Teeccino

Teeccino blends are not for the feint of heart, they are bold, earthy and have plenty of chicory to lend a bit of a bite. If you are good with that, carry on and try to distinguish the subtle flavors of the different blends. A sweet maple aftertaste? Yes. Pecan… maybe? Would I drink this again? Sure. Add it to an order, maybe.

A really cool alternative to coffee if you need to lay off caffeine and are craving a cup of joe!

I only have two more from the sampler to try after this one. For anyone interested if you are only ordering one of their sampler packs shipping is free.
This one sounded really good. In terms of flavor, it missed the mark and wasn’t sweet enough. The cinnamon isn’t cinnamon sugar-like and this blend is similar to the plain roasted blends that Teeccino offers. The blends that are lacking in sweetness and more closely resemble black coffee. Adding milk didn’t bring out any cookie flavor either. Why couldn’t this tea have been similar to say the Amaretto blend they offer that nails that flavor or the Caramel Nut?
Roswell’s tasting note on this pretty much summed up my thoughts on it as well.

Sipdown (1954)!

Very, very roasty and very very dark. This is definitely the most “coffee like” in taste of all the Teeccino blends I’ve tried so far – but even still it retains that pleasant carob sweetness that pulls it back from being overly bitter and root-y in taste.

One of the last few tea bags from the sampler I got.
This one was disappointing because it sounded really good. I wanted more orange from it and more chocolate. The orange was the stronger of the two flavors but I was expecting this one to be strong like the Amaretto flavor was. This blend was a lot more subtle compared to that one and just didn’t deliver. The chocolate component was missing as well.

Hmmm, the first few sips were slightly cinnamon with chicory underneath. Not very sweet at all, there’s no dates in this Teeccino blend. The lingering aftertaste as it cools is medicinal like cough syrup. Not for me.

I picked up a variety box of Teeccino, and this is one I don’t mind too much. Amaretto is my favorite Teeccino flavor, and it seems a bit sweeter than this one. It has a mild chicory bite to it along with a sweetness from the dates. the maple flavor is lingering in the background, but adds a bit of sweetness to the overall taste. I might drink more of this if Amaretto isn’t available, but I wouldn’t seek it out.

Here’s another one from the sampler and this one is from their organic line so the ingredients are probably a bit different.
This one reminds me of a milder Vanilla Nut but I think I prefer Vanilla Nut. Since it’s organic I think the vanilla flavor here is a bit more subtle compared to the rest of the ingredients. I think if you want a flavored one it’s best to get the vanilla nut or if you prefer the plainer blends go for the Mocha or the French Roast. One difference between this one and the vanilla nut is that this one doesn’t have dates in it or any fruit that would provide some sweetness. Another difference is that this is considered a dark roast while the vanilla nut is considered a medium roast blend.
The other organic ones I have left to try from my sampler are more interesting flavors so maybe I’ll have better luck with them. This one is still enjoyable it’s just not a favorite from the bunch.

This is another one that came in the sampler that I’ve tried before.
I don’t love the smell of this one as the chocolate smells a bit dusty and the mint quite menthol-y.
It’s got a lot flavor though and I think this would be a great flavor to have during the winter holidays. It’s definitely minty and chocolate-y as well. The mint is peppermint and it’s good with milk and a little honey added to it.

Sipped on this one yesterday and actually enjoyed it a bit more than I expected to! The aroma is probably the best part of this one; it really does smell a lot like caramel but also like hot cocoa as well. I suppose that’s mostly the carob, which can have a chocolate-like taste and smell to it. The hot cocoa comparison carried into the taste too though because the entire drink reminded me of a roastier and more full bodied version of Nestle’s Rolo flavoured instant hot chocolate.

Growing up, we used to buy instant hot chocolate in bulk in the no-name brand that was just a GIANT yellow tube of crappy hot cocoa powder – but as a special treat in the winter my mom would sometimes get Nestle’s name brand instant hot cocoa when it was on sale. At the end of the day, it’s still just instant hot chocolate so it’s not exactly the best tasting drink in the world – but the difference between no name and the Nestle stuff was night and day and the role was already my favourite one – so this was a deeply nostalgic tasting cuppa for me.

(Though I can’t let it go unstated that I didn’t get the “nut” part of this one at all.)

I got this in a sampler from Teeccino that included some flavors that I’ve never tried before from them. This was a new one and had a lot of chai flavor so it definitely feels more like chai tea than coffee. The spices are nice and I added some nondairy milk to it.

Strange VariaTEA TTB: Tea 25

The ingredients in this spoke to me since I have a cough and sore throat. I also assumed I couldn’t really taste tea so I figured the flavours in this I don’t usually like, I wouldn’t taste. That said, I hated this. It’s very heavily roasted. I added honey and I liked just that because everything else was just strong and unpleasant.

October Sipdown Challenge – A Nutty Tea

I bought one box of the teabags when I ordered an unreasonable amount of Vanilla Nut. I will probably repurchase this flavor.

When I first tried Nutella and saw it was a chocolate and hazelnut spread, I assumed the hazelnut was cocoa-y and contributed a lot of flavor to the Nutella. (I was introduced to Nutella rather late in life compared to most people.)

I was so surprised to find that hazelnuts are just what we call filberts, which come in every mixed “in the shell” nuts package you buy near Christmas and taste nothing like chocolate to me. And I like them, but since buying Teecino and offering it to people I have been surprised at the number of people who say, “No, thanks, I don’t like hazelnut. I will try the Vanilla Nut flavor.”

