it was an okay tea, but seriously now, let's not get carried away

[edenfalling]

On Friday at Tutto Bene, I got some tea to go with dessert. Let me tell you about this tea.

It is a brand called Mighty Leaf, and the particular blend is Organic Breakfast.

The front proclaims, underneath the blend name, that it contains Artisan Whole Leaf Pouch * Black Tea * Caffeine.

On the back, first we have some generic blend babble/brewing instructions: A robust, wide-awake blend of organic black tea leaves. Our take on the classic English Breakfast is serene contemplation from dawn to dusk. Brew time 4 minutes.

Then there is a little infographic box about the Mighty Leaf brand in general, entitled "Magic of the Mighty Leaf": Since ancient times, a freshly brewed pot filled with whole teas leaves has been revered as the richest in character. Today we proudly continue the tradition. Our handcrafted silken biodegradable pouches are packed with our artisan blends of whole tea leaves, fruits, herbs, spices and flavors too big for ordinary tea bags. Enjoy the liberation of pure tea goodness and rediscover the pleasure of the way tea was naturally meant to be.

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Okay then!

Comments

[branchandroot]

The whole Cult of Tea really just weirds me out. I mean, I like tea! I even like a lot of Teavana's blends, as long as I don't read their descriptions while I'm trying to drink, because then I'll just snort it out my nose.

[edenfalling]

I like tea as well! But yeah, cult is a good description for the attitude I think a lot of "artisan" tea companies are trying to push. And it is ridiculous.

[autumnia]

Big tea drinker here (seriously, the amount of tea [loose, bagged, low brow and high brow] I own either scares or amazes people). It's all about the packaging these days though I don't know how often people actually read the labels.

That said, I do like Mighty Leaf teas but not all of them. I skip over all the pretty words and go straight to the ingredients if I'm interested in one of their blends (tisane or not). Anything that has vanilla, chocolate, caramel, cocoa or coconut is out for me. Berries, citrus and herbs are okay, whether it's a tisane or tea blend. You can't go wrong with plain teas like Earl Grey, Breakfast, Jasmine, Hojicha, etc.

[edenfalling]

I don't drink coffee, so tea is my go-to drink in all cases where coffee would otherwise be the appropriate response. :-) And I'm pretty easy-going about what kind of tea, so long as it's either black or oolong -- except Earl Grey. I cannot stand Earl Grey, for some reason. I'm also not into tisanes, except when it's a flavoring in green tea, which is the only way I can enjoy green tea.

Tastes are so complicated and personal, you know? But yeah, it's best to ignore the packaging beyond the ingredient lists and suggested brewing time. :-)

[monkey5s]

That's pretty funny. I am an admitted tea snob, as well as a coffee snob. But the hard sell on that package would not impress me. I want to know where the tea came from (Sri Lanka, India, China, Taiwan, East Africa). As far as whole tea leaves go, that's good, but how far down the stem are they taking the leaves (best flavor is the very tip)? I will admit it's humorous they are trying to make it work both ways, caffeine-wise, saying it's both a "wide-awake blend" yet it also encompasses "serene contemplation from dawn to dusk." Make up your mind already!

But really, whatever works for each person is the best tea there is. I started out in my early 20's drinking Celestial Seasonings Morning Thunder tea, which is just anonymous black tea mixed with South American mate, mixed and brewed specifically to maximize caffeine. I considered this a step up from the Salada and Red Rose iced tea I grew up drinking- but I am fine, these days, with drinking iced tea made from supermarket tea bags anyway.

[krait]

Heh, I'm with you (well, except on the coffee). Tell me where it's from, tell me how it's grown and harvested, tell me what its flavour profile is.

All that stuff about serene contemplation and since ancient times and liberation and pure is what I call "Tea Woo" (as in, The Periodic Table of Woo), and it shows up on an awful lot of tea tins! The worst case I ever encountered was so laden with woo-concepts that it was impossible to follow a sentence through to the end (not helped by a moderate case of Engrish)... Looking back, it was hilarious and I really wish I had kept the tin!

the Salada and Red Rose iced tea I grew up drinking

Ahahaha, funny tea story: I'd never encountered the Red Rose tea brand, so when I was on vacation and saw it in a menu I was very excited and ordered it, expecting something along the lines of the Zhena's black-tea-with-rose-petals tea that I love so much. BIG surprise when I drank it and couldn't detect any rose at all; and then I saw the name on the teabag, and it clicked!

Oh, well; it was still good. :D

[edenfalling]

That periodic table is a thing of beauty. :-)

We had some Salada tea at the smoke shop for a while -- it was in one of the dollar-store lots that Mr. Speakerphone purchased. I think it was pineapple flavored? Anyway, the intent was obviously to make iced tea, not hot tea. We were selling it for a dollar a box (and a box had at least 25 bags), but it did not move very fast.

[monkey5s]

Yeah, that periodic table is wonderful! I'm kind of partial to the Venn Diagram of Irrational Nonsense, as well. AR AR AR!

I find it bizarre that a restaurant would specify which mass-produced tea dust tea bags they used. It would be reasonable under those circumstances to expect that to be a variety of tea, rather than the brand name on the box. What a ripoff that it wasn't!

[edenfalling]

Yes, the source of the tea plant and the portion of the leaf picked are a lot more relevant than pseudo-mystic mumbo-jumbo. But guess which option you're more likely to find on tea tins and boxes. *sigh* I think the Cult of Tea/Tea Woo does more harm than good in that sense.

Heck, I grew up drinking Lipton and it never did me any harm. I still drink it perfectly happily at restaurants and at church, where it's often the only non-herbal option. It's never going to be my favorite, but it's recognizably tea (albeit rather bitter) and it has caffeine, which are the main points.

[monkey5s]

Heh. recognizably tea and it has caffeine were the main reasons I went to Morning Thunder. The fact that it was super astringent was just a bonus- coughing up the overnight drainage from my post-nasal drip kept me occupied en route to my hated job at the time!

Now, though, I have fallen into the habit of Adagio Tea online, which led to me seeking other, herbal teas elsewhere, and the Woo factor on some of those is staggering. But it's an adventure, right?

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

"blends of whole tea leaves, fruits, herbs, spices and flavors"

No. Just... no. Tea should contain tea leaves. The end.

[edenfalling]

Yeah, anything else is not tea. It may taste lovely, but it's not tea.

This is why I wish the word 'tisane' was still in common use, instead of the phrase 'herbal tea'. It would avoid so much confusion. *sigh*