Simple Loose Leaf is a monthly loose leaf tea subscription box. Choose from the Classic Tea Box (which contains some caffeinated teas and some herbal teas) or the Decaf Tea Box.
This is a review of the Classic Tea, $9 a month, box.
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About Simple Loose Leaf
The Subscription Box: Simple Loose Leaf
The Cost: $9/month + shipping. Save with longer subscriptions.
The Products: four different hand-packaged loose leaf teas; this is a review of the standard (caffeinated) box and includes a black tea, a green tea, an oolong, and an herbal tea (the types received per month may vary a little – you won’t always get an oolong, for example)
Ships to: The United States for $2.99 and Canada for $9.49
Simple Loose Leaf September 2018 Review
There isn’t a monthly theme, and there is already brewing information on each pouch of tea (as you will see below), but there was a simple brochure this month. As an aside, I am a fan of the new, smaller box – less cardboard waste:
Here is the booklet that came with this shipment.
4 Reusable Linen Tea Filters
If you are new to drinking loose leaf tea, not to worry. Simple Loose Leaf has you covered with these reusable tea filter bags. I used these to brew this month’s teas and they worked quite well. You’ll get a new set of 4 bags every month, too. I am happy to see that these are unbleached.
Evening Herbal (10g)
This one is really simple, just peppermint, ginger, and lemon peel. This is like a combination of two teas I normally drink in the evening (one is lemon ginger and one is peppermint) so I find the name particularly appropriate. I think the balance of flavors is just about perfect (the ginger is not too strong). This one would also be good for calming the stomach after a large meal.
Karakundah Black (10g)
It probably makes me boring, but plain black tea is my favorite and I am always happy to see plain black teas in this box. This is an Orange Pekoe black tea so it is definitely suitable for those with a more Western palate. Orange Pekoe is pretty common among supermarket brands, though this is definitely fresher and more complex than, say, Lipton.
Northern Garden (10g)
This month, we did receive an oolong (you often do, but not always). This was interesting. It appears to have whole dried berries, and the bits of tea were stuck to them. Because of the size of the berries, you don’t really get as many cups of tea out of this package as you do out of the others. Although this one is caffeinated, you honestly notice the fruit quite a bit more than the oolong. This one reminds me a bit of potpourri (but in a good way).
Pan-Fired Green (10g) – Buy 2 oz for $6
This is our green tea for the month and it is another plain (unflavored) one. I like this one. To me, this is somewhere in between Asian style and Western style in flavor, but I have been drinking a lot of strong Dragonwell lately at home so many things will seem mild by comparison. I like having this one in the afternoon so I’ve taken it into my office.
Verdict: This subscription is only $11.99 (including shipping to the US), so you can think of this as getting four teas for $3 each. There’s enough in each bag to brew about 5 cups except for the one with dried berries (if you measure, which I admittedly usually don’t), which works out to about 60 cents per cup, with the bags thrown in as a nice extra. Most of the teas this month were not yet available in the Simple Loose Leaf shop (but they will probably show up there eventually) so I haven’t linked or provided pricing. These are often exclusive blends and/or hard-to-find cultivars, often not available in retail packaging at these small sample sizes, and it’s a great way to try some new blends before committing to a full-size purchase. As usual, I was definitely a fan of this month’s selections.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, boxes ship on the first of the month so your first box would be October's.
Coupon - Use code SUBADDICT to get $2 off any Simple Loose Leaf quarterly order!
Value Breakdown: At $11.99 per month (including shipping), you are paying about $3 per tea.
Check out all of our Simple Loose Leaf Team Box reviews and the Drinks Subscription Box List for more tea subscription boxes!
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What did you think of Simple Loose Leaf? Do you get any tea subscriptions?
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