MateVana

This is probably the best tea blend available at Teavana. It has a nice, chocolaty sweetness that could convert even the most hardcore yerba-hater. Unfortunately, it is pretty pricey, too. I’ll be trying to make a home-spun version in the coming weeks.

Mixed with Vanilla Honeybush is now my favorite morning kick in the pants.

Blended this with Masala Chai, and it’s basically the best morning drink I know of.

It’s smooth and strangely comforting.

Work tea.

This one was sweet though the chocolate was subtle. A roasty and earthy tea.

I realize Teavana is generally grumped about in the tea community.

… However, MateVana makes me a happy happy human.

Until I can find a suitable replacement from a smaller brand, this has been brewed daily at my home. It’s just enough awake-ness to make me feel comfortable, but not enough to give my caffeine sensitivity trouble.

The roasted mate combined chocolate-y, nutty, creamy nature reminds me of a watery coffee without the bitterness (which is the point, I realize). But the fact that it’s a little on the thin side is not really a bad thing. I do wish it was more robust—perhaps if I added milk, it would be perfect. I tend to fill up my contigo tumbler with this.

Backlog from December 7th:

Something is up with the MateVana page – it never loads properly so I haven’t been able to log a note when I drink it. Today I want something dark and chocolaty. This is indeed dark, as dark as coffee or more so even. It’s perfectly chocolaty, just as I was hoping. It’s not like a hot chocolate but more like a chocolate coffee.

Sip down! I may have overleafed this in an effort to sip down, but it didn’t effect the enjoyment of the cup. If anything it made it a little richer. I have enjoyed this tea over the years, but others have caught my interest and I’m ready to move on. Weird to think that Teavana is gone and I won’t ever get to revisit this again. Oh well. Onto the next tea!

I’m a DAVIDsTEA person and I had never actually bought a tea from Teavana before, so I decided to try it out. I bought this tea because I usually like mates and it smelled incredible (even though at teavana they apparently only fan the air next to the tea into your face, instead of actually letting you smell it like at DAVIDs… am I bitter?).

I brewed a pot of it and was sorely disappointed. It looks like sludge and instead of the chocolatey, bright, almost wood-ish smell it has when its dry, it has an almost burnt smell when it’s steeped. It tasted like nothing. I found myself struggling to try and drink the tea as fast as I could just to make it go away.

Would not buy again, and honestly I probably wouldn’t shop at Teavana again.

(215)
Only 4 more teas and then I will be completely Teavana free.
I’m still bitter about their poor customer service. I expected bad service in store. I expected good service on the website. (I’ve already ranted about them in the forums so no need to bore you guys, but I’ve learned my lesson!)

4 more Teavana teas left!

ETA: You know what? Make it 3. My sister-in-law keeps drinking my Maharajah/Samurai chai blend – I’ll just stick it in HER tea cupboard here at work. :P (sipdown 214?) She enjoys it far more than I do anyway.