Teeccino

Earlier in the year, I snagged a box of Teeccino’s Dark Chocolate on an insane clearance sale and immediately fell in love with the just-like-eating-a-candy-bar thick chocolate goodness.

So, with a lucky-day $2 coupon from Natural Grocers, I decided to give a (cheap) trial run to their French Roast blend.

I am amazed—its color and texture remind me of the dark, stewed coffee my dad drank when he worked at the local post office when I was little. (He’d give me little sips just to watch me scrunch up my face.) I’ve never tasted a coffee-ier tea, and it’s decaf at that. This will be just lovely in a few weeks when there’s an honest-to-pete nip in the air.

This Teeccino blend always seems to get so much praise around here, so I ordered a box during my decaf buying bonanza. I love Teeccino when I’m wanting the taste of coffee. It never disappoints. This blend is certainly chocolaty, no doubt. I’m not sure I can tell a huge difference between some of the others I’ve tried, but that chocolate note is definitely there. Looking forward to comparing this to the Amaretto Teeccino I bought as well. I think this is the third flavor I’ve tried so far, and I haven’t found one yet that I don’t like.

Every time I drink and review a chocolate tea, I bellyache that it isn’t chocolate enough. Well, the Hershey bar stops here. Wow. Thick, rich carob and chicory—this definitely hits the “unsweet chocolate bar” mark. I’m drinking this unsweetened, and there’s enough coffee-like bitterness to open my eyes a little, even though it’s purely herbal. With a little milk or as a latte, this is going to be just flat delicious.

April Sipdown Alphabet Challenge: “D” Tea
This was probably my least favorite tea that came in the sampler. It just wasn’t the best herbal chai I’ve had.

I liked one of the other teas from this brand in the past so I bought a Dandelion tea bag sampler to try the rest of the flavors. This company makes coffee substitutes and is essentially an herbal coffee alternative. I made this one today and added a little oat milk to it. The spices in this tea are very weak and the sweetness overpowers them. I think this is my least favorite of the variety pack that I’ve tried so far. I would much rather drink a regular caffeinated chai or a good rooibos chai. This tea is very sweet from the dates and blackberry leaf in it. I think you could definitely find something better at a lower price. (I did enjoy the Tumeric and Caramel Nut ones I’ve tried so far though)

Decidedly not Teeccino’s best offering. This is supposed to have a hint of heat in it from spices, but this is my second cup of it, and I get no spice whatsoever. Like, quite literally none. It just tastes like weak hot chocolate with a tiny note of dates. It doesn’t even have that satisfying, full-bodied, roasted, mock-coffee quality that I’ve come to love in this company’s blends.
Pretty disappointed. Maybe I can salvage the last two servings I have of it by adding some hot cocoa powder and milk.

Ughhhhh, so yummy! It smells like chocolate-covered raisins. Reminds me of going to the candy store as a kid. Slightly bitter, black coffee note on the sip, which transitions seamlessly into a very mellow, very genuine chocolate flavor, just like hot cocoa without the sugar. Stands up well to milk. I love this stuff.

Lovely, perfume-y, full of umami and earthy. Warm. Satisfies my desire for a second cup of coffee without actually being coffee. No acidity and no caffeine. I rely on coffee for survival, but tea is truly the magical side of things.

Today is Ash Wednesday, so for us Catholics, that means it’s a day of fasting and abstention. Drinking this to warm myself up and boost my mood so that I can more fully embrace and embody the spirit of Lent.

I choose to live in the American Northeast, so I have zero right to complain about the winter weather, especially with the amount of cold weather-related suffering that’s occurring in the American Deep South, where they didn’t choose to deal with snow and ice (and indeed are not equipped for it), but… it’s just the truth that it’s bloody freezing out today and everything is coated with glare ice. The wind doesn’t help.

I donated to the Red Cross Disaster Relief efforts in the hopes that the money will go toward helping my fellow Americans in Texas and other impacted states. If any of my Steepster friends live in those areas, know that I am sending warm wishes, prayers, and happy thoughts your way!

