Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
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Tea Description:
Chai is a type of tea typically served in India with milk and sugar. Our Herbal Chai is comprised of rooibos herbal tea along with a combination of ginger root, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and black peppercorn. This herbal version offers a remarkable authentic chai flavor while remaining naturally caffeine-free.
Ingredients: South African Rooibos, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Ginger Root, Cloves, Black Peppercorn
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf’s Selection Club subscription program here.
Receive 25% savings on the Selection Club from Simple Loose Leaf. Just type in SISTERSELECTION25 in the coupon field and save 25%! This discount is applicable only to the monthly Selection Club subscription and not the retail selection of teas.
Taster’s Review:
This Herbal Chai from Simple Loose Leaf’s Selection Club Sampler Box is a very finely ground rooibos! The rooibos leaves are chopped finer than I’ve typically seen in most rooibos blends. It’s almost like a fine, “instant” powder … almost, but not quite. This still needs to be steeped.
So I steeped it using a T-Sac. I don’t usually reach for a T-Sac when I’m brewing tea, but with a tea/tisane that is as finely ground as this is, I usually choose a T-Sac to steep the tea because I don’t like loose, floating leaves in my brewed tea. I’m not in to floaters.
Additional parameters used to brew this tisane: with freshly filtered water heated to 195°F and 1 tsp. of Herbal Chai in the T-Sac, I steeped the tea for 10 minutes. Because this is a finer chopped chai, you don’t want to use a little extra leaf – as I often do with chai because I want a little stronger flavor with all the spices that are in the blend – but with this blend, the fine chop means that there is a lot of surface area and this is going to get plenty strong with the 1 tsp of leaf to 12 ounces of water ratio.
The aroma of both the dry leaf and the brewed tea is so delightfully spicy. It reminds me of the smell I would experience when I visit the spice shop in Portland. Notes of cinnamon, clove and pepper are prominent. I can also smell the cardamom and ginger.
Mmm! This is a perfect tisane to send out for September. As the air becomes crisp and the weather turns cooler for the coming season (Autumn!) this tea serves me as a reminder of what is to come. As I’ve said many times before, fall is my favorite season of the year. And … yes … the reason is TEA! Tea just tastes better hot. Yeah, there are some teas that taste better iced, but for the most part, I find that teas just taste better when they’re served hot and I find that hot tea tastes best when the weather is chilly.
And my favorite kinds of teas to sip during my favorite season of the year are chai blends like this because the warm spices are just so cozy and comforting! This is a perfect autumnal blend!
The finer chop on this blend makes for a very strong tasting chai, so don’t go overboard when you’re measuring out the leaf! You might want to even use a little less leaf because it does get very strong.
The spices are robust. The clove and ginger and pepper are the strongest flavors that I’m tasting. After these flavors are recognized by my palate, then I begin to pick up on the cinnamon and cardamom. The rooibos doesn’t offer a strong flavor to the cup, it’s more like a slightly sweet, nutty background flavor that is quite complimentary to the earthy notes of the spices.
I’ve got to tell you that when I saw that this is a rooibos chai, my thoughts were “Oh, another rooibos chai.” I wasn’t all that thrilled with the prospect. But this is one of the better tasting rooibos chai tisanes that I’ve tasted in some time. The finer ground on the blend makes for a deliciously pungent, spicy chai and that’s just fine with me!
This tastes great with a dollop of honey or a half a teaspoon of sugar. I find that the sweetener accents the spices in a chai (sugar and spice makes a chai taste real nice). Add a splash of milk or cream for a tasty latte … it’s a wonderful, caffeine-free treat to drink any time of day.
Yin Gou Mei Green Tea from Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Description:
This Chinese tea is often referred to as eyebrow tea due to its eyebrow shaped tea leaves. The leaves are hand picked during early spring to result in a floral and robust flavor without the bitterness often associated with this type of tea. The rich green tea leaves brew to reveal a bright jade liquor with a fresh aroma, balanced earthiness and smooth, subtle finish. Yin Gou Mei Green Tea is best served hot.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf’s Selection Club subscription program here.
