When I first discovered tea I had no idea what I was doing. I went to DAVIDsTEA and Teavana and bought at least 50 grams of everything that seemed remotely interesting. Though, in light of Teavana’s business practices at the time, the 50 grams I asked for of a bunch of different teas ended up weighing closer to 100 grams due to sneaky overpouring. So, I ended up with a bunch of large quantities of teas I never tried before and since I didn’t know any other methods of brewing, if I did not like them hot, I was just sort of stuck with them. Luckily, I found Steepster and swapping and was able to take those large quantities and trade them for new things, which expanded my tea knowledge extensively.
Fruit teas were especially problematic for me because almost all of them include hibiscus or rosehip which tends to drown out everything else. So while the teas smell sweet and juicy, they are essentially just tart, especially when brewed hot. My answer to this? Cold brewing. It has a tendency to tame the tart which gives the other flavors a fighting chance. Alas, this was only discovered after I had given up on so many fruit blends, this one included. That is why when I saw this in the Great Canadian Traveling Tea Box I decided to give it another try, though this time as a cold brew.
Even cold brewed though, it seems this just isn’t for me. Between the fruits and the florals, this is a rather cloying tea. The top note is orange and apple with hibby in the middle creating a divide and settling on the sweet rose base. It also has a waxy quality that sometimes comes with fruit teas which makes this whole tea seem over processed and artificial. I know Teavana tends to blend this with another tea and perhaps that helps to balance out the flavors and hide some elements that are less desirable here. As it is though, I am just not a fan.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Fruit Tea
Where to Buy: Teavana
Description
A tribute to the plentiful citrus groves along the Indian River, this bright favorite blends orange slices and pretty rose petals.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Maharaja Chai and Samurai Chai Blend from Teavana. . . . .
If you’re anything like me, your friends and family know you love your tea– and have been gifting accordingly this Christmas. In a recent office secret santa swap, I hit the total tea jackpot– a brand new gravity (gravi-tea– heee :)) steeper for my desk at work, and a GIGANTIC tin of this chai blend from Teavana. Score!
Now, early on in my tea-drinking years, Teavana was an initial fave, but in the last few years as I’ve discovered amazing small-batch companies and other small businesses that I love to patronize, I don’t really shop at this iconic mall tea shop anymore. That being said, I know they’re a beloved staple for so many tea drinkers, so I was pumped to get to try one of their more popular blends this holiday season through the generosity of a work friend.
First things first: does this dry leaf ever have the SCENT! It is perhaps the strongest spice from dry leaf that I’ve ever had. Super present are the scents of anise and cardamom, which jump right out to me in the brewed cup as well. This is lovely with some cream, no sweetener needed (unless you like your chai syrupy). My only complaint is that this blend is SO heavy on the spice that I can’t taste any of the tea leaf in my cup– which is supposedly a blend of mate, oolong, and green rooibos. I’d love for this to taste more distinctly tea-ified rather than just being so strong on the spices, but if you’re a fan of spiced chai like I am, this one will hit all the notes of a good chai for you. And deliciously warming for the wintertime, to boot!
Nicely done on this blend, Teavana.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong/Mate blend
Where to Buy: Teavana
Description
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Vanilla Creme from Teavana. . . . A Honeybush Blend
Every August in my childhood, my family would spend a week or two at my grandparents’ cabin in the north woods of Wisconsin. My sisters and I would spend days catching sand toads, splashing in the river, hiking through pine forests, gorging ourselves on cheese curds & ice cream, and staying up way too late to stargaze and– even more importantly (to 6-year-old Mary), make s’mores.
I was obsessed with roasting the perfect marshmallow– brown and toasty on the outside, nice and gooey on the inside. Never burnt (yuck)– those got immediately relegated to my dad’s plate, undiscerning-marshmallow-eater that he was. I think I torched my marshmallows more than I got them that perfect, brown-and-toasted consistency, but it was always a celebration when I nailed it.
And this tea, simple and unassuming thought it may be, perfectly captures that roasty brown, toasted marshmallow flavor of my youth. Slightly sweet vanilla, creamy and understated with hust a touch of woodiness, it’s balanced and tasty without being overdone. With just a little milk and a touch of honey, it’s a decadent (and caffeine-free) treat worthy of any campfire.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal/Honeybush
Where to Buy: Teavana
Description
Indulge in dessert-inspired sweetness that brings out the wild honeybush and tames it into a creamy confection. The South African honeybush is grown in the wild and carries soft, clear honey tones when it’s blended with sweet vanilla beans. The result is a smooth, warm and friendly, creamy dessert tisane.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Golden Dragon Yellow Tea from Teavana
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Yellow
Where to Buy: Teavana
Tea Description:
We are proud to offer one of the rarest teas in the world; our limited edition yellow tea direct from China. The name ‘yellow’ tea refers not only to the unique processing and the lovely, bright golden infusion color, but due to its rarity it is also associated with the imperial yellow worn exclusively by emperors for centuries. Unlike any tea you have tasted before, at first sip it evokes the exquisite pleasure of everyday luxuries. Captivating high floral notes mingle with a smooth honeyed body and a subtle creamy, buttery finish. A perfectly balanced tea curated just for you.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
First a brief disclaimer of sorts;
I am NOT a fan of Teavana. I have never purchased a blend from them and likely never will. However, this has absolutely nothing to do with the blends they sell themselves.While the store serves it’s purpose of acting as an introductory loose leaf tea shop, for which I am grateful (as I’m sure they’ve turned many people on to drinking loose leaf tea) I cannot personally support their business model nor will I give money to a company with such consistently reported poor customer service.
