Spice of Life

This. tea. it has been haunting me for quite some time now. I’m lowering the score because it has become pretty obvious that I really just don’t enjoy it. This tea really needs balance. There just is not enough white tea to (a) justify the price and (b) make any difference in the flavor. There are mostly spice, orange, and warm flavors in this.

Thanks to Jessica for swapping teas with me and sending me this!

This tea has a typical Teavana mixture of a smaller amount of white tea mixed with several other fruit and nut bits. The blend smells pretty great! It brews up a light golden color and smells like sweet pistachios, nuts and a bit of bitter citrus (maybe the peel?). I enjoy the taste of this tea. Their are some similarities between this tea and the Apricot Caramel Torte. They share the same sweetness. I wouldn’t really call this tea spicy, but it is a flavorful mixture. Glad to have this.

Mmm, tasty! It smells like a cookie! The taste is nice and subtle. Coriander really goes well with citrus-y flavors. It almost tastes like there’s vanilla in there. It’s so smooth and nutty! I can barely taste the white tea base but that’s ok. It’s still yummy.
I wonder though…the ingredients say “red pepper flakes” but aren’t these pink peppercorns? or even red peppercorns (if these exist)? There are peppercorns of some sort but they are not mentioned in the ingredients. Hmm…

Anyway! Can’t wait for the second infusion!

For me, the sweet nuttiness of this tea is more prominent than the citrus notes (which are there). The coriander is an interesting addition. It is drinkable, but not terribly inspiring to me. I think I will try blending it with some honeybush vanilla like another person suggested in the tasting notes to see if that gives it more body.

This was the second tea that the Teavana sales staff talked me into purchasing last weekend. Curiously, they didn’t try to sell it to me as a standalone tea, but instead as an added ingredient for other blends.

The staff recommended that I blend this tea with Teavana’s Honeybush Vanilla selection. I did and the combo was great! However, to give an accurate review of the Spice Of Life tea, I felt that it needed to be judged on its own merit with a solitary steeping.

After brewing this white tea for two minutes at 175 degrees, as recommended, a dark yellowish color emerged that reminded me of…well…never mind what it reminded me of. I don’t want to negatively (and unjustly) prejudice this review. I guess my upcoming annual physical caused that thought to come to my mind.

The aroma was very nice, almost like potpourri. The taste of this tea is absolutely divine! It is a complex smorgasbord of nuttiness, sweetness, fruit, and spices. The flavor is smooth and it leaves a gentle sweet aftertaste on your palate.

I am amazed that Teavana didn’t advertise this white tea as BOTH a fantastic individual blend AND a terrific supplement to spice up other varieties. I am ready to go back into the lab and splice this tea into some of my morning black tea favorites!

The smell from this tea is much more stronger and appealing than the taste. This tasted like a watered down chai to me. The spices didnt come through in the taste, only the smell was nice and the white tea was nonexistent to me. I am saddened by the drastic difference between the smell and the taste as for I had high hopes.

This is an interesting tea. For those of you who prefer alot of actual tea in their cup, avoid this one….(Though I imagine most of you avoid Teavana like the plague anyways.)
I like this tea so far…only had a few sips. I had meant to concentrate on mostly fruity blends when at Teavana’s but since they were out of this tea the last time I went…I decided to jump on it. It’s nice and sweet, warm…I’d say more of a fall/winter tea, but it’s been threatening to storm all day so, I’ll use that as an excuse to enjoy this. I enjoy this better then the Cha Yen Thai Tea I had earlier, so in comparison I think I’d be more likely to get another bag of this when I run out.

This tea is really wonderful for pairing my two favorite blends are with Teavana’s White Ayurvedic Chai and their Maharaja Chai Oolong. On its own it feels watered down, I feel it lacks body. Currently I am drinking it with a Coconut Chai Green Tea by Zhena’s Gypsy Tea (which is also on the lighter side and has promise for pairing). Their nice together for a cool spring after dinner tea, I’m looking for creative ways to use up my spice teas as most will be a year old when I want to drink them again in the fall. I didn’t sweeten this blend though I find Spice of Life usually benefits from a teaspoon of rock sugar. Anywho going to watch Immortals with the husband as the boy has fallen asleep against my arm.

We are having another dull rainy day. Hey, at least it’s not freezing or snowing! I wanted a light tea this morning. Wasn’t in the mood for a nice EG. Went to completely the opposite end of the spectrum… Spice of Life combined with Strawberry Cream. Nice light, airy tea. No spice flavor as I’ve said before but enjoyable. There are so many yummy looking chunks and bits of stuff in the dry mix, it’s hard to believe there is so little flavor. I tend to overleaf, so I’m pretty sure it’s not that I under leafed. Oh, well… Seems to put a little sunshine in this dull gray day!

An instant light citrus taste that covers the tongue with a pleasant sweetness. A great woodiness and savory quality from the coriander. Overall this tea is such a pleasant, simple and calming white citrus tea!