This was another one of my recent Teavana acquisitions. I had high hopes for this tea, as it smelled delightful when I looked at it in the store.
However, I took it home and noticed when I brewed it, that it was weak and had an artificial grape flavor. Upon researching, I realized that it is indeed, an artificial grape flavor added. And it's not a very good one. It tasted more like unsweetened grape Kool-Aid than a real grape. If it had tasted more realistic, I probably would not have minded the artificial flavor. Basically, this tea was disappointing. I tried it both hot and cold, and it kept tasting like unsweetened Kool-Aid...even when I added sugar.
Rating:
2/5 stars
Buy this tea here:
Grape Wulong
Price: $12.98/2 oz
On my most recent trip to Teavana, this particular tea caught my eye. I love dragonfruit, though it is a subtly flavored fruit, and I wondered how it would work in a tea. The aroma of the dried leaves from the can was sweet and tropical. I smelled notes of mango and lemongrass along with the dragonfruit.
I decided to brew this up strong for a pitcher of it iced. At first, I didn't like it. The tartness of the hibiscus was all I could taste, but after a few more sips, it grew on me and I could taste more of the dragonfruit flavor. I don't love it, but I no longer hate it like I did at first.
Rating:
2/5 stars
Buy this tea here:
Dragonfruit Devotion
Price: $7.98/2 oz
This tea had potential,but it didn't quite live up to it.
As the name implies, this tea is full of wonderful, fruity aromas, however, the peach, papaya and apples that lend their sweet, tropical notes to the brewing fragrance, but the flavor falls a little short. That said, I have found that the notes come out a bit brighter if it is cold steeped for several hours.
This is not a bad tea at all, just a little disappointing. One great quality of it is that it blends well with other fruity teas.
Rating:
3/5 stars
Buy this tea here:
Fruta Bomba
Price: $6.98/2 oz
I had high hopes for this tea. It smells divine, both dry and while steeping. But it really is all smell.
The aroma is what you'd guess, a creamy strawberry fragrance, reminiscent of strawberry ice cream or strawberries and whipped cream. But both the strawberry flavor and creamy flavor ar absent in the brewed tea. Instead, there is a strong tart flavor of hibiscus, and not much else. It becomes a little more palatable with some sugar and vanilla almond milk, but it still doesn't taste nearly as good as I had hoped. The tart hibiscus makes it taste like a green, unripe strawberry, instead of a sweet and ripe one. Since the tea leaves still smell good, maybe I'll use this one as a potpourri.
Rating:
2/5 stars
This tea is no longer available from Teavana.
I tried this tea on a whim. I have a lot of various strawberry flavored teas, and I really didn't need another one. However, I am thrilled that I tried this one as it has jumped to the edge of the pack among strawberry flavored teas.
I love this tea because the pink grapefruit and hibiscus give it a tartness that shines when the tea is sweetened. This tea is amazing iced. It tastes like a glass of summer. The apples mellow the tartness just enough, and the tea itself is a refreshing, herbal xue long green tea.
This is one of those teas that I will keep going back to for a long time. It's just lovely as a summertime drink. Try blending it with lemonade for a crowd-pleasing, refreshing picnic drink!
Rating:
5/5 stars
Buy this tea here:
Strawberry Grapefruit Xue Long
Price: $12.98/2 oz
If you are looking for a tasty, caffeine free chai, Teavana's Rooibos Chai may be your answer.
Awhile back, during some colder weather, I was on a chai kick, but I wanted to cut back on caffeine. I went to Teavana, and noticed their Rooibos Chai and sampled it. It was everything you would want in a chai, lots of heady, Indian-inspired spices. I could taste the cinnamon, cardamom and ginger notes. This particular chai is a bit heavy on the spice, but I either use less tea or add some milk to counteract the strong flavor.
I like to drink this chai with a bit of sugar and some milk for a latte. I almost always drink it hot, but it makes a good iced chai latte as well.
Also, rooibos usually can be re-steeped with good results. This makes it a pretty great value.
Rating:
3/5 stars
Buy this tea here:
Rooibos Chai
Price: $4.98/2 oz
I have a love/hate relationship with Teavana. They're very expensive, much like their parent company, Starbucks. However, they really do have tasty teas and quality products. I've actually been a Teavana fan since before the Starbucks acquisition, when a friend took me to one of their stores in Nashville. Even though they are expensive, I've managed to spend a few hundred dollars there in the last couple of years.
One of my most recent buys from Teavana is the Raspberry Balsamico herbal blend. They had a blend of this tea and their Limeade Twist herbal tea in their sample station. Though I'm not a huge fan of lime, I found the blend very good.
I ended up purchasing a few teas and accessories and my purchase entitled me to a free store-made beverage. I decided to try the Raspberry Balsamico by itself, iced. WOW. All I can say is amazing. SUCH a delicious beverage. After the first sip, I immediately added a 4 oz bag of the blend to my purchase.
I had heard in the past that some Teavana customers had a hard time replicating the flavor that the store's baristas make when brewing at home, so I read some tips online and gave it a whirl.
I brewed it in 208 degree water and used 1 1/2 teaspoons of tea and 1 teaspoon of rock sugar per cup. I sipped it hot and freshly brewed, but this tisane's star power comes out when it's iced. The raspberry name is kind of a misnomer. Sure there are raspberries in the tea, and the flavor definitely comes out, but it's a perfect berry blend. Blueberries, grapes, strawberries, currants, elderberries and even juniper berries feature in this blend, and they all marry wonderfully. I especially love the inclusion of currants...just enough to give that bright currant flavor, but not so much to make it sour.
As the name implies, there is also a touch of balsamic vinegar in the blend, which is outstanding. I am one of those people that shops at oil and vinegar stores to get the latest and greatest balsamic and olive oil infusions for my recipes. I love balsamic vinegar, and the slight addition of it's earthy twang just caps off this near-perfect blend.
If you hadn't realized, this is pretty much my Holy Grail of herbal teas. So delicious.
Rating:
5/5 stars
Buy this tea here:
Raspberry Balsamico
Price: $9.98/2 oz
