The NecessiTeas

AJRimmer Advent Day 11

Pretty sure I had a Mayan hot chocolate inspired tea a few years ago and found it too spicy to finish. So I was surprised that this one wasn’t spicy at all! I did get some chocolate from it and quite a lot of cinnamon…an interesting combination and I’m not crazy about it personally. Overall, the flavor seemed a bit weak/thin, so I added a splash of milk to give it more body.

I love this tea as a latte with oat milk. I added liquid coconut stevia and wow that made it so much better! Delicious white chocolate, coconut and caramel flavor. Not sure it reminds me of my favorite Samoa cookie though. I had a sample in my order. I would definitely buy a larger bag. I am impressed with all her teas so far.

Well the reviews for this tea are a bit underwhelming, but I liked it! A black tea base without bitterness or astringency along with vanilla cereal flavoring. Maybe I didn’t expect a lot from this flavored blend, but I liked the second steep so much I tried for a third. Which was weaker, but still drinkable. I give it a thumbs up for drinking again, maybe not to seek out and purchase :)
Thanks to Skysamurai for sending it my way!

I taste a fair amount of blueberry, but I don’t really get much crumble. Maybe I taste a tiny bit of some other desserty flavor, but not much. I prefer S&V’s blueberry crumble tea, but this one is decent enough. Maybe I would have preferred a different black tea as the base to bring out more desserty flavors.

Waffle cone pieces. That’s a unique ingredient. Can’t say I would have ever thought to use that in tea. Plus one for ingenuity. The wet aroma is kinda meh but it also smells like it may have been tainted by another tea. I can taste the waffle cone pieces but not really the blackberry. I used to love waffles with blackberry syrup until I found the syrup brand I was using was basically sugar… This tea is decent. An interesting idea but overall just kind of blah.

My favorites teas from Necessiteas are definitely the cinnamon ones. This one uses a delicious woody cinnamon, which goes perfectly with the rooibos base. It’s quite desserty and wonderful. Maybe I could see a cookie direction from this, but it’s moreso mildly spiced than exactly cookie flavored. Sweetened with milk, this is quite a treat.

I love rice Krispy treats. But not the ones you get in stores. No offense but I find them disgusting. The ones you make in home. Those are where it’s at. Can’t really say this reminds me of either of them. The marshmallows they used are nice, sweet but not artificial tasting. The base black tea has a nice woody flavor with bits of chocolate.

This was a free sample from a Necessiteas order, and it’s sort of strangely tangy? The ingredients sound like they’d be great together, but they’re really sort of at war when you drink it. I taste a lot of weirdly artificial apple, some nuttiness, and some spices that are a little tangy too. I don’t know why nothing gets along in this blend, but it somehow doesn’t work at all.

I overleafed this, but it still tastes very thin. I taste maybe a hint of fruitiness or general dessertiness, but this tea doesn’t have a ton of flavor. It was a little more interesting cold. Definitely one of my less preferred Necessiteas blends, but I was still glad to try it in the TTB!

I taste a tart, fake candy orange, but I don’t love the tea base, so it isn’t that delicious to me. It’s sort of light, and it’s pleasant with milk, but it doesn’t remind me of a scone. It’s not my favorite Necessiteas tea from the TTB. It turns out slightly strange.

I really like this tea as a latte with almond milk. The white chocolate chips make it creamy. My only complaint is that the white chocolate takes away the flavor of the chai spices. I taste very little spice. It is not my favorite pumpkin tea but I would buy it again.

The orange flavor is quite strong, tart, and authentic. I really don’t taste much chocolate. Milk and sugar definitely help smooth this blend out. I enjoy it most cold. I wish I tasted more chocolate, but I’m still having a decent time with this TTB tea! The orange does taste like the orange you would find on the inside of an orange truffle.

It was awesome to see some Necessiteas blends that I haven’t tried in the TTB! This is a pretty even mix of mint and chocolate. It was all right hot, but I like it much better cold. Sweetened with milk, it’s almost like a mint hot chocolate. It doesn’t necessarily stand out from other mint chocolate teas, but it’s still good.

Another blend I ended up keeping from the SVTTB, I really love chocolate blends when they’re done right. This blend just nailed it for me, I loved the dark chocolate flavor, the malty and bold black tea, the touch of candy sweetness from the marshmallows, and the pop of peppermint. As a mint and chocolate lover, this was perfect. It’s sort of funny to me because I love chocolate teas but I don’t enjoy chocolate in sweets or foods except for Red Velvet flavored desserts and mint-chocolate sweets.

