I am not going to lie, I was a bit apprehensive about trying Wize Monkey’s Earl Grey. If you’ve been reading my reviews for a while (or following me on Instagram, where I share tea photos every day), you’ll know that I love Earl Grey. I love Earl Grey so much that I’ve published two recipes on One More Steep using that very tea because it’s one of my absolute favourites. There’s something relaxing about a good cup of Earl Grey, and seeing that it’s one of my favourites it made me nervous about trying this one – if only because I probably have absurdly high standards for a good Earl Grey (sorry, Wize Monkey). Show  With that in mind, I opened up the packaging on the Earl Grey sachets with enthusiasm (it is Earl Grey, after all!). The pyramid sachets emitted the very familiar aroma of bergamot oil. The citrus aroma overwhelms the coffee leaf base just enough that it makes me think it’s a regular Earl Grey. Wize Monkey’s Earl Grey consists of arabica leaves and bergamot oil. Preparation Wize Monkey recommends steeping Earl Grey in 95C (203F) water for as long as you’d like, since coffee leaf doesn’t get more bitter the longer you steep it – which is fantastic if you’re prone to steeping a cuppa, walking away and forgetting about it until it’s too late. My initial steep of Earl Grey was for 5 minutes. First Taste Earl Grey steeps to a golden orange that is quite similar to most of rest of the Wize Monkey tisanes that I’ve already tried (and reviewed). The aroma that comes up from the steeped tisane is that of the bergamot oil, so we’re already off to a good start. The flavour of this coffee leaf tea is both familiar yet… not. I can definitely taste the bergamot oil, it’s something that I can smell from the tea and taste as I sip it. The nuttiness from the coffee leaf tea is very much present, and I thought it’d make me a bit sad that it’s not a cup of black tea, but it doesn’t. It adds a certain something to this version of Earl Grey, but it lacks the pep that I’ve come to expect from previous Earl Grey experiences. I think the coffee leaf tea makes for a different type of Earl Grey experience, but still presents itself well as a black tea alternative. A Second Cup? I resteeped Earl Grey twice. I found the first resteep to be fairly similar to the initial steep, while the second resteep was lacking some of the bergamot oil that I was hoping to find. I would say that Earl Grey is good for one more steep. My Overall Impression I liked Wize Monkey’s Earl Grey. I’m probably overly critical because I love Earl Grey tea so much, but I really did enjoy this coffee leaf version of Earl Grey. The bergamot oil played a good role in presenting itself as an Earl Grey, while the coffee leaf made for a lighter version of Earl Grey. I’m really used to Earl Grey made with a black tea base, so with that punch of flavour and caffeine. I found that the coffee leaf made for a milder base, which lacked that pow of caffeine, but still held its own. I think if you’re looking for a milder version of Earl Grey, Wize Monkey’s would be a great choice. It retains the trademark qualities of an Earl Grey but holds itself up with the coffee leaf base well. This was our first ever batch of Coffee Leaf Tea and now we have a great new evolution of the product, listed here: http://steepster.com/teas/wize-monkey/71544-original-coffee-leaf-tea About Wize Monkey View companyCompany description not available. 13 Tasting Notes
Awesome tea !!! Flavors: Grass, Licorice, Mint Preparation195 °F / 90 °C 4 min, 0 sec 3 g 10 OZ / 300 ML
I love the idea behind this “tea”. Helping the coffee farmers with having a stable year round income is admirable. The tea itself is unique. The flavor is a cross between a green and black tea. Green grassy notes with a malty flavor that reminds me of a black tea. There is a hint of an herbal tea profile as well. I’ve had a tea before that reminds me of this but I can’t figure out what it was. Not sure how much I would reach for this tea, but I’m glad I tried it and am excited to try the mint version of it. http://www.cuppageek.com/index.php/2015/07/25/tea-from-a-coffee-plant-wize-monkeys-armandos-original-blend/
Thank you Kittenna for sharing but this isn’t for me. At all. It got dumped. I am grateful for the chance to try something new though so I do appreciate the share. 217.
