KeenTeaThyme

Tea of my afternoon. I’m totally juiced up thanks to consuming lots of caffeine to get through the day. This tea is calming me for the afternoon and evening.

Caffeine consumed – 3 cups of my new holiday blend which I will log soon (it’s my 12 Days of Christmas tea), and a Coke Zero.

I may have problems.

Happy Halloween! :)

I am enjoying this aptly timed blend thanks to my awesome sis-in-law Sare – thank you! I wish I had purchased this one. So delicious. I taste blueberries in one sip and mouth-watering cotton candy in another.

Wish this could be made available year round. I’d stock this permanently – one here at work, and one at home. Blissful boo berry!

Started off my workday with this holiday tea. I think it’s actually available year-round, but the name suggests that it’s a Christmas blend. Oh well. It’s delicious regardless!

I don’t taste raisins, or that much apple, but the orange, cinnamon and almond flavors shine through. The cinnamon isn’t very pronounced, but there’s a hint of it. I wish there was more cinnamon flavor, as that’s one of my favorite tastes!

Overall this is a solid, decent tea. Nothing too fancy, nothing too fussy, but nothing too unique either. It’s good, but I’m not sure if I would purchase it regularly.

Upped the rating; made this iced. This is so much better as an iced tea over brewing hot. I can taste the kiwi flavor better. Strange! I made a second glass with a couple kiwi ice cubes and that was even better.

A side note: I tried blending this with a strawberry herbal tisane and the result was surprisingly good.

In conclusion – either iced (with or without matching ice cubes) or pair with a strawberry tisane for the hot variety and I was much happier!

Backlog:
I drank this virtually every day when I was fighting The Cold From Hell. I love anise, and this is ANISE to the max. So if you don’t like anise? Avoid. If you do like it, this is a great varieTEA (haha) for you. Not much to say about it – it’s light chamomile and in-your-face Anise. Good!

Backlog:
I can’t believe I haven’t posted this yet! My tin is almost empty! I love drinking this in the evenings. I don’t recommend drinking this at work, unless you can get paid to sleep. Because that’s what this elixir will do to you – put you into the land of ZZZs.

I love the blend of honey and chocolate. I swear I can taste molasses too. I add a little honey sometimes, to enhance the flavor (or that’s what I tell myself), but it’s not required. This is so delish. I steep it for the length of the cuppa, not a moment less. The cuppa doesn’t last too long, though!

Had to get that Indian Summer taste away from my senses. This one was perfect! Love the honeyed almond, the cherry and playfulness of this one.

Got this as a free sample from my last order (which was totally FUBARed, FYI).
The second I saw the name on this, the old Gin Blossoms song “Indian Summer” promptly got stuck in my head. Had to play a little Manson in order to clear it out. I like the Gin Blossoms and all, but there is a time and a place.
Enough complaining. On to the tea.
This is a weird one. Very candy-like, which I normally like, but there is a hint of something in the brewed leaves that I don’t care for. It reminds me of an old Yankee Candle fragrance, Watermelon, that used to give me a headache. Taste isn’t that much better. Very fake-y. I’m beyond disappointed in this one, and yet glad that I didn’t get the fall collection.
Here’s hoping the winter collection is better.
Anyone want the other half of this sample?

This is…weird. Yeah. So I taste natural lemon but artificial lime flavoring, and it’s tart. The tartness is cut by the naturally sweet green rooibos, but it’s still an odd pairing. For some reason. For me. Right now. I normally love any kind of green rooibos, and especially something citrusy. But this just isn’t working for me. Maybe it’s better iced? I will investigate later. But this is not one for my office, this is a temperamental, at-home only tea.

It’s hard to beat the original chai blend from Teavana (White Ayurvedic Chai/Samurai Chat Mate), and I know chais! I’ve hunted for the best one for years, and still think that is the best. I love a deep flavor and the spicy sass of that blend.

This one comes close, but it’s just not there. I can’t figure out why. The oolong adds an interesting edge to the samurai chai, makes it sharper, more pronounced. I can taste the tea leaves more in this version than in the other, which also tastes more like an autumn tea, and this is more winter-y. It’s probably the nutmeg, which I love, but associate with Christmas and calories.

The dry leaves smell wonderful and while steeping the aroma is knee-weakening.

OK, further into the cuppa, I found more of that chai flavor I love. Maybe this one will grow more on me.

I can also steep the other blend for the length of the cuppa so the final drops are fragrant and spicy and awesome. Can’t really do that with an oolong, unless you like bitter teas. ;)

But paying almost $20 for four ounces isn’t always in my budget.

