My husband treated me to a couple samples of Teavana, so we’re enjoying this tea tonight and the Earl Grey tomorrow morning.
It was Jake’s first visit to a Teavana, but after watching what happened with my mom and reading some of the stories here we were prepared. We left the cards at home and only took the cash with us that we intended to spend. We were very up front about a $10 budget for tea samples, and it was so funny to watch the shop girl get more and more frustrated as she tried to push the $16/2oz teas!
But moving on to the actual review ;)
For the preparation, I used about two tablespoons of tea and two tablespoons of Sugar in the Raw in a 2-cup teapot, then a nice dash of milk once I’d poured the tea into our mugs.
From the start I was surprised at how mild it is – not exactly the fierce warrior brew I’d expect based on the title. Although my tongue does tingle slightly, it’s not exactly a kick in the mouth. The cinnamon overwhelms most of the other flavors, and I can’t really pick out the fruity elements. I can understand why other people have described it as tasting like Big Red. It’s actually kind of true.
I also can’t detect the mate element. I didn’t realize it was a mate when we bought it – there was absolutely no vegetal smell – and I was worried about it when we got home. Luckily (for me at least, because I have yet to enjoy a good mate experience) the taste is not present at all.
Sipping this, I can easily picture myself putting together the elements of a new story but I’m not exactly ready to strap on a cuirass and go to war!
