Fava Tea Co.

This is a pleasant rooibos, if not a particularly distinctive one. The rooibos itself is really nice, smooth and not too strong—probably among the nicest I’ve had, actually. It’s sweet and lightly spiced, but eggnog? Not really. I don’t detect even the faintest hint of nutmeg. This is another one of those blends I would probably have liked more with a different name, but I’m enjoying it pretty well as is.

Yet another sample from my swap with Inkling! I was really excited to try this one, because I’m always on the lookout for herbals that are a little different than the usual. I have to say, though, this is one of those hibiscus-less fruit blends that make me appreciate the ubiquity of hibiscus. There’s just nothing to it; it lacks body—this blend is like tart sugar water. I think I can taste a tiny hint of kiwi, but it’s barely there. I’m glad to have had a chance to try Cloud 9, but it’s definitely not for me.

This is a very yummy tea. It goes down smoothly and is pleasant tasting. I used agave and steeped for 3 minutes- 2.5 tsp in 16oz of hot water. It’s sweet and nutty!

Thank you to Inkling for this sample!

After drinking this a few times, I recommend slightly cooler water (90 *C) instead of boiling water. It produces a better and creamier flavour. I do not think the flavour of this blend is strong enough to be cold-brewed, though..

Brew: Very dark amber (probably due to my long steep time), quite aromatic. It smells very nutty to me. I can also smell hints of honey, spices, and rooibos. It tastes slightly sweet, in the woody way that rooibos so often does. I believe this has red and green rooibos in it, or at least it tastes as such. Notes of spices (nutmeg, vanilla, cinnamon), savannah grass, , and cream. I like that it isn’t overwhelming spiced and that it doesn’t use stevia/cinnamon/licorice root to make the blend extremely sweet. This lets the natural flavours of the rooibos do all the talking, and I love it. Rooibos has plenty of sweetness and woody/mineral flavour on its own.

Too often, blends try to cover up their mediocre quality rooibos with artificial flavours. A good rooibos blend can have all the natural flavours of the base come through in a way that actually improves it as a whole. I guess what I’m saying is that I approve of higher quality (and fresher) rooibos, and I appreciate it when tea shops know their ingredients well enough to showcase the base so confidently.

Here’s Hoping TTB

I’m not in love with this but I don’t hate it either. It’s tart, there’s definitely a layer of hibiscus in this one and the blueberries are the star player. But there’s also some creamy notes, a little bit of baked bread/pastry, and I am picking up the caramel (how come I can’t find a tea that tastes like caramel but I can find the notes in teas that I don’t want to taste like caramel??) I might hold on to this simply because there’s only enough for one or two more cups and maybe by then I’ll be able to decide if I like it or not :P

Sample from VariaTEA This one is way too sweet for me. WAY too sweet. For me, this doesn’t taste like straight maple syrup, it tastes like artificial maple flavour. It’s again, not a bad tea but i think it would have been better if i’d made it as a latte to cut through some of the sweetness. Still, glad to have tried it!

I was at my local Fava Tea Company store today picking up some tea for my friend’s bridal shower. I need more tea like I need a hole in the head. But I was sucked in by the new seasonal blends and ended up purchasing an ounce of this one to sample. No regrets! This blend is smooth and creamy with a light blend of spices that really does remind me of eggnog. It’s good on its own, but I’m betting it would be amazing as a latte! I may be going back for more…

Hey steepsterites!!! I joined a sororitea :) check out my first review here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2016/10/15/falling-leaves-fava-tea-company/

Here’s Hoping TTB.

This is quite good. It has a strong hibiscus-orange flavor that I definitely enjoyed. It’s on the tart side, but I certainly don’t object to that. I’ve tried several herbals from Fava Tea Co. in this box that I really liked, so I might need to put in an order with them eventually.

Here’s Hoping TTB

This has a rich raspberry-hibiscus flavor with a light accent of rose that adds depth and complexity. It’s a bit more of a candy raspberry flavor than my standard raspberry tea (raspberry zinger by celestial seasonings). I really enjoyed it. It would be a good would to try blending with a chocolate tea and/or some extra rose petals.

Here’s Hoping TTB

This has a strong Hibiscus-berry flavor, with an end note of peanut butter. Kind of odd, and not really what I would associate with a torte (although I’m not exactly sure what a torte is, although I think it’s some kind of pastry).

Here’s Hoping TTB.

This is a pleasant strawberry-hibiscus tea with a noticeable cocoa note. It could use a bit more chocolate, so I may experiment with blending this, but I do like it.

This one has a strong artificial peach flavor that completely overwhelms the base tea and reminds me of peach gummy candy. Not really picking up on any mango. It’s not bad but definitely not a favorite for me.

This is pretty decent. It seems to be using decent quality rooibos and the vanilla is definitely noticeable. However, I’m not a huge fan of the woodiness of rooibos combined with the earthiness of vanilla. The final result is like wood that’s so old it’s crumbling into dust, but also sweet from the vanilla. Not for me, but some people would probably enjoy it.

This tea has no added flavoring, just Ceylon tea, blackberry leaves, and dried berries. This makes for a blend where the brisk black tea base takes center stage and the blackberry flavor is just a whisper of natural sweetness. Once I adjusted my expectations for a strong fruity flavor, I actually quite enjoyed this one.

This one was a disappointment for me. It smelled like spicy almond deliciousness, but the flavor was lackluster: mild cinnamon and anise with hints of almond. I’ll have to keep hunting for a good herbal chai!

Many of Fava’s teas contain artificial flavors, so I was excited to see that this one had only 3 ingredients: black tea, honey, and bee pollen. I definitely did enjoy the slight sweetness and floral flavor of the honey, but the base tea missed the mark for me. Ceylon doesn’t tend to be my favorite and the flavor of this one was just too sharp and brisk to mix well with the soft sweetness of the honey. I would LOVE to try this same blend with a Chinese black tea base!

Gorgeous color. Not really a fan of the flavor its a mix of eating orange blood zest and fruit loops. I just can’t stand the fake flavors of fruit loops anymore.

Blueberry torte? More like Blueberry TART!!! It’s so tart! It’s like a punch in the face. Though it starts out tart and ends sweet which is nice. I did a cold brew so maybe that affected the flavors a bit. Steeped it for around an hour. Lots of blueberry flavor.

A very unique tisane. The strawberry flavor starts off the sip but is immediately taken over by hibiscus. As far as truffle flavor goes… I can maybe see this as a vanilla truffle with a strawberry filling but the hibiscus is too strong to make a good truffle flavor. Maybe needs some vanilla.