The NecessiTeas
Edit CompanyPopular Teas from The NecessiTeas
See All 138 TeasRecent Tasting Notes
Cold Brew!
Tasty brew with light and effervescent notes of cola (leaning citrus) with hints of vanilla. This is smooth and refreshing with the perfect simple amount of sweentess. I sipped this while doing some household chores yesterday and it was a nice companion for those tasks. Uncomplicated and good.
V is for… Vanilla Cola!
Not surprising at all that, when it came to “V Day” most of my options were vanilla teas. I actually had a lot of diverse options for vanilla blends so I was tempted to do an all vanilla tea day, but I ended up sneaking in a couple other things.
This still stands out to me as one of the best cola blends that I’ve tried – it’s at times a little thin in body but the effervescent quality is pretty unmatched. Definitely distinctly cola, but with a tinge of citrus that “pops out” instead of blending in. If you didn’t know, citrus is one of the main flavours that makes up cola flavoured things, so that’s what I mean by not blending in. The vanilla? Definitely light – this is a cola tea first and foremost. It’s still present though.
I really loved getting to indulge in this mug.
I reorganized my rooibos tea tins over the weekend, and as such I pulled out a bunch of tins of neglected teas to revisit this week during the evenings…
I really got a lot of the cola in this cup and not so much of the vanilla – I don’t mind though, I bought it because of the cola and not the vanilla. It’s one of the more accurate and effervescent cola flavourings I’ve come across in a tea, though it leans just a bit heavy on the lemon/citrus side of cola. It’s good though – really good. Fits that “dessert profile” need without dipping into chocolate/caramel/coconut, which isn’t always what I want.
I keep dreaming of restocking the Cherry Cola from NecessiTeas – that blend is incredible. However with how inconsistent and unreliable her restocks are, and the insanely high shipping cost to Canada, I’m coming to terms with the fact that might not happen again. This is the next best thing.
Cold Brew!
This is the last cold brew from this past week. I found it pretty nice; I enjoy cold brewing rooibos blends a lot though I feel slightly conflicted because I prefer to start my morning commute with something caffeinated – though rooibos is super refreshing. In terms of taste, the rooibos comes through clearly but not dominantly. It does taste like cola, but a cola with more weight towards the citrus (re: lime) in the flavour combination. A little bit of a cola with more brightness/“higher” notes as well. Could use a bit more richness from the vanilla/marshmallow to round out the flavour, but it’s there just not in the intensity that I would personally prefer.
Woah, that is an intense and effervescent cola flavour!! Definitely some vanilla, but mostly that almost fizzy feeling combination of citrus and spice that just brings cola to life. I thought at one point I was distinctly tasting lime flavour, which wouldn’t be that weird for a cola profile…
I swear I’ll write a more thorough tasting note at some point, but we have now hit the point in the evening where writing tasting notes feels like knocking my head against a wall so I’m just going to be lazy with these last few ones.
I love Marshmallow Treat by The Necessiteas (and marshmallow flavored teas in general), so was quite excited about this one. Both strawberry and genmaicha are winners for me, so I thought this was a must-try. There aren’t nearly as many marshmallows in this as in the regular Marshmallow Treat (which I guess is an easy fix because I could just add some), but the flavor is definitely impacted because of it. It’s much more like a genmaicha with a bit of strawberry. I didn’t add any sweetener, but I think doing so next time will amplify all of the flavors.
I love marshmallow flavored teas, so I’ve been wanting to try this one for quite awhile. I was so happy to have grabbed a bag when it was restocked. It’s packed full of sugar- brown sugar, marshmallows, sugar crystals, and it pretty much tastes as such. Not really a marshmallow flavor to me, and actually tastes like the sweetest Taiwanese milk tea you’ve ever had. It’s mostly brown sugar. I didn’t dislike it, it just wasn’t quite what I was hoping for. My boyfriend, who has a massive sweet tooth, loved it. So, this will be reserved for him.
Cold Brew Sipdown (889)!
This was a weird one for me – I do typically like coconut a lot when cold brewed, which is why I chose to finish this tea using this method, but it didn’t translate exactly as anticipated? The flavour was simultaneously VERY sweet with creamy and toasted coconut notes a plenty, but also very thin feeling at the same time!? Aside from the coconut, there was a clear almond/marzipan flavour that I thought worked quite nicely chilled. The weirdest element was this bright fruity note, that reminded me a little bit of the taste of steeped out apple but also a touch of pineapple – and that kind of forced a “pina colada” feeling into this blend that just doesn’t feel like it should be there. If I’m gonna have Pina Colada, I want it to be sweet and creamy – not toasty and nutty. So that’s really where the disconnect came from…
Still okay overall (and definitely NOT a bad blend) – but this one isn’t something I want to have around, and it just doesn’t completely mesh with my idea of what a coconut macaroon tea should taste like. Though, there’s still some overlap.
