Happy October! Autumn is my favorite season, though here in Southern California it still feels like summer, with it being 30c/85F (and a horrible heat wave) throughout September and into October! BOOOOO! Bring on boots, hoodie and scarf weather – though it barely gets that cold here for it!
With that said, a new month means the October Simple Loose Leaf Selection Club! However, Simple Loose Leaf Selection Club is changing their formats – switching from a monthly selection box to a Co-op format.
With a monthly subscription (cheaper, at $14.99 a month), you get a sampler pack every month. Simple Loose Leaf will have an online shop to purchase teas that you sampled. With the subscription, you get 50% off at the store. This co-op format will let you try even more teas, with the flexibility to purchase your favorites at a great price.
Anyways, this is the last month of the old format of the Simple Loose Leaf Selection Club – here are the teas for October: Peppermint Herbal, White Pear Tea, Yunnan Jig Black, Spiced Pu’er and Hojicha Green.
Tasting of October Simple Loose Leaf Selection Club
I will be sampling Houjicha green, Yunnan Jig Black and Spiced Pu’er.
Houjicha green is a roasted Bancha tea from Japan. Dry leaf is twiggy milk chocolate color. Very fragrant toasty.
The steeped tea is a strongly scented roast with a clear and crisp light brown colour. Houjicha green sips in sweet, roasty with hay, nutty and caramel notes. I’d say this is a medium roast hojicha, and very easy to drink, perfect for a cool fall day.
Yunnan Jig black tea leaves are accented with the odd gold tip or leaf, with a wavy twist appearance. The scent is fruity and caramel like.
After a 3 minute steeping, I had a brown ochre cup of tea with that classic earthy fragrance from a yunnan black tea. The flavor is on the moderate side with a sweet honey, woodsy (almost like a savory woodsy pine/cedar) with a smooth silky texture. Very easy to drink with no dry or bitter notes and a pleasing amount of sweetness to drink this tea on its own.
The Tea Owls are trying to jig, though it was hard to photograph.
Spiced Pu’er – a pu’er blend? Yes please! This one has cinnamon bark, orange peel, ginger root, aniseed and spice flavor.
I did a long steeping, 5 minutes, and Spice Pu’er came out a thick black colour with a bit of film on the top. The scent of the tea is a rich, ginger spice. Sips in a little creamy with rich, earthy and a little mushroomy pu’er. The tea finishes sweet and spicy with ginger and cinnamon flavor. The pu’er is quite low on the fermented flavor. I’d give the spice intensity at 4/10 as it’s a little spicy but not overpowering.
Comments
Admittedly, I will miss the old format as I can choose up front the teas I like with a preview of next months sample – I do a number of monthly beauty boxes and I love when you get to choose at least 1 item! We’ll have to see how the Simple Loose Leaf Co-op format goes – I can see it a great deal for building up your tea stash with favorites and amazing for a workplace teas collection!
Bonus: Spooky overexposed Tea Owl!
