Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘the simple leaf’

I’ve heard such rave reviews of this tea that when I had the opportunity to try it for myself, I jumped on it. Opening the bag you are hit with the smell of rich, dark baking cocoa. The dry leaves are extremely beautiful, long, twisted, and dark in color. This is an unflavored black tea, so why does it smell like cocoa?

I brewed the tea for 5 minutes using boiling water. The aroma while steeping is the same as the dry leaf only intensified. It brews up a rich, golden brown color which is actually a lighter shade than I expected from the look of the dry leaf. The tea has a strong chocolate scent along with a nice earthy component.

I took the first cup plain and hot. The taste is very rich and slightly earthy like you would expect with oolongs. The aftertaste is of baking chocolate and gives the tea a naturally sweet quality. This tea can also stand up to the addition of milk as a breakfast tea which seems to intensify the chocolate quality by giving it a creamier feeling.

This tea is very complex with each sip continually morphing through a variety of flavors. From sweet to earthy to rich black tea to sweet, dark chocolate. I prefer this tea to be steeped for 4 minutes rather than the suggested 5 because it seems to bring out more of the chocolate quality while keeping the earthiness as a backup. Dawn is extremely smooth and lacks the astringency that can so often be found in black teas.

Dawn is the most complex tea that I’ve had and the complexity seems to make you crave the tea even more. If you enjoy black teas, this one is a must try.

You can purchase the Dawn directly from the The Simple Leaf website.

I love this tea.

Enough said? Not even close. Honeybee Oolong from The Simple Leaf is, simply put, affordable heaven in a cup! Harvested in the mountains of Nepal, this traditionally made Oolong tea is produced only in tiny quantities, according to the Simple Leaf website. It is worth a trip to the Simple Leaf website to learn more about the background of this tea, in an interview with the producer of the Honeybee Oolong (click here to read the interview).

When I first opened the sample bag (The Simple Leaf provides MASSIVE 1oz sample packs, x3 for our reviewers), the scent immediately reminded me of a high quality Darjeeling. I even opened up some (very expensive) Single Estate Darjeeling to compare, and they are remarkably similar. The leaf is dark in color, full leafed, and clearly hand picked and rolled.

I brewed the first cup at 90 deg C, 1 tsp (approx. 2 grams) in my cup, and steeped it for about 3 minutes. The result was bang on. It seems to hold the characteristics of again, a Darjeeling tea, but not as malty, in fact, it is extremely pleasant. I would call it, subtle, but flavorful. Not at all what I have come to associate Oolong teas with! The aftertaste lingers on my tongue, slightly sweet, with a light peachy taste.

At only $13.95 for 4oz of this beauty, it is extremly affordable. I would rate this tea equivilent to some $40/3.5 oz tea that I have had the pleasure of sampling (but don’t tell The Simple Leaf, they may be tempted to raise the price!).

Absoultely fantastic. The balance of this sample is going in my cupboard, and when it is gone, going on my shopping list! Congratulations Simple Leaf, you have found a beautifully crafted and produced tea in this Oolong, thank you for sharing it with us!

Did I mention that I really like it?

You can purchase Honeybee Oolong directly from the Simple Leaf website.

As I was sorting through samples that we have received over the past few months, I had a craving for green tea, and came across Chloe from The Simple Leaf. I don’t recall tasting it before, and decided that it would be as good as any to review today!

Chloe seemed unusual for me, as it is a Darjeeling tea from the Pussimbing Estate. Unusual because I have not tried a lot of Darjeeling greens, even tho I know that they are becoming more and more available. I am used to strong, grassy greens from China and Japan, and expected similar here.

The Simple Leaf website describes this tea as: “Light, smooth and refreshing, these gorgeous large leaves make a mellow liquor that is perfect for late afternoon sipping. Subtle hints of fruit and freshly cut grass give this tea a remarkable flavor.”

So, I heated up some water to about 75 deg C (approx. 170 deg F), steeped it for 3 mins, and prepared myself for a great tasting experience.

First of all, the liquor is a light, honey color, light enough that I wondered if I steeped it long enough. The scent was similarly subtle, slightly fruity with the classic grassy tones that I associate with green tea.

The taste, I have to say, is a bit too light for me. As described by The Simple leaf, it was mellow, and I get the hits of freshly cut grass, and was perhaps, a tad sweet, but I did not get any fruity notes at all. It was in the end, a bit bland, and did not have a lot of character. A good beginners green tea to ease you into the complexities, but for the more experienced green tea drinker, I think that this is neither subtle or complex enough to truly enjoy.

All in all, it was not a bad or offensive cup of tea at all, just not interesting enough for me personally to make a staple in by cupboard, and certainly not what I expected from the region known for the “Champagne” of teas!

You can purchase Chloe directly from the Simple Leaf website.