Backlog: The good news: I didn’t get the sickly feeling that I get when I have coffee when I drank this tea. The bad news: while I liked it OK, I don’t know that I’d call it a tea. A tisane? OK, maybe. But I think it belongs in the category of a coffee product more than it belongs in the category of a tea product. That said, it is tasty. It reminds me a little of Guayusa only a little more herbaceous. This is more bitter than Guayusa, so if I had to choose between the two, I’d choose Guayusa. I did find that the bitterness subsided a bit as I continued to drink so after the first few sips, this became a much more enjoyable drink. I am excited to see what kind of flavors they start developing now that they’ve been funded through kickstarter. I think that this product would taste really good as a Chai, or with peppermint and cacao shells. Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/11/26/armandos-original-blend-coffee-leaf-tea-from-wize-monkey/
kittenna shared this one with me via the free samples this company was giving away. I’m pretty sure her words were “this one is…weird” lol I’m inclined to agree. while this might work for some, this one doesn’t work for me. The smell is all wrong for me – i didn’t brew it in the paper but it still has a bleachy, musty weird smell to me. Initial sips are a taste that also doesn’t jive with what i’m looking for in a tea. I appreciate the share, and i’m glad some folks are enjoying this one, but it’s just not for me!
The smell of this coffee leaf tea is pungently herbal, so I was expecting something pretty bushy tasting or maybe like coffee. Turns out AOB Coffee Leaf Tea tastes really smooth. Has a malty, 5 steeps in black tea flavor, with a grassy, herbal and hay spike, all over a honey and licorice sweetness. It is pretty unique tasting and reminds me a little like guayusa but not as grassy as yaupon. Full review on my blog, The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/coffee-leaf-tea-from-wize-monkey/ Preparation200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 30 sec
Thanks to Max for sending a free sample of this tea! I haven’t previously tried a coffee leaf tea, so have no real expectations (except a hope that it doesn’t taste like coffee, haha.) Upon opening the packet, I can detect a very herbally sort of aroma… very similar to guayusa, so kind of grassy (not too green, though), and a bit sweet/hay-ish. I opted to brew the tea in a filter basket instead of the provided paper filter, so poured it in (the tea was small fragments and dust, for the most part), and brewed with boiling water for about 4 minutes. The result tastes and smells exactly like guayusa to me. It’s pretty smooth (though there’s a touch of bitterness as it cools), but tastes very herbal. I can’t say that I understand any of the associations to black tea, though I suppose it would be most like the types I’m not fond of (ceylon? yunnan? The ones without the chocolate/raisiny goodness.) Anyhow, I’m not a fan of guayusa, unfortunately, so I’m not really a fan of this tea. PreparationBoiling 4 min, 0 sec
Thanks again Max for the generous samples of this unique product! I also used my brew basket like SoggyEnderman, and actually still avoided bits in my cup mostly! The brew smells very much like black tea actually, perhaps with a more vegetal quality that black tea usually does not possess. It has the malty scent of a hearty assam but mixed with the earthy scent of sheng puer. I’m excited to taste! Okay, so sipping now. The leafy taste of it being an herbal is immediately present, but there are interesting similarities in its flavor with black tea. There is a definite note of licorice. No bitterness or astringency on my end. The malt scent is not met with a matching flavor. The earthy, vegetal scent is however. It is bold enough to not feel like a full herbal though, you could probably pass this for a mild assam! I usually don’t drink herbals, but this has a very smooth, unflavored taste to it that makes me enjoy it very much. Definitely worth a try, and a very cool product to support! Flavors: Earth, Licorice, Vegetal Preparation205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 g 8 OZ / 236 ML
I received this sample to review this interesting “new-old” invention! Let us sip! Since the sample was already bagged, I had to do Western style on it. Not sure how the gongfu style would have turned out, but it might have been good, who knows, this tea disappeared quickly from my cupboard. :-) As I sip down the last few millilitres, I can taste something I have not tasted for so long! It’s coffee! Oh my gosh, it was so great. Honestly, I enjoyed every single sip of this tea! Now, if we are going back in the time the first few sips were a bit earthy and maybe with a reminiscent of matcha-type grassyness. When you begin to brew this tea the color of the tea is light yellow, but once it steeps for like 3 minutes it becomes dark-orange. It’s not something small like you would expect from black teas, it’s totally big. Bottom line: An interesting and tasty new-old invention, that I would definitely recommend to anyone! (What’s worth to mention is that as soon as I poured the water over the bag, a LOT of small bits went straight out of the bag. Whoopsie! :) ) Photos will be available really soon! Flavors: Coffee, Earth, Grass PreparationBoiling 3 min, 30 sec 4 g 10 OZ / 300 ML
