Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Description:
A satisfying stand alone black tea, this richly robust Kenilworth Ceylon needs nothing to compliment its full-bodied stature. Stronger then our Ceylon Supreme, this fruitier, seemingly apricot flavored, fuller bodied tea exhibits a little tart acidity that lingers on the tongue for a touch of bite. This tea is best served hot or as a strong iced black tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf’s Selection Club subscription program here.
Taster’s Review:
A lovely Ceylon! I find myself in agreement with the above description provided by Simple Loose Leaf, this is a Ceylon that requires no additions, it is a good, sturdy, robust black tea that has some real heft to it. This would make a good breakfast tea as well, and I think it would take well to the additions of milk and honey (or sugar – preferably raw! – or for a real treat, try drizzling some real maple syrup in your cup!)
As for here and now, I’ve selected this as a cup of tea to enjoy as my afternoon cuppa, and it is versatile enough to become a brisk afternoon tea as well as that strong first cup or that well-rounded breakfast tea.
It has a very pleasing flavor: rich with notes of stone fruit. As the description above suggests, there is a distinct apricot note to this cup. Toward the finish, I notice a hint of citrus, as if someone added just a drop of freshly squeezed lemon juice to my cup. The acidic note of the citrus like flavor cuts through the sweeter notes – think molasses! – so that the cup doesn’t become overwhelmingly sweet.
I’m surprised at just how full-flavored this Ceylon is, as I have come to expect a Ceylon to be a milder tasting tea. This is malty! Layers of earth and flower lie just beneath the more dominate layers of sweet fruit.
It is a very nicely round, satisfying cuppa that has the ability to become what you want it to be! An iced tea? Sure! Try cold-brewing this one, or if you prefer the hot-brew method, add a sprig of mint to the teapot before you add the hot water or try adding a thin slice of lime to the chilled tea for a truly refreshing drink. Want a robust breakfast tea? This tea has that covered too. A pleasant afternoon tea to share with guests? Yep, this tea will serve your friends well. This tea is one of those teas that should be a standard in every well-stocked tea cupboard.
Plum Blossom White Tea from Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White & Green Teas
Where to Buy: Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Description:
A unique blend of Chinese white and green teas scented with Jasmine and lightly flavored with plum create a delicately fruity and floral delight. Great for anyone who loves jasmine green tea but is ready to step outside of the box, this tea is delicious either hot or over ice.
Shou Mei White Tea, Jasmine Special Grade Green Tea, Safflowers, Sunflowers, Plum flavor, Jasmine Flowers
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf’s Selection Club subscription program here.
Taster’s Review:
The aroma wafting out of my teacup right now is quite lovely. I smell the jasmine and the plum and these are two scents that I don’t think I’ve ever imagined together before today, but, they smell rather beautiful together! It smells fresh and flowery, with mouth-watering fruit notes dancing in the background.
And it tastes – wow! Just as I would not have imagined the two scents together, these are two flavors I wouldn’t have imagined together either. But it works!
The first note I taste is that of the Shou Mei. It’s light and airy, with a subtle earthiness and a hint of hay-like flavor. The green tea notes seem to marry seamlessly with the white tea notes, becoming more of a unified flavor than two individual flavors. Like green tea, only lighter and crisper … or perhaps, like white tea only with more of a grassy intonation.
Then I can taste the notes of jasmine. Delicate and floral. The floral notes are sharpened slightly with the presence of the sunflower petals. The soft jasmine flavor stays with me throughout the sip and lingers into the aftertaste.
Just before mid-sip, I start to pick up on the plum note. It starts out subtle and as I continue to drink the tea – about four or five sips into the cup – I notice the plum notes starting to become more defined. Sweet with just a hint of tartness. I am really enjoying the contrast between the sharpness of the sunflower and the sweeter elements of this cup, like the plum and the sweet notes of green and white tea.
I’ve tasted so many wonderful teas since I’ve joined Simple Loose Leaf’s Selection Club subscription service! This one may just be my newest favorite (although I don’t think it will “replace” any others that have been favorites … this is just a new one to add to my list of favorites!) It’s such a lovely tea. It’s nice served hot, and I like it iced too.
