365 Days of Tea - Day 45: Simple Loose Leaf's Seven Seas Herbal.

Simple Loose Leaf is a monthly tea box subscription. Its $15/month but not only do you get 4-6 samples of various high quality teas, your ID can be used to buy more tea at half the price. I honestly think that's a pretty good deal. That is, if their products are actually good.

Pretty standard packaging. They are resealable, too. My only concern  is that they appear to be a little stiff, and I worry that they might break up the leaves a bit more than they should be. Generally I think that it's fine though.

It comes with these reusable muslin tea bags, which is pretty cool. I like the feel of them, but I'll admit that I haven't used them yet. I will use them in the future, I'm curious if it effects the tea's flavor.

It looks quite pretty. Bits of tea leaves, cinnamon chips, ginseng root, peppermint leaves, echinacea, sarsparilla root, and licorice root. This is called "Sevens Seas Herbal."

It carries mild peppermint aroma, but it is not alone. It has some sort of secret root-ness that lingers just for a moment, then quickly disappears. Its actually pretty interesting, its less of an aroma and more of an aromatic sensation.

This is where things get even more interesting. As the tea goes on to your pallet, it tastes pretty mild, pepperminty, with hints of rooibus tea. It isn't done yet though. There is a surprising sweetness, not quite licoricey, and not quite mentholy. It kind of lingers on the roof of your mouth as you swallow. It's definitely a flavor experience.

I really enjoyed Simple Loose Leaf's Seven Seas Herbal, and I can't wait to try the other few I have. I wish they would get different packaging, but the company is fairly new as well, so things will improve over time. Andrew Flocks, the person I am in contact with about the company, is a pretty nice guy, too, and that really says something. Not all my experiences with customer services were as easy as it was with him.

If you use "LFT50" while ordering your first box, you'll get an awesome discount.

Can be found @

Simple Loose Leaf DOT COM

365 Days of Tea - Day 44: Starbuck's Oprah Chai Tea Latte.

 Its been a while since I've done a real tea post. I've had a lot of ups and downs, but that doesn't mean I'm not drinking tea. I drink tea everyday. I have some tea products coming, so I'm excited for that. I did not pay for this tea at Starbucks, I used a gift card them gave me.

This fancy Starbucks is inside of a Target. Target has some pretty cool vegetarian food in the frozen section, also seaweed snacks.

This is my first time ordering at Starbucks, and my biggest frustration is the cup size names. That being said, whatever the hell reason they named them that way; I'm calling them "Small, Medium, and Large."

Its foamy, as a latte should be, and for those who do not know what a typical latte is: it is usually expresso with steamed milk. This is made with tea instead of expresso, I would assume some crazy thick sirrup or something that would create a stronger flavor than regular brewed tea. (This is a theory, as I was too busy taking pictures to pay attention)

The aroma always reminds me of pumpkin spice, at least Teavana's chai tea does. (I've had Teavana's chai tea before.) I know that it is not the same, but it seems pretty similar. This is "Oprah's Chai Tea Latte" though, so it is special, somehow. (Might totally just be sponsored for added price.) It is not a strong enough scent to carry far from the cup, I actually couldn't catch any of the aroma without bringing it to my nose.

Boy, is it creamy! As you may know; I usually don't ever add milk or sugar to my tea, I like to experience it with full-bodied flavor, without any additions hindering it. This being a tea sold at a huge chain is, indeed, loaded with sugar because people love sugar. Though, the sweetness it carries actually enhances the subtle flavors of the cinnamon and brings it forth. There is a subtle mix of other spices, blended so well its kind of hard to pick them apart. It didn't so much taste like tea, as I would have hoped however.

Usually, a tea like this would be too sweet for my tastes, but I actually found myself enjoying it, hell, I even finished it. It tastes like fall and the holidays, which carry a lot of warm memories. My only problem is the price; I think its way over priced for what it is: steamed milk and tea. The tea they use isn't expensive at all, and neither is milk. I kinda want some more though.

Can be found @ your local:

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365 Days of Tea - Day 43: Xing Tea's Raspberry Green Tea.

Its been awhile; hasn't it? I've been through some pretty awful life things, which forced me to move in a pinch. I don't know when my reviews will be more constant again but I'll do my best. 

