Tiesta Tea

I’m trying to make a dent in my Amoda stash. I enjoy getting the box every month, but I have trouble finishing off the teas in time for the next box. It’s not that the teas are bad. I just have too many teas in general and tend towards variety in my tea drinking.

This blend seems even mintier than usual today. Like a fancy candy cane. It really complements the chocolate I’m eating on the side.

Skip this if you don’t like personal notes.

Y’all, I’m scared. I am going in for a biopsy tomorrow and I am absolutely terrified. For various reasons, I can’t talk to family/friends/SO about it. So mostly I’m just sitting here trying to keep it together. Tea helps.

I can’t have my caffeinated favorites because it’s so late in the day. Instead, I’m pulling out my favorite non-savory herbals. This one, Della’s Lemon Chiffon, Butiki’s Lavender Chamomile, maybe Verdant’s Campfire Blend… This tea goes down so dang smooth. It comes off as a plain ole mint tea at first, but that honey/white chocolate note sneaks in at the end for a little extra oomph. Yum.

Reluctantly going caffeine-free for the rest of the day. Silly doctors, trying to help me get/stay healthy!

I still quite enjoy this one. Mmmmmminty! It’s unsurprisingly similar to Simpson & Vail’s Candy Cane Rooibos, though this one is creamier and not quite as sugary-sweet.

Gah! Peppermint! It’s good, but…brisk. Definitely not for the faint of heart. Actually, perfect for the faint of heart. Like smelling salts, this tea will revive you. It’s a rooibos though, so don’t expect the kick to last.

The dry leaf smells overwhelmingly like peppermint with an undercurrent of white chocolate. Brewed, the peppermint smell mellows out and I can make out white chocolate and some of the woodiness of the rooibos base. The flavor is actually overwhelmingly peppermint with a distinct honey tone. No white chocolate, though. As it cools, the honey turns into white chocolate. Iced, the white chocolate flavor is dominant with a lingering peppermint note. I quite prefer this tea hot. There’s something addictive about this one. It’s nice to help soothe a migraine, too. This tea may well end up in my permanent rotation.

Hmm. Seems like Amoda snuck this back into the box this year, too.

The primary flavor is bright, cooling mint, but there’s a definite nutty, woody note from the rooibos floating in there. The white chocolate is more of a creaminess and a sweetness than chocolate, but overall it makes a pretty decent cup.

Having this due to tummy issues and not wanting caffeine in the evening. It’s definitely minty, and there is a hint of rooibos, but no throat weirdness, but also no chocolate unless you consider the vanilla like flavour like white chocolate.

I’ll probably finish the sample from Amoda, but it isn’t something I’m likely to buy again. I have other similar options here.

So I’ve opened this to try it, because I feel it’s important to try things.

Meh. It’s minty. It’s rooibos-y. It’s going onto my swap shelf.

Creamy and mint, this is okay. I doubt I’ll ever grab more of it, however it was nice while it was here. Reducing the rating a bit because it’s good, however just… good.

Interesting how this came in the Amoda box last winter, and is here again this winter. Hm…

It is however minty and refreshing, although there’s only a mild amount of chocolate flavoring for me, I’m still really enjoying it.

Another purchase from my Tiesta Tea haul. This is nice, but I’m not really getting pancake from it, as it’s not bready. What I am getting, is a slightly creamy, sweet maple and nut taste. It was faintly sweet on its own but I added some nonetheless and it really brought the flavor out. While this is nice, it isn’t quite blowing me away; however, I will say that I prefer this maple flavor way more than the one from Davidstea, so there’s that.

Will reserve further judgment/rating till I’ve had it a few more times.

3 tsp + sweetener in 16oz steeping mug

In the bag: Wine and strawberry jam? Odd.

In the cup: Cinnamon raisin bread with a hint of apple.

Taste: A nice, sweet red apple taste with just a hint of raisin and cinnamon. The almond is just barely perceptible in the background. I don’t taste the chicory, but I’m also not all that familiar with chicory flavor.

The tea isn’t bad by any means, there’s just not a lot of flavor pay off— I put way more tea in than I normally would and the taste is still weak. Not great, not terrible, just a little meh.

Mm. This stuff is fantastic— when I saw it wasn’t already on the site, I was amazed!

I picked this tea up on a whim on clearance, mostly because I’ve never been impressed with earl grey cream teas in the past and would never have paid full price for it. This has, of course, a classic earl grey flavor, smooth black tea and bergamot, nothing particularly special but not sharp or overly citrusy as some can be. Where this tea shines above other teas, especially Earl Grey creams I’ve had from other companies is the fact that it tastes like earl grey tea crossed with crème brûlée. It doesn’t have a chemical vanilla flavor like other earl grey creams do, instead it’s simple, sweet cream over a darker base and it marries wonderfully.

Do be warned, however, that this tea will turn bitter and lose all that wonderful stuff I described above and fast if over steeped.

I’ll definitely be purchasing this little gem again!

This tea was all right. I hate saying that, it’s non committal and boring. However, so was this tea.

It was… sort of chocolatey. I don’t expect it to taste like fine milk chocolate, but it tasted like the dregs of dark chocolate mixed with harsh, black tea. Just brewed, it was bitter, and simply tasted ugly.

Upon the addition of milk, it was all right. With honey, it was drinkable and more pleasant, almost like some of the other chocolate teas I’ve had in the past.

