Leaves of the World

275/365

I picked this one up with my first Leaves of the World order, but I’ve only just got around to trying it now. I’m not sure what I’ve been waiting for – the weather to change, maybe? I made this one up as a latte, which is the recommendation, and to begin with I just wasn’t convinced. I used 2 tsp of leaf in 300ml water, and even after 3 minutes it was still a really pale green. I topped it up with 100ml milk, and 1/2 tsp of honey and vanilla essence. It’s basically white at this point, and I wasn’t expecting to taste much more than milk.

In practice, it’s a real surprise. It tastes exactly like gumballs! I’m not sure how they create the effect, since the ingredients list seems rather coy – it only really admits to containing sencha and cranberries. There are times when the flavour almost breaks down into those two constituents, but I noticed it less as it cooled, and as I became more accustomed to the flavour.

This is a novelty tea for me, and probably not something I’d want to drink all the time. It’s a fun thing to have from time to time, though, and I’m glad I’ve got a small stash of this one for my cupboard for when the mood strikes me.

Liquid bubblegum!

269/365

I think this is the last of the teas I picked up with my latest Leaves of the World order, although I’ve one from a previous order that I’ve not tried yet. Must get to that! This one wasn’t part of their summer collection, but I feel like I rarely see a fig tea so I had to give it a go.

It brews up to a very pale yellow – no hibi here! – and I could easily mistake it for a white tea were it not for the scent. It smells like Um-Bongo – that tropical fruit drink that came in a carton. I used to drink it all the time as a kid. The flavour, though, isn’t as sweet or as tropically as the scent might lead you to expect.

There’s a lot of peach, and that’s a good thing as far as I’m concerned. It tastes like slightly underripe peach, but I’m okay with that. There’s an undertone of green apple – crisp, slightly sour, and a hint of spice. Not exactly what I was expecting! The initial sip is fruity wonderfulness, but the spiciness seems a little misplaced – this blend contains both ginger and pink pepper, and it’s the pink pepper that dominates here. It creates quite a distracting burning sensation that lingers at the back of my throat long into the aftertaste. I’m usually okay with pink pepper – and I love it in chai – but it’s more than a little heavy-handed here. My other complaint is that I only get the slightest hint of fig, and I was expecting more of a flavour that gets first billing in the name.

I don’t dislike this one – the peach is pretty awesome, for a start – but it’s not exactly what I expected it to be. I think Leaves of the World are a pretty young company, though, and so it’s perhaps not surprising that things are a bit hit and miss at the moment. I’ve had some fantastic blends from them – this summer’s Fruit Salad springs immediately to mind – but there have been some duds. This one isn’t quite that, but it’s a bit of a close thing – the pepper is misjudged, I think, at least in its current quantity. Possibly it would work better cold, though, and that’s something I’ll try at some point.

261/365

I picked this one up with my last Leaves of the World order. It wasn’t one of their summer collection, but I guess it could have been; it certainly smells of summer! In practice, though, the flavour is more muted than I expected. There’s a light strawberry flavour, very artificial, but I guess that kind of goes with the territory. It tastes like a strawberry maoam stripe, which is possible no bad thing, depending on your expectations. The thyme is somewhat stronger, and actually comes across a little bitter. It was a combination that worked well in my head, but which isn’t so flawless in practice. The green tea base is smooth and sweet, so no complaints there, but there’s also a quantity of pink peppercorns that are adding a bit of a spicy kick in the background. That doesn’t quite work either, I don’t think. It’s just a little overdone.

On the whole, I’m not super-impressed with this one. I’ve found Leaves of the World to be fairly hit and miss with their blends; some are amazingly done, others seem rather hastily put together from an odd selection of ingredients, with clearly mixed results. Here, for example, there’s sea buckthorn peel, lemon verbena, lemongrass, and pink pepper.

I think their ideas are good, if sometimes flawed in the execution. This one isn’t bad, but it doesn’t hold together well enough to really be convincing – the strawberry is too muted, the thyme too bitter (in my head, these should be the other way around in terms of prominence), and the pepper just plain odd.

Close, but no cigar.

247/365

The last of the Leaves of the World summer collection, and another that smells divine! I think this is the first fruit-based pina colada blend I’ve tried, strangely enough? I’m pretty sure all of the others have been rooibos. I could be wrong about that, but I don’t think so. This one is pretty delicious – strong, creamy coconut right up front, followed by the thick smooshiness of banana, and rounded out with high, sweet, pineapple notes. Very juicy and flavour accurate, in the latter case!

I’m drinking this one hot today, but I’ll probably try it cold brewed in the weeks ahead – it’s just so hot at the moment. The suggestion on the pouch is to cold brew in coconut milk, and I imagine that could be deliciously smoothie-like. It’s probably not something I’m going to try, since coconut is the strongest flavour in the blend and I have a feeling the other flavours would get lost in all that extra coconut, but still. The idea is pretty appealing now that I’m sitting in a sweaty office, that’s for sure!

