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Third day in a row I have started with this hot chocolate substitute. I have enough for tomorrow as well :) Used a about a 1/3 more mix than I have been, which is probably half what the instructions call for. Turned the kettle off at the first sign of steam. This is perfect. Sweet but not too sweet and I can smell the tea. Come on 56mg of caffeine do your thing.

I notice I am doing all flavored teas today. It wasn’t intentional. I will probably sip this the rest of the day. I am down to less than an ounce. Late summer I’ll take a day off work and we’ll go to the outlet mall 65 miles from here. Quite coincidentally this tea shop is only 10 minutes this side of the mall. Well, since I am already going to be in the area, we might as stop by. I need to restock this one, their Ti Kuan Yin and peach apricot, maybe some samples. This trip is getting expensive already and I haven’t even started.

Do you know the instructions on the envelope say steep 1 to 2 minutes? Who knew! Before trying to learn the ways of tea (ok less than a year ago) I would have steeped this flavored black tea at least 3 to 5 minutes, and in all honesty I probably wouldn’t have taken the bag out at all. This may be the very first time I have ever followed the instructions on this one. You know what? It’s pretty darn tasty. I have always loved this tea but brewed properly, I can actually taste the tea and it is nice. The sweet spice (especially the clove) is the main flavor but doesn’t mask the other ingredients. The orange surrounds the spice, and then I taste the tea. It may or may not be Argentina fannings, who knows, and regardless I don’t care. It works and that’s what’s important. Thank you Ruth Bigelow for introducing me to tea. I do miss the pressboard ‘tins’ of the 70’s. I wish I had kept some of them. Upping my rating because this was exactly what I wanted today.

Starting my day off again with this one. It tastes good and sweet but this was a mistake. I need a hefty dose of ambition or my head is going to hit the desk. I would have to check the can to see if this has caffeine, but I can tell you now it does not have enough to get me through this morning.

Update: according to the can it has 56mg per serving. Someone is apparently just a sleepy head.

I don’t recall ever having this bagged offering from Stash. I am a little confused by it. The label says green tea, so I prepared it in my usual green manner with below boiling water and a two minute steep. Then I notice the liquor is turning very dark, like a black tea. So I read the small print and sure enough it contains both green and black tea. Usually when they blend tea types they call it a fusion.

The bag is undersized as is typical with Stash but it seemed to steep up well. The scent is primarily lemongrass. The taste is lemon held up by the cinnamon. I think this would be greatly improved if I could better taste the tea. Well actually, if I could taste the tea at all it would help. The lemon needs toned down some. As the cup cools the cinnamon comes forward more and in combination with the lemon is quite nice. My review reads more negative than I mean it. For a flavored bagged tea, this is a pleasant cup that I would not turn down if offered.

The dry leaf is very interesting. The tea looks like dried grass clippings. There are tan flakes that I am guessing are peels or zest. Then there are tiny red balls that are probably peppers. Finally, I notice some larger dried pieces almost an inch long that again I presume to be peppers. These could be the dragon tooth peppers that are commonly used in Chinese food. What have I gotten myself into?

The tea is rather large pieces so I used a healthy portion. I used my usual parameters for green tea. I brought the water up to a light steam but well below boiling and steeped for 2 minutes in my press. I thought this was brewing rather dark until I picked it up for a better look and realized the leaf was floating near the top and blocking the light. The liquor is light green/amber. The wet leaf smells lightly peppery. Here goes…

The sip – Wow! This is really interesting and different. There is a moderate citrus rush followed by peppery goodness. The pepper doesn’t seem as hot as I expected. Only a tiny bit of heat in the aftertaste. A very mild jalapeno maybe. You catch a hint of the green tea in the aftertaste. These three flavors combine in the most unexpected way and result in a sweet pickle taste. At least that is the best I can do to describe it.

Ok, as it cools it does get a lot more peppery tasting. I can see if you aren’t a spicy fan this could be too much. It grabs the throat a bit and charges up your nose but never in an overwhelming manner to my tastes. There is also another bit of flavor I can’t quite place.

I brewed a cup for a friend who mostly drinks Lipton but I thought he would appreciate this from a grill master perspective (His pulled pork is literally the best I have ever tasted). His words, “This is good, it has a butterscotch element to it.” Yeah, I can see that. It’s the flavor I couldn’t identify. I steeped three cups from the same leaf. The flavor of the third was still going strong. This is Cool! It is like an extremophile, bizarre and magical all at the same time.

Thank you, thank you ashmanra for sharing this!

You can get this mix in a 2 pound can at Sam’s Club. I use less than half the powder they call for as it is 140 calories per cup their way. This is lightly spiced and very milky feeling. It is sweet but not overly so, at least with using half a scoop. The vanilla is pleasant and not overdone. The tea flavor is a bit hidden but comes through lightly in the aftertaste.

I am not really a chai drinker so I can’t tell you if this is a good example of the genre. What I can say is it is better than Nestle’s Quick or instant hot chocolate mix. If you are looking for a fast, hot, sweet dessert drink, this would do nicely.

I only steeped 1 1/2 minutes. It made a nice cup with a minimum of smokiness. This is my preferred way for brewing the first cup of this tea. The later cups I steeped 2-3 minutes. I iced the last cup. It made a great iced tea. Actually think I preferred it iced.

So I am going out the door this morning and I notice my wife has a box of International Delights Almond Joy non-dairy coffee creamer cups sitting on the counter. Well who doesn’t like Almond Joy? So I grabbed one and tried to decide what tea will go with this. I started to use puerh and I still may have to try that one next week. I settled on this wuyi oolong thinking the roastiness would work well. I poured the whole container in the cup and it turned this dark tea almost white. This is obviously coconut but not really milk chocolate and only a little almond. I’m a bit disappointed not to get those flavors. I do think half the creamer would have been better. Still it was a fun way to start my work day.

I seem to keep forgetting I have this one in the drawer. Forgetting suggests its not memorable but that simply isn’t the case. I really like this one. It’s buttery and a tad bitter in a good way. The dry leaf is small and so dark it looks like black tea until you steep it then it turns a lush green and smells beefy to me. The liquor is very clear and lightly green. Seems to turn a little more golden as it cools. Maybe this tea just needs another name so I can remember