Margaret's Golden Apple Spice Green T

This is another tea I got from Margaret's at a 50% discount.  To be honest, I haven't been feeling the urge to drink heavier teas despite the autumn weather.  This tea combines a lighter green tea base (they say sencha) with apple cider flavor.

Outsides:  First off, this is not on Margaret's site because a lot of things aren't on Margaret's site, but also possibly because it's on sale.  I also did a quick google search and could not find any teas that look like they have the same ingredients that I saw from the package.  From what I remember, the base is sencha and the add-ins are apple pieces, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, saffron threads and other things that I don't remember.  It's a very colorful blend and smells a bit like the spice of apple cider.  I steeped it in 185 degree water for 3 minutes.  It's a nice golden color as the name suggests and smells like fall spice.

Insides:  First off, the base is ok but nothing that you'd want to drink on your own.  It's smooth, has a medium body and isn't too bitter.  As for the flavorings, you get a lot more spice than apple.  There is a sweet and sour fruity midnote surrounded by the cinnamon and cloves and allspice and all the other spices that are in there.  These spices completely overwhelm the tea taste and the fruit taste.

Tilt:  I got this tea at a deep discount and can't find a good retailer online BUT I'm sure you can get some cheap sencha and jurryrig your own blend for some cheap price.  I think it's actually a lovely fall tea but I don't think I'll really drink it in the spring or summer months.  Because it's flavored, I think it's good to drink cold or with sugar.  I think my biggest problem with it is that it's pretty much a green chai with a hint of a fruity taste.  But, if I want something spicy then i'll probably get a chai and there are plenty of those with different bases (black, green and red).

Overall:  There's nothing wrong with it or bad tasting but if you want something like it, just get a green chai.

My Rating:  Pass.

Maragret's is a tea retailer in the Squirrel Hill district of Pittsburgh.

Quick Review: Twinnings Hazelnut Chai and Free Samples!

I apologize in advance for the lack of pictures but I had just gotten these samples in the mail and really wanted to try the Hazelnut Chai for breakfast.  Twinnings USA has a site where you can get free samples of three different teas.  Naturally, I'm all about the free stuff despite not even drinking bagged tea so I ended up getting the hazelnut chai, spiced apple chai and lady grey (which I've tried but have really enjoyed).  Anyway, I just got the samples yesterday so don't expect them for a few weeks after ordering them.

Outsides:  Twinnings Hazelnut Chai black tea is part of their holiday collection and is their blend of chai tea with hazelnut flavoring added in.  It's in a normal tea sachet.  I let the tea steep in almost boiling water for 5 minutes.  Honestly, pictures of this tea would be pretty boring because it's just a boring black tea color.  The hazelnut adds a nice scent that is noticeable and strong but not as overpowering as something like Adagio's Chestnut black tea (which has been a fall favorite of mine). 

Insides:  Although there is a strong hazelnut smell, it doesn't really add much to the taste of the tea and if you've had the normal Twinnings Chai, that's pretty much what it tastes like.  For those of you who don't know, Twinnings actually does a pretty decent job making a chai tea.  It's not as good as Margaret's (or actually, Metropolitan Tea Company) but Twinnings has a small amount of heat to their tea with a nice amount of sweet spice and it goes well with half-and-half.  For a bagged tea, it's fairly well balanced and I was surprised at how smooth and un-bitter it was despite me thinking I oversteeped.  I did end up adding hazelnut Coffee Mate to it because I wanted a treat for breakfast, and the extra hazelnut flavor complemented the tea nicely. 

Tilt:  Twinnings is relatively inexpensive and I like how they have a few varieties on their chai tea (Hazelnut, extra spice, apple cider and vanilla).  I'm a big fan of hazelnut flavoring and appreciate that a big-name brand is providing slightly more unique tea flavorings.  I'd imagine this tea would be good cold, but it's not quite strong enough to make lattes and such out of (btw guys, I bought a cheap milk-frother and find that it makes the best matcha whisk). 

Overall:  Is this tea something you REALLY need?  No, not really.  If you want a fun bagged tea for work, this might be a good choice but I'd just buy a normal chai you know you'd like and some hazelnut syrup/creamer/flavored stevia drops and achieve it that way.

My Rating:  Pass/Try it.  

Twinnings is one of the most famous tea retailers in the world and because of that, is available in pretty much every drug and grocery store.

