Mighty Leaf Tea

Not being that fond of the Mighty Leaf sachets, I nonetheless wanted to check out their loose leaf offerings. First up: Jasmine Downy Pearls.

I have enjoyed some pretty tasty jasmine pearls recently, which makes it difficult for the competition. These pearls strike me not quite as fragrant as some, and I also noticed that they are matte on the surface, rather than having shimmery silver striations. There seems to be a fair amount of powder on the inside of the container, suggesting that some serious jostling has gone on.

The flavor is pretty good. I enjoyed the second glass more than the first, which is often the case for some reason. Anyway, I’m not sure yet how to rate this tea, but I’ll certainly know by the time I make it to the bottom of this generous-sized cylindrical can, which boasts a whopping 128 grams! 6 down, 122 to go…

I got this tea yesterday from the coffee stand in the building next to where I work. Normally, that coffee place is pretty good and I like the way they make vanilla bean tea lattes mmmm…. But as it’s summer and my stomach was not in top form, I decided to go with this mint tea and ask for it iced. The barista informed me that I could not have it iced because it was a hot tea. I informed her that if she brewed it hot with less water than usual and then poured it over ice, it would become an iced tea. She told me I would have to wait for it to brew. I was unsurprised by this news and assured her I was fine with that. She very doubtfully followed my instructions, but did not brew it nearly long enough, I think. All I got from this tea was spearmint. I really couldn’t detect the green base at all, which is a shame because this is my favorite way to have green tea. So, I won’t rate this because of the dubious preparation.

Weekend Sipdown #9

This is one of the nicer chamomile based blends I’ve had the pleasure of trying in a while. This time, my cup was a pale pinky-red (see previous notes for my musings on this magical, colour changing tea!). I don’t usually like hibiscus too much, but it does a sterling job of cutting through some of the sweetness from the chamomile here. The citrus flavours — lime and orange, primarily, to my taste — also pack a refreshing punch. A pleasant evening cup.

What I have noticed about this tea is that it’s never the same colour twice. My first cup was green, my second cup was grey, my third cup was purple. Today it’s red. The sane part of my brain believes this is a logical consequence of the balance of ingredients in each bag. The happily insane part believes this is magic, colour changing tea. I’ll leave you to decide which is more likely.

Today’s cup has a nice sharp citrus note which offsets the cloying sweetness of the chamomile flowers. I can taste hibiscus a little more than I usually can; I guess that’s why today’s cup is red!

Final tea of the day at work was this herbal from my ML Collection sampler. It’s very, very similar to the ordinary Mighty Leaf version (Chamomile Citrus), with perhaps a touch more citrus and slightly less sweetness from the chamomile. It’s a good combination, and particularly since the citrus makes me think more of orange and lime than the ubiquitous lemon.

So far I’m finding the the ML Collection teas are often just slightly refined versions of the standard Mighty Leaf bags. Some of them appear in either one range or the other, but many are held in common. It’s hard to say which I like best. They’re so similar they’re practically the identical, but with a couple of tiny distinguishing features. With this one, I think on balance i prefer the ML Collection’s slightly stronger citrus quotient. I have a few more bags left to help me make up my mind, though!

Weekend Sipdown #8

This is a pleasant enough darjeeling, considering it’s bagged. There’s nothing too metallic in the flavour, which is what I’ve had the biggest problem with in Mighty Leaf’s darjeelings. Instead, it’s lightly floral, with a very slight muscatel/grapey flavour. Quite brisk. Pleasant enough, but not a repurchase.

Another from the ML Collection sampler. I like this one better than I do the Organic Darjeeling Estate from the “normal” Mighty Leaf range. This one has a much gentler, less metallic, taste. It’s also got a more pleasant grapey muscatel edge, and a slight floral hint. Saying that, I only gave this a very brief brew time — 1.5 minutes in boiling water. This yielded a medium brown liquor, which was plenty strong enough for me. I hate darjeelings that are bitter, astringent and metallic tasting, and with bagged versions I’ve learned to be cautious.

This cup has been pleasant so far, but it’s probably not something I’d keep around long term. I prefer loose darjeeling on the whole, and first flush more particularly. Just call me a darjeeling snob.

This is one of the teas in the Tea Sparrow subscription this month. They recommend it iced. As it’s in the 90s out and sticky, I thought this sounded like a great idea.

I went approximately with their 1T for 8oz, a little under. I’m glad I did because even diluted with the ice after steeping in boiling, this seemed strong still. (A second infusion was actually just about perfect.)

It’s a really nice rose and black tea balance. It really is good iced.