This was a free sample from my recent order!
The dry leaf aroma was definitely off smelling to me and it made me feel a little unexcited to try the tea – it was a very sharp, and sour smelling coconut but not in the sense that the coconut was rancid/had gone off. Like, sour flavoured. I could not figure out why anyone would think that was a good idea…
However, it steeps up much nicer tasting than it smells. Certainly a rich and sweet coconut flavour, and a little bit apple-y which may have been the weird/off thing I was smelling – but the flavour definitely is NOT sour. It’s also really nutty and sweet; there’s actual marzipan in the blend so that certainly supports that sweet, creamy nuttyness that carries throughout the cup. It’s nice because it’s a sweet and creamy blend with lots of richness but it’s not a heavy feeling cup. The one con I have is that it’s highly slick and oily in terms of mouthfeel with so much oil droplets gathered on the top of the infusion and rim of the mug. Kind of gross, but still good tasting – some milk would help mask a lot of that and compliment really well, I think.
Sipdown (1513)!
Finally finishing off this tea felt a little bittersweet to me. I have a sort of love hate relationship with it because it doesn’t fit perfectly into the “box” I’ve constructed in my head for what a cotton candy tea should be – it’s too fruity and distinctly raspberry tasting. However, it’s also very sweet and has that sort of spun sugar/airy element to the top of the sip… but a stronger and fuller body. It’s like shrodinger’s cotton candy blend, I suppose!? All that said, I like the taste pretty well even if the mental categorization of flavour side of things fucks with me a little.
The biggest frustration is just knowing that if I did want more it would be a bitch to reorder since NecessiTeas doesn’t restock consistently/predictably and her shipping to Canada is awful…
Cold Brew!
Sipping this one currently as I work on tasting notes, and it’s working for me! I get raspberry and a little bit of apple, but mostly it’s that airy spun sugar kind of sweet vibe that does sell the cotton candy profile. I’ve gone back and forth on whether I feel like this is really a “cotton candy” blend versus just a sweet raspberry candy blend and I think I’m leaning more into the former now. It’s the cold brew that does it though – as a hot tea it’s too tart and distinctly fruity raspberry. I need the more mellow and just a little creamy lighter flavours that come out with this prep style to make it work…
Geek Steep S1E11 – Shera and The Princesses of Power
This is the tea that I paired with my “initial watch” of the show, which was the first two episodes and the last two episodes of season one. I picked it on an assumption of the series that turned out to be wrong; that it would be fun and enjoyable with bright and happy colours and characters but, ultimately, a show of fluff without substance.
I was very happy to be proved wrong – and I talk a lot more about exactly how I was proved wrong, and what I ended up loving about the show in our podcast episode. Even if you don’t listen to the podcast episode I really feel like this is a good show to check out. It is fun and colourful with bright and enjoyable characters but there is substance to them and important messages and themes as well as a beautiful inclusivity.
I obviously still think people should listen to the podcast too, of course. I think it’s a great way to spend an hour and introduce yourself to a new fandom or, better yet, hear someone else’s thoughts on a fandom you might already enjoy. Plus Marika and I are funny at enjoyable to listen to at least, like, 80% of the time…
Also, just because this wasn’t “the right” tea for this fandom doesn’t mean it’s not a good tea! I still like the sweet “fairy floss” style raspberry and creamy marshmallow notes a lot, and it was a very nice thing to sip on – I just think it’s probably better suited for other shows.
Our Website: https://www.geeksteep.com/
Our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geeksteep/
Listen to us on Buzzsprout:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1286036/podcast/website
DB topic:
https://steepster.com/discuss/42133-geek-steep-a-new-tea-and-fandom-podcast
If you want to get caught up on the Geek of The Week for next Thursday, the spoiler for our explored fandom is at the bottom of our latest DB post!
Cold Brew!
I’ll admit, as a hot brew I didn’t really “get” the appeal/praise that I’ve heard about this tea. However, this cold brew was definitely a game changer for me. It’s still a little bit fruitier than what I would personally want a cotton candy blend to be, but a lot of the things I found really distracting the first time, such as the sharpness of the apple/hibiscus in the cup and the more cosmetic feeling dragonfruit flavour, weren’t drawn out through this method of brewing. Instead it was much sweeter and almost creamier, with a distinct cotton candy/fairy floss type of vibe. I would liken it most directly to the soft pink cotton candy from carnivals that I’m pretty sure is slightly strawberry flavoured, only more of a spun sugar “raspberry” than a strawberry.
Also, it was the most gorgeous rich pink colour! And distinctly pink, not a pinkish red.