I’m really pleased with this collection, on the whole. The only bum note for me was Hemingway Mojito, which I wanted to love, but which just didn’t live up to it’s name/descrption/my expectations. The other two blends? Stellar. I’m sure I’ll be ordering from Leaves of the World again soon!

I’m really enjoying this one at the moment. It’s perfectly light and fruity, and just the thing if I feel like drinking hot tea on a hot day. I’ve not tried it cold yet, but I imagine it would be pretty spectacular – I must remember to give it a go before summer is over. I think the overall vibe of this one is the Fruit Salad sweet, rather than fruit salad made of fruit, and if that’s the case then it’s pretty spot-on as far as I’m concerned. I’ll miss this one when it’s gone, although fortunately that won’t be for a while yet!

246/365

- The second of the Leaves of the World summer collection, and the one I’m happiest with so far.
- Reminds me instantly of those Fruit Salad penny sweets I ate as a child!
- Scent is amazing; really fruity and tropical.
- Green base (sencha) is light and refreshing. Not even a hint of grassiness.
- Pineapple and peach are the two main flavours, and they’re sweet and accurate.
- I drank my cup hot, but I’m eager to try it cold brewed or iced because I think it might really shine that way.

238/365

This one also came as a free sample with my last Leaves of the World order – they were pretty generous with them! I think it’s only the third hop-based tea I’ve tried, but since I’m a fairly big beer drinker the idea really appeals to me. I think the idea is that this is a bedtime blend, but I’m drinking it first thing at work because why not? I figure I need soothing right now, rather than when I’m happy and content at home!

Anyway, this is a very yellow, very sweet blend. Just looking at it makes me think of chamomile, and that is indeed the main flavour. I’d say the hop flower is second in terms of prominence, and it adds a touch of floral and an oily bitterness that’s characteristic of hops in my experience. “Oily bitterness” sounds terrible, but it’s actually not – the oiliness is more a mouthfeel than anything; smooth, but somehow more than smooth. There’s no residue or scrim, or anything like that. Bitterness is relative, too; there’s definitely an edge to it, but it’s a pleasing contrast with the very sweet chamomile. I’m thinking the clover may also be adding its shoulder to the sweet wheel at this point, although I don’t think I actually know what clover tastes like, so it’s hard to say. It’s chamomile plus a bit more – and it’s not the lemon balm or the anise, which I can’t taste at all.

I like this one. It’s one of those soothing, meditative blends that’s both easy to drink and relaxing. It’s herbal, for sure, but not in a medicinal kind of way. It’s probably best suited as a bedtime blend, although I’d be happy to drink it any time I feel I need a slow moment.

237/365

This is the first of the Leaves of the World summer collection I’ve tried, and the one that intrigued me most. I’m drinking today’s cup hot, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be trying it as a cold brew at some point in the very near future.

This one is trying to replicate a blackberry mojito, which is apparently how Hemingway liked to drink them. It’s supposed to have the normal combination of lime and mint, but I’m actually struggling to taste either of those, which is a little odd. The lime is there, if I concentrate, but no mint (and I feel like that’s quite strong/distinctive, so I’m sure I’d notice…) What I do get is lots of blackberry, and something kind of approaching rum. It’s subtle, though.

While I like the flavour of this one, I’m a little disappointed that it doesn’t quite live up to its billing. I was imagining something like Bird & Blend’s MojiTEA, but with added blackberry, and sadly it’s really not like that at all. I’ve only myself to blame for building it up in my head, I suppose, but it falls considerably short of “mojito” in my estimation. What it is, is a nicely sweet blackberry green, with a hint of lime and maybe the faintest whiff of rum. Fair warning, though – the rum could be wishful thinking.

226/365

This came as a free sample with my last Leaves of the World order, and to be honest I didn’t have the highest expectations. It’s rooibos, for a start, and chocolate flavoured. Neither of those things tend to be my favourite. In practice, though, it’s actually pretty good. I get orange first, and while it’s a little reminiscent of fizzy vitamins I do get “jaffa cake” from it. The orange in jaffa cakes seems pretty artificial to me anyway. I also get dark chocolate, and for once it doesn’t taste watery. I don’t think it’s trying to be particularly strong or prominent, though, so maybe that’s why. It lingers nicely in the aftertaste, and it works really well as a backdrop for the (much stronger) orange. The rooibos base is also pretty well behaved. It’s a little woody, but not metallic or brassy in the way that rooibos sometimes can be.

I liked this one a lot more than I was expecting to, and now I kind of want to try it as a latte…

224/365

This one is interestingly described as an “organic vegi infusion”, but what I love most about it is that it’s the cutest shade of pink. I do love a good pink tea. This one reminds me a little of Bird & Blend’s Beet It, although I think that’s a sweeter blend on the whole (at least as far as I can remember.) I’ll have to renew my acquaintance with that one at some point.

