Teavana

I’ve been drinking this all week as a morning tea. Its good, strong, and has enough kick to kickstart me in the morning. And, its not an overly complex tea that I feel I have to savor…slurping it down is just fine with me. Everyone should have one of those teas that they can just drink…an not have to have more than half a braincell awake to enjoy.

resteeped yesterday’s 3 ball remains. Again over ice, and again recommended.

Backlog from yesterday. I tried this tea as an iced tea and have to say that its near perfect for my tastes. The bold, clean flavor is excellent for iced tea…especially if you like your tea plain, no sugar.
I used 3 balls, 205 deg water for about 2 minutes, poured directly over ice.

On the resteep from this morning…2 balls in a 12oz mug for 4 minutes…and the leaves don’t have anything left for the resteep, even after a good 5 minutes of steeping.

I’ve decided the adjective for this tea is “Bold”. It doesn’t have a tannic “tea” taste…it is actually very smooth. I reported in my first tasting note that it had an edge of “burnt”…I used only 2 balls this time and that “burnt” is not exactly gone, but not so in your face. I think its what makes me think “Bold”. The tea is well oxidized and about as far away from green tea as I think you can get, other than smoked lapshoung (probably spelled that wrong). This may be the source of the boldness and almost burnt.
Despite all that, this is a good morning tea…

Asked for tea for Christmas; my mother and her posse happened to walk into a Teavana store in Chicago (Lady’s “Lets Go Shopping” roadtrip). After a hour’s guided tour through the intracies of tea (which mom reports was a pleasure), their guide picked out three “must try” teas, this was one of them; Thanks Mom! (and Teavana guy).
I used too much in my first cup….I have a 16 oz mug and used 3 pearls, 2 would have been fine. Water was off the boil for 5 minutes or so. I brewed this loose, directly in my mug for about 4 minutes, but it took a minute before the pearls actually started to unravel and steep. From there it steeped fast! I decanted it into another cup, ditched the leaves and returned the brew to the warm mug.
It has a strong, bold flavor with no astringency. Slightly woody and an edge of “burnt” in the flavor…perhaps from oversteeping. Still, very tasty and I look forward to another cup, and another shot at getting the steep correct.

Some days this tea really gets to me. It seems very high in caffeine. Between that and its very floral scent, it goes right to my head. Not a good tea for me first thing in the morning or on an empty stomach!

Bergamot is well balanced and accents but does not overpower the tea. Takes milk and sugar well. I don’t drink full caf black teas often but this is one I turn to when I need an am wakeup.

Mixed this with White Ayurvedic Chai from Teavana and it is delicious! Spicy, amazing aroma and great flavor. I use a little more tea than what is recommended to get a bit of a stronger flavor.

This tea looks good, smells good, and tastes ok, but it has no body whatsoever. It’s kind of like the Natalie Portman of teas.

I’ve yet to find something to mix it with that fixes this issue.

I’d say this is one of, if not THE best Darjeeling I’ve ever had, but I haven’t had all that many, so I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing. It has a nice, floral taste, but on about the third steep, it starts making me feel nauseated. Of course, that could also be from drinking 6 cups of it in the course of an hour or two to get all that I can out of this measly 2oz of tea that somehow conned me out of $18. Don’t get me wrong, though. This is a great tea and I know Darjeeling is typically quite expensive, but I’m sure that you could find something of equal or better quality for a lower price elsewhere.

Also, they market this stuff as a black tea, but it seems like more of an oolong. idk

This is honestly the best tasting Iced Tea I’ve ever had in my life. I brewed 3tbs of each to ~5 cups of water, then added 5 cups of cold water and chilled, and then added Sugar in the Raw to taste. It’s incredibly refreshing, and while none of the fruits are identifiable, they make the tea sweet-tasting without actually being sweet. I will be buying more of these teas :)

Very nice leaf appearance – lots of whole tippy leaves. I don’t think I’ve had a green/black blend before and this one was very nice. I used 1 1/2 tsp in a 12 oz cup and got 2 steeps at around 2 and 3 minutes.

Amount: 3 scoops tea
Served: Hot
Smell: Sweet plums, and a hint of spice with a beautiful red color
Flavor: plum with some spice, light body, but none of the sweetness you smell
Aftertaste: none

I added some wild huckleberry honey from NY half way through, it didn’t change the flavor much, nor does adding german rock sugar, it’s a very strong flavor

I like this tea a lot. The jasmine and the oolong tea are the most pronounced in this blend and it works very well. It is a good tea to drink in the afternoon for a little pick me up as well as a break from the day.

Upon opening the tin I did not like the smell of the tea all that much but I was pleasantly surprised when I brewed a cup and tasted it. The tea has a vegetal flavor but it is sweet and pleasant. The taste is fairly mild so I recommend brewing the tea longer than the suggested time on the tin.

I finally made my way to teavana and decided to spring for their ultimate oolong. The flavor and scent is a sweet mix between vegetal and flowery. After drinking a couple cups of this I felt very relaxed and soothed. It is rather expensive tea ($12.50/ounce) but it can be infused up to 3 times. It is hard to go wrong with this oolong.

Surprisingly pleasant, with just a hint of berry. Lasted three steepings.

Very nice black tea – slightly malty and chocolaty. Reminds me a bit of Golden Monkey. Used 5 pearls in a 12 oz. cup and 2 steeps at about 3 1/2 and 5 minutes, water just off boiling.

I like! A good, well-balanced blend for this time of year. I wish I had brewed it a little stronger, and not had it follow up a spicy meal though.

It’s all gone now!! I always seem to go through the non-caffeinated teas much quicker than the ones with caffeine. Guess it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why!

I’m adding this to the shopping list. With some sweetener and creamer, it’s a great evening treat.