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I finished off the last bit of the sampler pack sample tonight while watching Bones with my husband. This is good since my massive box from Della Terra’s Black Friday sale came today. This one is good but I only repurchased the lime and I also ordered the lemon lime cream tart one just to see.

I’m just now getting back into my Secret Pumpkin/Turkey swaps! This one was from my Secret Pumpkin Lala. If I hadn’t known this was flavored rooibos, I might not have known, since it was mostly just rooibos. Thankfully, I like plain rooibos. Very occasionally I would get a hint of sweet almond in my sip, but it wasn’t throughout the sip, it was more like “ohh, ahh, nice, now back to rooibos”. This isn’t something I’d stock in my cupboard ‘cause really, if I wanted rooibos, I’d just buy rooibos, but I’ll definitely use up the sample.

Also, how many times can I include rooibos in a review? Many many times.

So I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, or my palate is far less sophisticated and nuanced than all the other reviews, but I used 2 heaping teaspoons in my 16oz steeping mug and steeped for close to 10 minutes and it was not sweet. So I added sweetener and then I could finally taste the bananas. There’s a bit of a chocolatey undertone when you sip and you can almost taste alcohol. I’m not sure that’s intentional but it is named after a dessert that contains rum so it wouldn’t be wrong to add a slight alcohol taste.

I’m enjoying my mug of it this evening. I bought a few ounces during the sale and I can see myself reaching for it with some regularity though I’m not sure it will remain a cupboard staple.

Oh yum. I tend not to drink oolong unless it’s the weekend as the high number of steeps and the amount of caffeine with those steeps can be a bit high for me during the week.

Anyway, I hope all the US steepsterites had a lovely Thanksgiving!

I probably could have reduced the amount of sweetener I used in this as it was quite sweet but you never really know for sure until it cools and then it’s a bit late to add it. Anyway, this has a nice creamy caramel flavor. I used two heaping teaspoons and it was more than enough to produce a flavorful cup. So glad I bought this one!

I finished up the last bit of this today. The samples don’t come in resealable bags so I’ve tried to make a point of finishing this up. Also, the tea storm that is about to embark on my house from the Black Friday sales is slightly embarrassing and there needs to be room for it. Anyway, sipdown!

I received a sample of this with my recent Teavana order. So first of all, all of Teavana’s free samples come pre-rock-sugared which I am not a fan of. In fact, I had previously given these samples away, but something about this blend called my name and I had to try it.

So, I de-rock-sugared it. It’s not that hard if you put the tea in a glass jar, the rock sugar clinks against the glass and then you just need to fish it out. I found it amusing that Teavana says this will only make 16oz. Even without the rock sugar, you can easily get 4+ teaspoons out of the sample and that for me will make 2 16oz mugs of tea (not counting resteeps). So there, Teavana!

Anyway, this is a pretty tasty blend. I got 2 steeps out of my leaves. I think I managed to get all of the rock sugar out as it wasn’t sweet at all, till I added my own sweetener. It’s not the most exciting chai out there, but it has loads of cinnamon which I have been loving recently so it’s really hitting the spot.

So tonight I’ve already downed 32 oz of this. I’m nearly done with the 1/2 ounce sample and ya know what? If Della Terra put this on it’s 60% off sale and not the lime, I’d totally buy this again. Though I’m pretty sure I prefer the lime (well, aside from the being indecisive thing I have going on).

I bought the box of sachets to keep at work during their recent scratch to win promotion. I unfortunately dropped my work steeping mug a few weeks ago and have been living off of bagged tea at work every since (sad face). Anyway, this was surprisingly yummy since I’m not the biggest fan of earl grey.

Once a bit of sweetener was added, it was basically like drinking a lightly flavored creamsicle, with just enough tea flavor to convince yourself it was actually a mug of tea with bergamot and cream flavor and not some sort of juice. I share an office with a fellow tea lover who absolutely loved this stuff and wanted to buy a ton for home use.

I’m thinking of buying the loose version for home since it is really yummy. I don’t even know what temperature the water is at work, but I got two steeps out of my tea bag.

I finished up the last bit of my sample today (sipdown!) and it was tasty. It’s been very cold lately and this creamy vanilla tea really hit the spot. I will certainly order more of this blend in the future.

I got 2 steepings out of the leaves and added sweetener in my 16oz steeping mug.