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.  

Zen Tea Anti-Strain Herbal Tea

I'm going to assume Anti-Strain is supposed to be the Canadian Tension Tea.  I don't really drink normal tension tea, but figured I'd try a bag.  Plus, I've had too much caffeine already and don't want to be up forever.

Outsides:  This tea contains cinnamon, licorice, ginger, fennel, orange peel and cardamon and i have to say, it smells amazing, like a sweet and spicy chai tea.  I put a teaspoon and a half in 8 oz of boiling water and let it sit for 5 minutes.  The tea is the normal yellow herbal color (It's funny how many herbal teas get that color) and still smells amazing.  This also apparently supports the Dosha "vata" in accordance to Ayuvedic teachings, which I know very little about.

Insides:  Well, this smells great and it might possibly taste great except for the smack in your face of weird sweetness that is the licorice.  Is there supposed to be that much licorice in accordance to Ayuvedic principals, because the aftertaste is riddiculous.  Putting aside the licorice, which is pretty near impossible, the herbs used are the spicy sweet kind and the tea has a nice brightness to it.  But you better like licorice.

Overall:  Works great as an air freshener, not as a drink.

My Rating:  Pass.

Zen Tea is a Canadian tea retailer that specializes in mid to high quality tea. 

Yogi Ginger Tea

So, I've had this tea since....a long time.  Probably not as long as I've had the other Yogi tea at my house, but still a fairly substantial amount of time.  Since this is Ginger tea, it is supposed to aid with digestion and I've just never needed help with that in the last few months so it's been laying in my cupboard for a few weeks now.  I also enjoy ginger and have to try this sometime :/

Outside:  The tea is in an individually foil wrapped envelope with your average tea sachet with string inside.  Ingredients are all organic and include ginger, lemongrass, licorice, peppermint (which you can smell very strongly) and black pepper, so expect spicy and sweet.  I boiled about 8 oz of water and am letting the bag sit in it for 5+ minutes since this is an herbal and I just don't care.  The color is not a typical ginger tea color in that it's an opaque medium yellow as opposed to the light color that comes from ginger.  It smells like peppermint tea.

Insides:  Why did I have apprehension about trying this tea?  Because this is clearly supposed to be medicine as opposed to a fully enjoyable beverage.  It comes in and tastes a bit like peppermint but then burns as it goes down your esophagus and leaves an aftertaste of licorice.  I feel as though I'm in the wrong state of mind while reviewing this and would be much more helpful if I was hung over.  But, I feel as though I am not giving as accurate of a description of the flavor as I should so here it is.  Each herb has a component to the flavor.  The peppermint gives a nice head to what would be a flavorless beginning, the licorice adds a nice sweetness, the lemongrass gives a nice citrus hint, and the ginger and pepper burn when they go down.  There!

Overall:  This is not a tea for enjoying but possibly a good cure for a hangover.

My Rating:  Pass on flavor, try while hungover.

Yogi Tea is a nice organic tea company that specializes in holistic medicine.

Adagio Gingerbread Black Tea

So, this is the last of the 6 teas in the Holiday Stocking Stuffers collection.  I'm part of a Polish family and our gingerbread is a bit different from other gingerbread in that it's softer, but ultimately has the same flavor.  That being said, I don't care for those cookies.  I don't know why since I love ginger and spices, but I just prefer more vanilla based cookies.  But, we'll see how this tea is.

Outsides:  This tea is black tea with pieces of orange and ginger.  Also, I have no idea what constitutes Gingerbread flavor, but that's apparently what's in this.  I steeped it for 5 minutes at near boiling water.  The tea is, again, dark and smells like gingerbread, a bit gingery but warm and baked.

Insides:  This is almost like a mild non-spicy chai.  The ginger and cinnamon add a nice warmth to the flavor while the orange peel adds a nice zing.  The tea is a bit bitter but not undrinkable.  I actually like this a lot and think it gets the gingerbread flavor almost spot on.  Adding cream gives this a nice milk and cookie flavor but you should probably drink this warm.

Overall:  This is probably my second favorite tea from this collection and it's a nice tea for those cold winter nights or just getting into the holiday spirit.

My Rating:  Buy it/Try it!

Adagio is an online tea retailer that sells a lot of interesting flavors.  This flavor was part of the Holiday Stocking Stuffers collection which has 6 oz of loose leaf tea for $14.  

TasTEA Time! Twinnings Herbal Revive

My assistant is back from catching mice and chasing tail.

What:  Not a tea in the typical sense, but a blend of ginger, lemon and other herbs

Where:  England/Britain

Why Should I Care:  Today, I went to this Indian buffet called India Garden in Oakland (if you live in Pittsburgh, you probably know about it since it's walking distance from the University of Pittsburgh).  It was delicious, but I ate way too much and now my stomach hurts.  What are the best herbs for a tummy ache?  Ginger and Mint.  You can actually get powdered Ginger drink from any Asian-type store (this includes Indian markets) but I like this because it's generally a lot cheaper (and possibly tastier) to get ginger tea than plain ginger drink.

Packaging:  Good for the go, individually foil-wrapped tea sachets.

Non-taste Senses:  I held the cup differently to accentuate how opaque the liquid is.  It's also this weird light-yellow color that I haven't seen before with "tea".  It smells strongly of lemon and ginger.

Taste:  Nice and spicy!  It's definatly strong and the addition of lemon adds a nice touch of citrus to break up that ginger.  I don't think someone could honestly drink this at a meal, but if you like ginger then you will love this.  It's nice with sugar and if you're going to drink it, you should drink it warm.

Overall:  It's not a typical tea but if you're looking for a ginger experience, check this out.  If you don't like ginger or lemon, I don't know why you'd want to drink this.

My Rating:  Try it!  Here's Twinning's site again and you're right, I DO deserve a better cup of tea.  We ALL deserve a better cup of tea.