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I stopped by the Teavana store in the Houston Galleria and got this as an iced tea to go (sweetened) right before I stepped out of the wonderfully air-conditioned mall and into horrendously hot and oppressively muggy weather. I’ve got to say that I was a bit underwhelmed, and I think it’s because I’m so used to steeping my herbal teas for a minimum of 30 minutes. It had nice flavor, but it was so light and so weak despite using what looked like at least 1/2 cup of the tea (no wonder they’re so pricey!). It tasted like a watered down version of the juice in a of can mandarin oranges. Needless to say, I’ll just be stocking up on this tea when I place my next Teavana order (with a coupon code because it’s so spendy!) and steep the hell out of it in the air-conditioned comfort of my own home.

I tend to shy away from pina colada teas. It’s just not a flavor profile that I’m terribly keen on, and, to be honest, the mango saved this tea for me. The pineapple flavor is nice. The coconut is smooth and almost creamy. The mango really adds some nice depth and tropical flare so that it’s not just your standard pina colada blend. I won’t be reordering it, and I’ll likely not finish the bag I opened to sample the tea. It’s not an unpleasant tea; it’s just not for me. That said, if you love pina coladas and don’t mind a bit of mango thrown into the mix, then this tea may be right up your street.

This tea has so many ingredients that don’t sound like they’d go together, but they really do.

It’s fruity and sweet, and the marshmallow and vanilla add a lovely comforting touch. The black tea base is so smooth and yet it is robust enough to still be present despite all the other ingredients. I’ve had it both hot and iced, and it’s lovely both ways. I prefer it iced, but, as of late, it’s also been consistently well over 90°F in the shade here in south Texas.

It’s a lovely tea to have as an afternoon pick-me-up while at work. It’s got some caffeine to get me through the afternoon and it’s sweet enough to keep me from raiding the office kitchen.

Another really nice flavored black tea blend from 52Teas.

The name of the tea sounds simple enough – raspberry limeade. Despite the wonderful citrus kick, I don’t find this tea to have much raspberry flavor. The tart sour citrus note doesn’t immediately strike me as lime either, but it hits me at the tale end and is almost bitter (like lime zest and pith). The raspberry flavor is there but it’s completely overpowered by all the other random fruits.

Elderberries, juniper berries, strawberry slices, red currants, raspberries, blueberries, grapes and balsamic vinegar.

Plus…pomelo, tangerine, orange, lime, and lemon.

And throw in some pineapple and apple pieces just for funzies.

It’s just all a bit too much.

I understand wanting to create depth in a tea, especially in a fruit infusion, but there are just so many strongly flavored ingredients in this tea and unfortunately they end up competing with, instead of complimenting, each other.

It’s drinkable over ice, but I’m glad I just received a sample from a teapal. I had it in my cart when I purchased the new cocktail-inspired teas, but I removed it right before checking out after having a look at the ingredient list.

I love the idea of raspberry and lime together (without MINT!), but I haven’t found a tea that jives for me yet. The search continues…

I did not care for this at all.

DT has just been all over the place with their melon teas lately. Don’t get me wrong. I adore melon teas. Many of my all-time favorite teas are melon blends. That said, some of DT’s melon teas are great (Sour Watermelon, Melon Drop, Honey I Dew…), but most have been so underwhelming as of late.

Let me start by saying that I knew I wasn’t going to be a huge fan of this because…carrot. Ugh. It’s in everything and it makes my taste buds so very unhappy. In addition to that, watermelon is probably my least favorite melon to be featured in a tea.

Dry, this tea’s aroma is giving me shades of Bath & Body Works’ Cucumber Melon body splash. Once steeped, it’s very melon-y and sort of tongue-tingling tart (from the pineapple, I’d assume). I don’t taste the fig much, but the carrot is so present on my palate…and, again, it lingers. I had a few sips and dumped it. I just couldn’t force myself to finish the cup.

I’m so happy I have a stash of Honey I Dew and that Melon Drop is permanent because most of these LE melon blends from DT are just not doing much of anything for me.

Oolong and I aren’t the best of friends. I just haven’t found many that I enjoy.

