Simple Loose Leaf

Yep, because I left the house early this morning (the guys taking care of the raccoon were coming early, and I was up and out the door before they got there) I wasn’t quite thinking. I forgot to bring other teas with me. But I still had this one at my desk. I like this tea. Just a little roasty, earthy, a touch creamy. Nice. Plus it gave me a little extra energy. It’s all good.

This is my go to tea at work right now. I’m really enjoying it. I’m glad the amount in my SLL box was pretty generous even though I got the “try all 5 teas” this month. I do need to remember to bring some other teas into the office, though.

I like this tea. It’s just the right amount of earthy and just a touch of creamy.

Right now, for a frustrating day, it’s been a good day. I found a defect in our product, figured out a good workaround, I had a nice email conversation with Stacy of Butiki, got in on the JOT kickstarter, and my DAVID’sTEA order has shipped. Woo!

Now if it were only Friday instead of Thursday…….

Perhaps not the smartest of teas to have for my afternoon tea, but whatever.

I like this. A little bit earthy, a little bit creamy, a surprising amount of comfort in a mug. I will be disappointed when this one is gone.

And I just got off the phone with the vet, Dr. Fear. Yep, we now have a second hyperthyroid cat. Always fun. I hope she takes her pills as well as her brother does. (We paid a lot of money late last summer to get him radioactive iodine treatment for his, and it just didn’t work. They recommended another treatment at $1500. We declined for now, because they found other issues with him.)

This is the first Oolong I have ever tried. I like it. It’s slightly sweet, almost creamy, all on its own. Slighty earthy, but not really. I will have to try another mug of this. Right now, I have a cat laying on my arms and it’s a little difficult to type.

Backlog:

A really high quality gunpowder green, I love that this is organic. A pleasant, smooth texture … brothy. Thick and silky. It has the flavor of lima beans … only sweeter. Buttery with a toasted nut tone. A very clean and fresh taste.

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/03/17/organic-gunpowder-green-tea-from-simple-loose-leaf/

This isn’t the first time I’ve had the opportunity to sample Hazelberry Pu’er, I ordered a sample from Adagio a year or so back when I first began my discovery of this type of tea. At the time I had yet to acquire a taste for pu’er although my feelings have slowly changed over time. What hasn’t changed are my feelings about this particular blend, I don’t love it, I don’t even like it a little. Rather than the strong earthy flavor I expected from the pu’er I was met with something more akin to dirt; it wasn’t a particularly pleasant flavor. Masking this taste somewhat is a large amount of tart berry flavor, which is rounded out a bit by the addition of natural creme and hazelnut flavoring. Perhaps I’ve been spoiled by high quality pu’er I’ve ordered elsewhere, but I still find myself unimpressed with this blend. Of the five teas I was sent this month this was my least favorite.

You can read the full review on my blog
http://www.notstarvingyet.com/index/2014/4/15/tuesday-tea-april-selection-club-simple-loose-leaf.html

Simple Loose Leaf has provided me with three free months of their Selection Club

This English Breakfast tea stands out above many that I’ve tried, it’s a great all-purpose tea that is good hot or cold and can be served morning, noon, or night. This rich black tea is made up South Indian Flowery Orange Pekoe, Ceylon Black Tea and Chinese Whole Leaf Black Tea. The combination of the three types of black tea give it a nice bold flavor without any astringency. It’s really nice to see that Simple Loose Leaf offers such a great variety of black teas. While I still consider this a bold tasting black, it is much more mellow than Four Horsemen Black, which I reviewed back in January.

You can read the full review on my blog
http://www.notstarvingyet.com/index/2014/4/15/tuesday-tea-april-selection-club-simple-loose-leaf.html

Simple Loose Leaf has provided me with three free months of their Selection Club

Although I’ve tried several different types of Gen Mai Cha, so far I haven’t really developed a taste for it. I did enjoy this more than most, but I don’t tend to care for the deep toasted, almost nutty flavor from the puffed rice.

