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The story of my life seems to be having favorite teas discontinued and spending years searching for replacements. Does anyone else relate? Years ago, TeaSource in Minneapolis had a chai blend they called “Reena’s Chai” that was probably one of the top 10 teas I’ve ever had. From what I recall, it was heavier on the nutmeg than most chai blends I’ve tried and just seemed to hit the perfect balance between sweet and spicy. Since then, I’ve tried dozens of chai blends from all my favorite tea companies trying to find a suitable replacement. Fava has an herbal chai that I LOVE (their Roasted Almond Chai, if you’re curious) so I decided to give this more traditional blend a shot. It was…fine. Pretty much the basic spice blend I would expect from a Masala Chai on a CTC base. Absolutely nothing wrong with it, but also nothing to make it special or memorable in any way. The search continues!

I’m always a sucker for a good Chinese black tea, so when this one was deeply discounted at TeaSource, I had to give it a try. No regrets, because this tea is delicious! The dry leaf is so pretty: tiny, delicately twisted golden leaves with a rich molasses aroma. The flavor is smooth and full-bodied with notes of malt and sweet potato. No bitterness or astringency at all and it re-steeps beautifully. Kinda wishing I’d grabbed more than 2oz in the sale!

I accidentally ordered 4oz of this tea, so it’s a good thing I ended up liking it! The green tea base is smooth and not too grassy and the ginger is strong without being overly spicy. I do wish the lemon flavor were a bit more prominent, so I may experiment with adding some lemon juice one of these days. It’s okay hot, but really shines as an iced tea on these hot summer days!

Wish Tazo hadn’t led me on with that “touch of pear” nonsense in the description. Trader Joe’s had an AMAZING bagged tea that was white ginger pear and I’ve been searching for a replacement since they discontinued it. This is not that. It honestly tastes more like a straight-up ginger tea; I’m not really getting much of the green tea base and I definitely don’t taste any kind of pear flavor here. Disappointing.

This was in the Golden Moon sampler pack I received as a hostess gift this summer. Although other teas in that assortment were really enjoyable, this one fell flat for me. The flavor is surprisingly mild (more like a lightly spiced black tea than a true chai) and not very well-balanced. Oddly, though big cardamom pods are quite prominent in the leaf, the flavor is mostly ginger and cinnamon along with the assertive and slightly bitter base tea (probably a CTC Ceylon, by the look and taste of it). Milk smooths things out, but diminishes the spices even further. It’s drinkable, but there are definitely much better chais out there!

I love almost all the teas I’ve tried from The London Tea Room, but this one was a rare miss for me. I was so excited to find a blueberry-flavored blend that didn’t have hibiscus in it…pretty much all the blueberry herbals I’ve ever tried have included it (presumably for the color?) and that flavor takes over. But while I’m glad this one doesn’t taste like hibiscus, it doesn’t really taste like blueberry either. The medicinal flavor of the rooibos base is front and center here and I actually taste more lemon than blueberry. While I’m excited to re-stock on some of their other blends next time I’m in St. Louis (hello Coconut Oolong and Maple Walnut Sencha!), this isn’t one I’ll be re-purchasing.

My last Market Spice order was definitely a mixed bag, but this blend was one of the hits for me! I’m a sucker for nutty dessert teas, but I don’t remember trying anything that was macadamia nut flavored before. The nuttiness combines super well with the vanilla and the base tea is present but not too assertive. Really lovely with milk!

I’m not the biggest fan of florals (especially jasmine) so I probably wouldn’t have chosen this blend on my own. But my friend Rives who introduced me to My Cup of Tea LOVES this one and talked me into buying it. I’m glad she did! While the jasmine flavor is present, it’s counterbalanced by the citrus and pineapple so it does’t come off at all perfumey. There is a bit of dryness at the end of the sip, but it isn’t too much…just makes me want to keep coming back for more! I enjoyed it hot, but have found that it really shines as an iced tea. I am so excited about discovering this company and looking forward to trying more of their teas in the future!

This tea tastes like melted gummy bears! The fruit flavor is STRONG, but unfortunately quite artificial. I really didn’t care for it hot, but it worked better for me iced. Glad I found a way to drink it, because Market Spice only sells in 4oz quantities, so I have a LOT of this to get through!

A friend who lives in Dallas sent me a few teas from The Cultured Cup, including this one, and all of them were excellent! This particular blend isn’t my favorite, just because I’m not the biggest fan of grape-flavored things, but it’s definitely great quality tea. Huge, unbroken white tea leaves that give off a soft flavor that really does remind me of white wine.