Guys, I cooked, I made dinner, and it wasn’t a disaster! In fact I can safely say this is my first Italian style pasta sauce I have ever made, yay for pasta puttanesca. The inspiration for this dish hit me this afternoon when I was grocery shopping and missing Ben’s food (he is a bit famous for his various sauces) my version was very different, but turned out delicious. Plus the corn pasta I used could have fooled everyone into thinking they were getting regular pasta. so that is always a win. In case any of my cheese loving friends are curious, I also picked up a large (and I mean really large) block of Smoked Gouda to experiment with and see which teas go best with my favorite cheese. Today’s tea is a fun little tisane that blends two archenemies, coffee and tea (I guess it is more of a cold war really since you always see them hanging out together in the same beverage places and grocery store aisles) really they should just get along. Wize Monkey’s Coffee Leaf Tea: Armando’s Original Blend is pretty much an olive branch between the warring factions, it is an herbal tea made from the leaves of the coffee plant. One of the things that caught my attention (other than the offer of samples on the steepster forum) was calling attention to the humble leaf of the coffee plant, and using it to hopefully increase the livelihood of coffee farmers. They have a Kickstarter starting in a few days, just in case any of my curious friends are interested. So let me tell you about these leaves, their aroma is pretty unique, it is a pungent blend of green unroasted coffee, hemp, and a sharpness reminiscent of green tea. It reminds me of summers, specifically in the 90s where beach themed hemp bracelets were all the rage and you wore them constantly, they would heat up and the woody and slightly earthy aroma would waft out of them. I only ever enjoyed wearing the blasted things because the smell was fun, and so this tea also was fun. Brewing time! I took it out of the little ‘fill your own’ style tea bag it came in and used my basket, it might mean I get some bits in my cup, but when has that ever bothered me? The aroma is pretty strong, the kitchen smells like hemp, green beans, a little bit of that distinctive black tea briskness you get, and very earthy quality of peat. There was also another note right at the end that took me quite a bit of memory searching before I isolated it, oak galls, oddly as a kid I would collect them and use them for ink, they have a very sharp, tannic smell, and it is kinda enjoyable. The liquid without said leaves has a blend of cooked (and slightly burnt) pinto beans, peat, and a finishing note of dark chocolate. This is a very unusual thing and I find it fascinating. Ok, so the taste, it is a bit unlike anything I have experienced before (which is always very exciting) it starts off with an herbaceous note of thyme, bay and a tiny bit of sage. This transfers to a bit of a medicinal herbal taste, it is not bitter like medicine, but it has a medicinal tone to it, combine this with the surprising internal cooling effect and it ends up reminding me of mint but without the ‘mintiness’ to it and yes, that is totally a word now. There is also a really fun note towards the end that had me almost giggling, it tastes exactly like the way Vitex smells, once upon a time my mother had a huge Vitex in her yard and I would hover around it because I loved its sharp, almost peppery aroma. The finish is wildflower honey sweet with a hint of straw, the honey tones lingered for a bit. This was an unusual drink, I found myself enjoying it despite (or maybe because of) its strangeness. I will say that it does not mix well with corn chips and salsa, sadly, but I have not found a tea yet that does. For blog, photos, and a link to what a Vitex is: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/11/wize-monkey-coffee-leaf-tea-armandos.html Is coffee leaf tea good for you?One of the biggest nutritional components of coffee leaf tea is its high levels of mangiferin, an active compound commonly found in mangos. This phytochemical has been studied for cardiovascular benefits, anti-inflammatory compounds and protective aspects for heart disease and cancer. Does wize tea have caffeine?How much caffeine does it have? It's very light in caffeine (about 18mg of caffeing per 8oz/250ml cup). Comparable to a light green tea. It makes you feel alert and focused yet relaxed and it won't give you a crash. How much caffeine is in coffee leaf tea?Our iced teas have 35mg of caffeine per 12oz can, and dried teas about 20 mg of caffeine per serving (8oz/250ml cup). Comparable to a light green tea, with better taste, and no side effects like jitters or fatigue, just smooth predictable clarity. For more info, please refer to our Coffee Leaf page. |