Teavana Samurai Chai Mate/ maharaja chai oolong blend

So, I got this as a free sample, which is good for multiple reasons.  For one thing, you have to buy at least 2 oz of each tea when you go to Teavana and since this is a blend, that means 4 oz of tea (probably putting you back $15).  Second, this is a tea that Teavana likes to push so it's nice that I get the experience without having to buy the extra tea.  And lastly, I like chai a lot.  Ok, the last thing I tried from Teavana was a flop, but that can happen.

Outsides:  I'm feeling lazy so I'll just say that this is a blend of green mate, green rooibos and oolong with all those fantansic chai spices.  I brewed about 2 teaspoons of this at near boiling for 5 minutes.  The tea is a medium dark murky brown and smells sweet and spicy.

Insides:  This is actually a pretty good chai and if I didn't have Adagio and the spices to make chai at home, I would probably get suckered into it.  It's a strong chai with a lot of pepper and ginger, but it's paired with a base that isn't so bitter so you can drink it without milk.  This sample already has sugar in it so I'm not really pleased about that, and the tea is a bit heavy on the cardamon.  But this is definately something I'd drink for breakfast since the mate gives a lot of energy (perfect to drink before a night out).

Overall:  I don't think you should buy this for the price they're asking for it but I like it.  Look online for the free sample codes.

My Rating:  Try it!

Teavana is a chain tea retailer found in many a mall across U.S.A and Canada.

Teavana Sweet Mango Chai

  

So, my haul finally arrived.  I tried to get a variety of teas to try from Teavana including 2 white teas, 2 mates, a green, an oolong, a pure herbal and a free sample of a mate/oolong blend.  But, I'm excited because  it's not often that I can actually afford getting this much tea from Teavana and they seem to have some unique blends.  As you know, I'm a huge fan of mango and a huge fan of chai so I thought this should be really good.  Plus, it apparently has oolong which is becoming a favorite of mine as well.

Outsides:  Ingredients include mango, apple, oolong, coconut, cardamon, cinnamon, ginger, tangermine peel, black pepper and mango flavoring.  So, I've made a few teas from Teavana before writing this review and have discovered a new game that can be played called Where's the Tea, because I dug to the bottom of this bag and only got a few oolong leaves.  I brewed probably around 2 teaspoons of this in 8 oz of 90 degree water for about 5 minutes.  The liquid is really cloudy, really light yellow and this smells like spiced mango.

Insides:  Um...where's the tea?  It's not that I don't like flavored tea at all and usually, I want more flavor than less but this is absolutely ridiculous.  I oversteeped the crap out of this and there still isn't any tea flavor to it.  On top of that, the chai is weak as well.  The head of the flavor is sweet mango which is followed by a mostly ginger tasting chai, light body, a little astringency but I did have SOME oolong in there.  It just seems like a mess.

Overall:  No.  This is not tea and if I paid the 7 dollars or however much it was SUPPOSED to be, I would be pissed.

Taste:  Fruit and spice but weak despite me adding an obscene amount of tea.
Price:  Whatever it is, you can probably make this blend for 1/4 of the price.  In fact, I paid 1/4 the price and I feel ripped-off.
Uniqueness:  You get this one, Teavana.  The concept is definitely unique and it would have been nice getting a strong chai with a mango base to it.  This tea is unique for all of the wrong reasons though.
Usability:  I'm updating these criteria for reviews a few weeks after I wrote this post and I have to say, this is not a bad blend for mixing with Prestogeorge's Fancy Mango to give it some umph.  By itself, this tea is utterly useless.

My Rating:  Stay Away!

Teavana is a chain tea retailer that is found in many a mall across the United States and Canada.  Their teas often start from 5 dollars for 2 oz of the most basic blends and they have a lot of flavored teas.  

TasTEA Time! Adagio Thai Chai

It's that time of the year!  No, I don't mean the mega-holiday season, but FALL!  Trees changing color, warm jackets and delicious fall drinks like cider and pumpkin everything (there will be more on pumpkins later).  But one of my favorite fall-time drinks (or anytime drinks for that matter) is the chai latte.  It's sweet, spicy and if you have a coffee shop that can actually make them, light and fluffy.  However, it's pretty hard to get that "perfect" chai:  one that is strong enough in flavor to be able to take some milk.  Twinnings makes a decent one, but they are hard to come by unless you make them yourself.  But now we have this lovely from Adagio.

