Celestial Seasonings

Tastes like one of those cinnamon and peppermint flavored Starlight candies. Fennel noticeable after the swallow, along with licorice root. Pretty sweet. Cinnamon and peppermint together is a combination I tend to avoid. Not bad. Good peppermint. Don’t taste the chamomile. Why the need for mint and licorice flavors, though?

Well, we didn’t win. My disappointment is immeasurable, but I will not let my day be ruined.

Tastes like your average run-of-the-mill chamomile tea, nothing special to note.

We’ll get them next season…right?…

Well, the Brewers better win tonight because my fragile little heart can’t take it if we get eliminated at this point. So I wanted something calming and comforting, and this tea fits the bill. Smells super sweet but tastes pleasant and warm. I’m usually not a fan of all things honey, but the notes in this tea are subtle and tantalizing.

C’mon team, DO SOMETHING!

Finally a tea that doesn’t skimp on the lemon! Bold and full of flavor, this is all about the lemon zest. I’m drinking the decaf version but would be interested in trying a caffeinated version for my mornings.

It’s okay with a bit of milk, but still tastes a bit like Play Doh. It’s not very palatable to drink straight.

I picked this up during Blueberry Season on a whim at the Target. I love the scent of the bag and the tea once brewed. It reminds me of blueberry syrup. Not the mass produced kind but the homemade syrup.

I steeped the tea for a little over 4 minutes and then let it cool some. I find the tea has a good wild blueberry taste. I think a slight hibiscus flavor as well. It is a deep purple/red color. I’m reminded of a blueberry punch. The kids like this tea too probably for that reason. I might try iced this afternoon.

One of you mentioned trying this with bourbon sugar, which I don’t have, but it still sounded so good, I snagged a box for the house. It is balanced in favor of the cinnamon rather than the apple (which I was really craving) but it is a lovely herbal departure from minty stuff and overly spiced chai.

Summer, eating peach pie while sitting on the ground. The peach is a little sharp in the aroma but it smooths out when I take a sip. The pastry-like flavor ties together the peach fruitiness with the earthier tone of matcha and gentle sweetness of green tea. There are recommendations on the package for brewing both hot and iced. I only had it hot, and it’s best before it cools completely.

If you like Celestial Seasonings’ Country Peach Passion, imagine it with a matcha green tea base.

Pretty good bagged tea.

I’m enjoying this one! There’s some mint and some dessertiness from the white chocolate. It’s definitely a mild flavor, but I liked it! I couldn’t really taste the base tea, which was fine with me. I had it with a bit of milk, and if it were herbal, I’d probably add this tea to my rotation. It’s mild, but solid. I’m glad the TTB gave me a chance to try it!

I don’t understand this tea. Why would you add cinnamon to a tea that’s supposed to be like peppermint bark…?

It ends up tasting like cinnamon and something quite roasty that reminds me of chicory. But apparently there’s no chicory here, so I guess that must be from some kind of flavoring?

This is honestly just a weird implementation of this flavor profile. The chocolate and mint are almost secondary to the additional odd flavors. Definitely don’t taste the white tea either, not that I’m surprised.

Holiday grocery store teas tried: 15/19

Sipdown! (51 | 255)

“An Ode to Tea” Alphabet Challenge – W

Not gonna lie, I thought this was an herbal tisane and probably steeped it too hot and too long. Oh well!

Well, it’s not bitter, which is impressive. But it’s not great either. The combination of the mint with a touch of cinnamon in cardamom is interesting. But the mint has a bit too much of an herbal flavor for me. The white chocolate also tastes more like regular chocolate flavoring, which we all know is not my favorite.

So meh, it’s not for me.

Honestly, I can’t tell much difference between this and regular Sleepytime. It feels a little cooler in the mouth from that sweet and strong Pacific northwest peppermint. Mint forward but balanced by florals and citrusy lemongrass.

A gift from Devon Bartholomew in honor of Random Acts of Kindness Day. I had wanted to try this one before buying a full box and Devon kindly offered to send me a bag to sample. I’m glad I did try it first because it’s not really my thing. I don’t taste any caramel, only an artificial apple candy flavor and that familiar dusty quality I always get from hot hibiscus. I’m glad to try it though and mark it off my wishlist. Thanks, Devon!

I remember enjoying the box of this I finished a few years ago and recently had the chance to grab this single bag to drink. It’s probably somewhat nostalgia, but I’m enjoying it! The spices are warming and pleasant. There’s a fair amount of sweetness, so I probably could have gotten away with not sweetening my cup. To be honest, I wouldn’t mind grabbing a box of this as a work tea sometime in the future. It’s a perfectly serviceable chai, honestly better than lots of more expensive ones I’ve had.

Tossed a teaspoon of smoked bourbon sugar into this to cap off my night. I’m going to wind up tricking myself into loving this tea, aren’t I?

The destashening continues. I’ve been missing my usual apple pie blend from a local shop, and I’ve been hunting the platonic apple pie ideal online to no avail. Who would have thought it’s so difficult to find what should be a relatively simple and straight-forward drink? But alas, that leads me to come crawling back to good ol’ Cinnamon Apple Spice. I knew this day was coming.

This one wasn’t quite as bad as I recall, but it also helps that I was more conservative in my steep this time around. They’re still not f-ing around with the cinnamon, but the hibiscus and apple are, dare I say, juicy?