Any of their teas that I’ve ever tried has been received as a sample, and not purchased out of my own pockets. That said, I’ve never let my personal views of the company’s business model affect the way I perceive their teas. This has meant occasionally finding a great blend but not pursuing a revisit, which can be disappointing, but is something I can live with. As for this tea, I’m going to review it as if I didn’t know the company from which it was sourced and give my opinion PURELY about the tea itself.
And so carrying on…
Visually, the dry leaf of this blend looked like somewhat tarnished, lightly browned Yin Zhen (Silver Needle tea) but a little more twisty. Steeped up, the liquor is a very flat, dull golden yellow. It’s very beautiful, even if it’s not a more lively looking liquor. Personally, I’ve only had three or four other plain yellow teas and they’ve been prepared in blue teaware, so I can’t really use my personal experiences to say whether this colour is normal for steeped up yellow tea though. The aroma is interesting; it’s soft with a bit of a buttery vegetal smell and some malt and sweeter notes as well.
Drinking this, it was really apparent to me that the nuances of flavor take after traditional Yin Zhen and Green Tea pretty equally; of course that makes sense given that yellow tea is halfway between white and green tea. I could actually tell it was produced in China without reading the description though; China’s green teas tend to have a more distinct smokey and nutty flavor to them while Japanese greens lean more heavily on the marine side of this (seaweed) and the flavors here weren’t an exception to that. On the greener end of the spectrum, I noticed very gentle smokey notes, buttery vegetal notes, a bit of a peppery flavor leaning towards lemon pepper more so than black pepper (or the actual vegetable; bell pepper, etc.), and some less distinct herbaceous notes as well. That lovely peppery quality definitely falls in line with other yellow teas I’ve been lucky enough to sample.
On the whiter side of things; there was a lovely supple sweetness that reminded me of honey or, combined with the weaker floral tones present, honeysuckle. A more vague hay-like flavour was present, and a flavor that kind of crossed over between malt and cream with a soft fruity edge; very similar to some of the Kenyan white teas I’ve gotten to try. I like to describe that flavor as kind of tasting like a Hot Cross Bun/Easter bun, in a way.
This was a super interesting tea, and I loved all the flavors present that bounced off one another; I’ve only gotten to try a few different yellow teas, and this isn’t my least favourite but it’s not my favourite either: so far Camellia Sinensis’ Meng Ding Huang Ya is my favourite. Both this tea and CS’s heavy big price tags; but with the quality difference I’d go with CS’s yellow tea. However, I think this is definitely worth trying if you get the chance because it WAS lovely.
Tomato Lime Cocktail Herbal Tea from Teavana
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: Teavana
Tea Description:
Well-balanced sweet and savory blend of tomato, lime, hibiscus, carrot and celery with a hint of chili heat finish. A modern twist on the brunch classic, this Bloody Mary inspired herbal tea is garden fresh and fabulously flavorful. Rich and sweet sun dried tomato, celery, beetroot, carrot, apple, plum and raisins get a quiet-heat and citrus kick from pieces of chili, lime, orange and cinnamon in this haute tea that is fashionably and refreshingly cool.
Ingredients:Apple pieces, tomato pieces, hibiscus blossoms, raisins, beetroot pieces, cinnamon, carrot pieces, natural and artificial flavoring, orange pieces, lime pieces, rose blossom leaves, plum pieces (plum, rice flour), celery pieces, chili pieces
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I know there area a lot of different opinions when it comes to Teavana. My general feelings are that I think they tend to cater to the fruitier and tarty/sweet flavored tastes more than anything. I have found most of the teas I have tried from Teavana to be TOO sweet and/or tarty for my liking but that hasn’t stopped me from trying some of their offerings at least once. I think the reason they are over flavored and sweet or tarty is because they over use Hibiscus which is something I don’t like. I’m not a big Hibiscus fan, overall.
Having said that…I wanted to try their Tomato Lime Cocktail Herbal Tea just because it sounded interesting. Again, I think they used too much hibiscus. BUT…looking around that…here’s what I thought about this tea from Teavana…it wasn’t bad. The aroma – once infused – was a combination of tomato soup and hibiscus. The color was a deep purple.
I don’t know if I would agree with the product description saying that this blend of flavors was well balanced due to the high tart flavor it has but I appreciate the ingredients they did use in this otherwise. Up front you can certainly taste the apple, tomato, and hibiscus. 2nd sip I noticed the carrot, orange, lime, and celery. It was the end sips that I noticed the plum/raisin notes. And in the after taste the chili and cinnamon were present.
I’m thinking they used the beetroot to enhance the color and not-so-much the flavor. And I have no idea why they added rose blossom leaves in there…maybe for the look of the dry blend to the eye, maybe.
I wasn’t happy with this when I was sipping on it SUPER HOT…only because of my dislike of Hibiscus…it was just way too tart for a hot tea (for me). After letting it cool for about 7 minutes I enjoyed it much better. I also think at a little warmer than ‘luke warm’ makes this cup fairly tasty! Overall – I think this was a good flavor attempt and offering by Teavana. I did like that hint of spicy kick at the end of the sip, too. I liked that it didn’t get too out of hand – as well. The company did do several things RIGHT with this combination of flavors – I just wish they would pull back on that hibiscus!
I’m fairly certain that another company could use less hibiscus and pair it with a black tea base or maybe even a green and create something really amazing! But if you are into really unique flavors and offerings and want to try something off the wall – try this one!
