Lemon Lime Kampai

Number one, the hard drive on my home computer is apparently worn out (I’m using my mother’s laptop to post this currently), so I may not be around for a bit until we get a new computer, or I get onto the computers at school; whichever comes first. (And yes, I realize I have not been around much lately anyway, but I expected my posts to increase a bit now that I will be at school more. Plus I always feel it fair to post when I know I’m going to be absent.)

In the meantime, if anyone knows a way to transfer the data from the busted hard drive to a new one, I’d appreciate hearing it. We stupidly haven’t backed it up since the last computer switch (cats kept unplugging the external hard drive, so we lazily gave up) and we stand to lose 15 years worth of saved data. Boo.

Secondly, I stopped posting much about Christmas teas…partially because I was so busy, and partially because my Christmas kinda sucked. It’s very First-World-Problems to complain about your gifts, and I did get nice gifts – some nice sweaters and stuff, some school money. I know that I am normally hard to buy for, and I normally never make a list. But this year I actually made a list – mostly tea stuff, like a matcha bowl – and pretty much no one got me a damned thing on it. The only person who got me anything tea-related was my father, by some sheer luck – he doesn’t even live with me, but he knows I like Doctor Who and he got me a TARDIS bathrobe (which is awesome) and a TARDIS teapot (which is AMAZING and which I have wanted forever), and then my family managed to chip the latter by the end of Christmas Day shuffling it carelessly around the kitchen. Oh, and my sister got a copy of a PS3 reboot of a game series that I mostly play – not her – which she is spitefully hoarding in her room even though the console she is also hoarding in her room is a PS2 and won’t play that disc, and even though I let her play several hundred dollars worth of games I buy. So I had to buy my own copy. The overall feeling is just…no one really cares what I actually wanted, have a sweater.

Oh, and I was sick Christmas, and spent it eating chicken noodle soup.

So yeah. F-ck Christmas, and all associated tea flavours. I think I will opt out next year. I do better job getting myself what I want, and I’m sure some of my family members feel the same way. Maybe next year we can give each other money.

Finally…since this tea is discontinued and presumably not coming back, can I review it now?

Because I actually really, really like it…if made properly. Which is good, because I was never installed with a resist-sales feature, so I ended up with a ridiculous amount of this – probably more than a pound.

It smells so amazing, see, so that every time I smell it I have this odd desire to acquire more of it. It smells like…lemon candies, or something. Just yum.

Steeped, it is not anywhere near as strong as you would think from the smell, which is where my steeping preferences for this come in. I do this one at least double-strong, and I steep it for at least a half-hour in an iced-tea pitcher before I put the pitcher in the fridge. Generally, I also leave the leaves in to continue cold-steeping.

And it’s great! Really crisp and refreshing, a bit like lime Kool-Aid, but less sweet and more rejuvenating. If you have any lime mojito pre-mixed stuff around, it’s also nice to pour a splash of that into this tea to pump it up.

Unfortunately, the above described method is not a terribly cost-efficient use of tea leaves – even rooibos. Still, if you have some of this around that you’d like to use up, try that.

I hope at some point that Teavana tries for another tea with a similar taste profile, but stronger flavour. A lemon-lime theme shouldn’t be a bust, but the flavour needs more punch.

This is…weird. Yeah. So I taste natural lemon but artificial lime flavoring, and it’s tart. The tartness is cut by the naturally sweet green rooibos, but it’s still an odd pairing. For some reason. For me. Right now. I normally love any kind of green rooibos, and especially something citrusy. But this just isn’t working for me. Maybe it’s better iced? I will investigate later. But this is not one for my office, this is a temperamental, at-home only tea.

Backlog #7
Hmmm. HMMMMM. I need to try this again. It brewed up kindof medicinal like… almost as if there was ginger in there. I think it must be my association with Lemon. I didn’t get much fruit. Definitely not my fave rooibos, kindof standard and similar to others I already have. maybe I can marry it with one of my mates or other forgotten samples in my cupboard.
It was a bit biting as well. Harsher than I prefer.