Currently sipping on this one…
It was one of the teas that Stephenia had mentioned in her all time favourite teas video on Youtube, and was also really highly recommended by a couple other instagram tea blogger folks so I decided to pick some up for myself and give it a whirl; I do like a good sweet tea, and cotton candy is one of those flavours that rides the balance between generic sweetness and a distinct type of flavour quite finely so I was excited to see what this would be like!
It smelled much different than I expected – certainly sweet and sugary, with an air of “cotton candy” to that sweetness but also much more fruity than I would have ever expected it to be – like a tart raspberry kind of fruity quality!?
Steeped up it’s… Well… Hmmm…
I honestly don’t know what I think of this. There’s something to it that does remind me of cotton candy; this sweet spun sugar type of flavour in the immediate top notes and then that gingerly sticks in the mouth after swallowing. However, it’s also very fruity in the same way I was getting from the dry leaf aroma – like a more tart raspberry with a generically sweet apple note, and the raspberry lingers in the finish along with that cotton candy type flavour though it has more of a staying power and I’m finding that sharpness is really strong in the back of my mouth. It’s not bad tasting – but to me, at least, it’s not cotton candy and it definitely feels out of place. It also has that same kind of cosmetic fruit type flavour (like you get in lip stick or lip gloss, sometimes) that I find DT’s Dragonfruit Aloe blend has…
It’s not that I don’t think a cotton candy can’t have a fruit/berry note to it like this; in fact the pastel pink/blue cotton candy you often see is typically berry flavoured. It’s just that I think those cotton candy flavours are typically much more light/airy and not nearly as dense and tart as what I’m experiencing here.
Is it good? Yeah! Is it Cotton Candy? I’m on the fence…
Cold Brew!
Currently sipping on this. I didn’t realize until just now, writing tasting notes, that I ended up doing back to back peach cold brews. This one is pretty good, and has distinct peach and custard/cream notes – but it’s hard to not notice the slight earthy (but still sweet and clean) taste of carrot in the mix as well. Also, the cream note is reading a bit fake/artificial tasting to me in this moment. It’s not unpleasant, but I think having it so close together to Bird and Blend’s Peach Soda (which I LOVE) is making some of the weaker elements of the blend stand out to me more than they would have otherwise.
Cold Brew!
Had this one today on the way to work – it had been brewing for probably close to twenty hours! I can’t remember if I had this hot or iced/cold brewed the last time I had it (I think hot), but however I prepared it I actually ended up liking it this was much more. It was still very bright, juicy and almost acidic/tangy peach – like a slightly overripe summer peach mixed with the familiar taste of acidified apple. However, it also had a richer and more prominent vanilla/cream type of flavour. I still really wish that flavour was stronger or that I could boost it with milk – but I’m wary of testing that because it seems like there’s a lot of acidified apple in the blend. Some vanilla agave might give me more of the depth/density I want, but I’m really happy with the level of sweetness so I’m also resistant about adding any type of sweetener…
So, perfect? No – but still really good! And it’s so hard to argue about the lack of vanilla/cream richness when the flavour of the peach is SPOT ON!
For years now VariaTEA has kind of unofficially been my NecessiTeas dealer, providing me with new samples and top up of the ones I’ve loved – but I’ve finally decided to stop mooching off her and place my own order for some new herbals/rooibos blends I’m intrigued by and some larger amounts of one of the ones I love…
This is a new one for me, but I love most anything Peaches & Cream flavoured and while I’m often disappointed by Peaches & Cream flavoured teas, I never stop having high hopes for them! I thought that if anyone could really nail a fruit based one, it would likely be NecessiTeas! It sure is a beautiful looking tea; I wasn’t initially sure if the large white peach was a mashmallow or yogurt drop – it’s a marshmallow, but a sizable one! I love chunky looking herbals, and this has a really nice orange colour too – mostly from all the carrot…
It smells great; really sweet and fruity with these punchy kind of peach and apricot notes and a hint of creamy vanilla. More weighted towards the peach by a lot, but I get the Peaches and Cream vibe that she’s going for. Steeped up, I thought it was a little thin with my first few sips, but the flavour does really build and it became something quite lovely. It’s not sour or tart, but does have a little bit of a zingy/tangy kind of sharpness; not in a citrus way but in an almost “Fuzzy Peach” type of way, tinged with apricot though. The creaminess is soft, but present – this is definitely a bright and full of life peach tea first and foremost, with a balanced level of sweetness and then that silky creamy undertone. There were a couple sips where I definitely could clearly taste carrot (which isn’t unpleasant, it’s like a sweet but slightly earthy note) because there’s so much of it in the blend but it didn’t really take me out of the cup so it’s all good.
As a snap impression, this left me feeling good about the blend. I wish it was a little thicker and creamier, but it’s one of the nicer bright and full of life peach blends I’ve had in quite a while, and I don’t feel like it didn’t deliver at all on what the name implied it to be.
