Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Description:
This high grade Japanese Sencha Green Tea boasts beautifully dark, wafery leaves and a strong, sweet grassy flavor. The brewed leaves provide a slight vegetal, seaweed flavor with a perfect balance of nutty, rice notes. Best served hot, in the traditional fashion.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf’s Selection Club subscription program here.
Use this code: SISTERSELECTION25 to get a 25% discount 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.
Taster’s Review:
When I opened this sample packet from my May Selection Club box from Simple Loose Leaf and took a sniff, I was pretty sure that the aroma would be vegetative. This is a Japanese Sencha and I’ve experienced many different Sencha teas from Japan. And while there are many different Sencha teas out there and they all have their own unique qualities to them, the fragrance has been, for the most part, “vegetal”.
And so it is with this Japanese Sencha Saga Green Tea from Simple Loose Leaf. But, I noticed something else in the aroma too … a sweet flowery note, gently floral. The scent evokes imagery of sitting on a lawn that has just been mowed, and in close vicinity to the lawn is a beautiful flower bed filled with fragrant flowers. The breeze floats through those flowers, picking up their bouquet, and the air is now gently perfumed with the scent of the flowers with the dominant smell of the grassy vegetation.
I love it when I come across a tea that is familiar – a Japanese Sencha, like this – and I find something unexpected about it like that!
This green tea is sweet. The vegetal notes are sweet – not savory, not bitter, not even bittersweet. Just sweet. Beautifully, deliciously sweet. The texture is soft. I often describe a Sencha tea’s texture as “brothy” but this is not quite that thick, it’s more of a soft, smooth texture … I imagine that the texture here is what it would be like if one were to drink liquefied silk.
Although I’m sure that this tastes better! I’d much rather taste the brewed liquid of the leaves from Camellia Sinensis than the liquefied fibers from a worm’s backside, wouldn’t you?
The flavor is strongly vegetal, somewhere between the flavor of grass and kelp, but, without the savory notes grass or kelp. As I said, this is pure sweetness! It really is one of the sweetest Sencha teas I’ve yet to taste.
I taste layers of flavor beneath the top note of vegetation, hints of flower and whispers of fruit. Almost an apple-y sweetness without the apple-y tart. Creaminess that I wouldn’t call ‘buttery’ – it’s more like a subtle vanilla tone.
I’ve tasted many Sencha teas, and I’ve enjoyed many that I’ve tried (I can’t think of any in the recent months that I’ve tried that I’ve not enjoyed) … but some are definitely better than others. This one is one of the better ones!
English Breakfast Black Tea Blend from Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Description:
A richer, more complex version of a traditional English Breakfast, we’ve blended Indian, Chinese and Ceylon Black Teas to produce an outstanding aromatic and full flavored Breakfast tea that can stand alone or be served in the traditional English manner with milk and sugar.
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 English Breakfast Blend teas over the years, and you would think that because the teas have the same name, that they’d be the same. Not so. I’ve tasted some English Breakfast teas that focus just on one tea (usually a Ceylon, but sometimes an Assam), and some that are blends. And even when they are blends, the teas used in the blend are not the same from tea company to tea company.
This English Breakfast Black Tea Blend from Simple Loose Leaf is a blend of Ceylon and Indian FOP (Flowery Orange Pekoe) Black tea and Chinese teas. I suspect that the “Chinese” tea used here is a Keemun, as I can taste that fruity, wine-like sort of taste that I might experience from a Keemun, with just a hint of smoky background notes.
I taste notes of fruit – sweet and even a hint of tarty tones in there too. There is an earthy quality to this, and maybe just a touch of malt. It’s a pleasing, well-rounded, full-flavored black tea.
It’s also a strong, robust tea, certainly worthy of a “breakfast blend” title. It has some kick to it – this tea will help you shake the sleepies that want to hang on and keep you in bed. And as lovely as a day in bed might sound, some days you just need to kick it in gear, right? This tea will get you on your way.
I drank this tea straight with no additions. It’s an edgy tea, and that edge can be softened by the addition of the milk of your choice and/or honey (or sugar). I like it served hot, then again, I prefer most teas served that way. This would also make a good iced tea served with a wedge of lemon or try brewing it with a sprig or two of mint to impart a refreshing mint flavor to the iced tea.
Don’t forget about Simple Loose Leaf’s special promotion for the month of April! This month is DOLLAR MONTH which means that you can get your first month’s subscription to the selection club for just $1. Yep! One dollar! Wow!
Just use this code: 1DOLLARMONTH when you subscribe to the selection club. Seriously … this is the best deal for great tea going! It’s a great way to give the club a try. I love this club, and I love the company. They are top-notch when it comes to customer service, and that’s something that’s very important to me.
Gen Mai Cha Green Tea from Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Description:
Rich Japanese Sencha green tea beautifully blends with toasted and popped rice, resulting in a mildly aromatic, distinct yellow brew. Gen Mai Cha is known to enhance the flavor of fine food and to cleanse the palate. Best served hot to envelop the senses.
Japanese Sencha Green Tea, Toasted Rice
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf’s Selection Club subscription program here.
Taster’s Review:
Mmm! I just adore a good Genmaicha! There is something irresistible about the way the vegetal, slightly buttery taste of the Japanese green tea and the sweet, roasty-toasty, nutty flavor of the toasted rice meld together in a teacup. And this Gen Mai Cha Green Tea from Simple Loose Leaf is really good and has all the flavor I’ve come to expect from a high quality Genmaicha green.
