74 Tasting Notes
Dammit, Teavana. You have so many teas that would become staples of mine if they weren’t so expensive.
I tried a hot cup of this at the mall this afternoon, and loved it. Then I looked at the receipt and realized that I’d paid 5 bucks for a cup of tea. 5 bucks! Yikes! It’s too bad, really. I wish I weren’t such a sucker for green teas with jasmine and/or fruit. This combination in particular is really nice. It reminds me of some of the blends I used to make using the Jasmine Dragon Phoenix Pearls. Light, refreshing, slightly fruity, and slightly floral without being too sweet. Everything I like in a tea, especially in the spring months.Maybe some nice person (*cough*husband*cough*?) might buy me some as a birthday present. I can’t justify Teavana prices on a med student budget.
Edit: I feel like I should also mention that the Teavana I go to is lovely, with no pushy staff or shady business practices. I feel like they sometimes get a bad reputation, but the people at the Calgary locations have always been very nice to me.
Flavors: Floral, Fruity, Grass, Green, Jasmine
I go back to this one over and over. I think it’ll always be a staple. This is my baseline tea for days when I can’t decide what I want. It’s what I always choose when I’m not in the midst of a fleeting obsession with some fancy, seasonal novelty tea. My stash is almost gone, which is upsetting to me because I have so many other teas I told myself I’d drink before buying more (ESPECIALLY at Teavana prices. Yikes!).
This is definitely on my long-term must-have list. It’s smooth, soothing, and caffeinated enough that it keeps me going on gloomy days when I’d rather just nap for hours.
Preparation
Okay, after having a few more cups I can definitely taste much more ginger. Maybe the first cup I had in-store was just on the weaker side.
Anyway, I think this stuff is great. Nothing mind-blowingly new or exciting, but you really can’t go wrong with lemon, ginger and excessive caffeine.
Buzzbuzzbuzzbuzzbuzz goes my brain…
Whoa.
The taste of this one is average – nothing super special, but not bad either. It’s very light and refreshing, slightly citrusy, and a little bit sweet. But WOW, am I ever awake. The caffeine kick makes this well worth the purchase. I think it makes a great cofffee alternative for someone like myself who needs help to wake up but has a sensitive stomach.
This is considerably better iced. The artificial taste that bothered me so much in the first cup toned down quite a bit. The strawberry flavouring still tasted more like candy than real strawberries (which is odd, since there are clearly real strawberry pieces in the bag), but it wasn’t as overwhelmingly sweet. I also found that the base tea came through a lot more, and the base tea isn’t half bad. If you’re someone who bought some of this and hated it, I would recommend trying it cold before giving away or throwing away the rest.
All in all, I would still prefer this tea cold over just about any bottled iced tea you can buy at a store. With that in mind, I’m going to raise my rating a bit.
Flavors: Artificial, Earth, Strawberry
Preparation
Sipdown!
Ugh. Eww. Oh no.
I loved this tea, but should have just thrown out the last spoonful at the bottom of the bag. It seems a bunch of the flowers sank to the bottom, leaving me with the most bitter, potpourri-tasting cup of tea I’ve ever had.
I won’t let it taint my pleasant memories of the previous cups I had, but there’s no way I can finish this last one. It’s too bad, really.
Ugh. It tastes like my mouth is filled with soap.
Ehh, it’s alright.
I was a little disappointed with this one because it smells so great. I imagined it would be somewhat similar to The Earl’s Garden, but without the bergamot and with a bit of added creaminess. Instead, it was incredibly sweet in a noticeably artificial way.
I’ve had worse, and I’ll probably finish the 30g that I bought, but I won’t be back for more of this one.
Flavors: Artificial, Cream, Strawberry, Sweet
Preparation
I like it.
After a few sleepless nights, I’ve decided to cut back on caffeine for a while to see if it helps. I used this as an excuse to visit David’s Tea in search of a new herbal to soothe my weary brain.
Overall, the spring collection seems promising. I’m a fan of fruity herbal teas, especially in iced form, so it’s right up my alley. On first sip, this one tastes strongly of apple, kiwi and honeydew. It’s light but very sweet.
I feel like I could happily drink this one now and then, especially during the summer, but it probably won’t become a staple. I look forward to trying it as a tea pop, though. I bet that’ll be fantastic.
Flavors: Apple, Fruity, Honeydew, Melon, Sweet
Preparation
I hope cutting down on the caffeine will help. I know what you mean, though. It’s so hard to shut off the brain when trying to sleep.
I made some of this tea pop style, and it was every bit as delicious and refreshing as I expected. I’ll need to stop by the store to restock, because I think this tea is going to become a staple of mine.
Mmmmm subtly fruity black tea goodness..
Flavors: Berry, Blueberry, Earth, Fruity
Preparation
Meh.
Another from the Tea of the Month subscription. I don’t have much to say about this one, good or bad. I made a big pot of this over ice, which I then used to create a sangria-style mixed drink I saw on Pinterest. That in itself was pretty nice, but nothing super special.
This morning, there was a bunch of the iced tea left in the fridge, so I drank a big glass. I find it pretty boring, actually. Mostly tart with not much else to it. The berries are nice, I guess, but you can’t taste the white tea at all.
It’s okay. I don’t hate it, but wouldn’t go out and buy more.
Flavors: Artificial, Berry, Hibiscus, Tart
Totally hear you! I’ve never tried Teavana, but with David’s tea some of my absolutely favorite teas (which are greens!) are the most expensive (Butterfly Jasmine and Gyokuro Yamishiro are two of them, and they are nearly $20/50 grams!). What I do is treat these teas as “treat” teas on a morning where I can sit back and fully enjoy the teas without mindlessly guzzling it. I also have been only getting these teas when I have a free 50 gram bag with my frequent steeper points :).
That is very smart. I love that they have the free 50g promotion. I’ve made use of it an almost embarrassing number of times. I used my last free 50g on a guayusa when really I should have gone for the Butterfly Jasmine or the Dragon Pearls. Next time!
Live and Learn!
I actually just tried guayusa for the first time and I adore it. It’s one of their cheapest teas, a good kick-in-the-butt amount of stimulant, plus it doesn’t upset my stomach! Once I get my collection down I will be restocking :)