This marks the first time I have ordered from Adagio and I will gladly review my overall experience when I have time.  I'd also like to review the local tea shop I go to (I have so many blends from there) so look forward to that.

Outsides:  Adagio Teas come in little bags unless you order specific tins which are impervious to light.  I got a sample of this, which says it's enough for 10 cups and I'd say about 8.  I brewed about 2 teaspoons at slightly below boiling for about 4 minutes.  The tea is a lighter color than I expected but smells very gingery and with a heavy scent of coconut.  I added some cream and sugar.

Insides:  I am really impressed b this.  It's a nice strong chai with a nice, spicy kick but the sweet coconut and citrus flavors really make this unique.  The spice blend is fantastic with a focus on the ginger and cardamon but a whole variety of mid-flavors.  .It's very reminiscent of islands and I'd even say that it tastes "lighter" than most chai, making it a nice for both warm and cold days.  It also took milk and sugar well and kept a lot of it's flavor.

Overall:  This one was a good start for Adagio and if your local tea shop doesn't have a blend like this then check it out.

My Rating:  Try/Buy it!  

Adagio is an online tea shop  that sells a variety of teas in sample sets, 3 oz, a pound or teabags.  I actually got a twitter just for the discounts and will try to post $5 coupons as much as I can on it so if you don't mind a bit of tea-spam, my twitter is @teaandpolish and you can get $5 off if you use those coupons.  Apparently, I can't do this via blogger so...yeah, but if you don't want to follow twitter then I can email you a certificate as well.  Adagio is also sold at Whole Foods.

TasTEA Time! Uncle Lee's Imperial Organic Vanilla Rooibus Chai

So, I think Rooibus makes the best chai tea base.  This is just an opinion, but it tastes like tea, can be steeped indefinitely without getting bitter and holds up a wide variety of flavors.  Now, if you want GOOD chai, you should make it yourself (tutorial coming soon-ish), but there's nothing wrong with having a few sachets for a quick chai once in a while.

Outsides:  The sachets are all individually foil-wrapped for freshness and you can smell that freshness the moment you open it.  It's a lovely rust color and smells like cardamon, cinnamon and hints of vanilla.

Insides:  You know, the vanilla really makes it for me.  This isn't the strongest chai and quite frankly, you should make your own, but for a "quick" chai, it hits the spot.  As stated in the intro, rooibus provides a nice base free of bitterness so the sweet spices and vanilla really shine through.  The predominant flavors are cardamon, cinnamon and vanilla,with some ginger, clove and a bit of spice from the black pepper.  There's also a hint of stevia in here but it works well bringing out the sweet flavor.  The vanilla really makes this creamy and delicious.

Overall:  For cheap organic chai, it's pretty good.  Super strong chai purists may not like it, but it's worth a try.

My Rating: Try it!  Here's the website.

TasTEA Time! Twinnings Chai

What:  Chai Tea from one of the most well known tea companies in the world.

Where:  England

Why should I care:  It's starting to get chilly and to me, nothing beats the chills quite like chai tea.  Chai Lattes are one of my favorite drinks but it can be hard finding a ready-made chai tea that is flavorful enough to withstand the barrage of half-and-half and sugar I throw at it.   Twinnings is generally a good brand, has strong flavors and is widely available.

Packaging:  Each sachet is individually foil-wrapped which is awesome because you want your chai tea to be as fresh as possible for as long as possible.  It also has a nice little dispenser box for if you're a food service person who likes to display their tea.

Non-Taste Senses:  The tea is your typical black tea color.  It smells really spicy though.

And then I added Half-and-half and spices on  top.  If you have access to a milk foamer, USE IT!!!!

Taste:  The thing about chai is that it really doesn't matter how it tastes until you add milk so I tried it both ways.  Without milk, I honestly couldn't drink it because of how spicy it was.  With milk, it still hold up.  There's actually a tingle on my tongue from the spices.  I don't think it's strong enough to make a chai milkshake to, but this is good for those chilly days when you need something warm and comforting.

Overall:  Honestly, if you want good, strong, spicy chai tea then you should just make it yourself using whatever spices you want and black tea (time to make a recipe!).  However, not all of us have the time or the need to buy cardamon  Twinnings Chai is good for when you need chai in a pinch and is a great fall beverage drunk with a bit of milk/creamer/soymilk/half-and-half/whatever.

My Rating:  Try it!  Here's the Chai page (If anyone really loves me, you should send me some of the other flavors preferably pumkin spice.  One or two bags would be nice).