples that Mighty Leaf sent us, anticipating visions and flavours of tropical vacations to Mexico and Costa Rica, and the initial scent of the un-brewed leaves gave me just that. It is of course, packaged in the signature Mighty Leaf stitched pillow teabag, and the leaf appeared to be fairly large and full, and as such, of seemingly high quality.

The first brewing was as suggested, 180 degrees for 3 minutes. As the teabag went in, the scent started to become more muted. After 3 minutes, I was left with a dark amber liquor, and mildly tropical scented water.

As I sipped, I noted that the tea was not in the least bit astringent (aka “bitter” for some), leading me to again, believe that the green tea was of good quality. However, the flavouring of the tea was strangely blended together, not really allowing me to sort out different tropical flavours, tho the scent was “Guava” like. I found overall, the tea not “incredible” – but a decent cup of tea, but yet, unremarkable, leaving me with that *meh* that I mentioned before – a take it or leave it kind of feeling.

As I make notes on this tea, the taste does slightly linger, while leaving my teeth feeling a bit fuzzy, and my mouth a bit dry, again, green tea characteristics. The problem I think here, is that the actual green tea flavour gets lost in the tropical fruit flavouring, never really rising to the top to be complemented by the flavours. The second steeping (4 min @ 180 deg) was even more unremarkable, with a little flavour, but less so that the original, and again, the green tea not coming to the fore.

So my overall impression of this tea is that it would be a good starting tea for a convert, someone that is not used to green tea and could get turned off by the earthier aspects of a straight green. This tea has maybe a wider appeal, but I am not sure if it is good enough to be called a “premium” tea or to charge premium prices for.

All that being said, it is not a bad tea, and Mighty Leaf produces some top quality teas, which is maybe why this one leaves me wanting more.

You can purchase Mighty Leaf Green Tea Tropical directly from their website.

EDIT: I was informed by an astute commenter that Mighty Leaf is NOT a Canadian company, and much to my chagrin, they are correct. My apologies for the mistake in this review!

“Luscious, succulent raspberries highlight this ruby red hibiscus flower infusion. Pleasantly tart and extraordinarily sweet.”

Well, that about says it all! Tea Forte has become one of my favorite go-to tea companies for robust tasting teas. So far, they have not disappointed on any of the teas I have tried, and this one is no exception.

The second I put the unique (and quite neat!) pyramid shaped tea bag into the water, a bloom of red spread throughout the water, so deeply red I had to check myself for cuts! Then the scent hit me, and I knew without a shadow of a doubt that this was a raspberry tea I was about to indulge in.

Forget the ingredients list, this is purely raspberry, through and through. A tangy, mildly sweet taste of raspberries straight off the vine filled my mouth at the first sip, and lingered long after I licked every drop out of the cup! If you are not a raspberry fan, then this is not for you, as there is no doubt this is all raspberry, and nothing but the raspberry!

There is not much more to say, other than, again, Tea Forte delivers. I do have to say, that it is a little high in the price range for the bagged tea, so go loose if you are going to purchase it directly from Tea Forte. For my money, this is one I would actually consider stocking the cupboard with, as I can imagine that as an iced tea, it would be just as good as it is a hot tea, and a perfect refreshing drink for a hot summers day.

You can purchase Tea Forte Raspberry Nectar directly from their website.