Suziqzer select Send Message

Thanks to Hubby for this one, picked it up on my first trip to a Teavana… not too many loose tea options in my neck of the woods and eager to smell, try, or buy something and have some kind of tea shop experience. He was more than gracious in making the hour long trek with me to see what it was all about. I’m not going to say I’m eager to go back there, but I was grateful for the trip as it gave me some perspective on what tea buying can be like (hopeful to find some great shops on future vacations!). I could see Chicago (3 hrs away) in my future, but somehow me thinks that may not happen… I have to have a reason besides tea shopping. Married 18 years and only 1 trip to Chicago, oh wait 2 (forgot when we were in college and went to the art museum). We do go places, but not there.

Anyway, it’s hard to buy teas based on descriptions and smells, I want to try them, and I’d not had an experience like this one before. I’ve been to The Tea & Spice Exchange before, but only once looking at teas (& a very limited selection), previous times looking for spices. They have containers you can pick up and smell on your own, and then pre-packaged sizes available to purchase. No worrying about weighing things out unless you buy an odd amount, which you can do if you want.

I wasn’t sure what to think of this tea at first. In the shop it smelled spicy and sweet, and coconutty, but since they just waft the scent towards you with the lid, it’s hard to really get the fragrance. I like all those things in tea, spice, sweet, coconut… and this was a plus that it was caffeine free, yeah evening tea! When I got it home and opened the bag, the scent was much more pungent, in your face, kind of smell… almost overwhelming.

I decided to give this a try the other night. I was is a very potent blend like I expected. I under leafed a bit to err on the side of drinkable.. I guess I could’ve just added more water had I needed to. I found this tea to be thick coconut, ginger, spice… good, but almost over the top, and I love me some spice… Like I’m finding of most of the Teavana blends. I’m thinking I may enjoy this more as a latte or cut with another plain or mild base tea (like vanilla rooibos or just some black to give some richness without added flavor). I’m thinking if I just cut back on the tea itself, it will become a watered down undrinkable cup.

The jury is still out on this one. I think I can like it if I can find the right mix for me. After all… it’s spice and coconut!!… Ok, so no chocolate (or peppermint) in this one… but you can’t have everything you like in one cup!