I’m not about to throw out this tea because I hate to waste perfectly good tea when it can be made drinkable, but I really hate that it requires the addition of milk and honey. This is not a tea I would drink on its own or buy again.

I thought I loved this at first but the more I drank it the less fond of it I became. The main flavors are coconut and cinnamon which are GREAT but then there’s this powdery strange flavor that comes afterwards. I think it might be really poor quality roobios? I can’t tell. Add to that the fact that a mesh strainer fine enough to contain all the flecks of tea is not currently in existence and you’ve watched my reorder fly out the window. Half of this tea will end up falling through your strainer and in to the cup – guaranteed.

This would be so good without the hibiscus! It smells and brews up like delicious cinnamon apple crumble but the addition of hibiscus adds a strong tartness that I’m simply not a fan of. It ends up making the tea taste soured or bad. Also, mine has a strange chemical twinge to it. Not sure if it’s simply gotten old or if the flavors aren’t jiving well.

I am a huge fan of bananas (fresh, artificial – a favorite is banana laffy taffy mmmm) so when I saw that Tiesta had a banana flavored tea, I quickly snatched it up during their Black Friday promotion.

In the bag it smells wonderful. I wish I could say it blew my socks off steeped, but there is so much rooibos in this blend, that that’s pretty much all you can smell after it’s done brewing, and that usually isn’t a good sign before tasting it. After it cools, the banana flavor is more evident, but it’s still rather weak (and I added sweetener).

I’m thankful that I only ordered the (ok not so small) pouch. It’s not bad by any means, but I was expecting more. I think it’d be better without the rooibos (and something tells me it was used as an inexpensive filler but I hope I’m wrong?).

It must be noted that I just ate lunch. I will try again when I haven’t eaten flavorful things just to be sure my tongue wasn’t playing tricks on me.

So yummy!

I had a big mug of this tonight and it’s just as yummy as my first. It’s creamy, nutty with apple and cinnamon. Perfect as a nighttime winter drink. I’m so bad with rating teas as I’m horribly indecisive, but I’m pretty confident in this one!

So I made a huge order from Tiesta Tea during the 50% off Black Friday promotion. Most of my order was their smaller sized bags, but for this and a few select others, I opted for the 4oz tin (not like this is a review of the tin but the tin happens to be pretty nice). I’ve been really into creamy teas lately and this one really hits the spot. It’s a bit strange since it looks like you are drinking pink lemonade but it tastes nutty and creamy with a hint of fruit (likely coming from the apple).

Around the edge of my mouth I’m getting a bit of a sour taste probably from the beetroot but it’s not off-putting. I added sweetener, so I imagine it would be more present without.

Happy with this part of my purchase!

3 tsp+sweetener in 16oz steeping mug

An oldie but a goodie, especially because I’m recovering from a very persistent cold.
Dry leaf is pleasingly chunky and resembles craisins.
Steeps a nice red color.
Notes of currant in the liquor’s scent.
Pleasantly sour on the sip, smooth, tart, fruity.

Sipdown!

Made up a pot of this with the last of my leaves. I’m gonna keep the tin, because I think I can use it to store all of the stray pens and pencils lying around my room.

I probably will eventually restock this. It’s a nice loose leaf herbal, full of nice berries and healthy things. Packed with flavor. All I need is a hint of honey or some of the real maple syrup that I got this weekend, and I’m all set. I’ve been very impressed with Tiesta so far.

I went to scoop some leaves out for a cuppa tonight, and… Uh-oh! I scraped the bottom of the tin! Why did I go through this so quickly?

…. Oh right, because it’s delicious.

With a spoonful of organic honey, this is the perfect health drink. The honey, which has antimicrobial properties, takes the bitter edge off of the hibiscus and cranberry, and rounds out the elderberry, currants, rosehips, and rooibos.

I need to restock this stuff!

Ughhhh sore throat alert! I dug this one out of my tea chest to help ward off impending sickness. This is pretty much the ONLY fruity rooibos I actually like. I steeped this perfectly tonight, too. It tastes just like cranberry juice, without the ridiculous amounts of sugar. It steeps a beautiful deep red and it smells heavenly dry. A little bit goes a long way, and don’t exceed 2 minutes for steep time though, or it will be really really tart.

One of my housemates is ill… We thought it was what I had last week, but she’s lost her voice, and that never happened to me, so it must be laryngitis or something awful like that…

Anyway, that’s what prompted me to make a cup of this before bed last night. According to The Walking Dead, elderberries are good for fighting sickness like the flu and colds and such, so I was like, Bring it on!

This tea is good, but also very tart. I should try adding some sugar to it. Or maybe cold-steeping it?

Some one of these days, I’m definitely going to make a pot of it iced. Perhaps a shot of vodka might find its way into my glass as well…? We’ll see.

Yum! This tea brews a lovely red color, and it’s chock-full of berries! The hibiscus is strong. But not so tart that I want to pour it down the drain and forget I ever tried it. Normally, I hate rooibos, but I can’t even taste it in this blend. I wish I actually liked rooibos, because it’s full of antioxidants. But if this blend makes it tolerable, than that only gives it more brownie points, as far as teaqueen is concerned.

I also know that rosehips, hibiscus, and cranberries are full of vitamin C and other assorted good things for you, so I shall keep drinking to my own health. Because I am just that kind of person.

I can’t wait to try this iced!