Product: Language of the Leaf

Product:

Language of the Leaf Teas

www.languageoftheleaf.com

I'm so excited to review this product as it was a package sent to me from Neeta Khanna (founder, Language of the Leaf) herself after she saw my Zimbel's review. So about four weeks ago I received this package and have pretty much been getting drunk on teas ever since.

Assorted Language of the Leaf tea packets

In fact, as I sit here writing this, I'm sipping on a lovely Rooibos Sunset tea . Outside, the leaves are the same colour.

Fall 2009 © photohogger

Language of the Leaf: Rooibos Sunset

The Rooibos Sunset tea is much like a walk in the crisp fall weather with crackling leaves underfoot and a real sense of being at one with nature.

Language of the Leaf: Rooibos Sunset

Its citrus flavour is refreshing and light and the high level of antioxidants makes it a winner all-around. I should also mention that this tea arrived as a wedding give-away sample; the tea in a gorgeous silken tea bag in a cute round metal container.

Language of the Leaf: Rooibos Sunset as a wedding giveaway

Language of the Leaf: Rooibos Sunset tea bag

The Wedding Blend, a white tea infused with peach nectar and speckled with pink rosebuds is appropriately titled as it would make a very good wedding give away.

Language of the Leaf: Wedding Blend (as a wedding giveaway)

I found this to be a really enjoyable after-dinner tea. We'd purchased a rose-bud tea in San Francisco from a wonderful tea shop sold to us by a very knowledgeable salesman and he told us that the rose buds are great for complexion and said to relieve menstrual pain. I find the pure rose-bud tea to have too strong of a sweet scent (much like rose water), so the blend of white tea, peaches and roses was more tolerable.

Language of the Leaf: Rooibos Lemongrass

The Rooibos Lemongrass tasted much like the Rooibos Sunset, I couldn't quite detect the difference, but I'm not complaining since I longed for more of the Sunset after the tea bag was finished, so this works just as nicely.

I have to admit that I am not a fan of green teas; I've never come across one that I've liked (until now), mostly because of their sometimes powdery and always bitter aftertaste.

Language of the Leaf: Queen of Siam Green Tea

That said, the Queen of Siam is a green tea with a lemon ginger finish and I was hesitant to try it, it was the last one of the batch left for me to try and the lemony scent reminded me of NeoCitran, but then I tasted it and it was wonderfully not lemony at all...rather, gingery and smooth with a mild hint of green tea. Very soothing. We cracked this tea pack open at work one day when one of my friends was feeling a cold coming on...she agreed that it was very calming.

Okay, can I please talk about the Biscotti now? WOW! Imagine your grandmother's biscotti, or if your grandmother didn't make biscotti, imagine she did and now imagine it in liquid form. Okay, that probably didn't make it sound too good, but honestly, I was floored that tea could taste as if I were actually biting into a biscotto. It's great with or without milk. Amazing. Truly a tea to make you feel warm and fuzzy all over!

And lastly, y'all know how much I love my Earl Greys (and I have had some really pathetic EG teas...bags and loose leaves,but I shan't name any names...*cough Twinnings Lipton David's Tea cough*), and Language of the Leaf's Earl Grey is what I really should be talking about since it's what brought this whole review together! I fell in love with this LotL's EG at Zimbel's Cafe a while ago, enjoying it with some soy or lactose-free milk in the afternoons as a wake pick-me-up. I love the smell of it; it's got a milder scent of bergamot but it's not mild on taste. A wonderful version of EG that I adore and continue to purchase from Zimbel's, even with a batch of it at home. The one time Zimbel's didn't have EG, I decided to try the Ginger Peach Apricot black tea; I found it to be deliciously gingery and robust in fruit flavour.

I'd like to thank Neeta Khanna for this opportunity to review her fabulous teas, it was such a treat! And thanks to Language of the Leaf for making the days leading into winter so much more enjoyable.

David's Tea

Location:

336 Queen Street W, Toronto

Cost: $6.50 for 50g

www.davidstea.com

Beside the well-known Rivoli on Queen St. there is a sliver of a store that looks like it could be an urban bubble tea cafe. It's urban alright, but not bubble tea. The place is called David's Tea and it boasts over 100 varieties of loose-leaf teas.

The first time I walked in, I wasn't greeted by any of the upbeat staff which surprised (and offended) me, although I must admit I sort of liked perusing the shelves of tea cups and pots and eyeing the wall of stainless steel tea canisters labelled 'pu'er', 'earl grey', 'rooibos' without being harrassed.

The next time I went in admittedly intrigued by the tea offerings and expensive fancy tea pots, I was offered a little ceramic shot glass filled with a peach-something-or-other tea. A tiny droplet hung off the side of the cup, which I scooped up and tasted fully expecting some pleasant orchard peach flavour. Instead, I received the bitter taste of dishwashing detergent! It wasn't a taste the peach tea could wash away after either, that's for sure. Once again I left with a bad taste in my mouth, this time, literally.

Then Spring came along and whilst on a break with some coworkers, we were greeted with a $2 special iced tea stand outside the store. We decided to try the almond spring tea (black tea, almond oil, toasted almonds, rooibos, chocolate, caramel, vanilla and coconut). This time, I luckily didn't come close to tasting any utensil cleaning substances, but found that it was a tad too vanilla-y and and also a bit bitter. It needed loads of cane sugar to sweeten it up for me.

Then one day, I finally bought some loose-leaf tea: Earl Grey, Zing Me Tea and Kiss my Lips. The Earl Grey is good - perhaps not as strong as I'd like, but it's reliable. The Zing Me (chinese black tea with ginger bits and lush pieces of peach and apricot) is just fantastic! It claims to induce "an instant feeling of well-being" and I have to say that it truly does! Must be the peaches or the ginger. I've yet to try Kiss my Lips (chinese black tea, vanilla, peppermint, chocolate bits and spicy red peppercorns) but I loved the minty chocolately smell. In fact it looks like potpourri so I'd probably be just as happy putting it in a bowl and air-freshening my work space. **update** The Kiss my Lips was a definite dud. Overly strong minty smell and aftertaste with a muddied hint of chocolate. Definitely not recommended. I'd much rather bite into an Aero mint chocolate bar.

I've also been fascinated by the tea pots at David's Tea, especially the Brewt which I've seen at work firsthand and find completely marvelous, but most of them range from $25 - $75 and $179 for the svelte Eva Solo Tea Maker (!).

I also feel $6.50 is a bit much for only 50g of tea, and if I had more tea experience I'd be better able to voice an opinion, but it does seem to be a popular choice in the area (even coffee houses such as Dark Horse Espresso has started serving it).