Tamm

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I’ve really come to decide that out of Teavana’s more expensive teas this is one of the better ones ($15). It really does have more leaves than other blends and it stands up to many infusions (3+).
The flavor is bright, fruity and ever so slightly spicy. The carrot is actually very interesting and the apple is great.
Now time for study!

:) I thought this would be a good wind me down. I went out to the store and have noticed that the shops are carrying a lot more vegan/vegetarian foods. Now I’m not a total meat abstainer, but I’m glad I’m getting some more options! On to tea!
It’s actually been awhile since I got to sit down and enjoy this one. The smell is mellow and that wonderful burnt-sugar smell is shining through! I made this at a much lower temp. than other blacks so I’ll see how it stands up.
There is one thing that I really enjoy about this tea: mouth feel. Call me weird, but this one is just right. It matches the flavor really well and it is a great substitute for something fattening and heavy without feeling like you’re really missing out.
I really would recommend this tea for anyone who is craving a sugar substitute with sustenance.

I have to thank DJ Booth for this one! :) I’m obviously very behind on my samples…
This is a very interesting tea to be approaching! I’ve never had lapsang before so the base can be slightly intimidating.
mmm! You know what? I like this a lot! I don’t know exactly how I feel about the smoky-ness. Something tells me this would be great as some kind of crazy tea-cocoa-marshmallow concoction. Hmm…must. find. more. marshmallows!
There is a certain amount of surprising creaminess. I wasn’t expecting that from the initial dry-leaf smell. Very interesting! I wouldn’t really say that I would have guessed s’mores from a blind tasting, but this is interesting and tasty to boot.

Alas! This is the very last of my sample. This was given to me by DJ Booth. :) I’ve somehow made it through my first week back to school. Somehow I cranked out my first collection of papers, in one day and it had to be 6 pages! O.O I also just received my three books needed for my “Buddhism Through the Arts” course. Now I can start reading them! I’m SO excited!
I ended up really enjoying this tea! I actually prefer using a little bit of extra leaves for this tea. My current mood seemed to also require a banana. So this is kind of a banana/chocolate night for me! For me this is smelling much more like coffee than some of the other times that I brewed it.
This is a great tea for people looking for a warm cup of coffee substitute; as per advertising! I’ve noticed though that I never receive the caffeine jolt from mate/tea in general that I’ve experienced with coffee drinking. So in that arena I think some people would be disappointed.

Another tea down! :p
This has been an interesting tea. Most days that I crave this I really need something tart. That is my one warning about this blend. I think that this tea is very overpowering in the smell department.
The taste is slightly floral, tart and sweet. This would be a great summer treat for tart seekers!
a little note I wanted to note that my hubby, a non-tea drinker, wasn’t really impressed by this tea. He’s been helping me down some of these Teavana blends lately. While drinking the Zingiber he exclaimed that it was his favorite. I noticed that he didn’t finish his glass of this blend. So I guess this would be a no in his book. :p

This is another tea down now! :) This was the very first tea that I picked up from Teavana. I must say that this one is one that I was impressed with. This is probably because it is not overly sweet. I’ve noticed that many of my first teas were rooibos blends. I think that I’ve grown out of the rooibos “phase.”
I’m once again using the Belle Amitie glass pot. I must say that I love the way this teapot pours! I’ve noticed that most of my tea ware is glass. O.o I just like seeing everything!
This tea is so outstanding in the smell department. I feel like this is one of the teas at Teavana that is actually worth the price. It’s not too expensive ($6.20). This one seems to have a larger leaf to filler ratio. Overall, this is one of the best teas that I have tried from Teavana.

So today I decided to finish this tea off. I was actually a little disappointed because it was the first time I was actually doing it exactly according to the brewing instructions. I added less leaf than I normally do and it was not as shockingly flavorful.
I think that this particular tea has run its course with me. Although it’s an interesting blend of fruity flavors and packs quite the tangy punch I don’t see it as a contender for other blends.
This tea would be great for my friends who do not normally drink tea. For me it was decently tasty, sweet and just enough stimulant to get me going.
edit I’m also going to add here my short review of my Teavana tea pot I’ve been using.
I got the Belle Amitie glass teapot for my birthday. :) It is very pretty! There really have only been two problems with this pot. The first is I didn’t quite realize how large it was. I now commonly use my 8 o.z. glass pot from Dragon Tea House in favor of this one. 32 o.z. is too large for just me. Especially when I re-steep my teas.
The second (and largest) issue is the strainer. Although it does look natural with the set it just doesn’t work well as a strainer. The water doesn’t move through it well and little floaties get EVERYWHERE. I’m not one that likes that. I end up using my old coffee filter trick to strain this after steeping.
Overall I would give this a 3 1/2 stars out of 5.