This one is pretty savoury; I get quite a lot of carrot, initially, and then the sweeter earthiness of beetroot. There’s a touch of sage, and just a hint of spiciness. There are a few fruits among the ingredients that I would have expected more sweetness from – blueberry, pineapple, mango – but they don’t really seem to have any impact on the overall flavour. It’s not a sweet/fruity blend, and I don’t think it’s supposed to be.

As to whether I like it…I guess, kinda? I don’t mind savoury tea, and there have been some I’ve really enjoyed, but I suppose it still seems like a bit of an alien concept. This one has a combination of ingredients that work well together, but I think it’d be better suited to autumn/winter drinking. I might revisit this one later in the year, when I can imagine I might have more appreciation for it.

185/365

I picked this one up with my first Leaves of the World order, mostly as an afterthought since they hadn’t got enough That’s My Jam! left to fulfil my order and asked me what I wanted instead. I picked this one out because it sounded good, and because it’s one of the ones I’d looked at before putting my final cart together.

It smells delicious, dry. Very bright, tart lemon – like lemon curd. To taste, it’s a bit of a different story. The lemon is intense and distinctive to begin with, but it quickly becomes super artificial and very reminiscent bathroom cleaner. I almost get cheesecake in the mid-sip; there’s something that’s approaching tangy, sour, cream cheese…but it’s just not quite there. The lemon descends into artificiality at about that point, so I’m wondering if that’s affecting things. Probably. I mean, how could it not? I don’t get any biscuit, which is a shame.

The suggestion for this one is as a hot tea or a latte, but I’m actually wondering whether this one might work better cold. The intensity of the lemon seems to fade a little as my cup cools, so maybe that’s the way forward. I’m interested to try it as a latte, though. A little extra sweetness and creaminess might be just the thing.

I think this is going to be one of those really finicky blends that takes a while to get right. I have 50g, though, so plenty to play with until I do!

145/365

This one came as a free sample with my first Leaves of the World order. While I appreciate the pun in the title, I wouldn’t say this isn’t really a currant tea. The main flavours are strawberry and blueberry, and they’re super juicy, natural-tasting, and flavour accurate – but they’re berries. It’s probably just me, but currant makes me think either of blackcurrant or dried fruit, and this is neither of those.

Name aside, this makes for a really lovely cup. The green base (almost certainly sencha) is light and delicate, and works well with the fruit flavours. It’s nice to find a fruit blend where the individual flavours come through well without seeming overdone or artificial, and for them not to meld together into a generic “berry” mush. I can clearly taste both strawberry and blueberry here, and they’re distinct, individual flavours. There’s supposed to be ginger also, but that’s totally lost on me. Perhaps my bag needs a shake up.

I think this would make an excellent iced tea come summer, but I doubt it’ll still be in my cupboard at that point. I could be tempted to buy some more, though…

This is so much better with sugar. It really and properly comes alive. For the record, I’m not usually a person who puts sugar in tea, so for me to do so and then sing praises of the result is a rare thing indeed. I think this cup – 1 tsp of leaf for 3 minutes in boiling water with 1/2 tsp crystal sugar – is better even than the latte I tried first. It’s that good.

It actually properly tastes like liquid strawberry jam now. It’s sweet, fruity, desserty deliciousness.

Win.

I only have a small amount of this left, so I brought it to work with my today in an effort to finish it up. I have so many teas on the go currently, thanks to my challenge, that I really need all the sipdowns I can get! This should be an easy one.

Last time I tried this one, I made it as a latte. Today’s cup is plain – just 1 tsp of leaf in boiling water. It’s good like this, but perhaps not quite as good as the latte. I can still taste strawberry jam, but something about it seems just a little flat. I’m thinking perhaps it needs some sugar? I’ll probably try that next!

138/365

I ordered these last month, I think, so they’re still pretty new to my cupboard. Gotta mix things up a bit! I made this one as a latte this morning, partly to use up the last of my milk before I go off to my parent’s house for a few days, and partly because that’s the recommended prep method. Also, I love a latte.

I used 2 tsp of leaf, and gave it 4 minutes in 300ml boiling water. It’s topped off with 100ml hot milk, and 1/2 tsp of vanilla essence. I probably should have added some honey, but it turns out I don’t have any.

To taste, it’s pretty good. I get the “jam” resemblance straight away; it’s sweet, a little tart, and just, well…jammy. It claims to be strawberry, and I get that, but there’s also a deeper, richer undertone that I associate more with blackberry or blackcurrant. It makes me wonder whether the base might not be a keemun, but as the pouch doesn’t provide any more info than “black tea”, I guess I’ll never know. That would be my guess, anyway.

Did I mention that it’s good? Liquid jam, anyone?