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Thanks to Hubby for this one, picked it up on my first trip to a Teavana… not too many loose tea options in my neck of the woods and eager to smell, try, or buy something and have some kind of tea shop experience. He was more than gracious in making the hour long trek with me to see what it was all about. I’m not going to say I’m eager to go back there, but I was grateful for the trip as it gave me some perspective on what tea buying can be like (hopeful to find some great shops on future vacations!). I could see Chicago (3 hrs away) in my future, but somehow me thinks that may not happen… I have to have a reason besides tea shopping. Married 18 years and only 1 trip to Chicago, oh wait 2 (forgot when we were in college and went to the art museum). We do go places, but not there.

Anyway, it’s hard to buy teas based on descriptions and smells, I want to try them, and I’d not had an experience like this one before. I’ve been to The Tea & Spice Exchange before, but only once looking at teas (& a very limited selection), previous times looking for spices. They have containers you can pick up and smell on your own, and then pre-packaged sizes available to purchase. No worrying about weighing things out unless you buy an odd amount, which you can do if you want.

I wasn’t sure what to think of this tea at first. In the shop it smelled spicy and sweet, and coconutty, but since they just waft the scent towards you with the lid, it’s hard to really get the fragrance. I like all those things in tea, spice, sweet, coconut… and this was a plus that it was caffeine free, yeah evening tea! When I got it home and opened the bag, the scent was much more pungent, in your face, kind of smell… almost overwhelming.

I decided to give this a try the other night. I was is a very potent blend like I expected. I under leafed a bit to err on the side of drinkable.. I guess I could’ve just added more water had I needed to. I found this tea to be thick coconut, ginger, spice… good, but almost over the top, and I love me some spice… Like I’m finding of most of the Teavana blends. I’m thinking I may enjoy this more as a latte or cut with another plain or mild base tea (like vanilla rooibos or just some black to give some richness without added flavor). I’m thinking if I just cut back on the tea itself, it will become a watered down undrinkable cup.

The jury is still out on this one. I think I can like it if I can find the right mix for me. After all… it’s spice and coconut!!… Ok, so no chocolate (or peppermint) in this one… but you can’t have everything you like in one cup!

Another backlog for me. I had this the other day after I tried Three Friends also from Butiki. I think I would have faired better had I tried this one first since I enjoyed the complexity of the other so much.

I got creamy goodness in this, but I think I under leafed a bit and I let it get cold on me which usually makes the flavors come out for me, but I only found it starting to gain some bitterness.

I will refrain from rating this one and give it another go w/more leaf and maybe a bit lower temperature.

Backlog from yesterday morning. I was looking for a black tea again in the morning and this one caught my eye. I looked it up and saw it was an EG blend with additional flavors and was a bit concerned about how strong the bergamot would be.

I was pleasantly surprised, I must say. I enjoyed this cup more than I expected to. It is a nice blend of flavors, nutty, caramel, a bit creamy, and with just a hint of bergamot…but not too much. A pleasant cup. Not something I would reach for every day, but something I could enjoy.

Thanks MissB for sharing this with me.

Um.. Yum! Thanks Crowkettle for sending a bit of this my way.

Um.. Yum! Thanks Crowkettle for sending a bit of this my way.I love how much this really takes on the life of the buttery caramelly brown sugar goodness of a true pineapple upside down cake. The pineapple is there, but just enough, and the black base just adds a really nice richness to the blend.

Um.. Yum! Thanks Crowkettle for sending a bit of this my way.I love how much this really takes on the life of the buttery caramelly brown sugar goodness of a true pineapple upside down cake. The pineapple is there, but just enough, and the black base just adds a really nice richness to the blend.I bought the rooibos version of this blend awhile back but I so wish I had bought this one… the added richness of the base just takes it to another level. Both are good, but I do like this one better.

Um.. Yum! Thanks Crowkettle for sending a bit of this my way.I love how much this really takes on the life of the buttery caramelly brown sugar goodness of a true pineapple upside down cake. The pineapple is there, but just enough, and the black base just adds a really nice richness to the blend.I bought the rooibos version of this blend awhile back but I so wish I had bought this one… the added richness of the base just takes it to another level. Both are good, but I do like this one better.I’ve been hoarding the sample because I don’t want to use the last bit. This one going on my shopping list for when I order from D.Terra again. :)

Another great tea sent to me from MissB. I’ve not had too much in the way of citrus, especially as a main flavor profile, but somehow she knows what to send :) Thank you!

