Teeccino

Day 24 of the Teeccino advent calendar, and here endeth this particular advent-ure. I’m glad that I did this one, as it allowed me to sample a wide variety of Teeccino’s offerings, but now that I’ve done it I don’t really feel the need to do it again. Especially tasty were the Maple Pecan, Candy Cane, Hazelnut, Maca Chocolate, Dandelion Coconut, Vanilla Nut, Chocolaté – and this one, the Dandelion Caramel Nut! I made it as an oat milk latte. It’s got notes of caramel, chicory, carob, dandelion, and a nuttiness that I can’t place but the wrapper says is almond. Extremely solid entrant in the flavored coffee dupe category, and an excellent end to the advent calendar.

Day 23 of the Teeccino advent calendar. The dark chocolate flavor of this one is spot on. It’s specifically dark chocolate, too, with that hint of bitterness. I would have loved to try this as an oat milk latte, but, alas, did not have any oat milk available when I drank this.

Day 21 of the Teeccino advent calendar. This tastes like something I had earlier in the calendar… not quite as chocolatey as the Chocolaté, but very similar to the Maca Chocolate. I described that one as having “big mocha latte vibes,” which this blend does too (made as an oat milk latte). Short of a side-by-side, I’m hard pressed to find a meaningful taste difference between them based on memory alone. This made for a very tasty latte, delightfully enjoyed in the evening!

Day 20 of the Teeccino advent calendar. I accidentally overbrewed this by half an hour, but that doesn’t seem to have done any harm to the flavor. There’s no astringency or bitterness here. I’d have to do a side-by-side comparison to be sure, but this tastes to me a lot like the Turkey Tail Astragalus from a couple of days ago. It tastes like coffee, but thin, weak coffee. Drinkable, but just not as robust as the classic Teeccino base.

Teeccino Advent. Usually when I want a cup of coffee, I want a real cup of joe. This really does smell and taste like a good colombian dark roast, I like the other teeccino flavors with more sweetness from the dates, or the peppermint that nearly overpowers all the chicory flavors. I would drink this again, just don’t think I need it in my cupboard if there are other tastier flavors.

After the success of Snickerdoodle I was excited for this one; I was up for a sweeter take or a heavy ginger. It went in neither direction. All I’m getting is the chicory.

There’s nothing wrong with it – it’s got the qualities of the darker chicory tea I’m enjoying a lot from teeccino – but it doesn’t have any element that makes me think ginger, bread, gingerbread, dessert, or anything the name might suggest.

sipsby bagged advent, day 14

I had to laugh that I bought the teeccino advent to sample their teas and then it also showed up in the sipsby advent. This flavor wasn’t in the brand advent though, and it’s definitely my favorite of theirs so far.

The scent is absolutely reminiscent of a snickerdoodle, though perhaps it was helped along by my drinking it in a crowded kitchen where actual baking was taking place. The flavor is still mostly the bold chicory I expect from teeccino, but a little milder and certainly sweeter. The cinnamon is barely noticeable in flavor, but it is there. I was sad to finish this cup!

sipsby bagged advent, day 6

Day 18 of the Teeccino advent calendar. The good news is that this thankfully doesn’t taste like the Chaga Ashwagandha from earlier in the calendar. And I like the maple here, plus it does have a nice coffee-like taste. Where it falls short for me is that it tastes like rather thin coffee compared to the robust brew that the standard Teeccino base produces. Because of that, it works better cold – it’s a good mimic for a lightly sweet cold brew coffee. I just personally prefer something heartier.

The reason I got this advent was to try all of these teas, and they can’t all be winners. There is chocolate and there is a hint of heat to the finish, but it is so subtle. If the chocolate mint is 2 ft of snow, this is a dusting. Its all so underwhelming, just like the gingerbread teeccino flavor. Nice to try, but I wouldn’t want to revisit.

Day 17 of the Teeccino advent calendar. It was another early day, this time for work, so I was happy for a tasty coffee-like latte. This one is very seasonally appropriate! It’s like a chocolate version of the candy cane blend from earlier in the calendar. All chocolate and peppermint on that great classic Teeccino base. This was a perfect start to my day as an oat milk latte.

I’m finding that I am really enjoying the classic-base blends as my first cup of the morning. I forgot how badly I missed coffee and having the substitute is really nice. The only down side is that, because the flavors are so robust, they linger for a long time afterwards and that can make it a bit of a project to clear my palate for other teas.

Day 16 of the Teeccino advent calendar. This is better than I thought it would be. It’s still not something I’d voluntarily drink again, but I don’t want to pour it down the drain! I taste cinnamon and berries in this, but also something a little tart and acidic that I can’t place and am not enjoying. Alas, this one is not for me.

Day 14 of the Teeccino advent calendar. This one is better than I expected! While I still prefer the “standard” Teeccino base, this one also has a coffee-like flavor. Whereas that one is more robust and rounded, this one feels more like an old-school cup of black coffee. It’s slightly bitter and acidic, with a distinctly rose floral note. Not something that I would necessarily seek out, but not something that I would turn down in the future either!

When I pulled this as an advent tea today, I knew I had to do a cup to cup taste test vs the Chocolate Mint I just opened yesterday. The dandelion mocha version certainly tastes like coffee, and this actually balances better with the strong minty flavoring that Teeccino uses. The dandelion does provide a bit of a nutty hay note here as well. Nutty, coffee, minty, cocoa. I would happily sip down a bag of either this Dandelion Mocha Mint or the Chocolate Mint. I do think I prefer the latter now that I have the correct water to herbal tea ratio, it really is like a peppermint patty candy.

peeks out from behind a Batman comic book

Uh… hi.

