Fava Tea Company

This tea smells very good, but unfortunately, it doesn’t taste good. It’s very mild and tastes more like leftover tea than freshly brewed.

I don’t recall who sent me a sample of this, but I had one serving left hidden in the depths of my cupboard. I wasn’t expecting to like this much and I find I’m enjoying it. It was the rooibos part that made me wary. I get almond mixed with some mellow spices. Maybe not enough to call chai, but a mix that works. There is also something bringing a slight sweetness to it. I think I can pick out some dried apple notes that mix well with cinnamon. Apple almond strudel? I think I’ve had it for a few years now and the flavors hold up well. I don’t think this is a tea I’d run out and buy, but I’d drink another cup of it for sure! Thank you forgotten steepster for sending me this sample! You have lovely handwriting!

TTB sample! This tea tastes strongly like honey. It’s really authentic and interesting. The black tea beneath could be a bit heartier for my preferences, but it does really let the honey shine. I’m not a honey fan, but I enjoyed this one a decent amount!

Inkling Advent Day 24. This sounds so tasty! The flavor tastes really biscuity! It’s like a buttery cookie! I wouldn’t have guessed pistachio or truffle, but this ends up quite tasty! The resteep was nice too! I liked it with milk. I’d consider buying more!

Inkling Advent Day 21. I’m enjoying this warm. It mostly tastes like a mild marzipan. The black tea doesn’t make much of an impression. I wouldn’t have minded some stronger flavors, but it was mildly desserty and pleasant!

Inkling Advent Day 14. This really tastes like peanut butter! There’s a bit of a murky rooibos beneath, so it doesn’t end up being my very favorite. I can imagine this as a decadent latte, and I do enjoy this, but nothing reminds me of cookies. I had the resteep with soy milk, which went with the peanut butter well.

Inkling Advent Day 11. I taste a bit of coconut, but the tea itself is a bit watery. After sitting in the fridge overnight, a lot more flavor came out, so I’m glad I didn’t finish it in one day! Still not my favorite sort of flavor profile, but I always enjoy a black tea with milk and sugar.

Inkling Advent Day 8. I would have guessed this tea was banana chocolate flavor, and I looked up the ingredients to see that banana is included, so I’m not going crazy! This may be my favorite tea from the advent so far! The banana is candylike, but tasty, and the chocolate is slightly alcohol-ish, but not bad. This was nice and desserty with soy milk!

Inkling Advent Day 5. This tastes so familiar! Similar to a tea I must have had ages ago. This herbal is quite mild and definitely does better with some extra sugar to bring the flavors out. It tastes like a mild orange and something else that’s almost peppery. This was interesting, but a little watery. I wish the flavors were stronger!

Inkling Advent Day 2. This flavor sounds delicious! Warm with sugar and milk, I do taste a bit of marzipan, though the tea itself overpowers it. Nice flavors I just wish the flavoring were stronger! It’s a little watery.

Within the last year or two, my local tea shop Fava Tea Company has introduced what they call “TEAsers”…little sample packets of enough tea for 2-3 cups which they sell for $2.50 each. I’m loving this as a way to try out blends I’m curious about but not ready to buy 2-4oz of without tasting first!

This was one of the samples I picked up this weekend and I think I’ll be going back for more. The package recommended a 9-minute steep, but I got distracted and gave it more like 11 or 12 minutes. I was so pleased to find that the resulting brew had a distinct peanut butter flavor! Not sure I picked up on much chocolate, but there was a hint of sweetness that did remind me of a peanut butter cookie. And no unpleasant medicinal notes coming through from the rooibos base! I drank it straight, but I’m thinking it would make a really great latte.

Fava offers a LOT of different “breakfast” blends and I’ve slowly been sampling all of them. In my personal opinion, this would would have been better labeled as an Earl Grey, as the bergamot flavor and aroma is quite strong. But the vanilla and currant flavors come through as well, elevating the blend to something a bit more special than a standard Earl Grey. I find it a bit too brisk and assertive black, but quite enjoyable with a splash of milk!

From the Sips by autumn box.

This is quite nice actually. It’s like Forever Nuts (or similar) but with spices added. I don’t notice the rooibos at all, and I’m not complaining. Mostly it’s an interesting and cozy combination of buttery almond with cinnamon, cardamom, and a bit of apple. Perhaps some orange as well, but that could be from the coriander. There’s definitely a subtle citrusy note.