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This is another tea I received from a member of another board. I was lucky enough to actually receive it in the tin version of the sample.
The leaves are very beautiful. They have a downy fluff that reminds me instantly of white tea. When I first received this I assumed it was black tea. The smell is very different than other oolongs that I’ve encountered. The liquor is toasted brown colored and it is very fragrant. There is something almost fruity about the smell of this tea.
This tea is really surprising me! I don’t normally warm to this type of profile, but this is wonderful. This tea is very sweet and is much lighter than what I was expecting. I love how smooth this is. I was expecting maybe a bit more bite/astringency but it just isn’t there.

Ah, so today has been declared as a lazy day! I still have eight more of these before it is back to school! This one is sure to be a crazy one because I’m taking two upper division courses. They are also the first ones I’ve taken. I’m also starting my study into oolong and these Chinese names everywhere are making my head spin a bit. Japanese I can handle since I’ve taken courses, but this is an entirely different beast. lol
This will be my last cup from this sample! I’m trying to clean out my tea collection. I have really enjoyed smelling this tea. It has an interesting and bold smell. I noted before that it says jasmine, but I’m still searching for it (a plus for me!). It has floral, sweet, tangy and citrus notes that all stand out.
I’ve noticed that the green tea base for this is not too finicky; which is something to be thankful for! I find that I have a hard time judging temperature sometimes and this may have been a bit over the recommended temperature.
The flavor of this is very enjoyable. All of the interesting parts of the smell have translated quite well to the liquor. I thing this would be yet another of my recommendations for tea beginners. Mostly because it is easy to brew and quite satisfying. I think this would also be a great tea for people trying to avoid sweets.

I think that although this tea is “fun” I’ve had so much fruity tea that I’m getting a little bored with it. I think that this kind of tea is great for getting people into tea. The “cute” color of this brewed plus the interesting mix of ingredients makes it very palatable to the masses. For me this tea has been fun and pretty tasty when I want to pick out something sweet. In the long run though with the downside of not being a good re-steep, plus the price, it isn’t a tea I could see myself stocking consistently.

First cup of the new year! I hope that everyone had a very enjoyable time last night! :)
smell: roasty, green peas, very slight floral
flavor: This is a very bright, sweet brew. This, as I’ve said before, is my favorite green tea. The smell of the dry leaf is almost overpoweringly wonderful. They are also very beautiful! I love this tea and it completely lacks astringency or bitterness.

I saw this today at my local Chinese store. I had to laugh later when I realized that I had bought 10 oz of this tea! I thought that it said 10g. Not really the same thing. I was very, very cheap at only $3.79 for the 10oz. I also purchased my first Pu-erh! It’s a birds nest shaped toucha that simply says “Yunnan The Toucha.” I really can’t find what brand it is. Maybe someone here would know.
This isn’t a bad genmaicha. It’s nice and roasty. I’m eating an apple with it so it’s all crunchy up in here! lol I think that it’s not my favorite b/c it needs some more green-ness to the profile imo. I think that this would be great for daily drinking; which is why the price tag seems right to me. Next time I’m steeping for 2 min instead of 3.
also followers :)
If anyone would like to try some of this for a trade or otherwise I’d love help consuming this! I have a ton of tea and don’t know if I can make it through this much of one tea. :p

mmm This is just what I need right now!
The lemon in this is really popping this time. I really have enjoyed this mate. This blend is one that I would actually suggest for people looking for flavored mate. One thing that I think they could completely cut out of this blend is the flowers. I don’t think they add too much to the taste as much it does for the visual and smell aspects.

