Prestogeorge's Coconut Vanilla Black Tea

So, I'm kind of in a tea no-buy right now.  Part of it is honestly because I have way too much tea and need to drink the stuff I have.  For example, I think I got this one in November and have only really gotten rid of it via mixing it with the Bananas Foster tea (which is another one that I love but never drink).  I figured that I'd try making some iced tea with this for dinner and see what it's like.

Outsides:  Prestogeroge just puts their teas in paper bags with ties on the end, which seems to work because I haven't noticed too much of a degradation in flavor.  I'm sorry I don't have a picture of the leaves but they're pretty much your standard black tea.  I brew 1.5 teaspoons of this in almost boiling water for 4 minutes.  The tea looks dark and has a light coconut scent. 

Insides:  The coconut and vanilla flavors bring a lot of sweetness to this while also offsetting the bitterness.  They also are a great combination (which isn't too surprising) because of how the vanilla adds a slight bit of creme flavor to the vanilla, making it more decadent.  The base tea is flavorful but not too robust.  I think the flavor diminished a bit over time, but it seems like an assam and ceylon blend.  I do like this hot and it makes a great winter treat with some added milk, but this REALLY shines as iced tea.  OH MY GAWD, it tastes like summer.   The sugar really brings out the sweetness of the coconut while the tea keeps its light texture. 

Tilt:  Obviously, this is a summer drink.  It's also pretty cheap, much like the vast majority of teas from Prestogeorge.  I don't think a coconut tea is unique to them so I'm sure that you can find an equivalent somewhere else.  I just really should use up more of my teas.

Overall:  Obviously, you need to like coconut to like this.  But I can't think of many teas more perfect than this for the summer.

My Rating:  Buy (for the summer) and Try (for every other time)

Prestogeorge is a local tea shop in Pittsburgh with a wide variety of tea and coffee. 

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.

K-cup Review: Green Mountain Coffee Island Coconut

Check out my sweet cow pajama pants!  Blogger fashion, woo!

Outsides:  Your average K-cup.  It smells like coffee and coconut mixed together.

Insides:  This one has more of a balance between the coconut flavor and coffee than the Doughnut shop did.  It's a light roast, but the flavor is lighter and makes this a coffee with a slight coconut flavor as opposed to coconut with some coffee.  The coffee has more of a sweet note to it, but that's how a lot of mild coffees are.  Not a bad coconut coffee.

Overall:  It's a good flavor if you like coconut.  The coffee and flavor are well balanced and I'm looking forward to trying more flavored blends from Green Mountain.

My Rating:  Try it!  Here's a product page:  Green Mountain Island Coconut

K-Cup Reviews: Coffee People Donut Shop Coconut Mocha

Yes, I'm going back to reviewing tea soon, but it was a rough day at work.  You see, I work 2 jobs:  One at Big Lots during weekdays and the other at Pitt during the weekends, which is great because the worst days at BL are during the weekends.  People are cranky, think they're the center of the universe and all shop on the same day.  I haven't had that many bad days at BL after not working weekends, but I guess everyone wanted to do their last minute shopping and dear god, it was a doosey.  All I really want to do is have some of this fru-fru flavored coffee and relax (probably make a cup of tea later).

I was excited about this for three reasons.  First, Coffee People is generally a good brand.  If you look at the Keurig website and other venders, you'll notice that the Coffee People Donut Shop is usually at or near the top of the list.  It's also a medium roast, which is a bit unique for a lot of flavored coffees because they tend to be light roasts.  Last but certainly not least, it's coconut and chocolate!  I mean, that sounds delicious, like a Mounds bar without the sugar.

Outside:  It's your average K-cup, but it does have a pretty cool design on the lid.  Sadly, this does not amaze me with its brewing smell, just a little bit of coconut but the coffee itself smells like coconut.

Insides:  The coffee isn't the strongest in the flavor department, but is very smooth and slightly sweet.  The coconut flavor is more in the smell than in the coffee, but that's actually pretty nice since it isn't overpowering.  and the chocolate serves a a nice background flavor.  It's not very bitter or acidic and tastes more like a cookie than coffee.

Overall:  I think it's solid and a fun flavor to boot.  The coffee's a bit light, but if you're just looking for something different or need a cool flavor to mix into your collection, check it out.