Anyway, I like it, and it’s definitely very fall-appropriate. I don’t think I would go and order a big bag of it or anything, but definitely enjoyable.

Inkling Advent Day 21. There is so much cardamom in this, so I was expecting a ton to show up in the flavor. It’s slightly fruitier than I was expecting, and there’s definitely not as much cardamom, which I’m totally fine with. It’s also not a spicy chai. Sweetened with milk, I think it tastes pretty balanced and interesting. I’m enjoying it more than the majority of herbal chais, so that’s fun. I’m also enjoying the nuttiness. I’d definitely drink this again.

Inkling Advent Day 20. Hot, the raw walnut flavor is pretty strong. That’s the strongest flavor other than the somewhat harsh green tea. I smell banana, but I don’t really taste much. I added milk and left this in the fridge, and I’m enjoying it a lot more now. The banana and nut combine pleasantly with the green tea, and it’s really quite desserty and nice. It’s a very authentic green banana flavor, and I’m glad it showed up at last!

Inkling Advent Day 14. I don’t really like white tea, but this was decent enough cold! It was fruity and a little floral and quite vegetal. The pear flavor was pretty authentic. I can tell that this would be a really tasty one for someone who likes white tea.

Inkling Advent Day 12. This tea certainly looked distinctive since it was mostly composed of white powder. I thought maybe that was some kind of sweetener, but the cup wasn’t at all sweet until I added sugar, so I’m not sure. The flavor of this tea reminds me of a caramel rooibos I’ve had from somewhere else. It doesn’t really remind me of caramel itself though. It mostly tastes like mildly desserty rooibos, but not a rooibos that I love. This flavor direction is totally something I would be into, I just don’t love the execution unfortunately!

Inkling Advent Day 10. I love maple in tea, so this was very exciting to open this morning! The flavor is maybe a little smokier than I would prefer – I don’t even know if it’s actually supposed to be smoky or if something else is giving me that vibe. It’s not my preferred sort of black tea, but it’s really not bad. I don’t taste distinct maple, maybe just a slightly desserty sweetness and woodiness. I also taste a pleasant nutty flavor.

Sample sipdown, so there wasn’t quite as much leaf for my big work mug as I wished. Even so, this is now one of my favorite chai variants. The apple and almond add a pastry quality to the chai spices that I’ve never seen in other blends. Good stuff on a cold day.

Although I’m pretty certain my sample pack of this rooibos chai was getting long in the tooth, the scent when I opened it was lip-smackingly, cookie-ish, sweet. I steeped it work, which always means neither time nor temp were overseen carefully, and ended up with a really nice afternoon cup that was more fruit and almond than spicy chai.

TTB 2022
First steep is subtle chocolate malt with a slightly bitter dark chocolate finish. This first steep is disappearing fast! Because the first steep was subdued, this second is even moreso. I like this tea but am disappointed that only the first steep is so yummy.
Thanks for including it in the TTB!

Pulled from TTB 2022, shared by Inkling.

I went through all the teas in the box the day it arrived and made a list for myself. There are several I want to sample before sending it on, so I plan to have a few cups each day. More than my usual amount, for sure. I was thinking today that I wanted something fruity or maybe chocolaty, but definitely a black tea to start, so I went through the list to check my options. I came across this tea and thought an unflavored black tea would do the trick. I was convinced once I opened the bag and caught the aroma.

It steeped up lighter than I expected. With with a bit of honey added, it was a treat. I would say it’s malt rather than chocolate, but it still turned out to be just what I was hoping for. Probably too light to add milk, at least for me, so I left it out. I got distracted and set it down in the kitchen somewhere, and when I went to pick it up again I saw that the mug was actually full of a turmeric tea I made at James’ request for his allergies. Of course, when I went to check he had my teacup and there was none left. How he did not notice he was drinking a completely different tea I’ll never know. More likely, he realized mine was better and feigned ignorance. Can’t say I blame him after catching a whiff of his.

I enjoyed this one and am glad to have tried it, but I have other black teas I enjoy more so I’ll be passing this one along.

If you like warm chai spices and enjoy rooibos, this tea is worth trying.

I struggle with rooibos. I wanted to like this tea! The cinnamon/clove/cardamom combination was on point. I even liked the way the spice left a bit of a lingering tingle. I didn’t necessarily get almond from this, but I could have overlooked that too – it’s just that I can’t do the rooibos base.

sipsby advent, day 7*
(sipsby packages this in no particular order, so your order may be different than mine)