Tavalon Tea

Decided to have some of this earlier tonight. Needed an energy boost after a long weekend. I wish tomorrow wasn’t Monday.

This was my other tea this month from tavalon. I am always on the look out for a good breakfast tea. I have alway loved Irish breakfasts, and one of my favorites is Oxford breakfast, and now I have NYC breakfast :)

It is a nice bold black tea with fruity undertones. I had a cup the other day for breakfast and it was delicious and I just had a cup a little bit ago with a splash of milk and some cookies and it really hit the spot. This is a really solid cup of tea!

Made a pot of this last night and put it in the fridge so I could have a nice glass of iced tea before I head off to class.

P.S. I got distracted while steeping this and it steeped for 10 minutes at least and it still tastes awesome. I love when teas are forgiving :) Although this tea is probably helped out by the fact that there is no actual tea in it – haha.

I love this tea! I just received my latest shipment of my Tavalon tea of the month club and it was this tea and NY breakfast (review for that to come). And I love this tea! I started out by trying a cup hot and it was so fruity and delicous I couldn’t wait to try it iced.

To back track a little. This tea smells like fruit snacks, big time. I really liked scooby doo and loony toons fruit snacks when I was little so the sent made me smile. Now I was afraid that this tea would be quite sour (despite its sweet smell) because it is made of blood orange and cranberry. And it is a little sour BUT definitely not as sour as most fruity teas. It doesn’t have that in your face, puckered up face sour flavor. Instead the sour is quite refreshing and prevents the blend from being too sweet cause it definitely has some sweet notes. Its more sweet than sour hot and more sour than sweet cold.
I think I actually like it better hot than cold which I was surprised about. Although the cold version is nice and refreshing (and reminds me of spring in this icky winter weather NJ has been getting).
Okay I am rambling, but this tea is awesome.

I had this the other day – Wednesday I think whilst moving around furniture in my apartment. I thought I wasn’t a big fan of Jasmine flavored tea but I was wrong! This tea was quite delicious! It was nice a sweet and scented heavily with jasmine and had nice green tea notes too. It also has this hint of something in the background that reminds me of the fillings of Valentine’s Day candies. I look forward to having more of it!

I just got so much tea!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!! Happy Dance!!! My boyfriend decided to give me some of my christmas presents early and I got not one but TWO tea of the month clubs!!! How awesome is he???

I decided to try this one first because it looked so bizarre! I am also drinking it in my new get relaxed mug that came with one of my tea of the month clubs!

This is my first ever tavalon tea. Their packaging looks very fancy :) This tea seriously looks like trail mix. HUGE dried cranberries!!! Dry it smells very fruity!

It tastes kind of like broth. Now that might sound like a bad thing but its really not. I am digging the savory feel with a hint of tartness in the background. As it is cooling it is morphing into a less savory and more tart fruity tea. Either way I really like it. It is very relaxing and I can see this as being a great tea to have at night after being out in the snow all day. I am surprised no one has logged this before!!

The Final Sipdown: Day 4.1

This came as a free sample the last time I ordered from Tavalon, which was [in congruency with the theme of my Final Sipdown run] a while ago. First, let me say that this was labeled as “Cool Mint.” Sniffing the bag, I was reminded yet again of Mr. Bubble briefly, but then…

Do y’all remember Fun Dip? I say remember, but it may very well still be around. For those not in the know, Fun Dip is essentially a long packet divided into four or so pouches. Three pouches contain flavored, colored sugar powder. The last pouch contains one or more sticks [think short tongue depressors] made of some solidified formula containing mostly, you guessed it, sugar. The point of Fun Dip is to lick the sugar sticks, dip it in the flavored sugar powder, and then drive your parents crazy before you fall asleep in a sugar coma. They used to sell these at the snack bar during swim meets, and me and my friends would always try to snag one of these and split it, figuring that between the group of us we could find at least one parent willing to buy one. Kind of disgusting, now that I think about it, both because of the germs and because of all that sugar, but that is what this tea immediately brings to mind. It also kind of smells like pixie sticks – a product very similar to Fun Dip – which the boys on our swim team once sat around snorting on a dare. Actually, it might not have even been a dare. They might have just been doing it for fun, which pretty much solidifies all boy vs. girl childhood stereotypes. I won’t bother describing what came out during the [much later] expulsion of said pixie sticks.

So taking a sip of this tea and uh, yeah. First, there is NO WAY this is Cool Mint. After looking at the tea in the bag, and searching the Tavalon tea base, I have determined that this must be Crimson Punch and so I will log it as so. Second, there’s pretty much no way I’m going to be able to finish this without sugar because, OHWOWSOUR. Reluctantly, I drag myself upstairs [I have spent the entire day going up and down and up and down and up and down stairs and pretty much hate them by the end of the day] and get some sugar because oh why the hell not. I can’t drink it anyway because it’s really that sour, so MIGHT AS WELL.

It tastes like Kool-Aid. Hot Kool-Aid.

This is just ridiculous. And yet, it’s not like I would throw Kool-Aid down the sink if it were given to me, so I’ll finish it. I can taste hints of cranberry and apple, but…I mean, if I were rating sugary children’s drinks this might get relatively high marks. As a tea though? Well. The rating shall reflect.