This is one of the blends I ended up keeping when I had the #svttb last week. Prior to having the box, I had never tried anything from The NecessiTeas before and I was definitely in for a treat with this blend. With any Creme Brulee blend, I expect three things: rich burnt sugar/ caramel-like flavor, strong cream and vanilla elements, and of course the flavoring to balance well with the tea. This blend delivered tens across the board, the only negative thing I have to say about it is that it contains a bit of sugar which most people don’t mind I just tend not to purchase presweetened blends, this one would be an exception to that rule.

This blend was a definite yes from me, I absolutely loved it! I typically don’t love cherry blends because I usually associate cherry-flavored things with cough syrup. However, I loved it so so so much! This has to be one of my favorite chocolate blends and my new favorite cherry blend.

This flavor is really fresh and zingy. It’s tart, but not too tart. Everything combines into a perfect, desserty lemon flavor. I really enjoy this one cold. I would totally order this again.

It feels like one of those “Not quite fall but close enough” days. Was rumaging through my herbal tea cabinet and I found this little guy hiding away. ;)

Preparation: Western
Tasting Note: The smell of this tea is wonderful, its like vanilla icing with cinnamon and the slight apple juiciness. Taste is still really good just not as strong as a real cider with vanilla whip cream but still good. I would say that the cinnamon is a sweeter lighter cinnamon which doesn’t overpower the apples. In all, its a really nice drink that definitely conjures apple dessert vibes. I will continue to purchase this as long as I can.

This tastes similar to their vanilla cola flavor. There are butterscotch chips in here, but not enough for me to taste any. I get a nice sarsaparilla flavor and the strong rooibos, but nothing else. I’m enjoying this cold, but I wish it were more different from the vanilla cola flavor, which I recently finished. I ran out of butterscotch flavoring, but I have some salted caramel flavoring, so I’ve been adding that to try to edge it closer to butterbeer. The base is a bit strong for me compared with the vanilla cola flavor, so that’s a difference I guess!

Thanks to getanzt for this sample! I also have a 2 oz bag of this one, which I’ve been experimenting with. I’m not a huge coconut fan, and almost stale coconut seems to make up the majority of the flavor, so I drink this one with almond milk to try to tame it. I think that works. I taste mostly almond milk, along with a bit of pineapple and coconut.

Strange VariaTEA TTB – Tea #13

Was very surprised to find this not in the database! I’m not the biggest chocolate tea lover generally, but I thought I would give it a try since the concept sounded so good and it’s a large bag. It smells wonderful.

Hmm, I actually like it. The beginning of the sip straight up tastes like a candy cane, or, even better, maybe like one of those peppermint pillows that melt in your mouth. I really like the balance of the peppermint leaf with the candy/flavoring, it’s cool and refreshing but doesn’t taste herbal. It’s not super chocolaty. I do get a bit of the cacao in the middle, and then it tastes like there is also chocolate flavoring at the end of the sip. Chocolate flavoring and I are not friends, but since it’s not too strong here I’m not offended by it.

I’m leaning toward keeping this one, but I need to think about it a bit more…

Result: Tried

This is my favorite black tea I’ve had from Necessities for sure. It’s a great mix of woody desserty cinnamon and maple. The black tea is a nice base for it. The flavors are decently authentic and tasty. With sugar and milk, it’s so tasty and wonderful.

Two side notes: 1) The Necessiteas just restocked a bunch of her teas if you were looking to restock from her and were holding off, now is the time. I think she restocked 5-6 ones that had been out and had some others she still had it stock. I think she has been my favorite on sweeter fruit herbal blends so far.

2) Less of a sidenote and more of a random update from me: Just added a desktop standing-sitting desk converter to my work from home setup. It feels so strange working while standing, its like my days working back in the Walgreens as a Pharmacy Tech. I keep want to stand like a flamingo as soon as my feet or legs get tired.

Preparation: Western (no additives)
Tasting Note: I have noticed that I don’t love Necessiteas black tea base, and I am not sure if that is just how I brew it or if it truly is pretty mild. Also, the blueberry in this blend is a little more mild than the pancakes blend. I like oats added to blends because it gives the slightest bit of creaminess and nuttiness. This blend is interesting and good but I think it could be improved.

Another from Tiffany:)!   Thanks very much.   I have ALWAAYYSS wanted to try this blend and I know how rare it is to snag Necessiteas blends.  So I was especially appreciative of seeing this one in that amazing package of teas.  The blend itself looks good enough to eat with big peanut butter chips and tiny marshmallows.  Also some banana to go with the honeybush.  I will say I have always been a fan of banana & peanut butter sandwiches, and also peanut butter & fluff sandwiches, so this tea has a lot to live up to.  Really, it’s a great dessert tea with all of these sugary ingredients.  A little nutty, a little bit of banana, a lot of sweet.  I really wish for more of those flavors though.   I could try going dry leaf overboard, but I don’t want to go through this tea that quickly! I’m glad it’s one of those teas I have been dreaming about I can check off the TRY list though.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 19 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 10+ minute steep