I was very pleased to have received a few Harney & Sons oolong samples from a teapal. Most of them didn’t sound or smell like something I’d enjoy because I don’t care for overly floral teas. That said, the description and tasting notes of this tea sounded too good not to try.

It’s really quite nice. The peachy aromas in the dry leaf and in the steeped cuppa were just lovely and so comforting. This tea is very light but has noticeable flavors of honey and peaches. It’s also got a bit of a buttery note which I don’t normally care for in tea, but it’s so faint that I don’t mind.

It’s turned out to be a nice cuppa for a mid-morning pick me up as I work on grant proposals. I’ve got enough in my little sample pack to sip through a few more cups, and I’ll be enjoying every one of them.

Another recent purchase from Teavana. Another winner.

The mandarin flavor really reminds me of the juice in canned mandarin oranges, and it plays very nicely with the mango and the papaya in this blend. I don’t see “mandarin” featured very often in teas, and I love citrus in fruit teas. That’s probably what prompted me to add this tea to my shopping cart.

I’m glad I did. It’s just a really well-rounded, fruity blend, and it’s one I’ll repurchase before summer comes to an end.

A few weeks ago I caved and purchased the new teas from Teavana’s cocktail-inspired collection. There was a sale, and, even though I abhor going into actual Teavana stores, there are a few blends I really like. Additionally, I haven’t been wowed enough by this year’s spring/summer offerings from DT to make repeat purchases, so I had some money left in my tea budget. I’m a sucker for fruit teas, and I never got around to trying this blend last year, but I’m thrilled to have given it a go.

It’s delicious. It’s like a tropical vacation in a glass. I’m so happy that the pineapple flavor isn’t very strong, at least not to my taste buds. The predominant flavors for me are, thankfully, papaya and mango, and they’re complimented with just a hint of pineapple and citrus. I steeped a pitcher of this yesterday and have just finished off the last few cups. It’s so light and refreshing despite being packed with flavor. If I enjoyed being out in the sun for extended periods of time, this is the sort of tea I could imagine happily sipping poolside (maybe with a splash of white rum).

The only negative, and this holds true to so many fruit teas, is that you don’t get a lot of bang for your buck.

The upside is I’ve found another fruit blend to add to my warm weather iced/cold tea rotation. That’s always a good thing.

The dry leaf smells amazing. The first time I steeped it I was planning to enjoy it over ice while at work, but someone turned off the ice maker so…there were about 4 cubes of ice. The nerve! I diluted it with cold water, but it wasn’t the same because I’d obviously added more tea leaves to compensate for the ice. Ugh. Pity. It tasted quite nice – strong peach flavor, a bit lighter on the lychee, and a decent black tea base. It had a weird aftertaste that I can’t quite place – might be the white hibiscus.

I made it again this morning (with the proper amount of ice!), and it was better than the wonky diluted version I sipped through yesterday but the aftertaste remains.

I don’t love it (yet), but I’m determined to find a better way to prepare it. I will order more and see if cold-steeping (or a shorter steep) will remove the aftertaste.

More to come.

A wonderful teapal purchased an ounce of all the teas from the Oasis Collection, and I’m starting to work my way through sampling them all.

Y’know, I had really high hopes for this tea based on the name alone. One day I’ll learn (especially with DT) that names don’t usually mean a damn thing. Those hopes were dashed when I saw that it contained both carrots and yogurt bits. Ugh. Why? Why would you do that? I tried it iced, and it tasted like lovely, tart (despite the added sugar) raspberries. It reminded me of Queen of Tarts – the hibiscus and the tart berry flavor.

And then I swallowed…

Yikes. It has a really unpleasant aftertaste of, you guessed it, carrots and yogurt. Sort of like the carrot yogurt in the Carrot Cake Creation Chobani Flip. Don’t ask me how I know. Let’s just say that I’ll think twice before randomly grabbing a yogurt, sight unseen, out of the refrigerator before dashing to the bus stop. I digress. I waited and waited for the taste to go away between sips to see if it was a one-off thing, but it lingered for at least five minutes. I took another sip and the same thing happened. Needless to say, I dumped the rest of my glass.

No bueno.