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

Review! Phenom Blueberry Pomme Coconut water

Greetings from Pitt!

What:  Blueberry Pom flavored Coconut Water

Where:  USA

Why Should I Care:  I love coffee but let's face it:  It isn't that good for you.  Caffiene, in all it's stimulating glory, is technically a drug and is something that when I personally get too much of it, it makes my brain crash.  So I'm attempting to get that morning boost of energy from other sources.  Now for the record, I also try to avoid those energy shots because they're supposedly even worse than coffee despite claims of grandeur.  However, I haven't heard anything bad about coconut water.  The other kind I tried (O.N.E) had all kinds of energy-botanicals to it so in a way, this is a step down.  But it's GNC, a highly-overpriced product (which I ended up getting for 75 cents) with vitamins and added goodness!

Packaging:  This one also comes in a Tetra pack for added refrigeration convenience.  I'm looking at the supplement information though and have to say, I'm not that impressed.  Yeah, it has 150% vitamin C but that's really the only stand-out.  It says it has more potassium than a banana but the information says it only has 2% (is it a typo).

Non-Taste Senses:  It smells kinda like (normal) milk with a hint of blueberries.

Taste:  There's no sugar added so don't expect this to be sweet.  As strange as this may sound, it tastes like a watered down, unsweetened, blueberry milk.  It has a decent blueberry flavor and coconut milk tends to be a bit thicker (and has a slight lactose taste).  The blueberry flavor also goes well with the coconut milk and works better than say, lemon lime.  Make sure to refrigerate it because the thick texture doesn't take room temp well.

Overall:  It's ok.  I think you really need to know whether you accept the taste of coconut milk and the blueberry (because there is no pom) lends well to the taste.  If you find it for a buck (which is probably impossible), check it out.

My Rating:  Try it!  Here's the site but this flavor seems to be discontinued.

Review: O.N.E Active Coconut Water Grapefruit Cranberry

I think I'm just gonna put non-tea/coffee/hot-cocoa/ soda drinks as reviews.  I don't expect to have many of these, but I don't feel like making up a name for every random new type of drink.

What:  Grapefruit and Cranberry flavored Coconut water.

Where:  USA

Why Should I Care:  Coconut water is all kinds of good for you.  It makes one of the best sports drinks (even better than Gatorade), it's full of potassium, it's isotonic to the body's fluid and supposidly, can be used as an IV fluid.  The sports drink part really stuck out to me though since I hate Gatorade (I bought lime flavored on clearance and despite loving lime, it's still sitting by me with 3/4ths in the bottle).  You really don't need any kind of sports drink unless you're working out heavily for more than an hour and a half, but they're nice to have.  Plus this one has Ginseng and energy-boosting herbs.

Packaging:  I like the box-type packaging.  

Non-Taste Senses:  It's a light red color and smells lightly of cranberry.

Taste:  You know what?  It's actually pretty good.  Unlike Gatorade, it doesn't have that hint of salt so it ends up tasting more like a light cranberry juice instead of a sports drink.  The texture is a little bit thicker than your average non-milk drink and it isn't as sweet or as strong as a juice, but it also tastes like they use actual fruit as opposed to artificial flavoring.  

Overall:  I recommend it.  It's not something I'd drink for fun, but as far as sports drinks or even coconut water goes, it's pretty tasty.  

My Rating:  Try it.  Here's the site.  

Hot Cocoa Time! Land O Lakes Chocolate Graham hot cocoa

What:  Graham Cracker Hot Cocoa?

Where:  USA

Why Should I Care:  I'm guessing this is supposed to taste like chocolate and wheat.  Also, this is theoretically the best cocoa for marshmallows.

Packaging:  Foil package

Non-taste Senses:  It looks like hot cocoa but it smells like...coconut?

Taste:  It tastes like chocolate with coconut too.  I dunno.  The hot cocoa portion of it is really rich and creamy but that added bit of coconut throws me off.  It's ok but it's not something I recommend to people.

Overall:  I've tried about 7 flavors of Land o Lakes and this one's my least favorite.  I'm pretty sure it's seasonal and that's how it should stay.

My Rating:  Pass.  This particular flavor is special edition so you're not going to find it on the site.