So, I haven’t logged in for SEVEN YEARS.

Whaaat.

Anyway, I am back. Life got crazy. I got diagnosed with ADHD, which is partly why I just dropped off for so long. I started grad school and coffee took over, but then turns out I have a severe sensitivity to caffeine!

So now it’s been all decaf for a while.

Uh, what else… I’m engaged, I’m in a PhD program now. I still love tea! I just haven’t drank as much of it until recently.

But, my return has been spurred on by signing up for a Sipsby subscription box, and receiving my first box.

It’s cold here, so I opted for the Gingerbread by Teeccino.

My initial thoughts:

Scent dry in the bag is gingery and a bit nutty. Slightly buttery and toasted, too, but not as much.

Scent while steeping and then once steeped, a very muted ginger scent. Very toasted.

As far as taste: it doesn’t scream ginger or gingerbread to me. It has a very buttery mouthfeel and aftertaste, which I love, and it takes cream really well. Cream brings out that buttery flavor.

But, there’s very little of the gingerbread taste. However, it DOES give like… toasted marshmallow? Like a toasted sweetness? Especially once you add a bit of sweetener.

So overall, it’s a flavor I enjoy, even if it wasn’t the flavor I was expecting. I also didn’t time my steep, and got distracted (ADHD, remember?) and so I am going to do a take 2 later with timed steeping, to see if that makes a difference.

Still a decent cup, but I want more noticeable ginger flavor, for sure.

Today’s Teeccino advent is one I’ve already tried (and didn’t like) so I thought I’d break open this one. I think I brewed this one a bit strong, its very minty. There is an underlying mocha taste like someone added too much mint flavored creamer to a strong cup of joe. I don’t mind this cup, I’ll brew it a little weaker next cup, and I’d surely use it as a stomach calming peppermint brew. The second steep is more subdued, its hard to tell sometimes, do you need more chicory (I hesitated to use leaf here, because its not) to get the taste as in hazelnut and gingerbread, or does a little go a long way as in chocolate mint and candy cane. I have a whole bag to figure out this ratio and the second steep is closer to a mint peppermint patty, a decent cup.

Day 15 of the Teeccino advent calendar. I’m going to have to circle back to day 14 – it’s something more adventurous and I can’t handle that at 6am. I had to get up super early for a medical appointment, so I’m sneaking in a cuppa before I leave. This one has the familiar and tasty Teeccino coffee-like base. I wish the “gingerbread” aspect was stronger though. It’s very faint, like a shadow hanging out in the back of the sip. I liked the candy cane flavor more, as holiday flavors go – that one was stronger and truer to its namesake.

Teeccino advent calendar Day 13. Another one that I really enjoy from this calendar! I don’t know that it tastes like a macadamia nut per se, but it does taste nutty and sweet and makes a delicious latte. It tastes to me like macadamia nut flavoring/syrups, but not necessarily like actual macadamias. Makes a delicious oat milk latte though.

Sipdown, and a favorite bagged tea for ashmanra’s sipdown challenge! Made this as an oat milk latte while I got started on my Taiwan scrapbook. I’m not generally a scrapbook person but am making an effort for this trip so we’ll have something special to treasure and remember it by. Plus, since the trip was so heavily tea-themed, I get to use one of my Tea Thoughts journals for it and a lot of my extremely specific washi tape. The whole concept is just very cutesy but it pleases me. Tea itself remains delicious – creamy vanilla to the last drop, both hot when I started and cold by the time I finished.

Day 12 of the Teeccino advent calendar. This is so much better than French Vanilla. The vanilla flavor is really round and sweet and carries throughout the sip, lingering pleasantly afterwards. The only catch is that I had to (oat milk) latte this to really bring out the flavor fully. But I don’t mind that. I started my day with this and it was a really great start to the day.

Oh no! just no. DNF. Smells like decorative soap and I couldn’t ignore that.

This smells way over the top minty, but steeped it is just refreshingly so. I confess I gave the first steep to Ashman and took the second steep myself, added milk and sugar to both and topped with whipped cream and Christmas sprinkles.

It was good, but I am not the world’s biggest fan of mint, although I enjoy the scent and even made a peppermint mask spray to help me stay fresh and focused when I was having to mask a lot.

Of the three holiday blends of Teecino, I think Gingerbread was my favorite, but I do prefer their darker, roastier blends that are available year ‘round.

Day 11 of the Teeccino advent calendar. There was a time I used to happily drink my coffee black. Now, alas, I can’t drink coffee at all. So I was a little reluctant when I saw this blend – would it taste like black coffee? Would I even still like that taste after all this time? Would it hurt my stomach? Turns out the answer is yes, yes, and no! This is spot-on for delicious, wonderful, dark roast coffee. I’m really glad that I opted not to add anything to it – it’s so satisfying exactly as is.

Day 10 of the Teeccino advent calendar. This blend is good, but I’m not enjoying it as much as I’ve enjoyed the other classic coffee flavored Teeccinos. It’s just not as striking. The vanilla doesn’t hit until the tail end of the sip rather than being evenly distributed throughout, though it is on point and does linger pleasantly. Adjusting the steeping length (probably shorter) might help with the balance if I have this again. Overall, I’ve just enjoyed other Teeccinos more, and if I want a vanilla tea would be inclined to reach for a vanilla oolong over this.