This sachet of Organic Darjeeling Estate from Mighty Leaf produced a surprisingly nice glass of tea. Why surprising? I suppose because the envelope gave no indication that this was a first flush, single estate tea, so I simply assumed that it was the usual “swept off the floor” grocery store darjeeling fare.

The color of the liquor is darker amber—perhaps because the leaves are more broken up than loose-leaf darjeeling tends to be (case in point: Norbu Margaret’s Hope). I kept the steep time short, because in my experience it is a simple matter indeed to ruin a cup of darjeeling. Three minutes turned out to be just right. The flavor was smooth and neither bitter nor overly grassy. It was a tiny bit scratchy in my throat after the swallow, but overall not bad at all.

Floral and a bit sweet… but not too sweet. Luxurious.

Another from the ML Collection sampler. I gave this 3 minutes instead of the recommended 5, as it had already brewed up to a typical mint tea swamp-brown in that time, and it smelled pretty strong to boot. I’m not ordinarily a plain mint tea fan, so the verbena was definitely the attraction for me here. Unfortunately, mint is pretty much all I can taste. It’s the kind of flavour that could overpower anything given half a chance, and it’s definitely given more than half a chance here. There’s a tiny hint of lemon, particularly in the early sips, but it’s hardly there and it’s soon knocked out completely by the mint. Not the tea for me.

twigs & tree branches
motley assortment of leaves
more dragon less well

motley mix of leaves
every shape, size, and color
ecumenical

My first loose-leaf experience from Mighty Leaf, ML Jade Organic is a quite decent Long JIng. To be honest, I did not realize that this was going to be a dragonwell—usually that is mentioned in the name—but I am happy with this organic tea.

The dried leaves are of all different shapes and sizes, not uniform as are many of the other Long Jings. The leaves are definitely flat, but they range in length and width. There are lots of large leaves but also some smaller pieces, so it’s possible that some of them broke while jostling about in the tin. I really like the sleek cylindrical tin, by the way, and will probably buy envelopes to refill it in the future.

So, yes, the tea is good. The liquor is golden veering very pale green, and the flavor is textbook Long Jing. Very smooth and buttery with a chestnut-like taste. I’ll definitely be reinfusing the wet leaves as they are still very fragrant. Depending on how long they last, I might also but a third infusion into the fridge for decaf iced green tea tomorrow.

(Blazing New Rating #77)

Delicious as a London Fog style latte with foamed/steamed milk, sugar, and vanilla bean paste.

I bought an assortment from Mighty Leaf and was really not happy about this one.

This is one of three Mighty Leaf teas that they offer at this little bakery and café that we have near our house. It is also an Organic tea that they sell at Whole Foods so I love that this little café serves this.
This tea was super refreshing and delicious as an iced tea today for lunch!! It has a great, not too harsh, strong, or any bitter flavor. It is very smooth and just right as iced tea.

Out of the Darjeelings I tasted today this was the strongest smelling, a pleasant and very floral/fruity smell. Likewise in taste there was a very floral tone, not the most subtle Darjeeling.

There is however a bitterness and stronger astringency to this tea that I did not get from other Darjeelings. Perhaps could do with some experimenting on brew temperatures/time.

(256)

I’ve had this tea for a while. But it’s sealed in bags so I thought it’d be fine. And it was fine. Not fantastic or anything, but extremely drinkable and nice enough with cream.

It would be a good tea choice if you’re out and about and there’s limited selection, but it’s quite expensive to buy a box of and IMO, not worth it.

There are definitely better vanilla black teas out there.

As an indication of my true feelings about rooibos, this Organic African Nectar is one of the last varieties left to try in my MIghty Leaf sampler box! I see from the company’s description that rooibos is said to be good for us: packed with antioxidants and all that jazz. Good to know that it has some redeeming qualities.

This is not bad, mind you, but it is essentially rooibos. The brew is bright orange-red and tastes primarily of rooibos. Are there connoisseurs who distinguish fine grades of rooibos? Or is comparing rooibos infusions rather like comparing types of light beer?

I’m sure that this is fine for those who like rooibos. I believe that I enjoyed the Palais des Thés rooibos blends a bit more, because I could really taste some of the other flavors. Here I don’t detect the marigold and don’t even really notice the hibiscus. I would not say that this blend is unpleasant, but it’s definitely not something for which I anticipate a craving in the future.

(Blazing New Rating #40)

From the Teeny Tiny TTB.

Came in a tea bag. The mint is very weak, the chocolate flavoring much more so. Even the base tea – red rooibos – didn’t taste that fresh.

Scheherazade’s Super Sipdown Week! #19

This morning’s second cup. I’m not a fan of overly floral teas, so this isn’t one I particularly like. As jasmine tea goes, it’s at least fairly subtle. There are so many teas I like better, though, so I’m not too sad to see this one go.