986 Tasting Notes

75

Although I haven’t been a fan of Teavana’s newer Chai teas, I still really enjoy several of their older blends, including this one. I got a free sample with my recent order and although it’s sweetened with rock sugar and I typically prefer my tea unsweetened, I am enjoying it anyway. It’s spicy but not too spicy, good without milk, and has just enough caffeine to be a good afternoon pick-me-up. Keep the free samples coming, Teavana!

Flavors: Cinnamon, Sweet

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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65

This is a strong, full-bodied breakfast tea with a nice cocoa flavor. Black, it’s a bit too astringent for my tastes, but it mellows nicely with a splash of milk. Overall, I enjoyed my sample, but I wouldn’t re-purchase; I prefer the Irish Breakfast blend from the same company.

Flavors: Astringent, Cocoa

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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60
drank Spice of Life by Teavana
986 tasting notes

Despite the name, I don’t get a lot of spice with this tea. Instead, it has a creamy, nutty flavor with citrus notes and just a hint of warm spice in the aftertaste. I enjoyed my sample, but I don’t think I’d re-purchase.

Flavors: Almond, Citrus, Creamy, Spices

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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85

Of all the new teas Stacy has come out with recently, this is the one I was most excited to try. The dry leaf is beautiful with slightly rolled dark oolong leaves, freeze-dried raspberries, and lots of big chunks of cashew. It has a strong fruity, nutty scent. Steeped, I get a nice buttery texture with a very natural sweet raspberry flavor. I don’t taste the cashew as much as I was hoping to, but I love the raspberry/oolong combination! I also love how well this re-steeps. The raspberry flavor is milder, but still present, and the floral oolong base starts to come through a little more. All in all, a lovely treat!

Flavors: Floral, Nutty, Raspberry

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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95
drank Salted Caramel by DAVIDsTEA
986 tasting notes

I love a good salted caramel mocha, but I wasn’t sure how well the flavor would translate to tea. This was a pleasant surprise! It smells like rich, buttery toffee and you can see bits of toffee and big grains of sea salt mixed in with the tea leaves. It brews up to a warm golden brown color with lots of big, bold flavor. I was worried it would be too salty, but the salt actually just makes that gooey caramel flavor pop. Drinking it straight today and enjoying it that way, but I bet this would be even better as a tea latte. Here’s hoping David’s does a good Boxing Day sale this year, because my 1oz sample is going to be long gone by Christmas!

Flavors: Caramel

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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85

Another delicious dessert tea! (I’m building my arsenal in hopes that I’ll have the willpower to reach for a cup of tea instead of another cookie this holiday season.) The Cookie Lady sent me a sample of this one in our recent swap and I’m so glad she did! It has a fantastic smooth, buttery texture (it’s almost reminding me of an oolong, actually) and an intense hazelnut flavor. It’s not super cookie-like, but the flavor is so nice that I don’t mind that.

Flavors: Butter, Hazelnut, Sweet

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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70

Although purple is my favorite color, I had never heard of purple tea until Stacy recommended it for my first-ever Butiki order. This is such a lovely tea! The leaves are long and twisty and a deep plum color; they steep up to a warm purplish-brown color. I can’t quite pin down the flavor I’m getting from this one…spinach, maybe? It’s definitely more of a savory flavor than other oolongs that I’ve tried. Not something that I would drink frequently, but I will definitely finish what I have and I’m glad to have tried such a unique tea!

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
Sara

Purple tea?? That’s a first for me, too.

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95

I’ve been wanting to try milk oolong for a while now. Although I realize that David’s version probably isn’t the best quality available, I really enjoyed this tea! The leaves are HUGE…a scant teaspoon filled my entire infuser once steeped. The creamy milk flavoring balances beautifully with the sweet oolong base and it has a fantastic silky mouth feel. This is the perfect bedtime cup of tea!

EDITED TO ADD: After 5 steeps, this tea was still going strong! I was ready to move onto something new, but seriously impressed with how well the flavor held up over multiple re-steepings. Bumping up my rating!

Flavors: Creamy, Milk, Sweet

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
Tealizzy

FYI- Teavivre’s version is awesome. :)

Inkling

Thanks for the tip!

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90

This is the best pumpkin tea I’ve ever had! I don’t know how Stacy does it, but this one has a fabulous natural pumpkin flavor with just a hint of spice. It legitimately tastes like a slice of homemade pumpkin pie in a cup! It even re-steeps nicely. My Black Friday order just keeps growing…Thanks so much to The Cookie Lady for the sample!

Flavors: Pumpkin, Pumpkin Spice

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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95
drank Je t'Aime by Nina's Paris
986 tasting notes

Thanks so much to The Cookie Lady for sending me a sample of this one! A 3-minute steep produced a rich reddish-brown brew with a strong sweet scent. It has a lovely rich vanilla flavor with just a touch of buttery caramel. The base is nice and smooth without a hint of bitterness. I am so excited to have found another caramel vanilla tea that I love ALMOST as much as Butiki’s Caramel Vanilla Assam (since I know I’m bound to run out of that one eventually…)

Flavors: Butter, Caramel, Vanilla

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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Profile

Bio

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.” ~ C.S. Lewis

I was introduced to loose leaf tea by a roommate in 2012, but it wasn’t until I stumbled upon Steepster in 2014 that I discovered a world of tea that went beyond Teavana and the grocery store.

My tastes continue to evolve, but black tea is currently my favorite. I am especially drawn to strong, malty breakfast blends to wake me up in the morning and flavored dessert teas to sip throughout the day.

Just about everything in my cupboard is available to swap, so feel free to ask!

Location

Milwaukee, WI

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