Taster’s Review:
It’s been a while since I’ve had a Yin Gou Mei, so, I was really looking forward to having this tea when I discovered it was part of this month’s Selection Club sampler box from Simple Loose Leaf.
Yin Gou Mei is often called “Chinese Eyebrows” because of the cute “eyebrow” shape of the leaves. But, I don’t like calling it Chinese Eyebrows because that sounds … weird and not in a good way. So forgive me for not calling it by that name and instead going with Yin Gou Mei.
And this is a really LOVELY Yin Gou Mei!
This is sweet and creamy with soft nutty notes, but there is a light crispness to the cup as well. There are delicate floral notes that meld with the soft, creamy sweetness. It makes my palate swoon how these two tastes mingle together. It’s very smooth from start to finish, with no bitter notes and very little noticeable astringency.
What I like about Yin Gou Mei is that it’s a little different from the typical green tea in that it tastes somewhat “earthy” but not really overly vegetal. While there is a slight vegetative note to this, it’s not a heavy, grassy taste, nor does it taste like steamed veggies or any of the other vegetative comparisons that I often make. It’s smooth, floral and lightly earthy/vegetal note that is softened with a pleasant creaminess.
I know I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again in the future, but, I just love getting my monthly Selection Club box from Simple Loose Leaf! It really is a GREAT bargain: I get five different teas each month and there’s enough for several pots of tea from EACH of the five teas in the box. Plus you get a sample from the next month’s box to whet your appetite for the teas to come! And there are a couple of different payment options available to you that have been designed for savings and convenience in mind.
And if you want to save even more, here’s what you do: use this code – SISTERSELECTION25 – and receive a 25% discount when you sign up for the Selection Club! This discount is applicable only to the monthly Selection Club subscription and not the retail selection of teas. It’s an awesome service!
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.
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.
Yunnan Breakfast Black Tea from Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Description:
Our Yunnan Breakfast is a wonderful Chinese black tea with rich awakening flavours. Its invigorating fragrance and glossy red liquor offer a robust taste with a peppery finish. Enjoy this bold tea hot.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf’s Selection Club subscription program here.
Taster’s Review:
Before I get started in the review of this tea, I just want to remind all my readers out there that the time grows short to take advantage of the free teapot offer from Simple Loose Leaf. Learn more about it here.
Nice! I am in total agreement with the above description, this is indeed a bold, robust tea! It’s invigorating! And I’m enjoying it immensely.
The leaves are a beautiful chocolate brown with some golden tips. They brew up a dark, glistening copper colored liquid that tastes exactly how I expect a good Yunnan tea to taste: rich, full-flavored, warm with pepper-like notes. I love the spice notes to this Yunnan Breakfast Tea!
There is a pleasant sweetness to this as well. There is a thin molasses undertone that contrasts nicely with the warm spice notes. The sip begins with a hint of that sweetness, followed by that bold flavor of black tea. It’s earthy, rich, and beneath those stronger, masculine tones of earth and hints of wood is just a touch of stone fruit. Plum? Maybe a hint of black currant too. Then my palate begins to pick up on the notes of pepper. My taste buds tingle long after the sip is over from the zesty spice notes of this tea.
As the sip nears the finish, I notice some dryness. It has a moderate astringency, nothing too overpowering, nothing that disrupts the sip. The aftertaste is lightly sweet, reminding me of molasses, like the sweetness you’d experience if you were to eat a gingersnap cookie.
This Yunnan Breakfast Tea from Simple Loose Leaf is a really enjoyable way to start the day. It would take the addition of milk and sugar well, if you like to add those to your cup of breakfast tea. If you really want a treat, try adding about half a teaspoon of brown sugar instead of the ordinary table sugar to the cup. This really enhances the molasses tones and gives it just a little something extra special.
Then again, it’s quite good without anything added – I like it straight with no additions. It’s got an edge to it that I need when the morning starts before I want it to! Just what I need!
I just love Simple Loose Leaf’s Selection Club – it’s a wonderful way to get some great teas delivered to your mailbox every month at an affordable price! Save even more when you use this code: SISTERSELECTION25 Get 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.)