Mighty Leaf Tea

I never really love Assam teas. Not sure why I bought this one; I guess I am always hoping to be surprised. The dry leaves are beautiful, showing off a nice clean-looking and fine picking, with abundant golden tips interspersed throughout an attractive sea of black leaves. Not a dusty black like some teas, but a healthy, almost shiny, black. I think Mighty Leaf is great at picking teas, based on my sampling of some of their other teas, so I trust this is a decent example of a good Assam tea.

The tea gives a dark liquor, and a nice honey sweetness, and pretty much has a standard “black tea” flavor profile. Reminds me of a typical commercial black iced tea type flavor, but I am drinking it hot. But pretty much like buying an unsweetened bottle of Lipton or Gold Peak black iced tea or something like that.

Where this tea, and pretty much every other Assam I have ever tried, loses me, is at the end of the sip when the aftertaste emerges – Makes me feel like I’m sucking ashes out of a cigarette ashtray all of a sudden. Not a fan of that flavor. It isn’t so much the bitterness which bothers me, and there is some present, but just the “ashtray” sensation which seems to taint Assam teas in general.

Weird, because I love Yunnan black teas, and I understand they share a lineage with the Assam black teas grown in India. Not sure why it is so difficult to like them for me, then.

Very nice ti kuan yin. Hits a lot of the typical oolong notes, but avoids being boring by offering nice, strong, and vibrant flavors. Sometimes that is hard to find with this style of tea, as I have experienced a few which seem to be very weak in flavor.

Orchid florals, peachiness, and chestnut notes just as described by the vendor, plus to me I also find some apricot. Responds well to western-style steeping. I’ve had good results with 3 minutes at 195° for a first steep, and 5 minutes at 195° for a second steep. Probably would work for a third steep as well.

It begins flowery and sweet at the tip of your tongue and becomes overpoweringly bitter as it moves back.

I was very surprised at the quality of this tea. Mighty Leaf seems to pick some good ones! It was nice to find beautifully formed larger pieces of leaves instead of the usual more finely broken grades of leaf you typically find in this price range. This one delivers on the muscatel flavor and florals typical of a decent 2nd flush Darjeeling and follows through with a pleasant lingering aftertaste. I am really enjoying it.

Unbelievably smooth tea, and a nice overall jasmine experience. Personally, I prefer a pouchong tea base, I think – This green tea base is a little too smooth and, for my taste, I don’t feel enough presence from the tea. The jasmine fragrance and taste is beautiful, though!

First time trying this and I find it to be a great black tea blend. Complex indeed. This is one of the best teas I have found for steeping multiple times western style. Had pretty good results with 2 min first steep / 3 min second steep / and five min third steep. If you are a kung-fu steeper, then ymmv.

First steep is a more malty bold black tea but evolves to take on more of a second flush Darjeeling character in the third steep. Second steep was most interesting. Not a bad experience!

I tend to drink more single-origin type teas, and I enjoy it when I can find more interesting and complex varieties. Not sure why I don’t drink more blended teas, as it stands to reason that there is potential for even more complexity in these types of teas. Once in a while I experiment with my own homemade blends, which is fun and often rewarding.

This is a good-tasting detox tea. I polished off the box over the last week as I have one of those killer Summer colds; there is no part of me that is not infected and does not ache! I honestly think this helped move the virus along. I normally take supplements including mushrooms so I was shocked at the severity of this virus…but the tea actually seemed to help. I was drinking one-two cups per day.

I think this is the one MB loved. Tropical notes are gentle now.

I’m probably halfway through my tin of this matcha, it’s ok but definitely a latte grade. That’s expected as the price reflects this.
I would not recommend usucha or koicha. Grassy and bitter, with a creamy umami finish. Sweetness comes in and lingers after you are done.

Nice name, but in reality utterly unremarkable. Even just walking down the supermarket aisle, there are much better options. [internal score: maybe 62ish.]

creamer: none
sweetener: none

I received one serving of this matcha in my Advent calendar from Devon. It was day 6, but I had absolutely no mood drinking and whisking matcha yesterday. So, I prepared it today afternoon.

I have to say that I am greenhorn in matchas. And prepared this one wrongly again as well. As I have read, I should use the powder, use little water, make a paste with whisker, then using the rest of water. Well, I used all the water together.

And whisking…
I got a green, thick liqiud. Very grassy. High level of umami too.
Enjoyable, but nothing I would necessary have again. But maybe it is just my wrong preparation method?

It’s funny to read other tasting notes and see only reviews from 7-14 years ago. It appears that Steepsters either loved it or hated it then. This is a tea that Mighty Leaf has kept on the market and can be found pretty regularly. I believe I picked it up at the grocery store.
There wasn’t a strong scent to the tea bag. I accidentally steeped it at a higher temp than I normally would. Once I realized how hot the water was, I steeped it for approximately 2 1/2 minutes. Seems like I didn’t screw it up too badly. The color was a nice yellow. It smelled faintly of pineapples and mango. I was reminded of a random “tropical” tea that I picked up at a grocer in Aruba many years ago. It was just fruity enough without being overpowering.

Did I snag this from a hotel room? Most likely. Am I wishing I was on vacation right now? Most definitely. So for a half hour, I’m going to pretend that the 52 other tabs on my laptop are not important and focus on this mug of afternoon tea and a crispy chocolate chip cookie.

6 minutes recommended steeping time does seem a bit too much for this one but as a rule follower I did as it said. The tea is bright and light. I don’t think I like the blend of flavors. Individually, I do enjoy spearmint, hibiscus, lemongrass, and chamomile but together is too much. It seems like a muddy herbal mess. Maybe the 6 minutes was a mistake and I would enjoy it more with less time in the water.

I would say this one is alright. I don’t get the fruity flavor/scent that others remarked about. But perhaps I dulled my senses with all the cleaning products I just used. I probably would give this one another try.

A little more fun than your average chamomile. Spearmint and citrus.

Backlog. I drank this during my teabag inventory check. Taken without milk.

After drinking the surprisingly smooth Numi Breakfast I was in search of something a little more abrasive. This bright, tannic tea did the trick, although I also found it had an interesting “dusty red rose”note. This bold tea has hints of metallic, which doesn’t bother me much anymore. You can tell this is a mix of citrusy ceylon, raisin-like assam, and muscatel darjeeling. Not bad in a pinch.

And it’s a belatedly posted sipdown!

#long time ago internet hiatus sipdown

Random tea bag I snagged from somebody somewhere. Had very early and in a rush. I don’t remember much.

Sweet, smooth taste with plenty of vanilla, whether from vanilla bean or flavoring, I don’t know. It was like a malty-cocoa-vanilla marshmallow that smoothed over the brighter taste of red fruits. The taste took me by delightful surprise but then I realized how thin the brew actually was. Mellow black tea to ease my way into a sleep-deprived morning.

Stole this one from a hotel I was at just before the pandemic “started” in the USA. I rarely add anything to my tea but found it to be a bland Black Tea but improved with milk and sugar.