two leaves and a bud

My brother is getting married tomorrow. I’m super excited for him. But tonight we are Matteo’s for the groom’s dinner. They offered coffee, I asked for tea. Should have picked the black tea. This one has either been sitting in the tea chest for a bit or is just that bad. Sorry but the metallic notes bite and the grassy notes are too sharp. Nope.

Very nice color and scent but I truly don’t care for the tea. It left a dry feeling on my tongue and was not enjoyable. Might need a different tea to restart the day today

I’ve heard of this company but not seen it in shops or restaurants local to me. On my last day in WY, I spotted a sampler in the convenience store attached to our inn. I snagged a couple bags to take home. It’s a cool summer morning and I felt that chai would do to start off the day.
Steeped for 5 minutes and finally sipped about 5 minutes later. As usual, no additives used to alter the base tea. I love the scents of cinnamon, cardamon, and cloves. Found it to be smooth and comforting. I could see myself stepping it up with a dash of milk and honey over ice.

Another random tea bag someone gave me over the holidays. I grabbed it thinking it was a straight black this morning and only realized after tearing open the packet that it’s chai. Ah well—it’s cold and windy today, so chai seems fitting.

I never find myself craving chai spices, and I’m not sure why, because I usually enjoy them. This one is heavy on the cinnamon, with the other flavors (mostly clove and cardamom, to my palate) playing second fiddle. It’s pretty nice, but maybe a bit too cinnamon-forward. That’s all I can say.

Another random tea bag that came along with a Christmas present! I adore jasmine teas and have a very fond memory of accidentally spending way more than intended on jasmine pearls at Teavana (RIP!) a decade or so ago.

Anyway, for a bagged jasmine, this one is quite pleasant. It’s delicate and light with a smidge of citrus. I bet it would be a good entry point for the jasmine-curious, because the floral note is fairly understated. So soft and soothing!

A family member gave me a few assorted bags of tea from this brand over the holidays, and I’m just trying one out now. I needed something caffeine-free, and this tisane seemed promising! Apple, blackberry, raspberry, citrus… and it smells exceptionally tasty, like plump juicy berries. Except… I somehow missed that hibiscus was the very first ingredient. Now that it’s brewed, though, it’s unmistakable in both scent and color.

As for taste… hmm. OK, the hibiscus is not horrible. It’s definitely the first flavor I get, but it’s not quite as aggressive as it could be. (An admittedly low bar.) There’s the faintest bit of something syrupy and sweet to back it up and temper it a bit. I have no desire to drink this one again, but I don’t utterly hate it.

I thought I’d posted a note about this tea, but apparently not. Thanks, Derk, for the big pouch. I’ve had it a few times now, and while it won’t replace the peppermint from Zen Tea in Vancouver, which is sadly unavailable, it comes close. I steeped around two teaspoons in 355 ml of water at 200F for 3, 5, and 8 minutes.

The aroma in the pouch is of strong, sweet mint, and the steeps bear this out. I taste sweet, clear mint with a kick of menthol and a bit of earth. I don’t get stewy or vegetal notes as I have with some other mint teas. The flavour stays pretty consistent over the three steeps.

If I have one quibble with this tea, it’s that I have to use more leaf (two teaspoons vs. one of the Zen Tea mint) and a longer steeping time (three minutes vs. one) to get the same intensity. However, this is a pretty minor issue. Overall, this is a nice peppermint tea I can reach for at night when I don’t want any more caffeine.

It’s over the year since I had it? Damn… time flies!

Anyway, I was looking for this tea all morning as I had somehow upset stomach all day at work and it wasn’t much fun at all. I wonder what was/is wrong, but peppermint tea to the rescue!

First of all, the menthol in was still present, secondly, it was still very good and tasty peppermint tea. Thirdly, it has helped with my stomachache.

Good on all points. But it is sipdown.

I got some loose leaf sample from California again; derk sent me some! Thank you!

I took two teaspoons and boiling water. Brewed grandpa. As we have peppermint in our garden, I wasn’t that impressed seeing another peppermint tea. But hey, this is so good as ours! Very fresh and I really liked the flavour. It wasn’t muddy, musty or just plain.

i am afraid I can’t say much more as it was as expected, minty and fresh. And as there aren’t any other ingredients, it was “just minty”. But good minty.

I have this in loose leaf and it is really nice. Spicy without being overwhelming. Probably my favorite chai blend.

Good breakfast tea. Clean and smooth.