Teas Downed: 10

Pretty good darjeeling (not a type of tea I generally go for); preferred to steep mine a bit longer than the recommended 3-minute brew, but good flavor, holds up well with milk and sugar, no bitter aftertaste.

This has definitely become one of my favorite teas, one that I’ll be ordering again. Beautifully strong, holds up excellently with milk and sugar, doesn’t have a bitter aftertaste that so many black teas have if you don’t add the milk and sugar – just the way I love my tea! Fantastic hearty taste.

Having a big pot of this to finish off the sample that LiberTEAS sent to me. Taking a bit of a break from the pre-Christmas decorating cleaning spree to enjoy it.

Does anyone have any Christmasy-chai recommendations?

Okay, having this again, following a pot of elderberry tea so as not to be biased by another chai.

It’s…not all that amazing. The spices are okay, but there’s not much tea taste to it. I’ve definitely had better chais (LiberTEAS’s masterpiece being one of them).

Another sample from LiberTEAS! Thanks so much!!

I think I may have brewed this at too high a temperature. That being said, it definitely doesn’t taste stewed or burnt. There’s a slight bitterness to it that seems to come from the spices rather than the tea itself.

I’m going to hold off on rating it until I’ve brewed at the right temp…cause as of right now, I’m not really enjoying this. But I am drinking it after the Masterpiece Chai, so maybe that’s coloring my opinion?

I received a sachet of this as a free sample with my most recent order.

It is DELIGHTFUL. The toasted nut flavor is intense for a lighter bodied tea. It has a very pleasing mouthfeel, soft and not too thick. A very nice caramel-y backdrop to it.

Very pleasant… I’m off to write a review for it which will appear later this month on the SororiTEA Sisters blog!

http://sororiTEAsisters.com

A big Thanks to LiberTEAS for sending me a sample of this when I ordered some of her Masterpiece Chai (which incidentally Rocks my world!)

I have to start by saying I don’t normally ‘eat’ breakfast but my day starts with two large mugs of tea, either a rich Malty Breakfast or a hearty Masala Chai that wakes up the mind, body, and soul .. So you have to keep that ‘Chai’ reference in mind when I share my experience of this delicately Spiced Green Tea ..

I’m really digging the look of this tea as I’ve never had slithers of Almonds, or any other type of nut in my tea before! And the aroma is truly yummy – first note I got was Nutmeg which was a nice surprise, followed by Cinnamon & Ginger, and a real Mixed Spice/Bakery scent .. All of these are obvious without reading the description (which I hadn’t until just now) ..

Anyhoo, I followed the time & temp recommendations (80°C – 3min) for the first mug, but it seemed very weak to me .. In fact if someone had served it to me with no information on what it was, I’d have guessed an Apple & Cinnamon Tisane that was lacking in apple flavouring .. So for the second one I steeped (fresh leaves) for 5 minutes, and still found it to be lacking in flavour – or better put lacking the lively dance of tea & spices I was expecting, and hoping for ..

Final thoughts: it’s an interesting twist, light & comforting, sweet and Autumny, like gingerbread biscuits and taking a walk through fallen leaves to spot the abandoned birds nests .. Yes it would be perfect to take on such a wander, or to enjoy once home from such an adventure .. But alas it’s spring here and I’m finishing off my last re-steep (nice but quite woody) ..

I won’t be ordering a tin as it’s just too subtle for my tastes, however I’d certainly drink it again if offered :P

http://i56.tinypic.com/2ccvzpt.jpg

Sipdown no. 11 of March 2019 (no. 46 of 2019 total, no. 534 grand total).

I just wrote an updated note on this one a few months back, so have nothing to add.

This one is close to the bottom of my current ratings so a strong contender for icing. Before I go down that path with it, which is likely to result in a sip down on the first go given the size of the container, I wanted to try it hot again. So I made some and brought it with me to watch No. 1, my black belt, help teach very tiny yellow belts martial arts.

This has been in my stash a long time so it may be that time has affected it, but the metallic, potato notes I remember aren’t there. It’s a nice, medium bodied, fairly strong breakfast blend.

In another world where I had less tea this would rate higher most likely. In fact, I am resisting raising the rating now. But only because I have such an embarrassment of riches in my cupboard now.

ETA: I misremembered. It was the Tavalon Earl Grey that had the metallic, potato notes — not this one.

I’ve had this in my cupboard for a while along with a number of other teas from my initial Tavalon order and I’m just now getting to them. (Yes, I am on serious lockdown. I am considering not coming out until I actually need tea, which could be a year from now.)

I am a sucker for names sometimes, and I spend a lot of time homesick for my old Upper West Side neighborhood. So of course, I had to try this.

The dry leaves look sort of twiggy, like Ceylon leaves sometimes do, but they also seem a bit heftier than Ceylon leaves. They smell like Assam to me. I’m guessing both of those are represented in this blend.

The liquor is medium amber with a twinge of red. Not quite the russet beauty that some other Ceylons produce in my cup, but its an intriguing color. The aroma is fruity, and somewhat malty-sweet.

