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Oh, ginger. Oh, coconut. Oh, man, this is good. I have fallen in complete love with this tea, and there’s no going back. I hope Teavana keeps it around… they have a horrible penchant for getting rid of/altering permanently my favorite teas.

Hmm. I am reminded of why I don’t drink this one much. It could be that my box is just old, but there’s an overtone to the taste that I can’t quite put my finger on. It’s metallic, kind of like the taste of a fork that’s had its polish worn down. X-P

Anyway, I kind of took an unanticipated hiatus, because of moving and all things related to it, but I’m back now! We have arrived and settled in to our new home in Colorado! It’s so nice to live somewhere with actual, real, bonafide autumn. It’s like stepping out your front doorstep into a puzzle picture. :3

Oh, and another fun but unrelated thing that happened while I was MIA: my daughter has started saying a few words now, and she now asks for tea by name. I normally share with her if I’m not drinking something caffeinated, and she loves it (‘cause what’s not to love?). :)

Oh, my, chocolate! My husband and I acquired this from Whole Foods recently, and the following morning we steeped it up with our (nearly) full breakfast.

The smell of the loose leaf is very earthy, with a hefty dose of dark chocolate and a hint of cream. I steeped it for two-ish minutes (I didn’t get my timer started right away), and it surprised me how light-colored the brew was, considering it has pu-erh in it! But the leaves had mostly sunk, so I knew it was done with the first steep.

The flavor is DEFINITELY chocolate-y. The pu-erh adds a nice malty, almost fermented note without being completely overpoweringly musty. In fact, if I didn’t know it, I might not have ever guessed that this was blended with pu-erh. It’s actually pretty naturally sweet, but we added a little light cream and sugar anyway, because, well, it’s a breakfast tea. We did end up resteeping it later, for four minutes, and it was almost identical to the first steep. Quite lovely! Glad we sprung for it (although next time I may try to get it cheaper… looking at you, Whole Foods, Land of the Fancy Grocery Store Upcharge).

My hubby and I had “second breakfast” this morning, since first breakfast came at 7:30 and we were both hungry again by 10:00, and this tea was selected to go with our bacon and eggs. I think I sweetened mine a teensy bit too much, but truthfully, the rich sweetness was a rather perfect mesh with the heavy flavors of the peppery bacon. I fully intend to re-steep this one. Simply put, this chai is perfection. I will be restocking this one.

I ordered this one a while ago, with three other SBT iced teas, but I’ve only just gotten around to pulling them out and trying one. I steeped it for the recommended amount of time, but beyond that, the instructions were very vague… So I’m not sure if it’s because I steeped it in too much water, or because I added too much water after the fact, or what. It was a bit weak. The flavor of vanilla cola was certainly present, and quite tasty, but I think the instructions need to be a bit more explicit? I don’t make iced tea that often, and so I’m not really used to the dynamics. My hubby’s usually the one who does it. I’ll go ahead and rate this one according to the flavoring, which was indeed quite good. :)

As long as you don’t steep this one too long, it’s a very decent tea. Not TOO artificial with the peach flavoring (although I’m not gonna lie, it is a little bit artificial). It would probably be dee-licious as an iced tea, but I haven’t tried it yet. I definitely will, though. :)

Oh my gosh. Slap me upside the head with cardamom, why don’tcha? That’s about what sniffing this tea is like! Don’t get me wrong, I like cardamom… in certain applications. I just am not quite sure I like it to THIS degree of intensity. It is quite literally the only thing I smell.

Okay. I have brewed it, tasted it, sweetened it slightly, and tasted it again. I have to say, the black tea here is really not strong enough to stand up to Mr. Big Mean Cardamom, although I can actually taste it. The overall flavor is just unappealing to me, to be honest. Perhaps I just like my cardamom to be accompanied by (and mellowed by) other things than just a mid-grade black tea. The husband likes it, though, so I’ll let him drink it. ;)

Speaking of the husband, super exciting news came recently! We found out that after he graduates from A School, he (meaning we, as a family!) will be stationed in Aurora, CO for his first duty tour! I am SO stoked about living there. I’ve been to CO a couple of times and LOVED it, so I can’t wait to call it home. Plus, there’s the Rocky Mountain Tea Festival coming up in August! Yippee!!

Finally got to try this one, thanks ashleyelizabeth! I’ve had my eye on this one for a bit, because I really just enjoy the heck out of chocolate mint teas. Simple, no fuss, but usually good flavor, as that combination is not hard to replicate. I’ve been excited about this one, though, because apparently chocolate mint herbals are a lot more common than chocolate mint blacks, for some reason. Maybe it’s just me.

Anyway, this is pretty decent. The base is fairly nondescript, but the chocolate and mint are well balanced. Neither flavor is very strong. I see what other people were talking about, the way the sprinkles make a kind of oily sheen on the top of the water. I don’t mind it, as it doesn’t change the mouthfeel. I might try this iced at some point, although I’m not sure how chocolate would come through in an iced tea. I guess we’ll see!