Now, I know I’ve told you about the savings that Simple Loose Leaf offers our readers, but I’ll tell you again: use this code: SISTERSELECTION25 and you’ll save 25% off when you sign up for the Selection Club.
This discount is not applicable on the retail selection of teas, and is only good for the selection club subscription.
Insomniac’s Dream Herbal Blend from Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Description:
This dreamy tisane blends five calming herbs into one delicious tea. Catnip and Chamomile Flowers lure the drinker into a mellow, relaxed mood, while the bright flavors of Peppermint, Lemon Balm and Lemongrass dance around their palate, resulting in a tea that is at once effective and unforgettable. But drinker beware- you may hit the pillow before finishing your cup!
Chamomile Flowers, Lemon Balm, Catnip, Lemongrass, Peppermint
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf’s Selection Club subscription program here.
Taster’s Review:
This is not necessarily a tisane I was overly excited to try as I don’t generally get all that excited about chamomile blends, but as far as chamomile blends go, this Insomniac’s Dream is enjoyable.
The light apple notes of the chamomile meld nicely with the bright lemon-y notes of the lemon balm and lemongrass and the crisp, cooling notes of peppermint to create a very palatable taste. The catnip adds a little bit of sweetness to the cup and enhances the mint notes.
I like that the overall taste of this tisane is mellow. Since it’s to be a blend that helps lull the drinker into a sense of peacefulness so that they can rest, the mellow flavors assist in that endeavor. The minty notes are not too invigorating and the citrus-y notes are not overly zesty. This cup is all about calm.
And it DOES help instill a sense of relaxation. I feel myself starting to “chill out” from the inside out, like my muscles are starting to relax and I feel myself start to feel a little bit drowsy. This may very well be an Insomniac’s Dream!
I like this best served hot. I find that as it cools, the flavors seem to mute a little bit and because it’s a mellow tasting herbal tisane to begin with, you don’t want the flavors to get any more mild than they are.
This is another blend that I got with my June Sampler Box as part of the Selection Club subscription – I highly recommend subscribing to this service. It’s a great way to get a lot of tea for a small price! And if you want to save even more, use this code: SISTERSELECTION25 and you’ll save 25% off when you sign up for the Selection Club.
This discount is not applicable on the retail selection of teas, and is only good for the selection club subscription.
Pu-erh Tahiti Blend from Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Description:
Decadent coconut, the fruity mystique of papaya and the soft earthiness of pu erh come together for an exotic experience not unlike a walk on the black sand beaches of its namesake. Tropical fruit notes and hints of mineral evoke thoughts of Pacific breezes and rainforest hikes.
Ingredients: Pu’erh Tea, Apple Pieces, Dried Coconut, Natural Coconut Flavor, Marigold Flowers, Mango Pieces, Papaya Flavor
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf’s Selection Club subscription program here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve tasted a lot of tropical flavored teas. A lot. It seems to be one of the “favorite” fruit medley flavors when it comes to tea. But, most of the fruit combinations are different, because there’s a lot of different tropical fruits from which to choose.
And when it comes to tropical flavored teas, I usually think immediately of a black tea base. That’s because most of the tropical flavored teas that I’ve encountered have been black teas. But because I have tasted so many tropical flavored teas, the tropical blends that are memorable, the ones that manage to stand out in my memory as something I’d like to have again, they are usually the teas with a different base (other than black tea). The tropical flavored white teas or green teas, for example, are more memorable for me.
So even though I tend to be a little nervous when it comes to Pu-erh teas, I was a little excited at the prospect of tasting a tropical fruit flavored Pu-erh!
When I opened the pouch of this Tahiti Pu-erh, I was really happy to not be greeted by an overly earthy scent. In fact, I didn’t really detect any earthiness with my initial casual (and admittedly, somewhat apprehensive) sniff. When I took another – more intent – sniff, I could pick up hints of earthiness, but these notes seemed to meld with the notes of coconut, mango and papaya. Nice!
The brewed tea has a slightly more earthy scent than the dry leaf, and that could be because I did give the blend a 15 second “rinse” before I brewed it. I do this with all pu-erh, I find that the pu-erh is much more agreeable for me when I do this. (And from what I understand, it’s something that you SHOULD do with pu-erh and Oolong teas.)
