Edit 1/23/2018: Teavana has shut down and been replaced with The Republic of Tea. Links have been changed to reflect this and there are now updated suggested flavors chosen from what is now available on the Republic of Tea site to coordinate with the previous Teavana products.
It's been a bit of a rough week for my family and I, and in addition to prayer, a fabulous boyfriend that takes me to see "Les Miserables", and good friends, you know what helps in such situations?
Tea.
So I whipped out the green teapot and Teavana looseleaf teas that my boyfriend's family got me for Christmas. (Thanks, Julie!) First of all, the teapot is microwaveable and matches the green in my dorm room perfectly. Secondly, I've never tried Teavana teas, so I thought I'd share my first experiences with you! Tea is a HUGE part of hospitality in many (dare I say most?) places in the world, and of course it's comforting in all situations, so I always like to have a good stash on hand.
I also had my friend, Amber, and my sister, Aria, try a couple of the teas and got their opinions on them as well.
The flavors we are reviewing:
First, let's go with the classic Earl Grey. (Republic of Tea - Earl Grey)
Aria tasted the Earl Grey, a black tea. She said the looseleaf tea takes a bit longer to get as strong as a tea bag version does in less time. (I'll add the reason why this is: Oftentimes the tea that is put into tea bags is the leftover tea leaf dust. It's a finer texture, of course, than the larger leaf chunks of looseleaf, and it has more surface area, therefore steeping faster because more tea is exposed to the hot water. Make sense?)
She also said this Earl Grey had a very nice smooth texture, and she enjoyed the classic taste a lot!
First of all, isn't it beautiful?! It's an herbal mix with dried fruits, rooibos, chamomile, petals, peels, herbs, spices, etc. My first discovery in opening the bag is that not only is it beautifully colorful, but it smells INCREDIBLE. Its peachy, tangy goodness made my mouth water to smell it.
The taste was more subtle than the smell but still quite good. The combination of subtle taste with delightful smell was a clean, springy, refreshing sort of tea. I highly recommend it!
Imperial Açai Blueberry came next. (Republic of Tea - Wild Blueberry)
First, let me answer the question that always runs through my head when I see "açai":
It's pronounced "uh-sah-ee." As confirmed by my Brazilian-American friend, Kelly.
Now to the tea itself. Something I really liked- when I noticed it- is that I knew the ingredients list was legit because I could see the actual dried blueberries, hibiscus flower petals, raisins, etc. that were listed on the label. Woooo for natural and not-so-processed! However, I think I steeped it a bit too long the first time, so I had to try again later. It's a black tea and it was just too bitter to enjoy. (My fault. I had gotten distracted.)
On the second try I opened the bag and was once again salivating from the tangy berry scent. I let it steep about 5 minutes (the average time between white and rooibos brew times), and the result was, for me, mixed. It was extremely subtle with a black tea taste and a very, very light berry aftertaste. I like very flavorful teas, so I'd probably be putting some sugar in this to make it my kind of tasty, but the health benefits of a blueberry, açai, white/rooibos tea can't be denied!
There's no alcohol. Just wanted to calm any misgivings from the name "sangria," haha.
This rooibos tea is also very pretty with its light shades and dark crimson contents, including grapes, elderberries, black currants, and blueberries.
Upon opening this bag, the scent was a very sweet berry smell. Amber reviewed this one for me and remarked that it was quite fruity and light, with just a bit of twang to it. She rather liked it and said she'd drink it again.
The final word:
Teavana tea is good. It's really good!
Looseleaf tends to be made of higher quality tea leaves (when it uses actual tea), and I could definitely taste this in the teas we tried. All the ingredients were natural; I knew what pretty much everything was, no hard, scientific names!
The tea also came in resealable, opaque bags that keep everything fresh. Ingredients are all listed on the front, and tea type-specific brewing instructions are included on the back.
On the logistics side, the Teavana site is GREAT. It has all the teas organized for easy reference, gorgeous pictures, detailed taste descriptions, and even a digital "tea wall" for quick reference. They sell all kinds of tea by the ounce (black, white, rooibos, mate, etc.) (usually in 2 oz increments), along with tea accessories, containers, sweeteners, and tea-themed gift sets. The prices were also good with more common teas (such as Earl Grey) for $3.80/2 oz. all the way up to specialty teas (like Thai Mountain Oolong) for $22.00/2 oz. However, most of them seem to be under $10.
I highly recommend you tea-lovers (or potential ones!) check out the Teavana teas! They're both enjoyable to drink and look at and offer a huge international variety that should please anyone! If any of you order up some of this deliciousness, do your own tea review and leave me a comment telling me what you think of it!
Happy sipping!
I did not collaborate with Teavana for this post. I bought all the tea myself and all opinions are mine. Though if Teavana would like to send me free tea... I'm open to the idea.
There's no alcohol. Just wanted to calm any misgivings from the name "sangria," haha.
Hey there! My name is Emileigh, and welcome to Flashback Summer, a vintage lifestyle blog with an intercultural twist! I'm an "old soul," and I adore exploring cultures, sewing, history, controversial subjects, Nutella, the Air Force, traveling, and learning new things. Feel free to stay a bit and look around!
