Teavana

Years ago, this was actually the first loose leaf tea I ever bought. I frequently tried samples at Teavana, but this is the first one I ever had to have. I ended up with a few bags of this after Teavana closed, and it makes such a tasty, nostalgic treat. I’ve tried other chocolate mint teas since and have never been much of a fan. It might be because the white chocolate goes so much better with mint than other chocolates. So anyway, the tea tastes mostly like a mint candy with some desserty depth underneath. And it leaves a bit of a tingle on your tongue. This is one that definitely gets stale with age, so I guess I’d better hurry up and finish what I have.

really really delicious- however, since it is so similar to DT forever nuts I have to compare them. DT has more of a warm cinnamon flavor. I don’t get any caramel notes in CAA. I have some left for a few more cups but after I don’t mind at all just having forever nuts.

Terrible. The lavender is so overpowering it made me feel nausea, wouldn’t reccomend.

This tea was too strong and bitter. I did not enjoy the taste honestly. It smells good, but does not have a pleasant taste when drinking. Very leafy.

This is my new favorite oolong tea. It’s simply delicious. It is a sweeter oolong and I love the honeysuckle flavor. The flavor is light but still comes through very well.

Sipdown no. 1 of July 2019 (no. 83 of 2019 total, no. 571 grand total).

Wow, it’s more than halfway through July and here’s my first sipdown. It was a big container. Does that count?

I was away for a couple of weeks doing a family reunion plus Disney/Universal Orlando, and drank no tea during that time. It was very hot in Florida. Not tea weather, though I was swilling water.

Anyway, I don’t know whether this really makes one bit of difference for weight loss — I’m inclined to think not, unless drinking it as a dessert substitute counts. But it is pretty tasty. More like a fruit blend with a minty aspect than anything else, though the puerh gives it an underlying earthiness and the oolong a bit of a sharpness. It’s was good cold, too. No. 2 quite liked the cold version.

I know I’ve had this before, but for whatever reason I don’t have a note on it.

I take any sort of weight loss claims from tea with a mine full of salt grains. Yes, caffeine can make your metabolism run a tad faster and yes, drinking a lot of fluids, including tea, can help curb appetite given that many times the body interprets thirst as hunger. But beyond that, I haven’t seen enough proof to convince me that tea does much of anything to help one lose weight.

Oh and it does, sometimes, enable me to have a tasty after meal treat that makes it less likely I’ll want a dessert.

So for me, the reason to drink this isn’t because of the name. It’s because of how it tastes, which isn’t half bad.

Next time I’ll overleaf more — like all Teavana and other chunky fruit blends, more is better. The blend has a fruity, minty, slightly musky smell in the tin. It’s a bright red color and clear after steeping (thanks beetroot!) and it smells tartly fruity with an undercurrent of mint and a depth that I think comes from the pu-erh.

It tastes more like a fruit/herbal blend than a tea. I do taste an underlying leathery note that I think is from the pu-erh. It’s not overly tart despite the hibiscus — the tartness it does have is tempered by the fruit’s sweetness and blunted by the mint to some extent.

It’s quite tasty and I can’t help but wondering how it would be as a cold tea. I’m torn about going there, though, given that Teavana is kaput and that would use up most of my tin.

This tea is one of my favorites. It’s light, refreshing, and fruity. It is very aromatic, and when brewed too long it becomes overwhelming. Personally, I like it iced with lemon. It takes minute maid.

Found these pyramid sachets at Walmart, to my surprise. It’s Earl Grey, so nothing mind-blowing, but there is a light root beer note to this that is kind of interesting.

Although this tea was very tart, I really enjoyed it. I tried it both hot and cold and prefer it cold, however. I personally like tart berry flavors but I know some people might not. The color isn’t a dark pink color which was very visually appealing.

9/13/2018 Western brew. I didn’t measure how much tea. 212F/about 3 minutes

Like most Teavana teas, okay but nothing special.

This was really yummy iced!

I wouldn’t recommend this tea by itself when unsweetened, but I would still recommend it overall since it does mix well with other teas if you like to experiment. I used to love mixing this with more floral or fruity/floral teas from Teavana before they closed. It has a pretty bitter aftertaste so I tried adding 2 spoonfuls of some wildflower honey and that helped a lot. (I should probably mention that I normally prefer my teas sweetened.)

This tea has a beautiful dark green color to it. It smells like seaweed and has a freshness to the aroma. When brewed, the color is a nice, light green hue. It looks very delicate in the cup, but the flavor is strong, even after the recommended two-minute steep time. The flavor is earthy and bitter, yet super smooth. I really like how it lingers after I have tasted it. Because of the lingering taste, this is a tea that I can take my time drinking, which is a good thing in my book. One to be savored.

You can tell this tea is quality because of how all of the leaves are roughly the same shape and size. At Professor Ying’s house we tried it three times. The first as a rich brew and the second and third as a lighter brew. The difference between these two methods were significant. In the richer method, the tea had more of a bitter aftertaste and less of a lingering mouthfeel, while the lighter method was more preferable to myself. It had the fragrant clear taste of a white tea with no aftertaste and a lingering mouthfeel after each sip.

One of the best Japanese green teas I’ve ever tasted. While this tea tends to err on the pricier side I find the cost worth it. This is not a tea I drink daily as it would be too expensive. However I served it to a Japanese gust today, so I took the liberty of re-steeping it for myself later. These tea leaves are not a one-steep and done tea. These leaves are actually good enough to steep two and three times. It requires a little bit longer steep time (1st: 2 mins, 2nd: 4-5 mins, 3rd: 6-5 mins).

I steeped this in my clay Yixing Travel Tea Tumbler (made by Teavana) and I can’t wait to season the clay with my favorite tea :)
Debating on brewing the Kyoto Organic Cherry Green Tea in it as well, but I don’t want the floral hints to throw off the seasoning of the clay.

Overall this is by far my most valued and favorite tea in my cupboard.

I found these sachets last night and it made me so happy! I missed this blend so much when Teavana closed. Sachets aren’t as good as the loose leaf version; this version has a fake-y scent to it. It’s still good though. I get notes of mango, pineapple, candy, hibiscus, and orange.

Glad to see that Starbucks hasn’t completely pulled the plug on one of my absolute faves.