This is tasty. There are some earthy and mineral notes to the pu-erh, but, I like that these notes have married nicely with the notes of tropical fruit. I taste the papaya and mango and coconut, and these flavors are well-balanced with the flavor of the pu-erh, which tastes smooth and mellow. It’s a little bit like a trip to Tahiti in a teacup. (I’m only guessing, I’ve never been to Tahiti.)
The fruit flavors are not overpowering the tea, and there is a part of me that would have said that I would like for the fruit flavors to overpower the tea – before I tasted it, that is! Before tasting a pu-erh, there’s still that timid tea drinker that is just a wee bit afraid of pu-erh. Those early occasions where I first experienced pu-erh, before I knew how to brew a pu-erh for my palate and before my palate developed … I did NOT like pu-erh. Now I do. Now my palate finds most pu-erh agreeable, although I still don’t have a great appreciation for an overly earthy, fishy, or briny tasting pu-erh. Fortunately, this pu-erh isn’t like that.
And now that I have tasted this pu-erh, I’m happy that a good balance has been achieved with this blend. The fruit flavors are tasted but not overpowered, nor is the tea too fishy, briny or earthy. It’s just … tasty!
I know I say this a lot, but, I’m really thrilled with the teas that I get each month from Simple Loose Leaf as part of their Selection Club subscription program. I can’t recommend this program enough! It’s a great way (and it’s economical!) to try new teas and expand your tea repertoire.
To save 25% when you sign up for this great program, use the code SISTERSELECTION25. This will earn you the discount, and get you well on your way to sampling some amazing teas! This discount is not applicable on the retail selection of teas, and is only good for the selection club subscription.
Sleeping Dragon Green Tea from Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Description:
Sleeping Dragon green tea is grown at about 3,000 feet in the mountainous Fujian province. The tightly rolled leaves and silvery fuzzy buds give this tea its signature shape and name. In the cup, it delivers a soft, fruity sweetness enfolded by a rich smokey note similar to a gunpowder, but more complex and crisp in the finish. Sleeping Dragon remains a great cup for a green tea novice or those who oppose the grassy character of some varieties.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf’s Selection Club subscription program here.
Taster’s Review:
The fragrance of the dry tea has a strong vegetal scent, reminding me a little bit of the smell that fills the kitchen when I’m steaming broccoli. Maybe with a tad of seaweed in the steamer. Although … I’ve never done that. I probably won’t either.
Fortunately, this Sleeping Dragon Green Tea from Simple Loose Leaf doesn’t have a seaweed-ish taste to go along with that aroma. This is actually quite lovely!
The flavor reminds me of something between a green tea and a white tea. It has some of the fruity, melon-y notes that I might find in a white tea, but with a more forward presentation. It isn’t quite as delicate as I find most white teas to be, although it is a little more delicate than most green teas that I’ve encountered.
I also taste hints of citrus with the melon, and there are sweet, vegetative notes of a green tea that meld in a harmonious way with the fruit tones. Not grassy, but, with a non-aggressive vegetative note that reminds me of a sweet, mild green vegetable, perhaps a perfectly steamed artichoke. As suggested in the above description, I am also tasting a very subtle smokiness. There is only a very subtle dry astringency to this – so subtle that I think even those who tend to be sensitive to astringency can enjoy this.
The tightly wound leaves of this tea didn’t fully open with the first infusion, so I decided to take them for another steep! The second steep was very similar to the first. It was darker in color, and a little stronger in flavor than the first infusion, but, overall, the flavors were very similar. I noticed that the citrus notes that I detected in the first cup were not very noticeable in the second, but, these seemed to be replaced by a creaminess that I didn’t experience in the first cup.
Overall, a very interesting and delicious green tea. I don’t know that I’ve experienced a “Sleeping Dragon” green tea in the past, and so I’m glad I got to try it. I love that I’m being exposed to some new and exciting teas thanks to the monthly Selection Club box from Simple Loose Leaf!
To save 25% when you sign up for the Selection Club, use this code: SISTERSELECTION25. This discount is not applicable on the retail selection of teas, and is only good for the selection club subscription.