I decided to drink this one again today! I’m still loving my cute little pot and I think I’m going to do extra tea today! :p I guess I’m just in a good mood! I’m also putting a limit on my tea spending. :O I am going to try and finish at least a few of these super sweet teas so that I can move onto some unflavored oolongs I’ve been eyeing.
This time the 2nd steep had a very distinct peppery type flavor and I think I know the culprit! I think that somehow the carrot pieces in this are what cause this flavor. It’s not bad in any way. I’m almost sad that the white tea in this blend is overshadowed by carrot/apple sweetness because what this cup really needs to be even better is some of the grassy/hay notes that white tea imparts.

So I finally got my package from Dragon Tea House! My mail people have avoided giving it to me for almost a week while they tried to figure out where in the world they had placed it. This was the first tea to be brewed in my new little teapot.
After taking a semi-break from tea I’ve come back and noticed that this tea has far more white tea leaves than some of Teavana’s blends. If I was blind testing the smell of the leaves would really throw me off. It smells like apples and mixed fruit juice.
The flavor is very crisp. I think this aspect is what reminds me of apples. I think that this tea would be very nice iced. I noticed on this brew that there is almost a sharp note at the end of the sip. It reminds me of something peppery; very odd!

Happy Holidays Steepster buddies! I hope that everything is going well. :) This is one of the only cups I’ve had all week as I’ve had a terrible cold.
This smells wonderful today. I’m still a little stuffed up but I can smell a very distinct cinnamon tint to the liquor this time around. I think that this blend would be fabulous with chocolate. I really love sipping this on cold days. It is a great dessert blend.

Firstly, I won’t be rating this tea today because my smell and taste have been severely impaired all week (cold of doom here).
It brewed up a very light yellow liquor. Even though my sense of taste is not the best atm I am sensing some astringency. I think that I will have to try this again when I’m not so congested. The flavor is there I just can’t tell what it is! lol :p

After my recent experiences I really think that Frank’s blends taste the best after resting. This one was so predominantly banana the first time I tried it. But this time I can taste much more of a balance. I love the roasted quality that is lingering under the surface of the flavor profile. It is not smokey or overpowering, but it helps blend the coconut and banana.
Another thing I love about this: smooth, smooth and smooth. I love that the base of the tea adds to the flavor profile as a whole instead of being an afterthought or the main player. I think that I would have enjoyed more of the “crust” flavor. But overall, I’ve really enjoyed this tea.

I finally finished my finals the other day and I’m actually feeling a bit down. I don’t have a lot to do around here so I’m just taking it easy. I needed a mid-day pick me up so I chose this to see how it does!
The smell this time is very roasted and very dark chocolate/coffee smelling. I like that a lot a bout this tea. I am not really a coffee person, but this resembles it enough in some ways to make it enjoyable without the bitterness.
In this cup I’m getting much more vanilla than my previous one. I think it’s pretty pleasant. It makes it so I don’t have to add anything (which I don’t normally do anyways) to make it have a little bit of a sweet/soft side. Pretty good!

I’m starting to realize that my package of this tea is almost out. This is a very sad realization because out of all of the flavored teas I’ve tried this is the one that takes the cake; literally. The mouth feel on this is even perfect. I think I noticed someone mention that sometimes these blends taste even better over time as the flavor “settles.” I think that this is true and that this tea has actually gotten better from the first time I tasted it. The smell itself is enough to make my mouth water and waiting for it to cool is tortuous.
The most interesting flavor pulled off here (to me) was the butter. I think that the maple is not as prominent as I would have expected. But, there is still that thick, carb loaded awesomeness.

I got this from DJBooth. I have to say it’s been fun to swap with him because I just told him “send me a surprise!” and he did deliver, lots of different things! This is the first that I’m catching up with as I back-log.
The liquor on this is very dark! I was pretty surprised. The smell is coffee, chocolate and somewhere in there I smell a warm caramel type smell. If I was rating on smell alone this would score pretty high.
The chocolate in this is very different than the other Teavana chocolate I’ve tried (the new oolong). It skipped the chocolate-oil flavoring for something much more natural tasting; to me at least! I feel that the only thing that could have gone better is that I was expecting a kind of fullness in the mouth feel that is missing in this cup. I think that this may be a personal preference when dealing with chocolate flavors, but there needs something to back it up so it doesn’t end up being so watery feeling.
Overall, a pretty nice cup.