This tea has a lot of substance to it, though exactly what makes that up isn’t readily apparent. I guess that’s what makes it NYC breakfast; it’s very much like most of my New Yorker friends. This is not a shallow tea, though it’s not overly complex. It’s pretty smooth, and slightly stout. Not really sweet, but not bitter. It doesn’t make you go “yum” but it has something sophisticated about it. It’s not as brash as some stronger breakfast blends. It’s just enough to get your eyes open while you wait for the subway to show up. Or to give you an edge while you’re sitting on the steps of the Met in the autumn chill, before you go in to get lost in an exhibit for a while. It makes me think of Central Park, undoubtedly because of the name. I may be gullible, but I get it.

And now I’m homesick.

Visually this blend is enticingly complex. You can pick out each of the spices easily, and there are plenty of them all. The aroma is lightly spiced with hints of an underlying sweetness.

Kama Sutra Chai brews a wonderful amber liquor. It alsmost reminds me of a malt whiskey. The brewed aroma is much softer than that of the dry leaves. I certainly catch some of the vanilla here.

This tea is a bit brisk. The spices twinge the tongue and some dryness of the palate occurs. The standard chai spiciness is inherent throughout the brew. The cardamom, clove and cinnamon play in the forefront with the vanilla bean notably taking a backseat.

The palate dryness and the briskness of this tea are appreciably reduced by adding milk and sugar. Traditionally one would add 3 parts milk to 5 parts water, and two or three teaspoons of sugar… but I suggest sugar to taste as three is far too much for me personally. The sugar helps to bring out the profiles for each of the spices.

Finishing and decupboarding this one. I still taste raw potato emanating from the mineral and metal notes. It makes me think of factories and smelters. Interesting at first, but not what I’m looking for in an Earl Grey or indeed any daily breakfast tea, and it didn’t grow on me over time. I’ve only tasted a couple of Tavalon teas so far, but I’m wondering if in general they try to go for a sort of a stark taste. They say their aim is to bring tea to the American palate. Perhaps the belief is our palates are too coated in trans fats and high fructose corn syrup to be able to appreciate subtlety and they need industrial strength purging?

In the container, this has a recognizable and pronounced smell of bergamot, and something else that is… odd. It’s a sort of minerally, metallic smell that I haven’t noticed in tea before. I see a few cornflowers dotting the dark brown leaves.

The web site says the tea is from Sri Lanka, which is the only clue as to the type of tea base this is. It doesn’t have the color I’ve seen in most Ceylons, though. That reddish, russet color is only barely there. It brews lighter than other Ceylons I’ve had. The tea’s aroma strikes me as bakey on first sniff, like too much baking powder in the muffins. Not a good sign. As I sniff longer, I’m getting something else. Potato? At first I thought it was sweet potato, but it really isn’t. It’s the sharpish, earthy smell of raw potato. Oh, and some bergamot, too.

The flavor is strange as well. It’s got a mentholly feel to the after sip, which must be from the bergamot oil, and it tastes a little potato-y, with a tad of starchy sweetness at the finish. The feel of the tea is soft to the mouth. The metallic, minerally smell is consistent with the potato-y taste, at least for me. Raw potatoes smell like that to me. There is a citrus note, but it’s not strong.

It’s more Earl Grey-like than the Kusmi, but it’s such a strange flavor that I’m not sure what to make of it. From the fragrance of the dry leaves I wasn’t expecting to like this, and I’m not sure I do. I don’t have an active dislike for it, though. I’m going to give it a slightly higher rating than the Kusmi for being truer to the Earl Grey genre, but this is not likely to become a favorite.

Tried it iced. The flavor remains pretty constant regardless if it’s iced or hot.

Roasted/nutty flavor just as advertised. Really hits the spot this time of the year.

SIPDOWN

Needed the tin.

A little better than I remembers but way too much cinnamon for me. And it’s not like the Indian Food Spice Cinnamon it’s more like a Fireball Candy Cinnamon which I like in candy but not really in a chai. Pair that with the Clove and it’s a funky taste. I really like the almond and there are a lot of them in the blend but they are hard to taste mostly because the cinnamon and cloves. There is an odd texture with this too.

Maybe it’s a case of not caring for it because I don’t really understand it but this really isn’t something that I would buy.

I’m having this one right now…courtesy of LiberTEAS…thanks girl!

I really WANT to like this one…I do…and I was optimistic because of the amount of Almonds…but…all I’m tasting is ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg…blah…and A LOT OF IT…

I might cave and try and add milk or something to it…YES…me…the one that NEVER adds ANYTHING to her tea – even Chai! I might try it.

For now…I am going to put a lower rating on it but that may change.

The spices are too over powering for my palate – but if that is what you are into you would LOVE it. It’s just too much spice and not enough tea or almond or other flavors blending in to mesh for me…it’s almost bitter.

However, I am still sipping on it so at least it’s not one I will dump down the drain…

Perhaps it’s like some BEER…your first sip of a specific beer may be too dark or harsh for your liking but after a whole bottle (or 5 bottles – LOL) they start to taste better (or not phase you! LOL)