The flavor is sweet and nutty from the toasted rice and light and fresh tasting from the green tea. There is a pleasing balance between these two components. The green tea is crisp and has that refreshing, clean taste to it. It has a light, cleansing astringency toward the tail and this keeps the sweeter nutty notes of the toasted rice from becoming too heavy on the palate.
This is a great tea to enjoy in the afternoon. It perks me up when I start to feel that sluggish feeling toward mid-day, but it’s not so invigorating that I’m still bouncing off the walls at bedtime. This is one that I was really happy to have as part of April’s Simple Loose Leaf Selection Club box.
And there’s still time for you to get in on Simple Loose Leaf’s special April promotion! You can get your first month of the Selection Club for just one dollar! Enter the code 1DOLLARMONTH and you can receive up to five different teas for the month of May for just one dollar! Sounds too good to pass up, right? Well, check it out here!
Hazelberry Pu’er Blend from Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Description:
The earthy smoothness of Pu’er creates a warm foundation for the rich flavor of hazelnut while playful, tangy-sweet strawberries peek through the nutty opulence. A hint of cream adds a soft, dreamy note to the blend.
Pu’er Tea, Strawberries, Cocoa Nibs, Natural Strawberry Flavor, Natural Creme Flavor, Natural Hazelnut Flavor
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf’s Selection Club subscription program here.
Taster’s Review:
When I opened the pouch of this Hazelberry Pu’er Blend from Simple Loose Leaf, I didn’t smell a strong earthy aroma. Instead, what I smelled was hazelnuts! Hints of fruit in the background, along with a slight earthy tone that mingled with the hazelnuts in way that was agreeable to the olfactory senses. The brewed tea smells strongly of hazelnuts with notes of earth and a berry note.
This is a really tasty Pu-erh blend! The hazelnut flavor is well-defined and stands out. The earthy notes of the Pu-erh meld with the nutty notes to create this really intense nutty flavor that is quite yummy. It has a deep and mellow flavor, something that you just want to curl up with and enjoy.
The strawberry notes are not as strongly pronounced as the hazelnut, but, they are sweet with a tart note toward the finish. I don’t know that I’ve ever had a hazelnut and strawberry blend before, but these two flavors work well together. There is a creamy backdrop to the cup, and this seems to bring out the cacao flavors a little bit (as does the earthy tones of the Pu-erh and the hazelnut). If I were to change anything at all about this blend, I’d want a little more chocolate. But when do I ever want less chocolate? Never. More chocolate is always better.
This is really good. I didn’t brew it the way I traditionally brew a Pu-erh (in my gaiwan) but I did take it for a quick rinse before the first steep, and I do recommend doing this to help wash away some of the stronger earthy qualities of the tea.
I got this tea in my April Selection Club box and I am just thrilled with it! Wonder what it’s like to get a Selection Club sampler box? Click here to see what teas I received this month! Awesome, right? Well, I’ve got even more good news: Simple Loose Leaf has a special April promotion. Get your first month of the Selection Club for just one dollar! Use this code: 1DOLLARMONTH and enjoy up to five samples of different teas next month for just one dollar! You can also opt to receive a larger quantity of one or two teas rather than the sampler box that I usually choose. Interested? Check it out here and enjoy some great teas at a really great price next month.
Cranberry Breeze Herbal Tisane from Simple Loose Leaf
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Fruit/Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Description:
This perfectly balanced blend of subtly sweet cherry and rose hips with tart cranberry and hibiscus make this herbal tea refreshingly delicious and reminiscent of a fun fruit punch drink. Perfect for children and others watching sugar and caffeine; Cranberry Breeze is wonderful hot or iced and is the perfect alternative to sweet caffeinated drinks.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf’s Selection Club subscription program here.
Taster’s Review:
This Cranberry Breeze Herbal Tisane is not one I would have selected for myself. I am sipping on it only because it was one of the five teas in this month’s Simple Loose Leaf Selection Club and I opted for the five samplers instead of choosing an ounce or two of two of the teas. But you know what? I’m glad that I received this because I am enjoying it.
Yeah, normally, I’m not a big fan of hibiscus, and this is hibiscus-y! Really hibiscus-y. When I drink a hibiscus-based tisane, I want it to either be light on the hibiscus, or have ingredients that work well with the hibiscus. Well, this tisane isn’t light on the hibiscus, but the cranberry and hibiscus work very well together.
Yes, it’s tart. There are times when I’d even go so far as to say it’s sour! But, cranberries are like that, and as I said, the hibiscus and cranberry work really well together in this tisane.
I taste notes of sour cherry too, and the cherry and cranberry together give this a very juicy, fruity, party punch flavor only healthier, because even though I am not a fan of hibiscus, it is does bring a lot of health benefits to this party in a teacup.
I like this better iced than hot because the fruity punch flavor just tastes better iced. Not my favorite tisane, but it is something that I’d drink now and then when I want something a little bit different to give my taste buds a jump start. Try brewing up a pitcher of this, chilling it, and then serving it to the kids the next time they want something to drink – it’s a great naturally caffeine free alternative to those sugary sodas!
Oh, and don’t forget about Simple Loose Leaf’s special April promotion! You can get your first month of the Selection Club for just one dollar! Yes, you read that correctly! Use this code: 1DOLLARMONTH and enjoy up to five different teas next month for just one dollar! Wow! That’s amazing! Be sure to check it out and tell ’em that I sent you!