Teavana

Prepared as family pot tea. A tea I have received from derk. Thank you for second chance to try Teavana tea.
It is in high volume pot and 5 teaspoons in my DIY tea bag.

It’s not bad tea per se, but something is lacking. Maybe I have expected more fruity notes. It’s generic, somehow tropical, lemony, but somehow weak.

I have quite a lot left. I will see how it changes, when prepared for myself. Maybe it needs longer or shorter steeping. I let it steep for about 10 minutes, but I needed to steep whole pot, don’t forget.

Overall, quite average.

Sipdown! (28 | 232)

Another swap sample!

To me, this tea tastes very similar to a tippy Yunnan black tea. It’s smooth, malty, a touch earthy, and has a lovely fuzzy apricot note at the end of the sip. Perhaps there’s some extra nuttiness? There’s also a touch of floral, which is maybe less common in my experience.

Anyway, it’s good! I’m just not sure I would know it’s a yellow tea. It’s interesting because I’ve had some yellow teas from Teavivre that were much closer to green tea (in my opinion), and this one is quite different. It’s tasty, but not terribly special.

Finishing off this sample from Arby with a second try. The first time, I felt it needed a cooler water temperature so here we are.

Still reminds me of a combination of Yunnan black and Chinese green teas. It definitely very light, like a golden needle or similar tea. I get some light bready, malty notes, and also a strong apricot flavor and slight fuzziness, which brings me more to the green side of things. As it cools, it’s almost completely like a green tea. There’s a light floral note at the end of the sip and in the aftertaste as well.

It’s very interesting, but not something I would feel the need to have around given how similar it is to some other teas. Thanks Arby!

Another one from Arby (I think). I’ve never had a yellow tea that I can remember, so this should be quite interesting. The leaves are long and spindly, with a mix of dull grey-brown and light gold. They look fairly similar to a Yunnan black tea, and smell a bit similar too.

This is certainly an interesting one. To me, it’s like a mix between a light Yunnan black tea and a dragonwell tea. The beginning of the sip is more Yunnan, with bread and some malty notes, and a light stonefruit flavor. In the middle of the sip, a strong buttery quality appears, and some nutty dragonwell-esque notes. The end is a little bit bitter, and I probably should’ve steeped this at a lower temperature… A light floral hit in the aftertaste as well?

It’s definitely interesting. Holding off on rating until I can try the rest of the sample with a lower water temperature.

Wow, that’s the most inoffensive, generic tropical fruit flavor that’s ever graced my tongue. I’m sure this is older’n since this was from Teavana but I guess it’s held up ok… Mild, mineral, lightly fruity, barely sweet.

Delicious! Warm pumpkin spice flavour, best with some milk.

Mastress Alita’s Monthly Sipdown Challenge
September 2022 → A chocolate tea

The first/last/only time I’ve had this tea, I used lots of tea to try coaxing out the chocolate flavor and ended up with a cup full of liquid cinnamon. I decided this time around to steep it like I would any other black tea, and it’s much much better. It’s still heavy on the cinnamon with no chocolate to be found, but I’m actually enjoying the cup this time.

Sometimes I really do miss Teavana, even if it’s only because it’s where I first started loving tea.

I had planned for an Earl Grey this morning but as I pulled it from the cubby I realized what I really wanted was chai. I found this opened bag of chocolate chai from Teavana that my husband picked up from the local store right before they closed. I remember Teavana’s chocolate blends being pretty light and watery, so I doubled up and steeped a good deal longer than the package recommended. It’s a good strength, but there is no chocolate to be found – it’s all cinnamon chips. As it cools, I like the flavor less and less so that now it is almost undrinkable.

I don’t generally like lemonade teas, but I always try every herbal in a tea box, so here we are! I feel like I can taste the pink lemonade flavor pretty clearly. It’s still not delicious to my tastes, but it’s decently accurate. I overleafed, but it’s still a bit weak. However, I imagine this tea is pretty old by now, so that could be to blame.

Great Steepster Freeze of 2020 Review #2 (08/04/20)

So technically it appears the site is back up, but since I know everyone will be madly posting all their tea reviews at once, I’m going to continue to hold off for a few more days (which really isn’t that big of a problem… I write all my tea reviews externally, saved on a document for safe-keeping and backup, and then copy and paste to Steepster which I can do at any time, really). This is the last herbal from my teabox stash, which came from the Discovery Teabox, so thanks to Skysamurai for organizing and all who contributed! Confession: I had never once had a Teavana tea prior to their closing, despite their major “presence” (after all, I live in an area that doesn’t have any “retail” tea shops, chain or independantly owned). When I saw this in the box, I was curious… and the fact it had “Lavender” in the name (as I love floral teas, and lavender is a particular weakness of mine) pretty much sold me.

Brewed up a cup as my evening herbal. The aroma has a bit of a lavender smell, but mostly it smells sweet and caramelly. And… that is pretty much what I’m getting from the flavor, too. There were a lot of things in the infuser (like several whole cardamom pods!) but really all I’m getting in the flavor is a strong rooibos presence, with some notes of wood, honey, caramel, and vanilla, a very sweel caramel flavor, and a more subtle note of the lavender flower that mostly settles a bit on my tongue late in the sip. I’m not getting any of the more interesting ingredients listed (like fig!) or even the cardamom spice, despite the fact I could see it very clearly steeping in the infuser. It’s fine, but mostly just a caramel rooibos (of which I’ve had before) with some lavender flowers added, and the lavender presence still feels a bit weak at that. But it’s probably ridiculously old, so I feel I’m not in a position to judge it too harshly, and I am happy I got the chance to try it (if nothing else, I can now say I have “had Teavana’s tea”).

Thanks to whoever offered up this sample! I’ll certainly enjoy the little bit I have left in evening cuppas.