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I thought I’d ran out of this, but a search of my cupboard revealed that I have a little left. I’ve become more fond of this tea with each cup. I had it completely plain this time (occasionally I’ve tried rock sugar, or sugar + cream) and it was great. I just read that it pairs well with Teavana’s Maharaja Chai Oolong (one of my favorites) so I think that’s what I’ll try next (tomorrow, perhaps?). At first I’d decided not to buy more when I ran out of this tea, but I might be changing my mind…

It’s been about two weeks since I made this (both hot and iced), so my memory isn’t the best. When I made it hot first, the lemongrass flavor was really strong and there was none of the chai spice that I love. I added rock sugar when making it iced, which mellowed out the lemongrass flavor but didn’t improve the taste otherwise. It’s not a bad tea, it just doesn’t taste like a chai. Adagio’s rooibos chai is better, but my absolute favorite (which is technically a rooibos chai but tastes nothing like the other two) is Teavana’s Tulsi Dosha Chai.

I think the flower flavor in this tea is stronger than the apple flavor (…I also think I can taste something like cotton, but that’s probably just in my head because of the tea’s appearance). I may have made this too weak, so next time I’ll try to make it stronger.

(Tea from silentrequiem. Thanks!)

I really like Jasmine tea, and this one is certainly good. It wasn’t the silkiest (I really can’t think of a better word) of the jasmines I’ve had, but I like it. I steeped it twice, and the second steep was a little too weak for my pleasure.

(Tea from silentrequiem. Thanks!)

In January I ate at a Korean restaurant in Manhattan and was given tea that tasted unfamiliar, strange, and crazy good. The friend I was with thought it was toasted rice tea, which I had never had before. I bought this in search of something like the delicious tea from the Korean restaurant, and the flavor is definitely similar. I enjoy this tea quite a bit and it’s good for at least one re-steep.

The toasted rice flavor in the tea at the restaurant was much stronger than this. Is it common to find toasted rice tea without green tea, or are they always mixed? (The color of the restaurant tea was also clear-to-beige, not yellow like green tea.) If toasted rice without green tea is common, that might be what the restaurant served (at the very least, there was more toasted rice in their tea).

This tea reminded me of curry made with coconut milk because of the very strong coconut flavor with spices. Coconut was the most distinctive taste for the first few sips, after which the lemongrass flavor stood it (and I liked that). About halfway through the cup, it suddenly became quite bitter and I had to stir it to loosen it up. The tea wasn’t bad, but I didn’t think it was great.

This morning I made Mocha Nut Mate (Adagio) and JavaVana Mate (Teavana) at the same time so I could compare them. They are a lot less similar when having them back-to-back than when drinking one and comparing it to my memory of the other (I kept switching between the two mugs… Yes, I was that intense about it. And I continued switching until I’d finished them both).

JavaVana Mate (16oz of boiling water): 2.75 teaspoons tea + 1 teaspoon rock sugar + a little half-and-half

Mocha Nut Mate is definitely pretty good, but I like JavaVana Mate more. What distinguished between them the most for me is that hazelnut is a strong flavor in Mocha Nut Mate whereas the (dark?) chocolate in JavaVana stands out. The chocolate in the latter gives it a kick that I preferred to the hazelnut creaminess of the former. (Both are good, but JavaVana wins for me.)