I enjoy this tea most iced. The lemongrass is really flavorful in this blend. The citrus taste in this is very refreshing. My hubby drank a whole pitcher of this in one day! This tea is leaving my cupboard today, but will be revisited again.

Tea #3 from Traveling Tea Box C

This was the only tea I completely removed from the box. I felt a bit guilty for taking it out, but there was only enough for one serving.

I love rooibos, but I generally haven’t enjoyed Teavana blends— especially their green rooibos. This was surprisingly good, so naturally Teavana has discontinued it. Jerks.

Despite the citrusy name, I didn’t find that the citrus components of the flavor to be the strongest. The sip started with tart apple and finished with a bit of kiwi. There was a flavor I couldn’t pin down, but after consulting the ingredients list I decided it must be the mint. It does a great job of balancing all of the flavors without punching you in the face.

Tea #14 from Traveling Tea Box C

Another one I cold steeped.

I wasn’t really too fond of this, I thought the lemon flavor was well done, but the lime crossed into the candy/artificial land. It might even remind me a little of Kool Aid.

The other thing I noticed was that I tasted the green rooibos. Normally with cold steeped green rooibos and citrus, I can’t taste the rooibos (or at least not to a degree that it’s really rooibos-y in my brain).

I think I liked the Tahitian Limeade that came out before this better.

Tea #20 from the traveling tea box.

Hmmm… this tea tastes odd hot, but it’s a whole other story iced. The citrus really stands out and surprisingly enough I can hardly taste the rooibos. What I do taste a lot of is the lemongrass and while I cook with it a lot, I haven’t really had it in many teas.

I don’t particularly care for this one, I’m just not a fan of citrus teas, but if you like lemon then chances are good that you’ll like this blend.

Thank you to Indigobloom for a sample of this one! I’ve been eying it for a while, and so I’m really glad I got to try it. Especially since I didn’t enjoy it that much. It tasted to me like dissolved Vitamin C tablets with a dash of grapefruit juice. I didn’t get any lime to it, and I definitely didn’t find any kiwi flavour. I added some sugar with took away the bite of the “grapefruit”, but then it became a bland slightly sweetened lemon flavour, which did nothing to make me crave it again.

Experience buying from Teavana Online http://steepster.com/places/2822-teavana-online-atlanta-georgia

Appearance and aroma of dry leaf: It has a very strong citrus scent, which I really like. It doesn’t look like there is much green rooibos tea in here, but it may be that much of the tea is on the bottom of the bag I am currently using; lot’s of apple bits.

Brewing guidelines: four tsp tea, four cups water; six-cup ceramic teapot, tea in large, metal tea-ball; stevia added.
……….1st: Off boil, slightly warmed pot; 2’
……….2nd: Boiling, warmed pot; 4’
……….3rd: Spot on boiling, warmed pot, 8’

Color and aroma of tea liquor: light yellow color, mild lemon scent.

Flavor of tea liquor: The lemon flavor is strong: we could both easily discern a lemon note on the middle of our tongues (is this where the taste buds that detect citrus-y flavors, are?). This tea reminds us both of Teavana’s Citron Green tea blend, which is a tea we have both enjoyed.

Blends well with: I would think, because the flavor is not too strong, that it would blend well with many different teas that don’t conflict with a lemon flavor.

Value: Great at 50-75% off the regular price (same as Teavana’s Zocolatte Spice: $1.70 for 2oz at 75% off).

Overall: Even more than the Zocolatte Spice, my wife and I both enjoyed this tea from start to finish. It has a great aroma and very refreshing flavor. Yet, as with the Zocolatte Spice, I think it may take more than one tsp of tea per cup of water to give it as strong a flavor as we would like, which is why I wouldn’t want to pay full price for this tea; still, luckily I bought lots of this tea on sale, so, I look forward to brewing up this delicious lemon lime tea all throughout the year!

Gave this a try because is currently 50% off at Teavanna. I don’t usually go for citrus or fruity flavors but this is deliciously refreshing. Too bad the mark down is due to it being discontinued. I planned on mixing it with my plain green teas, but first brew I made i drank it hot and unsweetened and loved it. I can say it worked out well that my arm was twisted to buy more then I planned..lol.