Teavana

Very pleasant flavor. Not too strong but still very fragrant and fruity.

I’ve never been a fan of cherry teas. They always remind of those Ludens cherry lozenges.

And this tea is no different.

Oh yeah…. and I added sugar. Still, no dice.

I had high hopes for this after trying a sample of it a Teavana store.

So I, beaming with excited tea-happiness, asked the clerk for a couple ounces of it and brought it home. Sadly, I just couldn’t replicate the strength of flavor that was present in the sample I tried. Even when using a full 3 teaspoons of leaf and letting it steep longer than normal standards (the guide on the side of the bag) would advise I still couldn’t get a comparable flavor out of it.

I’m convinced that the employees at Teavana use some kind of magic to get their sample teas to taste like they do. I’d ask them to show me but I’m scared that I’d end up in some shady back room selling my soul to a superfluously titled tea god.

In short, this tea is not worth the hefty price tag.

Smells terrific. Tastes pretty good with sugar. But you could probably get something pretty similar with a (much) less expensive type of jasmine tea. I don’t think you’ll be getting many of the subtleties of the JDPP out from underneath all that rooibos.

Very fragrant but not much else…. I think I get more flavor out of it on the second steep.

I usually do not like Jasmine tea, especially not by itself, however this new one from Teavana is different. Not to say that it is not Jasmine, but the black tea with the Jasmine is not overpowering and absolutely delicious hot. I am trying it cold brewed also, I will update when I try it tomorrow.

The smell was definitely more exciting than the taste. Probably wouldn’t buy this again, but The fact that aroma is delicious, and the tea is just so pretty (the carrot and beetroot pieces) it would probably make a good gift- considering how beneficial Oolongs are for health and such. It’s good when I’m not really paying attention.

This is my favorite that’s in my cupboard right now. It’s so soothing and the scent is also. The chamomile, mint, and hibiscus blend is simply a good brew.

2009-11-22 7pm
Preparation Details:
Zarafina Tea Maker: Black, Loose, Strong, 2 cups water
-second steep of 2 scoop English Breakfast, 1 scoop Lemon Youkou (Teavana),
-half scoop of fresh leaves of each type added
Sweetened with 1/4 cup raw sugar, then iced and water added to make 1qt tea.

It’s weaker than the tea my husband had, with far fewer fruity notes. Still an excellent tea, but not an OUTSTANDING one.

2009-11-22 2pm
Preparation Details:
Zarafina Tea Maker: Black, Loose, Strong, 2 cups water, 2 scoop English Breakfast, 1 scoop Lemon Youkou (Teavana)
Sweetened with 1/2 cup sugar, then iced and water added to make 1qt tea.

This is my husband’s concoction. It’s an excellent sweet southern tea. The black tea taste is mellow and dominates, but there’s still the slight tang of fruit (lemon mostly).

2009-11-22 7pm
Preparation Details:
Zarafina Tea Maker: Black, Loose, Strong, 2 cups water
-second steep of 2 scoop English Breakfast, 1 scoop Lemon Youkou (Teavana),
-half scoop of fresh leaves of each type added
Sweetened with 1/4 cup raw sugar, then iced and water added to make 1qt tea.

It’s weaker than the tea my husband had, with far fewer fruity notes. Still an excellent tea, but not an OUTSTANDING one.

2009-11-22 2pm
Preparation Details:
Zarafina Tea Maker: Black, Loose, Strong, 2 cups water, 1 scoop Lemon Youkou, 2 scoop English Breakfast (Teavana)
Sweetened with 1/2 cup sugar, then iced and water added to make 1qt tea.

This is my husband’s concoction. It’s an excellent sweet southern tea. The black tea taste is mellow and dominates, but there’s still the slight tang of fruit (lemon mostly).

Taken without milk or sugar.
This tea is nice and mild enough to drink everyday. The three flavors of green mingle well with vegital being slightly out in front followed by sweet and then toasty… which is present but only barely so and more as an aftertaste.
It re-steeps enough to make the price point good.
It’s definitely not my favorite but it’s good enough.

Preparation Details:
Zarafina Tea Maker: Black, Loose, Medium, 2 cups water, 4 scoops tea
Sweetened with rock sugar, then iced.

Definitely sour and puckery, but I like sour and puckery. The cherry is very strong, much stronger than the black tea flavor. I can’t seem to decide if I like this better iced or hot. I think it’s less puckery when it’s iced.

I know from experience that a second infusion would taste like black tea and have no cherry, so I don’t bother.

Definitely should not be called ginger bread cookie! There’s no ginger in this blend. While I was disappointed that this was not even close to a ginger bread cookie flavor, it is still a tasty blend especially good in the fall.

Wished they had found another name for this tea. I purchased it thinking it would taste something like what it is named after. My taste buds never did find any ginger in this, just cinnamon. While I was disappointed with the taste not matching what I was expecting, it still was a pleasant blend on its own best in the fall.

So this is the first tea that I made in the hotel room. I wanted to start with a familiar tea before trying new stuff, plus my thermometer hasn’t arrived yet (I had it shipped to the hotel) so I can’t try anything except herbals or blacks.

I had to buy a new tea kettle, though, since I forgot mine. I’ll be here for 4 of the next 5 weeks, so I needed a kettle.

It sweet and delicious, just like normal, so I feel like I can go ahead and try other things!

3 steeps (cold brewed) is more than this tisane can handle. It’s pretty much just colored water at this point. Bleh.

(Now to the real reason for the update)
Yates is out of surgery, though it was rough on him, so he’s still in the oxygen tent (and hating it, according to the ICU tech). The really bad news is that we still don’t know what’s wrong with him. We just now have a ton of biopsy samples to send to the lab.

Thanks for all of the well wishes!

(backlogging from this morning)

So, the cold brewed strawberry lemonade was MUCH better this morning after brewing in the fridge overnight. Yum. I refilled the pitcher and am curious to see how long I can keep it going for.

So I bought Rishi’s Hario glass pitcher. One of the interesting suggestions that they had was cold brewed tea – I hadn’t thought of it (hot brewed and sun brewed, but not cold brewed). Essentially, add 10-12 grams of tea to 1 L of water and refrigerate for several hours. I decided to try this with something that I was familiar with (instead of one of the new Rishi teas).

It is milder than hot brewed, but it’s still good (at least, with this fruit tisane). The flavor is milder (the strawberry is barely present). It reminds me of fruit water more than tea.

I wonder what kinds of tea they suggest for cold brewed tea?

Preparation Notes:
Zarafina Tea Maker: Herbal, Loose, Medium, 2 cups water, 5 scoops tea
Sweetened with rock sugar, then iced.

More lemony than strawberry at first, but the strawberry lingers. Very refreshing. One of my favorite iced teas, especially for evenings (when I need to avoid caffeine).

What a good iced tea! It’s lighter by far than actual lemonade, but with the same flavor and about twice as refreshing. Definitely better iced than hot, though.