A gem for those looking to find subtle flavors in a quality green tea. Naturally flavored by several berries and botanicals, it is not overpowering like most berry-filled satchels. Despite the lack thereof, this can easily be overpowering and bitter if steep time is not obeyed. When following the directions, this is easily one of the most refreshing options on the market, hot or cold.

Grass notes of organic sencha are the first to bud on the palate. This quickly gives way to fruits, berry, and a suggestion of melon as it evolves over seconds. Bolder notes of cherry, and earthy nuts expand, giving rise to a mellow citrus finish.

Each sip is the stereotype of a rainforest stroll. A sensation I find most welcoming in the spring, summer, and fall months.

The original Tropical Goji tea was once far bolder with berries on the finish. Its replacement, the Organic Tropical Green being reviewed, is still a phenomenal sip for those looking to the calmer side of flavor profiles.

As a fan of bolder finishes, I consider the discontinued Goji Green a 97/100. The commercially available Organic Tropical Green still manages a 93/100, in the very least.

Sipping on a pot of this herbal tea now. Another old ass tea from depths of the kitchen, best before 08/2012.

Smells like berries > hibiscus > chamomile. Tastes like a mouthful of apple-straw chamomile tea, with very light hibiscus on the sip and a light but lingering berry-lavender aftertaste. Linden, lemon balm and lemongrass? Can’t taste ‘em. But maybe the lemon herbs are giving the slightly drying liquor this bit of lemon sourness. It’s aight.

3 bags to a 750mL? teapot.

Every coffee counter at every large medical facility is the same: oversized Costco muffins and pastries and bagels, bags of chips and M&Ms, ‘granola’ bars. You’d think with the way Kaiser promotes healthy eating that such items wouldn’t be available inside their facilities. I opted for a breakfast burrito from this fine establishment. I knew it would be the most basic egg, potato and cheese log ever crafted by a human but I was HONGRAY.

My radar is always pinging for tea and the innocuous ‘two leaves and a bud’ sign pinged back. The Doctor Coffee counter had a selection, even! But only 1 bag left of Peppermint. I hesitated. You know when you’re sharing an appetizer and the lone piece of cripsy calamari remains? The “No, no you take it” back-and-forth bullshit, and that poor squid who gave its life for your sustenance gets cold and soggy because everybody’s too damn polite to pop the last piece in their mouth. Yeah, no. Do not hesitate. Give me that last Peppermint sachet! It’s mine! I have to settle the upcoming gurgles from a subpar burrito and the ensuing intestinal rot from these antibiotics waging war. You know what I’m talking about and I’m not sorry. We’re all human.

There’s a reason why this is my absolute favorite peppermint leaf. It is by far the cleanest, least herbaceous and stewy, most mentholated and sweet peppermint I’ve ever had. Powerful stuff. Not for sissies.

I met up with 2 ¡awesome and kind! Steepster members – Mastress Alita and Todd – at the San Francisco International Tea Festival today. I got blasted on tea and being around that many people in general is exhausting for me. Now that I’m home, I figured a cooling cup of peppermint from my aunt’s stash would help me settle.

So I spent all this time perfecting my loose-leaf peppermint brewing only to have that effort decimated by some bagged leaf drank grandpa style. Seriously, this blows all peppermint tea out of the water. Pure, potent peppermint that opens my sinuses, cools my lungs and warms this icy heart. No leaf stew here, no burps, no scratchy throat. Good job sourcing that leaf, two leaves and a bud!

My mother placed an order for Two leaves and a bud company. They make the best peppermint tea! Anyways, she received a couple samples and gave them to me to try. They could both be cold brewed, so that’s how I made them. This one was my favorite one. I was skeptical of the ingredients list, but they blend well together.

This was the second sample that I got to try. I cold brewed this one as well. I did not mind drinking this tea, but I think the hibiscus would have been better off left out of this blend (just my opinion).

It seems I prefer goji berry blends to be with black tea rather than green. I oversteeped this a bit since I forgot I was steeping it at all. It made the green slightly bitter and ruined the taste of the goji berry, so I shan’t be rating this tea. Disappointing since this is the only sachet I have of this blend.

Well, it’s not a terrible earl grey, but I’ve gotten spoiled by better ones with much better base teas and actual bergamot pieces rather than just bergamot oil so it tastes pretty mediocre to me. I’m picky about my earl greys and this one does not make the cut.

Honestly this doesn’t taste much like a sencha. It tastes more oolongy to me and I don’t very much like oolongs. Maybe I just got a bad batch but this isn’t an enjoyable cup of tea.

Decent Genmaicha for a bagged tea. Toasty and the green is pretty mild. I enjoyed this but I probably wouldn’t buy it again, there are better genmaicha out there.