I actually had a pleasant in-store experience at Teavana today. I felt a little bad that I was using my Starbucks reward just to get the free ounce, but I really can’t buy more tea right now because I’m trying to sip down as many as I can before I move! I have this one box designated for tea when I move, and it’s currently overflowing.
Anyway, the Teavana guy was raving about how roasty and delicious this tea is. It’s almost like he could read off my face that I liked roasty teas. And I have to say that the tea does not disappoint! It has a dark, roasted flavor with even some smokiness (but not overwhelming) in there as well. It also has that sweet flavor that I’m used to finding in slightly greener oolongs, which was a nice surprise. The texture of the tea has a creamy quality to it, which was also another nice surprise.
The flavors are all holding up nicely in the resteep. Though, the unfurled leaves are not as full and impressive as I had hoped they would be, especially compared to some other darker oolongs that I’ve had.
Overall, a very delicious tea, but not the best dark oolong I’ve ever had. Which, I guess is good news because in typical Teavana fashion, I think that it is overpriced compared to all the other online vendors. I will probably not purchase this with actual money, but I will definitely resteep the heck out of every last leaf that I have. And perhaps I will use a future Starbucks reward to restock.
