77 Tasting Notes
I guess Teavana wanted us to have one tranquil dream, or they would have added an ‘s’. More likely, another tea firm already has a tea called “Tranquil Dreams” and they wanted to insure their own name was different. I don’t know where the “(Night Night)” comes from, as it wasn’t on the label, nor in the catalog, nor even the store itself. Whatever, this is their entry in the herbal “let’s relax you for bed” category.
Hence the chamomile. Lots, yet not overwhelming, which is good. There’s lemongrass, but it’s an undertone, nicely blending, understated. Finally there’s supposed to be hibiscus—but you could have fooled me. I enjoy hibiscus, but the amount in Teavana Tranquil Dream is so understated, I’m not sure I even noticed it. Mind you, this sample is a few years old, but normally hibiscus makes itself known.
It was a pleasant pot of tea. For what Teavana charges, I’ll take my chances with a cheaper brew for a bedtime beverage. It was enjoyable, but not enough for me to go downtown to Teavana and purchase more.
Preparation
Twinings was the first Earl Grey tea I ever had. Something about that flavor so intrigued me I fell in love immediately. I have tasted other Earl Grey blends, enjoyed some more than others. But Twinings Earl Grey is imprinted on me. I enjoy it any time I have brewed it, and love the fact it’s decaffeinated, too.
Flavors: Bergamot, Lemongrass
Preparation
Got in a sample pack with a PBS order. Glad to try, as I’m a DA fan, though not obsessed. I liked the the strength of this, as I like a good breakfast black tea. Oddly, while others have mentioned a pronounced ginger taste, I didn’t find it that way. I did taste the ginger, but to me it was lost in the sea of assam, only surfacing at the end. My main complaint with all the DA sample teabags is too little tea for that small sachet. I did like this, but wish there were more tea per bag.
Flavors: Dark Wood, Ginger
Preparation
Got this in a sample packet from a PBS purchase. Liked it, yet found it disappointing. Glad it’s still summer, as this tea has a Kool-Aid kind of flavor, which at least goes with the season. However, it’s got an artificial quality to the flavor, which I would attribute to the stevia in it. I dislike artificial sweeteners, even those of the so-called ‘natural’ variety. One can definitely taste that in here—more so than most other flavors. I didn’t taste any rose, but for me that was a plus, since I’m not too crazy for flowery teas. I couldn’t really taste the hibiscus either, which was disappointing, as I do like that. I liked it, but not enough to want to buy it again.
Flavors: Artificial, Raspberry, Rosehips, Summer, Sweet
Preparation
This tea is absolutely heavenly. I’d held off drinking it till yesterday (9-9-15) in honor of Queen Elizabeth II having outreigned Queen Victoria. It’s like Super Earl Grey—only daintily, beautifully more piquant. The lemon and grapefruit touches enhance the bergamot. It’s just outstanding. Even cold in the cup (I’d made it hot) having cooled, it was delicious. I had it lightly sweetened with just a bit of sugar. I cannot praise it highly enough!
Flavors: Bergamot, Earl Grey, Grapefruit, Lemon Zest
Preparation
What a great iced tea this makes! It brewed up dark, looking like regular (black) tea, although it’s herbal. I had brewed a couple bags together to have one for a nightcap, then refrigerated the rest. Two days later, I grabbed it in the morning—wow! This is a terrific iced tea! So cool and refreshing! (Yeah, duh, it’s mint—so cool and refreshing is a given!)
Do I recommend this—as an ICED TEA, YES!
Preparation
“The Prince” (by Kristina Moy) is the first Severus Snape-inspired custom tea from Adagio Teas I’ve sampled. I was afraid that the not-quite-a-heaping-teaspoon wasn’t quite enough for my two-cup teapot; I was right. I let it steep longer to help make up the difference. It was still a little weaker than I would have brewed it earlier in the day, but for evening it was fine. It had a good deep green tea flavor (not surprising, since its makeup is hojicha and gunpowder with lemongrass). The lemongrass was nicely balanced, not overpowering or intrusive. I liked it, and will definitely be drinking it again—soon! Kudos to Ms. Moy for an enjoyable blend (Severus in a rare good mood—a little stern with the depth of green tea flavor, but relaxing nonetheless)!
Flavors: Green, Lemongrass, Smooth
Preparation
This is my idea of a nice cup of chai: a well-rounded group of warm flavors, all interestingly competing for notice, but none sticking out to the detriment of the entire blend. The tasters at CS did a terrific job blending all these flavor notes together. There’s the warmth of the cinnamon and cardamon piqued with a bit of star anise. There’s a subtle bit of licorice taste, though that’s probably from the star anise. The black pepper fills out the background quietly. I blend a bag or two of my other chai blends with it, so this one can mellow it all out together.
Do I recommend this tea? Absolutely!
Preparation
I am glad to be finishing up this box. I confess I generally make a pot of chai, and blend at least two different chai blend teas together, in order to average out any extreme flavors from one end of the taste spectrum to another.
This tea has what I call an ‘angular’ taste: too much ginger, too much anise, too much of a ‘cool’ distant set of flavors in what I want to have ‘warm’ flavors. The cinnamon gets lost amid all the ginger, which I normally would love—but not here. This blend tastes ‘unbalanced’ to me, for want of another phrase. I don’t like this tea by itself.
However—when blended with another chai, like Celestial Seasonings’ India Spice CHAI TEA, it harmonizes beautifully, fills those chai flavors out.
So: By itself, I don’t recommend this one. BUT TOGETHER WITH ANOTHER CHAI? YES!
Flavors: Anise, Artificial, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Ginger
Preparation
Very mild-tasting, gentle unassuming mint tea, is the general impression for this one. The taste of the chamomile is so subtly blended in, it’s more a whisper than an announcement.
I too am a member of the insomniac club, so welcome this as a nice go-to-bed cup. On the bland side, but one doesn’t want excitement before trying to sleep. I made a pot of it so that tonight’s will be at room temp, rather than hot. Nighty-night!
Flavors: Spearmint