Help a newbie! If I love Teavana's White Chocolate Peppermint, I'll like ________?
I was looking for a hot chocolate replacement (I’m doing low-carb) and stumbled into Teavana. I LOVE the White Chocolate Peppermint Rooibos I picked up there, but hated the Spiced Apple Cider Rooibos, and the CocoCaramel Sea Salt Herbal was just meh (tasted weird and watery no matter what I did).
I’ve been digging through Steepster trying to learn more, and from the recommendations I’ve seen so far it looks like Harney & Sons, Adagio, Della Terra, 52teas, or DavidsTea would be good companies to purchase from, but I’ve seen a lot of comments about DavidsTea needing extra scoops to have good flavor, but that ups the per-cup cost, so I’d like to avoid anything (David’s or otherwise) that fits that scenario.
I’m mainly interested in chocolate teas or other flavored teas that are low-to-no caffeine, taste great without adding milk/cream/sugar/sweetener, and don’t have a strong “tea taste”… something for a non-tea, non-coffee drinker just getting started in the tea world :)
Right now I’m looking at Della Terra:
Oatmeal Raisin Cookie
Eight Candles
S’mores
Lemon Chiffon
Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Grandma’s Pumpkin Pie
Earl Grey Creme
Blueberry Crumble
Swiss Mountain Rooibos
(Although I’m not sure I’ll really like the fruity ones)
Would love to hear your recommendations!
ETA: looks like black tea is out for me, I don’t handle caffeine well. Also, I’ve tasted a few chais and have decided I don’t really care for spiced/spicy teas.
Hi Sarah,
Welcome to Steepster.:))
If you are looking for a hot chocolate substitute, I have to recommend Cacao Tea from Herbal Infusions. No caffeine, no calories, tastes just like hot chocolate. IMHO It’s fabulous. Comes plain, mint or Vanilla. This is their web site:
http://herbalinfusions.ca/collections/cacao-tea
This is the Steepster page:
http://steepster.com/teas/herbal-infusions/22103-cacao-tea
I love Grandma’s Pumpkin Pie – it’s my favorite pumpkin tea – but it’s a black tea, wouldn’t fit your low caffeine request.
I’m not really into mint, so can’t comment on all the ones you’ve listed. I know Lemon Chiffon is VERY popular here, so is Pineapple Upside Down Cake – I personally thought it was just ok.
I like Harney & Sons chocolate teas – Soho (chocolate coconut) and Florance (chocolate hazlenut)…
I’m sure others will offer opinions.
Best advice I can give is to buy small samples of several different teas to find what you like without spending a ton of money…
Dexter and I have really similar tea tastes and have shared quite a few dessert teas, so I agree!!! Grandma’s Pumpkin Pie is amazing, I also LOVE Eight Candles, Smores, and Oatmeal Raisin. DAVIDsTEA is my other favorite for dessert teas. If you want a really awesome tea for a REALLY awesome value, Simpson and Vail (www.svtea.com)
@Dexter3657 Thank you for the recommendations! I’ll definitely check out the Herbal Infusions and Harney & Sons chocolate ones you mentioned, they sound yummy!
I’m glad you mentioned about caffeine in the black tea, I hadn’t even thought about that. I’ll have to contact Della Terra to see if I can get an idea of how much caffeine they have. I drink roughly 16 oz. of tea at a time, and as long as it has the same or less than a similar amount of Diet Coke I should be ok.
I was going to order try-me packs but then I saw that Della Terra is having a sale right now so I’m thinking about doing 1 oz. of each , maybe 2 oz. of the Swiss Mountain Rooibos. Does that sound like a good starting amount?
The try me packs are a great way to sample a bunch of different tea, see what you like, get a variety in your cupboard, etc.
I can’t tell you what to do, but 2 oz is a LOT of tea if you decide that you don’t really like it….
If you want to order 1 oz of some that you really think you will like, take advantage of the sale – yeah, go for it – maybe also get a try me pack of a few that you aren’t sure about or to try different bases to get an idea where your interests are (try some of the fruity ones to see what you think…)
It’s your adventure – you have to do what’s right for you. Just trying to help you avoid some of the mistakes I made when I was new. :))
I was JUST going to second the try-me pack idea for Della Terra! A lot of the teas you listed above like Eight Candles and Oatmeal Raisin are really popular, so it’s likely you would enjoy them. The tea taste isn’t that strong. And Lime Chiffon is superb for a rooibos, although some people don’t like rooibos at all.
Keep an eye on Della Terra because they often have sales – some include the try-me packs, and some don’t, but if you wait you can get 25-30% off tea!
I would try one of the chocolate fruity teas too – maybe down the road. You might like them?
Anyways, good luck and welcome to Steepster!
None of these are peppermint-y, but might speak to the general hot chocolate thing:
American Tea Room’s Choco-Late is a little-to-no-caf tisane (no tea in it at all, just rooibos, cacao husks, vanilla IIRC) that, to me, mimics the taste of those cheap packets of instant hot cocoa you’d drink as a kid, and takes to marshmallow toppers (gourmet or no) really really well. Whenever I just want hot chocolate the way I remember growing up without much fuss, it’s what I make a cup of.
I haven’t tried my sample of it yet, but Art of Tea has something called Aztec Spice that’s got black tea, pu erh, and honeybush in it and claims to be like Mayan (so spiced) Hot Chocolate.