This is creamy and mildly nutty, not bitter unless you are counting the normal chicory-coffee taste, and delicious. These are a real treat that I am probably indulging in too often. I am limiting the sugar, as these are an attempt at a healthier replacement for evening hot chocolate, since the caffeine and high sugar content of hot chocolate was keeping me up nights.

2022 sipdown no. 45

A tea from Cameron!

I added just a splash of soy milk. The dandelion base was exactly what I expected and the coconut flavour wasn’t fake or cloying at all. Overall not a bad cup, but not something I need in my cupboard.

Sipdown

For the first time in years, I do not have any Teeccino products on shelf. Will repurchase either this or Vanilla Nut for next winter probably.

Steeped in a teapot then hot milk and sugar added for a hot cocoa vibe. Awesome flavor with no caffeine. Coffee-ish but this non-coffee drinker enjoys it very much.

January 20 Sipdown Prompt – National Coffee Break Day

This is the only flavor of Teeccino I have left, and I have about one a half bags. I thought this was my favorite flavor but I also love Vanilla Nut, which I just finished, and Hazelnut. Wwhen I run out entirely I plan to be sensible and buy only one flavor, but which???

Delicious, coffee-like but still tastes great to this coffee hater, and enjoyed in true coffee break fashion during a brief few moments alone today with two Vienna Fingers cookies.

I am drinking this to fulfill the October sipdown prompt: a coffee tea.

My first Teecino beverage was Vanilla Nut, and it might still be my favorite. I have tried Hazelnut, Mocha, and Almond Amaretto as well.

I bought Mocha because I was expecting it to be very chocolate-y, but I didn’t find it to be so. So then I wondered if mocha means what I think it means and the answer was yes and no. Mocha CAN mean a coffee-and-chocolate flavor, like our local milkshake shop has, or it can refer to a particular type of high quality coffee.

There is carob in this so I feel like they were aiming for chocolate and coffee, but I don’t get tons of chocolate flavor. I do very much enjoy the carob and the chicory in this, and I am not at all sorry I bought it.

We always preparethese the same way – half a mug of Teecino steeped in water and half milk with two teaspoons of sugar and whipped cream on top, because this is our “treat” drink.

Also, it resteeps well, and since I am using the loose version I resteeped it last night and put it in a pitcher in the fridge to save for tonight. It was plenty strong for us. Ashman says he doesn’t think he would like it without sugar and whipped cream, but he seems to really enjoy it the way we are having it now.

Unfortunately, I think this was another miss for me with Teeccino.

To be fair, when I saw Passionfruit Peach as a coffee alternative option I kind of knew it was gonna be weird and probably not my vibe, but the Mango Lemon Balm was shockingly nice so I think I held onto a bit of hope I probably shouldn’t have. I figured it would probably be better cold, as if I was getting some kind of Starbucks style flavoured iced coffee, so I made this iced and then added in some milk as well.

It was… rough. I don’t actually get a lot of passionfruit in flavour, but the peach is STRONG and it’s a very floral kind of sweet peach flavour that felts really at odds with the deeply roasty and mineral tasting base. Plus, I think there’s rooibos in this blend!? Which is the first one I’ve tasted yet that has appeared to include rooibos and I thought that was really strange because it added this very nutty, woody and honey-like taste that probably would have complimented the roast but as a trifecta of roast, fruit, and nuts it was not clicking.

I don’t know. There’s just something about these fruitier flavours that is a hard swing in the wrong direction for me…

Sipdown (1854)!

I know there’s a big trend on Tik Tok right now with people making coffee either in hollowed out oranges or with orange juice in it, and in theory it’s supposed to taste good because of the juxtaposition of the citrus with the very dark roast notes/nuttiness while still somewhat complimenting the natural acidity of coffee. So, I wasn’t TOTALLY weirded out when I saw this orange flavour in my variety box…

However, this is probably the first Teeccino blend I’ve tried where I’ve felt like it was unpleasant versus just “underwhelming” or not really my personal cup of tea. Well, cup of coffee replacement I guess. It was very unsweet, which is fine, but it was also pretty sharply orange flavoured with more of an acrid pithy quality to it. Combined with the very strong roast and the already slightly sharp notes of the chicory in the blend I just found the profile to be really harsh.

Cool idea, but I would definitely pass on this one if offered it again in the future.

Iced Latte Sipdown (2345)!

Finished this one off in the afternoon as a very strongly steeped iced latte made using oat milk. The colour was such a rich brown even with the milk added – I really wish I’d gotten a photo of it. Truly, it was stunningly dark.

In terms of taste, I did have a really enjoyable time drinking this. I’m very much getting into that more “pumpkin season”/fall flavours kind of vibe right now, but it’s sweltering hot in Montreal at the moment so iced lattes are the much, much better alternative to a hot PSL right now. I actually did wish that the spices were stronger in the flavour as I only taste the cinnamon and a hint of clove. However, I also steeped this for such a long time that it’s very reasonable to assume that the chicory and other roots/roasted ingredients just got so concentrated that they actually drowned out most of the spices.

I still have a decent amount of Teeccino blends to sip through so I’m not sad to see this one go, and I actually feel a little bit of satisfaction that I was able to time out this sipdown with the right season. Not sure if I’ll be placing another Teeccino order any time soon – especially with DT’s new coffee alternative blend so much more accessible and just as delicious. But if I did, I’d consider buying more of this one.