Teavana's Lavender Dreams (Flavored White Tea)

I was really excited for this tea.  Lavender has become something I'm obsessed with and this seemed like a nice fruity-floral blend that would really be delicious.  Plus, it was my most expensive tea at $3.45 for 2 oz (don't forget, I got these all at their 75% off clearance sale)

Outsides:  The ingredients are going to be summerized because there are just too many, but white tea, candied Jasmine (ok, these ingredients listed for these kinda make me feel...uneasy.  Like, thickening agent?  I guess they're trying to be thorough but most people just use dried flowers), color (o...k?), various fruits including apples, raisins and peaches, and various other flowers.  I made 4 oz of hot water and 4 oz of room temp water (which makes the temp a bit too cold but it works out) and put two teaspoons of tea in for 4 minutes.  Um...this tea is blue.  Like, yellow-tinted purple-y blue.  It smells sweet and florally.

Insides:  I had made 2 cups before this one and all three had turned out different.  The first one was not blue and was a bit weak with any flavor.  The second one was blue but still was weak in flavor.  The third one is blue and actually is pretty strong and complex with its flavors, so I don't know if I added less tea and more flavoring stuff or what happened, but it's kind of bad that I don't know what I'm going to get from cup to cup.  Overall, it's a very floral tea with a light tea taste underneath   The difference between the previous cups and this one is that I think I got some fruit or the candied violet in there because there's a sweet, almost candy-like note in there now.  It's strange because it has this blue raspberry taste to it, sweet and a little tart with a sticky sense to it.  This is definitely interesting.

Overall:  I like it but because it's so inconsistant, I can't really recommend it.

My Rating:  Try it!

Teavana is a chain tea retailer that is in malls across the US and Canada.

Prestogeorge Peach Rooibos

Today, I am waiting for my Teavana order to be delivered (7 teas, 1 free sample tea blend, almost a pound of tea for $20).  But I'm bored and I need to get this rooibos reviewed so that's what I'm going to do.

Outsides:  The ingredients on the site basically say it's just peach and rooibos.  I brewed about 2+ teaspoons of this at boiling for as long as I want as long as it's exceeding 5 minutes.  The color is a rusty orange and this smells like peach flavored tea, except it has a bit of that southern sweet tea/fast food tea scent to it.

Ok, so you may notice that there is a lot of tea in this cup.  I make boiling water with my Keurig, which I got for free because my friend is an engineering genius who got access to the engineering department's electronic waste closet.  Someone threw it out, I knew my mom got me one for my birthday and was hoping that she'd return it and give me the money if this one worked (no, that Keurig is in storage for when this one breaks) and I figured that I'd try to see if it works.  Well, it works for the most part.  The nice thing about it is that 90% of the time, I can tell it to make 8, 6 or 4oz (there's an 11 oz setting but I never use that for tea) of water and get that amount of not quite boiling (I'm guessing 95 degrees Celsius).  However, this thing will occassionally stall (not give me water).  I then turn it off and make it boil water until it works again, but then I get an excess of about 4 oz.  This was actually a lot more annoying when I brewed coffee or hot chocolate because those would get watery unless I stopped it at the right time, but with hot water, it's not a big deal.  It's still not a big deal because I've had this tea before and put an excess of tea in the container, but my strainer needs to be washed better so it doesn't deceive me.  Anyway, that's why there's an excess.

Insides:  Obviously, the flavor could be stronger but that is my fault.  I actually thing the peach and rooibos really complement each other and although this isn't as complex as it could be, it's a safe peach tea.  Rooibos is not bitter or sour in any way and kind of has this floral, honey note to it while peach naturally complements that.  The peach flavor is still strong even in my abomination of a cuppa, and gives this tea a fresh taste.  I think this would make a great iced tea and would probably go well with some juice mixed in.

Overall:  Not my favorite rooibos flavored concoction, but a solid one.

My Rating:  Try it (especially if you like peach tea)

Prestogeorge is my local tea shop here in Pittsburgh.  They have a ton of different types of teas, from basic blends to flavored to higher-quality leaves.

TasTEA Time! Prestogeorge Peach Oolong

I...I don't know why I started re-blogging today.  I really need to study for my Brain Function and Neuroanatomy test tomorrow, but alas, here I am again.  I guess this is serving as a warm-up before I crunch those diagrams again.  Anyway, this is another cheap Prestogeorge blend (all the ones I got this trip were relatively inexpensive, but this one is on the $3 for 4 oz range as opposed to the $5 for 4 oz).  I honestly have not had as much experience with oolong as with other teas, probably because a lot of bagged companies don't sell as many varieties of it.  But I like peach tea.

Outsides:  Prestogeorge uses plastic-lined paper bags with these neat little twisty-ties on them, so it's nice that they use better bags but you should still buy a canister or store in a dark, dry place.  The tea is golden hued and smells like peaches mostly, with a slight tea scent.

Insides:  I find that I drink this tea a lot, moreso than the other teas I bought from PG.  It's not because this tea is amazing, although it's very good and very balanced.  The oolong used is a much better quality than I've had, having a less-bitter, but warm and robust tea taste that is more mild than black tea, but still having a bit of a kick.  The peach flavor is a bit light, but balances well with the tea and still holds its own.  Why do I drink it more than the other teas I bought at PG?  I guess because it's just so smooth and balanced, plus it's cheap.

Overall:  I can't run in the streets screaming about how delicious this is, but it is well worth the money.  Get it if you want a lightly flavored oolong.

My Rating:  Buy it!  Here's PG's website again:  Prestogeroge's Oolong Tea page

Review! Snapple Peach mangosteen Immunity

Two non-tea reviews in one day?  What is this world coming to!?

What:  Some kind of sugary fruit drink that has peach and some other weird fruit

Where:  USA

Why Should I Care:  Well, I wasn't planning on doing another review today but I cooked up some noodles and needed a cold drink so here we are.  Snapple is one of those companies that tends to give you a warm, fuzzy feeling when you buy one of their products.  Maybe it's the fact that they use actual cane sugar or maybe it's because of the "real facts" they put on their caps or maybe it's just because of the word Snapple.  Whatever be your reason, they tend to be cheaper than Lipton and actually use real things unlike Arizona.  Plus this kind is using a fancy fruit that I honestly have not tasted on its own.  What the heck is a Mangosteen?  Let's find out.

Packaging:  It's a glass bottle.

Non-taste senses:  As you can see, it's this radioactive orange color.  The liquid smells similar to Peach Jello.

Taste:  It actually tastes like peach jello as well.  The texture isn't really thick but it tastes more like peach flavor as opposed to an actual peach.  I don't taste anything other than peach so don't ask me what a mangosteen tastes like because I can't tell you.  It's not bad, but it is basically just a sugary drink.

Overall:  Honestly, it's not that exciting to me.  It's good and I think if you like peach then you'll also think it's good, but I don't think it's worth the calories.  Also, I bought a 12-pack about 8 months ago and this was the last one so clearly, it took me a while to get a craving for them.

My Rating:  Pass.  Here's the site.

And here's Tommy