Teavana

The leaves come out of the tin looking like those dehydrated worms that you feed fish with. But they unfurl into pretty whole leaves! And the color of the tea is so nice, a medium dark golden brown. It smells, well, like wet leaves.

I like the taste, woodsy, mushroomy, a hint of sweetness, a little nutty, yet very delicate. The flavor comes out more as it cools. I like this one. I don’t think it has a whole lot of caffeine in it because I fell asleep on the couch after having two cups this afternoon. So I think this is something I can have late into the day as well and not be up all night. It would be good after a long after dinner stroll on a cold evening.

Had this iced with a bit of mint and club soda. WOW. Tastes like a fruity tropical fizz you’d only find in specialty markets stateside. The lime is present, but not overpowering. It’s subtle and warm. Would probably be great hot with honey and lemon.

I normally prepare this with the Samuari Chai Mate (to be honest, I have yet to have it by itself – I tried the blend originally as a sampler at a local Teavana store and instantly became addicted), resulting in that yummy blend of spices (think almost a cinnamon gum, only in tea form) that helps keep me up when I’m working past midnight. This has about the same amount of caffeine as coffee, so if you need a pick-me-up in the morning, and you’re not as much of a darker brew type of person, this is definitely a pleasant alternative! I find I don’t even need any milk or sweeteners to bring about the various flavors of this tea. This is the tea that I can not be without in my tea cupboard, and often find myself depressed when I get to the bottom of the tin. All of my friends who have tried a sip of this tea keeping begging for me to lend them more!

Making some more this afternoon, might try it with some german rock cane sugar just to see what it tastes like, since I think that’s how they prepare it at Teavana, but I could be wrong.

Upping the rating…LiberTEAs sent me a bit of this and I enjoyed it much more than I remembered from a year or more ago!!!

Finally had a chance to try this. It has a roasted-chocolatey-cigar type smell.
For taste – a milky-woodsy-chocolate-type taste
It’s alright.
Good morning Cup!

I blended this with “Strawberry Lemonade” from Teavana (~5tbs total in a liter, then added a liter) for a very light iced tea to bring to an Italian-style dinner. The fruit blended fairly well, the lemongrass and lemon rind coming enough to the fore-front to bring delight to the guests. Pair it with a meal that would typically call for white wine- it balances out most hearty meals that aren’t steak-and-potatoes-heavy.

Also good with a bit of Lemon Youkou

Have to use 1.5-2 tsp to get the right amount of flavor, but it’s great when I get it right. Also, this smells AMAZING.

Great for a cold afternoon and cleansing the palette.

Amount: 4 scoops
Additives: 3 german rock sugar
Water: 1 teapot, boiling
Steep Time: a little over 5:55 minutes
Served: Hot

Notes: We put in too much sugar and know it, but MilitiaJim was making it and wanted sugar for breakfast, next time less. We mention chocolate a lot and it is a flavor but not a predominant one.

Smell: chocolaty, nutty, complex
AmazonV Flavor: sweet, smooth, spiced black tea
Militiajim Flavor: mainly a black tea, followed by a generic nut and some chocolate.
Body: light
Aftertaste: sweet, nutty, hint of spice

This is quickly becoming my latest favorite tea. If you’re a lover of black tea, milky tea, and vanilla, it’s a must-try! The cornflower adds a gorgeous blue hue to the black tea and the smell is unique and heavenly. I steep 2 tsp for 2 minutes and it comes out perfect- strong but not overpowering, with a nice milky taste. When I want an extra-decadent treat I add milk and sugar. Yummm.

I finally figured out that I liked this one steeped no more than a minute and a half, and mixed with Teavana’s Strawberry Kiwi herbal…mmm.

I know this tea is rated high on Steepster, but I really didn’t care for it much. I love earl grey teas, but this one just seemed to be too mellow for me. I tried steeping anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes but had no luck at all. I even tried temps from 170 – 210. The tea just had no bite for me. I think the creme flavor this tea had just turned me off.

I don’t drink a great many green teas, however luthien convinced me to try a few new ones and to pay more careful attention to the brewing times and water temps. This tea in particular seems sensitive to time and temperature. The unsweetened flavor is very nice, mild and ’vegetal, and not acidic at all to my taste buds (which is one of my usual complaints about green teas). It smells lovely to my nose, a bit like dry cut grass.

This is probably the best tea blend available at Teavana. It has a nice, chocolaty sweetness that could convert even the most hardcore yerba-hater. Unfortunately, it is pretty pricey, too. I’ll be trying to make a home-spun version in the coming weeks.

This is still one of my favorite teas from Teavana’s line, mainly because of how easily it blends with so many other teas. If you want more maté flavor, try adding a lemon maté blend (it also helps accentuate the raspberry flavors). In the past I’ve added herbal teas like spearmint to it to give it a bit more depth and interest. Even on it’s own, it’s a great herbal maté blend with strong flavors of raspberry (and no harsh aftertaste).

So recently I bought this electric kettle from Adagio Teas (http://www.adagio.com/teaware/utiliTEA_kettle.html), and it arrived this morning. I said “well why not use it to brew up some morning mate?”. In less than 2 minutes, I had boiling water, and quite a smugly satisfying cup of this on my hands. Always a winner.

I needed a pick-me-up on this grey rainy Sunday (plus, my voice is still a bit shot from my revelry in Austin), and this did the trick. I tried it out in my new Bodum tea press. Never a bad cup out of this brew. I added a bit of spearmint for a little more zip.

Steeped for four minutes and added cream at the end. It’s the only thing getting me through this conference call right now.

Deliciousness in a cup. Brewed according to package directions and used raw sugar to sweeten…but I really didn’t need it.

I taste absolutely no pu-erh in this, but perhaps that’s not a bad thing. This tastes straight up like strawberries and cream. Actually, it tastes a lot like SpecialTeas’ Strawberry Cream, which is delicious.

Thanks for the sample, wombatgirl!