White Chocolate Peppermint Rooibos

Picked this one up today. The aroma is so creamy and pepperminty! The flavor is creamy and comforting. Balanced flavors of creamy chocolate and crisp mint. The mouth feel is full and creamy like hot chocolate. Mmmmmm :)

My friend picked this for our super bowl watching tonight. What can I say, the choice between beer or tea was not a difficult one to make in my world.

YUM. I got a sample of this in the store and it was delicious. Peppermint and white chocolate, just as advertised. The clerk did tell me it was sweetened, so I’m interested to see how it would taste without added sugar. Considering the peppermint bits and chocolate, I don’t think it would need sugar…

We went to Indianapolis yesterday to get my mom’s iphone repaired at the Apple store, her first iphone and would you know it, the only one we’ve come across with a problem. Anyway, we failed to think ahead and make an appointment and ended up with time to spend in the shopping mall.

I succumbed to the 75% off sign in the window Kindleat Teavana and took a tour of the store. Bought a winter themed timolino for my friend @ 50% off… Thinking Christmas next year. Yes, this is the earliest I’ve ever done any Christmas shopping. I decided I would grab a couple of ounces of this and Carmel Almond Amaretti. This one was 50% off as well. Darned if the sals clerk didn’t over pour by two ounces the first try. I told him again how much I wanted and he poured it to within a half an ounce over. If it wasn’t so busy in the store and I didn’t have my Hubby & son waiting I would have made him get it right. I can see why people would stop shopping here if that is a consistent thing. I wish they offered a few things pre-packaged in 2 oz sizes so you can grab and go but then they wouldn’t have the opportunity to over pour.

Anyway, enough about that. I had a cup of this last evening and it was pretty much how I remembered my sample being that I tried last year. Creamy soothing peppermint. A nice evening tea. However I do feel like their blends tend to taste more artificial to me the more I drink tea. Kind of like Starbucks turned coffee into foo-foo drinks as my Hubby would say. Not something I would want every day, but maybe as something different. I guess the two blends I picked up are herbal.. I needed some more evening teas anyway :)

I tried a cup of this when my sister in law and I popped in just to look around. And yes, okay. I liked it. The salesman had to reassure me at least 20 times that no, you can’t taste the rooibos in it. Surprise surprise, he was correct. No rooibos taste, so hooray for that. I do like how naturally sweet the taste is, but the oily sheen on top? Ew. Um. No thank you. This was a fun tea to try out but I won’t be making an investment for the long run.

Catching up on previous cups.
I headed into Teavana on a whim while I was at the mall and decided to look for something to replace hot chocolate for the winter because I don’t handle sugar well and I’m low-carbing. I really like this! I normally prefer milk chocolate to white chocolate, but the white chocolate goes really well with the peppermint and to me it’s a good balance of minty and sweet, though I could do without the oily film it gets on top from the melted chocolate.

Now that I’ve gotten samples of tea from other companies though, I kinda hate the big chunks of “stuff” in this one… I feel like it makes the ounces add up quickly but then doesn’t make very much? Will have to pay more attention to how many cups I get out of it next time. I’ll probably always have a soft spot for this since it’s the one that got me started on my tea journey!

This one is finally starting to lose its flavor. I can still taste the peppermint but it’s not nearly as potent as it used to be. The cacao nibs have retained some of their flavor but not enough. I have one cup left so I’ll probably try to finish it off soon. It was good while it lasted but I’m sure I can find a good replacement for it.

I really wanted a treat so I did 6 tsp in 16 oz. I really shouldn’t do that because I can’t get any more of this since Teavana is closing :(

I tried a sample of this tea in store Friday afternoon and loved it so much that I just went ahead and bought the limited edition holiday tin. It’s so strongly flavoured and creamy (for a tea) that it reminds me of drinking eggnog.

I brewed this at home using about 3-4 spoonfuls of tea in a Davidstea Nordic mug, and added a couple spoons of sugar (I really have a sweet tooth—this tea doesn’t really need sugar at all, but I like it extra sweet). The first steeping tasted pretty similar to the store sample. The second steeping definitely had less flavour and I wouldn’t try a third steeping.

I initially tasted a sample of this in store and it was delicious but I decided I wasn’t going to spend any more money on tea this year. I went back the next day and purchased a tin of this stuff. This tea is straight up chocolate and peppermint – so creamy and dreamy! It tastes like you’re drinking a hot chocolate except it’s tea. There’s also apparently some licorice in this tea…I’m not a fan of licorice but I don’t even notice it here. The tea is pretty sweet on it’s own so I don’t think it needs sugar. I have a major sweet tooth and this tea actually helps curb some of my cravings. There is sort of a film on top after brewing but I assume it’s from the fat of the white chocolate chips. Personally, it doesn’t bother me. The tea claims to be caffeine-free but since chocolate contains caffeine, I think there are very small traces of it in this tea. I have no issues with falling asleep after drinking this tea, though.