Harney and Sons Florence (black tea with chocolate and hazelnut flavors, think nutella) is pretty divisive—some people adore it, some people can’t figure out what the fuss is about, and I’ve noticed myself that sometimes it’s transcendentally rich and deliciously satisfying and other times it tastes watery and kinda bitter but I have no idea why—but on a good day with it it kinda evokes rich nutty hot chocolate-y goodness to me.
The Choco-Late sounds good, thanks! I’ll check it out.
I’m not a spice person, so I don’t think I’d like the Mayan one. And unfortunately black tea is out because of the caffeine, so someone else will get to enjoy all the yummy ones I’ve seen recommended :(
I’ll second a few of those listed here: Cacao Tea and Choco*Loco are definite must-trys.
I would also recommend:
- Whispering Pines’ Chocolate Mint: black tea with a natural cocoa flavor in the tea itself (no added flavors) and mint, that’s it.
- Tealish’s Lemon Meringue: a rooibos-based blend that’s delicious.
- Fauchon’s Automme: another rooibos-based blend, with chocolate and orange.
I’m happy to send you small samples from my stash of each if you like to try them out. I’m still waiting for the cacao to arrive, but can wait until it does to add it.
I echo everything folks have mentioned above…another really nice mint chocolate tea (not quite white though) is Butiki’s Peppermint patty..it’s a tisane/herbal as well which is why i like it since most mint/chocolate tends to have a black base when i find it.
Another one to try is David’s Tea Mint Chocolate Rooibos. Caffeine free and a lovely flavor. And personally I’ve never felt the need to overleaf this one.
I also second the Cacao Tea recommendation, but I will note I’ve never tried the Herbal Infusions version. If you’re looking for some different options for this type of “tea” check out Crio Bru; they have a number of different varieties, both straight and flavored (mint and pumpkin spice as two examples) available. (Their website is http://www.criobru.com/crio-bru/)
The Crio sounds really interesting, I may have to order some samples. Good to know on the David’s, I wasn’t sure if it was all of their teas or just certain ones.
Doesn’t Teavana have a tea called Aztec Fire or something like that which is a spicy chocolate tea? There’s Peppermint Bark from Capital Teas, but that has caffeine. If you’re looking more for a sweet treat (no chocolate), don’t forget Celestial Seasonings Candy Cane Lane this time of year.
Butiki Tea’s Peppermint Patty! Probably the best mint tea I’ve tasted this year. It is a herbal with vegan chocolate chips and organic peppermint leaf and marshmallow leaf. I find it tastes better without milk.
So now that we have the chocolate/mint angles covered, anyone care to list your favorite decaf, caffeine-free, or low caffeine non-spiced teas? (Or herbals, or tisanes…whatever they’re called!)
Della terra’s lime or lemon chiffon as well as their orange and cream :)
I’m a fan of fruity juice, so most fruity tisanes i am a fan of heh since i don’t hate hibiscus
I like Butiki’s a lot. Aforementioned Peppermint Patty, Mango Lassi (it does have cardamom though), and Coconut Cream Pie Rooibos are favorites of mine (I also LOVE Birthday Cake but she’s discontinued that one, possibly rolling out a revamped version with caffeine, alas).
Persimmon Tree’s Mint Chocolate Chip Rooibos smells just like mint chocolate ice cream to me.
Fusion Teas Chocolate Cake Honeybush is nice, just tried it for the first time this month.
I’m a big big fan of 52teas’ Strawberry Pie Honeybush, but it does have cinnamon to evoke the pie crust (yum).
Nthing Della Terra Lemon Chiffon and Lime Chiffon! Lupicia’s Orange Kidd is pretty good.
If you want to feel like you’re drinking real tea, some no-caf imitations that go over better than most (it’s hard to get right) include Harney and Sons Vanilla Comoro and American Tea Room’s Earl Grey Rooibos.
And totally different, there’s Harney and Sons Soba Buckwheat tisane (evokes toasted rice cereal, better than that sounds) and any good hojicha (I like Golden Moon’s) which evokes the roastiness of coffee but with little caffeine.
Interesting… Soba Buckwheat doesn’t sound like something I would’ve chosen on my own, but I’ll order up a sample!
Pleasures of Tea has a Honeybush Citrus Tisane that’s so good it might be evil. I love Capital Teas Orange and Grapefruit Wellness “Tea” (no tea or caffeine in it), but I love citrus teas. Teavana has a similar orange/grapefruit tea, but I can’t remember what it’s called. That blueberry tisane Teavanna always samples blended with their pineapple tea is very good also. It tastes just like summer to me.
I LOVE chocolate teas (especially chocolate oolongs), but haven’t tried any of the ones you listed. (I’m so tempted to make a Della Terra order while they have the sale, but I really don’t need more tea.)
However, my favorite flavored tea right now is Teavana’s Slimful Chocolate Decadence. I might suggest trying it before you buy it though, because I feel like the flavor profile is weird.
Also, my favorite Rooibos blend of all time (which I admittedly haven’t tried probably in years…) Is http://www.serendipitea.com/tisane-herbal-infusions/OUaT.html
A coffee shop near my parents’ house serves it, and if my memory holds true, it’s wonderful.
I really have to second Once Upon a Tea. I get it from my local tea shop and love it.
I hesitated to respond to the original post because I wasn’t much a fan of Teavana’s White Chocolate Peppermint. So, I’m not sure our tastes align. I totally agree with you on the CocoCaramel Sea Salt though. It’s weird, but it does improve as a latte so at least I can finish it.
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