Definitely need to watch this close and be careful not to oversteep it. The rose can become overpowering VERY quickly. But when it’s steeped right, it’s very tasty, especially with some milk. Does NOT need sweetener.
Notes: Perfumey, floral, sweet, roasted, nutty, and woodsy.
There are supposed to be a whole bunch of health benefits from consuming Lion’s Mane mushrooms, so there’s that, too.

Completely in love. Just like hot chocolate, without all the sugar. Delicious with a splash of 1% dairy milk. I don’t know how Teeccino does it, but they are magical.

I smell something faintly and pleasantly floral in the liquor. I’m thinking it’s the astragalus.
Dominant flavor notes in the sip are earth and roasted nuts/ barley.
It’s not too sweet, despite the figs and dates, which is fine with me.
I added a bit of milk to it.
I taste maple very slightly in the aftertaste.
It’s kind of a delicate cuppa, and not overly flavorful.
I don’t think I’d buy it again, but it’s definitely drinkable.

These are a little kooky, perhaps…. herbal/ mushroom tea that tastes like coffee?
When I tore open the packet, I inhaled the dry leaf and got a whiff of cinnamon, but there was an earthy, umami quality to it that reminded me of tomato sauce, almost. Is that weird?
It steeped a delicious orangey-red color, and I got notes of cinnamon, earth, and herbal bitters. It DOES taste a lot like cinnamon coffee, and it holds up to milk quite well. People who like pu-erh would enjoy this one as a caffeine-free option.

So if you really like coffee, this is a tea for you! That said, it may not taste like the best coffee — once I brewed mine up and added a bit of cream and sweetener, it tasted exactly like the cappuccinos from the cappuccino machine in my junior high cafeteria. That worked for me, but it may or may not work for you. Pulled this out of a Sipsby box.

Didn’t care for this one at all. It tasted like hot sweet spice water. I barely tasted the base.
This one and the Red Chai blend were my least favorites in the whole sampler pack.

In this sampler pack, this one was fair-to-middling. It’s good if you like coconut, and the coconut flavor works well with the roasted dandelion and chicory base, because toasted coconut is a thing. Not as good as the Caramel Nut and Dark Roast blends, and not something I’d be in the mood for every day… but again, as with the Mocha Mint blend, I’m not unhappy that I got to try it.

Meh.
Tastes like a standard rooibos chai. Nothing special. Drinkable, certainly, but not really memorable. Kind of reminds me of the Oregon Chai Rooibos blend.

Wow, I can’t believe it’s been two years since I discovered this one. Pandemic time has passed so strangely… like, the days and weeks drag, but then the years get swallowed up in a black hole.

I think I picked up the dandelion tea habit in order to reduce caffeine intake (and therefore decrease stress). Today, I’m just enjoying the delicious roasted flavor. Good with a splash of skim milk. Also good for the liver, good for the heart, good for the blood pressure… I’m not even 30 yet, but it’s never too soon to start thinking about these things, in my opinion.

Absolute perfection for anyone looking to reduce or eliminate coffee from their diet! Will definitely be purchasing a whole box of this flavor. The experience is a lot like having coffee. It smells like freshly-brewed drip coffee and has a similar mouthfeel. Has the roasted bean-y bite that you want in a cup of black coffee, but no caffeine and no acidity. I personally did not add any milk or sweetener to it, but you totally could if you want to and the brew would hold up to it like coffee.

Ever logged into your work computer on Monday morning and realized that you’re simply not emotionally ready to launch your interoffice IM app and email client? That me today. Wish me luck.

Caffeine will only increase my stress levels and further diminish my fool-tolerating threshold, so this is what’s on tap today. Good with a splash of milk. Good for the stomach. Good for the liver. Just good all around.

Discovering Teeccino has been one of the best parts of 2020 for me. Simple pleasures like a warm cuppa are sometimes what carries me through the week. I’ve raved about this particular blend/ flavor on here before, but I just wanted to add that this is an excellent autumn drink. I want to experiment with making it as a latte.

Easily my favorite from the dandelion blend sampler pack I got. Just so, so, so good. The sweetness/ burnt sugar notes from the caramel complements the burnt, roasted note from the dandelion root, and the extra nutty flavoring enhances everything as well. Smells heavenly and feels like having a second cup of coffee, but without the caffeine or the acid.