Robbin12 Send Message

I won this in a contest. I actually chose this over a trip to an international tea estate, but you know what? I’m so glad I did. This stuff is AMAZING! It comes in a pouch with a scoop. Add 1 scoop to 8 oz of warm milk and blend. I put it in my latte maker and am so impressed, I could drink this everyday. It’s frothy, a beautiful green matcha color and tastes incredible with slightest hint of caramel. I can also taste the matcha. This is going to have a permanent place in my tea cabinet!

Ok, so I was stupid. I tasted Strawberry Rose Champagne/Peach Tranquility blend in Teavana, fell in love, but only bought the Peach Tranquility. Recently, I bought this tea, thinking I could make my own blend. WRONG! It tasted nothing like the one brewed in Teavana, so I have some tweaking to do. But, this tea has a VERY strong rose scent and taste. It steeps a light amber liquor, but the taste, ugh, even though I sweetened with a little brown sugar, the rose is the dominant flavor of this tea and I am not a fan of roses, unless they’re black. I daresay the tea even smells like cheap rose attar or an old lady’s face cream. Blech! This definitely needs to be blended well and with something else.

What can I say but this is some beautiful stuff. Prior to steeping, this one resembles a bag of mixed dried fruit. The smell, OMG, absolutely delicious…just like chocolate and bananas foster. Teavana nailed this on the head! Steeped, it brews up a pale yellowish amber color, but the aroma still remains. Surprisingly, this is incredibly pleasing on the tongue. You can taste subtle bites of chocolate and unripened banana which plays seductively with a natural sweetness. Very smooth but robust blend. I will definitely be buying this again.

Peach Tranquility is exactly as it sounds…peach and tranquil. Pre-steep, this tea resembles Teavana’s myriad of tisanes with a melange of dried fruits and a sparse number of tea leaves. Steeped, it resembles old, dirty pee. The aroma of the pre-steep tea is simply intoxicating with its abundance of peach notes. Steeped, the aroma is tempered quite a bit tho it is still present. Upon tasting, the peach presence initially is missing, but it quietly reappears once the tea crosses the rear of the palate. This tea is pleasant, unassuming and unremarkable. It probably will fair best if blended with something else.

Prior to brewing, the aroma of this tea is devilishly intoxicating…nothing but amaretto! Brewed, this tea turns a gorgeous rich red that mimics merlot and the amaretto is still present, but somewhat muted. And the taste, oh my. It’s a bit tart as it contains grape and black currant, but if such a thing existed, I’d say it tastes a bit like a natural fruit punch. It’s tasty as a hot tea, but will probably be better as an iced tea.

I love that this tea comes in a resealable kraft paper pouch, either in loose or tea bag form. Of all the teas available, this looked the most promising. Crossing my fingers, I brewed up a mug which produced a beautiful dark yellow to orange and then orange-red color. Sadly, there isn’t much of an aroma with this one. It smells like hot water. The taste isn’t any better. Again, hot water.

In the pouch, this smells like a box of Red Hots, and resembles redwood chips and dead flowers. Brewed, it yields a nice rich amber color and smells of Red Hots and a childhood medicine whose name escapes me. Tastewise, it’s not doing a thing for me. It tastes just the way it smells, like Red Hots and medicine. I definitely will not be trying this again!

Couldn’t wait to try this one…chocolate, chai…does it get any better? Well, maybe. The aroma of this unbrewed chai is delicious and smells like Mexican hot chocolate. If you’re not a fan of cinnamon and chocolate, you might not like the aroma. Once brewed, the liquor turns a beautiful, warm dark amber brown and the chocolate aroma is still present. But, that’s the end of the chocolate. The cinnamon and cloves overpower the chocolate in this chai blend although it stills makes for a decent cup of tea if you’re looking for something with a bite or punch cuz it’s a spicy one! Don’t know if I’d want to buy this one again, though.

I’m a chai lover, but have never been a fan of instant chai or chai mixes. But, after reading about this one, I just had to try it! Prior to brewing, this mixture resembles coffee grounds which I presume is the black tea ground with a myriad of spices. And, it smells strongly of cinnamon and cardamom. Following the directions, I dumped a scoop of this into two cups of water and boiled for 3 minutes. The aroma remained the same and permeated the house with a nice potpourri scent. I then added the milk, but threw in a little ground cardamom (couldn’t find my pods) and fresh ground ginger. Boiled 3 more minutes, strained and added my brown sugar. Resembling coffee with cream, the taste is prevalent but not quite what I expected, especially compared to chai I make per an ex-Pakistani husband’s instructions. It tasted mostly of cardamom, ginger and cinnamon. The black tea seemed to get lost and the consistency of the liquor was rather thin. I’ll probably finish my bag of Tipu at some point, but will stick to what I know when it comes to making chai. I wouldn’t say this is actual chai, but rather a chai mix although the best chai mix I’ve ever tried.

Oh my. The aroma of this tea is scintillating! Remember those Neopolitan coconut candies made by Brach’s? Well, this is exactly what the unbrewed tea smells like…so sweet it will make your mouth water. This tea brews a light brown liquor that retains a surprising amount of the coconut aroma. The taste is light and kind of funky at the front of the tongue, but full coconut bursts forth at the back of the tongue. Of the coconut teas I’ve tried, this is my fave so far.