Like thin mints? How about a liquid thin mint?! That’s what this tastes like to me – chocolate and mint nirvana. The ingredients list hazelnut pieces, but I don’t taste a strong hazelnut flavor; it’s more like a subtle, nutty flavor. I taste gobs of peppermint and chocolate goodness. I bet this would be delicious iced.

Backlogging:
I finally joined the masses and purchased a Keurig recently – a mini one, since we don’t drink much coffee – and it’s teal. Eee! I love it. Anyway, I purchased the Sleepytime K-cups, and after learning the hard way that one should rinse out the machine after brewing a coffee and/or cocoa, this was decent. It tastes the same as the bagged version, which I just love. It’s a great way to end a stressful, busy day. This will be a permanent cupboard Kcup, IMO.

No rating as this is my own. I think I’ll create this one for my shop as well, because that Adagio black tea flavor is so annoying. I love the medley of cream, chocolate and cherry – although now I crave black forest cake! Or any cake! Diets suck.

I had really hoped to like this tea but there is something off about it. I normally love popcorn, and maple, plus apples…just maybe not all at once. There were too many competing flavors for this to be enjoyable. I tried a sample from a previous order, but did so AFTER I purchased two bags. As a result, I have one unopened bag for sale:
http://keenteathyme.teatra.de/store/products/

And the rest of the other bag is off to my tea sister Sare – if she wants it. :)

Backlog:
This is a delicate tea, but still potent. I definitely recommend HOT (iced was quite nasty), and when you need a lift. I’m still battling a cold and this helps, as well as eased some of my migraine last night.

It’s good when you can barely taste anything…but is that really a good thing? IDK – and I don’t know about this one. It’s decent, but I’m not sure if I would buy it again. I definitely prefer Above the Weather.

I got this as a free sample when my replacement order arrived yesterday. (I had several items missing from a previous order, but DT sent the missing items and I scored three more samples.) I’m not normally one to enjoy super chocolate-y teas nor mate, but this blend has changed my mind. The flavor is bold, but not artificial, and yet not overpowering either. I taste a subtle cinnamon flavor too – maybe that helps balance the chocolate flavor. This is delightful and fun, although dusty. I had to wipe the teaspoon free of the tea dust, but that’s a small inconvenience for bliss! :)

Holy crap, Teavana is discontinuing this blend! I ordered one last mix for my stock pile, and I guess I’ll have to explore making chai blends again. This was my favorite for so long…

“I’m offended on so many different levels.” To quote the hilarious Jim Gaffigan

Seriously, though, I drink this the most. WTF Teavana!? You are losing a customer. Oh, they don’t really care.

Please see previous notes as this is a FAVE!

This is a weird one. Good, but weird. I wouldn’t think kiwi would be a bold flavor, but it kind of is in this cuppa. I made this hot, but I think it would be better iced. I taste a tropical adventure, and it’s fun and perky, but it’s missing something… did I expect too much from a kiwi tea? Perhaps.

No rating as this is one of my own custom blends at Adagio. By next year it will be a Keen Tea Thyme blend, completely of my own creation. But until then, you gotta get it through Adagio or in one of my custom sampler packs:
http://keenteathyme.teatra.de

But as for the review – I love the combo of vanilla, caramel and almond and other than that annoying Adagio black tea taste, I think this is decent (entirely self-serving, apologies).

I usually drink my tea plain – no sweetener – but I like adding honey to this to enhance the flavor. Works well; reminds me of the “good” candy corn – Brach’s, made with honey.

I’m surprised I’m the first to log this, but it’s possible it’s in here under another name. I don’t think this is exclusive to Voila! and I get the impression that they don’t craft their own teas…maybe they do! I can’t get a response from them no matter what I do…

Anyway, this is a great harmony of gunpowder green (a favorite of mine) and crisp peppermint. It truly is a refreshing treat!

I don’t ever want to run out of this tea. I love how flavorful but light it is. Bliss. See other notes, this is a cupboard staple.

No rating as this is my own. It’s been a DAY – glad to have a tea moment to escape. This hits the spot without making me too shaky (as in too much caffeine, I’m drinking a Diet Cherry Dr Pepper too) and too tired.

Had this iced last night for my sore throat (cold helps me for some reason). Not much to say about it – it was delicious, a minty, refreshing tisane. Hit the spot and didn’t keep me awake, although my coughing did.

I’m hosting a Pity Party for myself. ;)

No rating as this is my own custom blend. I really do enjoy the bold flavors in this cuppa, although I can’t really taste anything thanks to this rotten cold/flu thing. (My voice sounds very throaty. Not so great at work, but my singing voice has improved.)