As I often do, I was looking for something with black tea in it this morning. This one caught my eye, and I was up for something new. I’ve read several peoples reviews on this one in my short time here on Steepster so I was eager to give this one a try when I finally got over my cold.

I enjoyed that I could taste the nice black base tea in this one well, combined with a creaminess & chocolate, and a finishing touch of orange… Like you get in those orange chocolate candies at Christmas I notice everyone references when they talk about this tea. Now I don’t like those little orange breakable chocolate balls, but this, this was yummy. I just got a hint of the orange citrus in the end of the sip and it was a surprise and refreshing twist on tea for me. I was a little afraid with some of the reviews I had read that this would be too much like that candy treat, but I found it quite good version of that which I could go back to and enjoy again.

I’m not sure what to look for as far as the marshmallow goes as I’ve not had much if any of it in tea, but I do find this to have a hint of creamy sweet tones that I assume are a reflection of that.

Hubby took a sip and wasn’t impressed…. Go figure, we are opposite in so many ways and our tea choices are no different… most of the time. I could see myself putting this on a future order when I want something a little different than my norm that stretches my normal flavor profiles a bit.

I’ve been putting off trying this one until my cold was under control and I felt like I could get a true taste of it.

Looking through my samples this morning, I decided a basic black tea would be good.. after all, I was eating a rich chocolate chip cookie and needed something to pair well with it. Some breakfast, eh? Actually, I could see myself doing the same thing tomorrow morning :) Very enjoyable.

This tea is rich and very present black, not bitter, and not overwhelming in any sense. At smells faintly sweet when steeped and is smooth and almost has a bit of cocoa in the background.

I actually drank the whole first cup sans any raw sugar! That’s unusual for me. The next steep I will likely try with a touch of sugar and maybe a splash of cream to see how it compares to other blacks I’ve had that way.. since that’s how I grew up drinking hot black tea I think it only fair to try each one that way as well.

I’m tempted to try some of their other grades of Keemun to see how they compare. I’m on the hunt for a staple black for my tea cupboard for when I want a basic good black or something to add to another tea for depth and richness. This one is great, but maybe I could step down a price point and still be satisfied.

So I was feeling the need for mint and chocolate yesterday afternoon, as I often do. Usually it’s mint or spice I search for at some point in the day.

I had tried this one before and was ok with it.. actually looks like I enjoyed it.

Yesterday I just found this ok. Lost much of the mint and found the black base to overpower the other flavors. Hmmm… not sure I’d go searching for this one unless I wanted a really rich dark black with a nip of mint that you have to search for. Knocking my rating down for this a bit.

Hubby got up and asked me what I wanted to do today since it’s my birthday. I had decided before today that if he asked I wanted to o shopping and go to a tea shop. We had an enjoyable day & ended up at Teavana (I had never been to one and wanted to see what all the hoopla was about-closest one is an hour away), Qdoba’s for lunch, and a store called Garden Gate we’ve never been to before. Gonna have to budget more time for that one if we go back.

I had signed up for Teavana’s email newsletter and just gotten a $10 off $30 coupon & my mom had just given me a $5 Starbucks gift card someone had given her that she wouldn’t use.. Armed with that and the knowledge of upselling I felt I was ready to go.

I bought a few teas to try @ home and Hubby picked out a couple, have to leave him at home next time .. He has expensive tastes. I was planning on using birthday $ my parents far me and after he started asking for ones he wanted he said I could save my birthday $. Yeah.. More tea later for me!

I got this tea steeped up to go & wasn’t sure what to expect of it. An almond I have tried before was not quite to my liking, so I didn’t want I buy 2 oz on a chance so I felt this was a good one to try just a cup of.

She poured a little of what was in the cup in a little tasting cup to be sure she had the right sugar mixture for me. I agreed it was fine and gave the rest if that to Hubby. I really enjoyed this more than I expected to. It reminded me exactly of the roasted sugar coated nuts you smell in the mall all the time, especially around Christmas and steeped up a pretty pink color. I could see myself enjoying this again, but would more likely be an occasional tea for me as it was very rich. I know she overleafed this more than I would have, so maybe a little less leaf & it would be something I would enjoy more often.