This is a fancy box from Xing. Its surprisingly heavy.

Tons of bubble wrap. 

I feel like they sent me like every flavor ever. I was pretty surprised and thankful.

Some swag: awesome stickers.

Also an awesome lanyard. (There is also a tee shirt but it is in the wash at the moment.)

Green Tea Raspberry. These cans are around the same size as the Arizona teas, so they are pretty big.

Its smells pretty good. I expected it to carry a more artificial raspberry scent but, it was actually really mellow, and didn't seem artificial at all. You can clearly get the aroma of the green tea, too. Which is unusually for a canned tea. Usually canned teas are loaded with tons of crap that the tea flavor is completely lost.

To my surprise, and amazement, the main taste is actually the tea. Unlike most brands the flavoring overwhelms the tea flavor. Here however, the raspberry taste is just there to add flavor, and not hide it. Its quite nice, and I really enjoyed it. It tastes very fresh and without tons of unnatural stuff in it. It actually tastes like green tea.

I am really thankful for Xing tea for sending me so much product, and swag. They are a pretty awesome company so far. I really enjoyed this tea, and will be drinking it again. I can easily say that if this is how they carry a lot of their other products they will always rate well with me.

Can be found @ 

Xing Iced Tea Dot COM

365 Days of Tea - Day 40: Steeped Tea's Earl Grey De La Creme.

 This is my last tea from Steeped Tea, at least for now. They do carry a lot of great products so in the future, I would love to order from them. Also horray! 40 days since I started. :)

Earl Grey De La Creme. Its a black tea as you can tell.  Earl grey tea is a special kind of tea that is always a black tea with oil of bergamot as a flavoring. A bergamot is a type of citrus fruit, similar to an orange.

It looks quite pretty. You can clearly see the black tea leaves, and the wonderful cornflowers.

Its pretty dark.

It has a really deep scent. At first it carries a flowery scent, which comes from the corn flowers, but as that slowly fades away you collect a hint of citrus. Its nice, delicate yet complex. It isn't too prefumey either.

It doesn't taste as roasted as I would have expected. Though it does carry some interesting depth. Its not very flowery, but does carry a tiny hint of it. It actually tastes mildly creamy, though, it isn't thick. It also has a very delicate citrusy flavor, much like an orange and lemon mixture. I'm just glad that it isn't remotely as flower as that trash I had before.

This is finally something really good from Steeped Tea. It carried depth, and also quite delicate. It speaks with high class, but my one complaint is "natural flavors". I'd like to know whats in it. Keep in mind that I do review loose leaf teas at a higher standard then I review tea bags.

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365 Days of Tea - Day 39: Tea At Sea's Mountain Organic Indonesian Black Tea.

Graze saw my review of there box and they're sending me another free box, so that's pretty great news, and very nice of them. I look forward to review more of there snacks. I do have some more tea coming in the mail as well. Lots of exciting things going on!

Sadly though, this is my last tea from Tea At Sea. Perhaps I'll get more samples in the future? I guess we'll see. My experience with there tea has been really great, and I have high hopes for that company as well.

This is a black tea, so as we can tell: the leaves are very dark. The dark coloration is probably from them being rolled, and roasted.

Its brewing away. I like how my tea brewer, which is made for a glass mug, pretty much fits into any other mug, too. I don't always like glass mugs.

Its a pretty dark green, but my horrible photography does it no justice.

Teat At Sea usually offers very interesting aromas and flavors, and this is no different. It smells like a roasted mountain-side with a slight hint of sea breeze. Its carries a lot of depth, and complexity as well. The roasted flavor comes off very nutty, with an earthy under tone, and sea breeze finish.

It comes off as very dark and roasted flavor at first, but it's followed by a bit of earthiness. It almost tastes mildly salted, but that is from where it was grown. Tea At Seas's teas itself, may not be ground breaking, but where they are grown makes a huge differences. You can taste the care and love in every cup and it makes you smile.

I generally think that I had a great experience with Tea At Sea and would really hope to sample their products again in the future. I would highly recommend that anyone who is into tea, or curious about tea try out any of there products.

Can be found @

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