12 Tasting Notes
I made a cup blended with CocoCaramel Sea Salt, and on a whim, decided to add some hazelnut creamer. The result was pretty good, though a tad too sweet for my taste (my husband loved it, but I won’t add the rock sugar if I’m planning to put creamer in it next time).
As Michelle pointed out, adding milk makes it look like Pepto-Bismol, but since I added CocoCaramel Sea Salt, it kind of looks like……a pinkish brownish Pepto. Color aside, it’s pretty good.
OH SNAP! This is fantastic. I’m on my first cup and am already debating what my second cup will be: another cup of this, or MateVana + hazelnut creamer that my friend just told me about.
It smells better dry than brewed, but I like the taste with or without milk. Actually, I might prefer it with milk just a teeny bit more. Definitely reminds me more of the lattes I used to drink.
For 14-16o oz of water: 3 tablespoons tea + 1.5 rock sugar, boiling water, steep for 5 min, add a little milk
Preparation
I passed by a David’s Tea and the bright colors inside immediately caught my attention. I went in to buy tea tins and came out not only with the tins, but with Salted Caramel and Red Velvet Cake teas as well.
I had been wanting to try Caramelissimo from Teavana/Teaopia but since it got discontinued, I thought Salted Caramel would be a viable substitution. It smells AMAZING dry, though it didn’t smell as good after brewing. I tasted more black tea than caramel, which made me sad. I added a little milk, and there we go! I like this better, but it had a little bitterness to it as it cooled down. May have to try drinking this in an insulated tumbler to see how a full cup tastes before cooling down significantly.
I’d also like to try this blended with Teavana’s CocoCaramel Sea Salt.
I haven’t had the chance to drink this as often as I’d like, but it’s a great cup to have as you unwind before bedtime.
I brewed 32 oz of this for my husband and me, and it was extremely weird when I went to pour it in our mugs: I use the Perfect Tea Maker from Teavana, and the first “flow” of the tea was strong and had this nice color to it. The second flow was way lighter in color and a lot weaker flavor-wise. The next time I made it, I even tried mixing it before pouring, but I had the same issue. Very weird, but nonetheless, it’s a great tea. I wonder how it is over ice?
This tea is one of my favorites for that mid-afternoon stretch. You know, when it’s 2pm and you’re struggling to stay awake from lunch and it’s not quite time to go home yet.
I love adding milk to this, as it reminds me of boba milk tea (though definitely not as sweet). At first I bought 2oz, and then Teavana had their crazy 75% off sale so I filled up a 1lb tin. This should last me a while, since you can resteep a few times.
I’m on the fence about My Morning Mate.
I ordered 2oz of Earl Grey Creme one time, and it was fine until one day, I wanted to gag drinking it. When I tried My Morning Mate, it had this citrus note that reminded me of Earl Grey…I wanted to dump it but a friend of mine had gotten it for me as part of a Christmas present and I didn’t want to be a jerk.
That being said, I’ve gotten used to the flavor and will even crave it at times. I bounce between this and MateVana for my morning cup, but more often than not, I’ll lean towards MateVana.
Preparation
LOOOOOVE this blend as an iced tea (even in the winter)! I’ve been dragging my husband with me whenever I went into Teavana and noticed he kept beelining for the sample. He likes his coffee/tea a lot sweeter than I do, so I brew this with a little bit of rock sugar, then add more sugar to his afterwards (and yes, he freely admits that he likes this because it tastes more like juice than tea, haha).
For about 28-30 oz of water, I’ll use 6 heaping teaspoons Pineapple Kona Pop, 6 teaspoons Blueberry Bliss, and 3 teaspoons rock sugar. Steep for 10 minutes with boiling water. Brew over ice, add sugar to his, and we each have iced tea with our preferred sweetness level.
One thing I’ve noticed with this is that the pineapple flavor doesn’t really shine through. I love pineapple but am reluctant to try Kona Pop on its own because of the bad reviews. Bummer.