Teeccino

My friend left samples of this, Gingerbread, and Candy Cane for us to try. I figured this would be Ashman’s favorite so I made us each a cuppa to go with story time and the lighting of our daily advent wreath. (We are using the Cradle to the Cross Advent spiral from The Keeping Company. I loooooooove candles.)

This smelled so good, and it was fine, but honestly I am disappointed. There was a bit of a fake chemical taste somewhere in there, and while the aroma really did shout Snickerdoodle it didn’t really taste that much like the cookie to me. It wasn’t terrible, just not as good as I had hoped and not as good as other flavors from Teecino I have tried. Glad to have tried it, but not one I would purchase.

This Advent tea was supposed to be yesterday but it didn’t seem sweet enough for an evening cup so I’m having it this morning. This is a good substitute for a dark cup of joe if you like that taste and want to eliminate the caffeine. I prefer the nut and caramel flavored blends from Teeccino as they blend the sweet with the chicory. Glad I got to try and I would drink if it were offered.

Day 9 of the Teeccino advent calendar and my 800th tasting note! I way overdid it with the caffeine yesterday and then couldn’t fall asleep until 5am, so I had to take it easy today. As terrible as Day 8’s Chaga Ashwagandha Butterscotch Cream was, this is all the way at the other end of the spectrum. It’s absolutely delicious, with all of the flavors complementing each other wonderfully and no harsh edges. The toasted coconut aroma and flavor is on point. Technically it’s supposed to just be coconut, but it’s coming across as toasted to me, probably because of the carob/chicory/dandelion root base. I made this as an oat milk latte and it was just a liquid macaroon. Marvelous.

January sipdown prompt – drink a coffee flavored tea

This is a sipdown of the samples my friend brought, although I never added them to cupboard and so will not count them toward my total.

This was positively delicious today. I think it has the least coffee flavor of the Teecino blends I have tried, but made as a latte with milk and sugar is delicious and satisfying, even though I skipped the whipped cream this time. Drank it with lunch which was homemade veggie beef soup.

My friend ordered the three holiday flavors and three gingerbread teabags were in the box! She brought them to me to try. I often double steep Teecino and then add milk, and it is usually very dark and strong. I made only a single steep of this one and it was the palest, mildest Teecino I have ever tried. There was far less “coffee” aroma and flavor. I added milk and sugar and topped with whipped cream because this was my alternative to the caffeine and sugar laden hot cocoa that Ashman and middle daughter wanted and I would love to sleep tonight.

Ashman tried a sip and really liked it, and I like it, too, but I am a little surprised at how much weaker the “coffee” aspect is than all the other Teecino blends I have tried. Will definitely enjoy the remaining bags up to Christmas. It is good, just far weaker than I thought it would be, which is probably Ashman’s preference.

I got a sample size of this with my recent Teeccino order so this is my second cup from the pack. This is in your face peppermint, sweetness and chicory underneath. Can I handle this much peppermint? Maybe? I do like this one, but it maybe a seasonal cup only, not a cupboard staple.

Day 8 of the Teeccino advent calendar. I think I might actually be more offended by the addition of the butterscotch flavoring than if this were unflavored or just had a cream flavoring. The base here is just very bitter. Then there’s a layer of creaminess, which helps cut the bitterness. But the butterscotch layer on top of it all somehow doesn’t meld well at all with the bitter base. It just sits there. It’s like frosting a burnt cupcake – you can still tell the underlying thing tastes off. Just truly awful, and worse the more I drink it. Even the aftertaste is bad. This is one of the rare teas I wasn’t able to even finish the mug of. I had to force each sip down. When I actually looked into the mug after giving up and deciding to pour out the rest, I realized I hadn’t even made it through 1/4 of an 8 oz mug even though it felt like more. Definitely not for me.

I’m liking yesterday’s coconut addition to the chicory more and more. This one one has swung the chicory pendulum too far and it is out of balance. Not enough ginger, not enough sweetness. I guess they can’t all be winners.

Day 7 of the Teeccino advent calendar. This smelled beautifully of chocolate the minute I opened the packet. I made it as an oat milk latte for extra creaminess. It’s got big mocha latte vibes. Super delish.

Part of the Avent tea, but I’m not sure which day this was supposed to be. I am not drinking them in order. This smells very coconutty, and the toasted coconut blends very well with the chicory and date flavors. This is not my least favorite Teeccino flavor, I think this toastyness is growing on me.

It has been SUCH a long day. This is Day 6 of the Teeccino advent calendar. I made it as a latte in the evening between meetings. Sadly I missed out on savoring it because I was drinking it during a meeting. Which is a shame because it was delicious! I gave my tea-skeptic partner the first sip and even his first response was that it was tasty! I remember the hazelnut flavor in this being good, and going well with the Teeccino base.

Day 5 of the Teeccino advent calendar is… unpleasant. The tulsi flavor is on point, but pairing it with the tremella is an odd combo. It’s mushroomy and sort of brothy, and not in an enjoyable way. I tried, but I really couldn’t finish this and had to give up about halfway through my mug.

I dragged this one out for as long as I could, but sadly I’ve reached the bottom of the bag so this is a sipdown. I did send it out in style though, as an oat milk latte with an apple cider donut. This is probably one of my favorite Teeccino blends! Great dupe for a coffee shop peppermint latte.