This tea is best served hot without sweetener. It also pairs very well with salty meals or anything containing a lot of soy sauce.

You can read the full review on my blog
http://www.notstarvingyet.com/index/2014/4/15/tuesday-tea-april-selection-club-simple-loose-leaf.html

Simple Loose Leaf has provided me with three free months of their Selection Club

Another tea from Awkward Soul. This tea tastes a lot like 52Teas’ Walter Bishop Honeybush to me. I’m getting a very milkshake-y type taste, although this is definitely not as sweet and bright. I’m getting strawberry milkshake, but a rich one (the pu’er?).

I like this one…it is intriguing, and just has different levels. I get the milkshake/malt/cream at the aftertaste.

I also used more leaf, since I didn’t have enough for 2 servings from the sample.

Backlog:

LOVED this blend. This was the first tea that I tried from the “Selection Club” box that I received in March. I changed my subscription to the Selection Club and I could not be happier with this service!

Seriously, I LOVE Simple Loose Leaf. They offer exceptional customer service. If I have a problem they get back to me right away. Admittedly, I’ve only had one problem to date but that problem was MY mistake, and they still went above and beyond to correct the problem. That’s the kind of company I like to deal with.

Getting back to this tea, this is delicious and is quite probably my favorite that I’ve tried from Simple Loose Leaf yet. I taste the raspberry, the mint, the vanilla and the green tea. I love that all flavors are represented in a very clear way with this blend. The raspberry is sweet-tart, the mint is crisp and cool and doesn’t overpower, the vanilla is soft and creamy.

If I’m to offer any complaint about this blend, it would be that I think the green tea should be a little more prominent (because, after all, I’m drinking tea.) But that isn’t to say that the green tea is absent, it isn’t. I just want more green tea flavor, I think.

Regardless, I loved this. And my youngest daughter LOVED this. It may be her favorite green tea yet.

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/03/07/raspberry-vanilla-mint-green-tea-simple-loose-leaf/

Note: I’m a little torn about how to rate this. If it’s not my favorite that I’ve tasted from Simple Loose Leaf, then it’s up there in at least the top three … that should mean that it gets super high marks, right? But, I do think that the green tea should be a stronger presence. So, that should subtract points, right? So, rather than try to rate it, I’ll just recommend it and not give it a numeric rating.

It’s good, you should try it!

I went a little bonkers this month and only selected to have this tea in my April box from Simple Loose leaf. I tried the preview sample from last month and loved this tea! I’m very happy with Simple Loose Leaf’s selection club, especially for being able to choose the teas I want and get a sample for next month’s box.

The pu’er has a deep earthy and mushroom flavor. Quickly, the tea has a really good creamy flavor, finishing off with a sweet and tart strawberry. There is a little bit of fermentation, but the creamy berry flavor is very good and works with the base for a mega rich experience.

Hazelberry Pu’er does very well with sweetener, bring the strawberries and cream to the front, and making the pu’er less pungent. I’d suggest to sweeten this tea if you aren’t used to pu’er.

Full review on my blog, The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/april-simple-loose-leaf-selection-club-oolong-owl-tea-review/

When I first banned juice from the house I looked for options that might be a good compromise for me on the occasions I wanted juice with breakfast or brunch. I discovered fruit based herbal blends early on in my search for a juice replacement, but most of the blends I’ve tried haven’t appealed to me. They tend to be incredibly tart and more often than not I end up adding sugar to them, which in my mind completely negates the healthy aspects of drinking them in the first place. Because of my previous experiences with fruit based herbal blends I did not have high expectations for this one, but it’s another blend that left me pleasantly surprised. I expected this to be fairly tart since it contains rose hips, hibiscus and cranberries, but the cherry flavoring adds a bit of sweetness that balances out the tartness nicely.

You can read the full review on my blog
http://www.notstarvingyet.com/index/2014/4/15/tuesday-tea-april-selection-club-simple-loose-leaf.html

Simple Loose Leaf has provided me with three free months of their Selection Club