I was really wanting a minty latte after a heavy dinner tonight. Since neither of my current advents had a minty or latte-able tea today, I reached for this festive option. It remains one of my favorite Teeccino blends, coffee substitutes, and holiday lattes. The mintiness is specifically “candy cane.” The base is the classic roasty Teeccino base. Just beautifully executed.

Day 4 of the Teeccino advent calendar! I made this as a latte and it’s absolutely delicious. It’s a dead ringer, to my mind, for a coffee candy cane latte. Really enjoyable, really seasonal, really great tea start to my day.

Day 3 of the Teeccino advent calendar! The teabags have little thoughts and sayings behind them when you take them out of the calendar, and Day 3’s saying is a prompt to do a gratitude practice. I liked that – I enjoyed that it was something both meaningful and utterly secular. As for the tea itself, I added oat milk because, well, I usually add a faux milk to chais. Unfortunately, the chai spices are pretty weak here. The carob, chicory, and dandelion base are strong and delicious. The “spice” part of it doesn’t stack up though. Generously speaking, I can find some faint cinnamon, ginger, and clove, but they’re really overwhelmed by the base. It’s tasty as a lightly-spiced Teeccino, but if you go into this expecting a robust chai, you’ll likely be disappointed.

Day 2 of the Teeccino advent calendar is definitely unexpected. I wouldn’t have thought to combine fruity flavors – especially sunny ones like mango and lemon – with carob, barley, and chicory. The mango and lemon aren’t hypothetical, either. They’re very present in the aroma as soon as you open the wrapper and once you brew it up. The flavor combo actually works better than I thought it would. I keep expecting it to be awful, and then it’s somehow just… not. All of the flavors are there: mango, lemon balm, chicory, carob, and it all kind of just melds together in happy harmony. The mango and chicory really linger, too. This was a really pleasant surprise!

ETA: I looked at everyone else’s notes right before posting this and seem to be the only one so far to have gotten distinct mango and lemon balm notes here. Truly I have no explanation!

Yay, my Teeccino advent calendar is here! I ordered it during the Black Friday sale so it just arrived. (Oh no, I’ll have to double up a few days, how sad for me!) The calendar is super cute. The only thing I’m not a fan of is that you can immediately see what all 24 teas are, so I took each teabag out and flipped it around. Yes, technically you can still tell what tea it is from the back of the bag, but only if you read really closely – it’s not written in big giant inescapable letters.

Day 1 is Maple Pecan. It smells so wonderfully of maple that I felt compelled to make this as an oat milk latte. So good. Chicory, carob, and maple are definitely the big flavors here. I haven’t had a Teeccino in ages, and I know some folks on here write about some of their blends tasting similar, but I have had other chicory blends and the maple flavor sets this one apart for me. It’s a strong start, and I’m looking forward to finding out how the rest of the calendar stacks up!

This is a basic Chai with chicory and sweetened with dates. Not their best flavor and not something I’d seek out to purchase. On the Advent there are quotes behind each tea packet. Today’s was list 5 things you are grateful for. Well, you lovely steepsterites are certainly a community I am thankful for. Thanks for making me smile :)
Other things I am grateful for: Cold weather (to appreciate when it gets warmer), Exciting world cup football matches, legs that carry me where I need to go and books to read.

If you have a lot of imagination you might get some lemon balm at the end and just a hint of mango sweetness. This is mostly chicory with a bright lemon zest finish. Can’t say I’d search this one out, but it was good to try in the advent.

ashmanra’s monthly sipdown challenge
March 2023 → International Irish Whiskey Day

Not whiskey, I know. But it is boozy. Especially since I added a tablespoon of amaretto to my cup. A tablespoon of amaretto, a tablespoon of agave nectar (which I keep around especially for this recipe → https://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/breakfast-polenta-recipe.html), and probably at least a tablespoon of heavy cream. Maybe more. Definitely not less. As expected, it’s absolutely decadent.

I normally add sugar to my Teeccino blends, and to my coffee on the rare occasion that I drink it, but the flavor almost always falls flat. Not bad by any means but always missing something. Honey won’t do here either because the flavor tends to overpower and then it’s all that I can taste. Agave nectar is pure perfection. A happy surprise indeed.

I am not getting any mango or lemon balm from this at all – just chicory, really. It’s not that it’s bad; it’s got a smooth sweetness that’s pleasant. I just expected something a little brighter. That said, not sure how much I would have liked something that tasted like coffee and mango at the same time, so maybe for the best?

teeccino advent, day 2

I’m new to the teeccino brand and discovered both the brand and flavor from sipsby. I was so intrigued I wanted to sample more variety from them in their advent, and what do we have here? The same flavor that I started with!

With a little experimenting, I’m finding that a longer steep really overpowers the maple and pecan flavor. It’s a deep and roasty tea that does indeed make me feel like I’m drinking a coffee (which I love, since I adore the scent and flavor of coffee but the acidity is a real problem for me). If I stick more to the 3 minute end of the recommended steep time, I get a lot more maple scent and a sweet, nutty flavor that I imagine was the intent.

I’m still deciding if I’d buy more of this; I look forward to the rest of these flavors so I can choose a couple favorites.

teeccino advent, day 1