Fava Tea Company

I was at my local Fava Tea Company store today picking up some tea for my friend’s bridal shower. I need more tea like I need a hole in the head. But I was sucked in by the new seasonal blends and ended up purchasing an ounce of this one to sample. No regrets! This blend is smooth and creamy with a light blend of spices that really does remind me of eggnog. It’s good on its own, but I’m betting it would be amazing as a latte! I may be going back for more…

Hey steepsterites!!! I joined a sororitea :) check out my first review here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2016/10/15/falling-leaves-fava-tea-company/

Here’s Hoping TTB.

This is quite good. It has a strong hibiscus-orange flavor that I definitely enjoyed. It’s on the tart side, but I certainly don’t object to that. I’ve tried several herbals from Fava Tea Co. in this box that I really liked, so I might need to put in an order with them eventually.

Here’s Hoping TTB

This has a rich raspberry-hibiscus flavor with a light accent of rose that adds depth and complexity. It’s a bit more of a candy raspberry flavor than my standard raspberry tea (raspberry zinger by celestial seasonings). I really enjoyed it. It would be a good would to try blending with a chocolate tea and/or some extra rose petals.

Here’s Hoping TTB

This has a strong Hibiscus-berry flavor, with an end note of peanut butter. Kind of odd, and not really what I would associate with a torte (although I’m not exactly sure what a torte is, although I think it’s some kind of pastry).

Here’s Hoping TTB.

This is a pleasant strawberry-hibiscus tea with a noticeable cocoa note. It could use a bit more chocolate, so I may experiment with blending this, but I do like it.

This one has a strong artificial peach flavor that completely overwhelms the base tea and reminds me of peach gummy candy. Not really picking up on any mango. It’s not bad but definitely not a favorite for me.

This is pretty decent. It seems to be using decent quality rooibos and the vanilla is definitely noticeable. However, I’m not a huge fan of the woodiness of rooibos combined with the earthiness of vanilla. The final result is like wood that’s so old it’s crumbling into dust, but also sweet from the vanilla. Not for me, but some people would probably enjoy it.

This tea has no added flavoring, just Ceylon tea, blackberry leaves, and dried berries. This makes for a blend where the brisk black tea base takes center stage and the blackberry flavor is just a whisper of natural sweetness. Once I adjusted my expectations for a strong fruity flavor, I actually quite enjoyed this one.

Funny how one’s opinion of a tea can change over time! I think the first time I had this one, I was looking for the herbal equivalent of a traditional masala chai and was disappointed that this wasn’t that. But now I’m a big fan of this spicy, nutty blend which packs a punch in the flavor department without any caffeine. I’ve also found this to be a reliable first tea for people who think they don’t like tea…with milk and sugar, they almost always like this one!

This one was a disappointment for me. It smelled like spicy almond deliciousness, but the flavor was lackluster: mild cinnamon and anise with hints of almond. I’ll have to keep hunting for a good herbal chai!

Many of Fava’s teas contain artificial flavors, so I was excited to see that this one had only 3 ingredients: black tea, honey, and bee pollen. I definitely did enjoy the slight sweetness and floral flavor of the honey, but the base tea missed the mark for me. Ceylon doesn’t tend to be my favorite and the flavor of this one was just too sharp and brisk to mix well with the soft sweetness of the honey. I would LOVE to try this same blend with a Chinese black tea base!

Gorgeous color. Not really a fan of the flavor its a mix of eating orange blood zest and fruit loops. I just can’t stand the fake flavors of fruit loops anymore.

Blueberry torte? More like Blueberry TART!!! It’s so tart! It’s like a punch in the face. Though it starts out tart and ends sweet which is nice. I did a cold brew so maybe that affected the flavors a bit. Steeped it for around an hour. Lots of blueberry flavor.

A very unique tisane. The strawberry flavor starts off the sip but is immediately taken over by hibiscus. As far as truffle flavor goes… I can maybe see this as a vanilla truffle with a strawberry filling but the hibiscus is too strong to make a good truffle flavor. Maybe needs some vanilla.

Was very skeptical of this at first but wow. This is great. In my opinion it really does taste like a light, alcohol free pina colada. For those of you, like myself, who aren’t vig hibiscus fans you should still give it a try.

I’m not generally a fan of red rooibos, but this one smelled amazing so I decided to give it a shot. On first sip, all I tasted was a big mouthful of woody rooibos. As the tea cooled, the peach flavor started to come through more. It’s definitely SWEET peach…highly artificial and reminds me more of peach-flavored gummy candy than real peaches. It’s okay, but not something I would re-purchase.

Another one of those fruity herbal blends where the hibiscus just takes over and ruins everything for me. Glad I didn’t purchase more! Putting the rest of my sample in the Here’s Hoping TTB in hopes that someone else will enjoy this more than I do.

This is one of those “fruit salad” tisanes that is mainly made up of chunks of dried fruit (mango, in this case). It brews up to a deep golden yellow with a strong, sweet, slightly artificial mango flavor. It’s more like drinking juice than tea!

I’m on a quest to find some delicious fruity herbal blends for making iced tea this summer and this one came highly recommended by the clerk at my local Fava store. I wasn’t disappointed! This is one of the more unusual blends I’ve tried, with a distinct kiwi flavor balanced by a hint of sour cherry. (And NO hibiscus, yay!) I am absolutely flying through my sample ounce and will definitely be re-purchasing!

Mmm, this is tasty! It has a rich nutty flavor with notes of caramel sweetness and just a touch of spice. It also has an unexpectedly creamy mouth feel which adds to the decadent experience. For me, this is one of those teas that can actually stand in for dessert. Delicious!

This is a nice smooth green tea with a bright citrus flavor. Nothing exceptional, but I enjoyed it.

I first tried this sencha as a by-the-cup purchase at Fava on my way home from the Trivia contest I participate in every year. The Appleton, WI Fava store is a must-visit if you’re in Appleton or on your way to Green Bay, by the way. Although I haven’t been to the other two Fava stores in the Milwaukee area, I am pretty sure they are the only rivals in Wisconsin to the sheer size/variety/quality of the offerings and the customer service at the Appleton Fava. This store (which also has a pretty nice online catalog) specializes in loose leaf teas of all kinds and really not much else, though as I mentioned they will make you a cup on-the-spot, and they also sell teaware, a small line of tea-scented soaps, and flavored sugars. No coffee, no pastries, no section of bagged teas purchased from other companies, no milk-tea or bubble drinks: just looseleaf tea, and lots of it.

I immediately noticed the gyokuro-like vegetalness and brothiness in this particular sencha, perceptible in smelling the leaf. Fava sells two unflavored senchas and the other one (Chumushi) doesn’t have these qualities. Fava also sells a gyokuro, which I haven’t tried, at $12/ounce, so if you are looking for a gyokuro-like tea, the sencha Fukamushi is a real steal at $5/ounce.

The leaf is crumbled or chopped rather small (not a CTC cut, but definitely not a full leaf) in dark emerald green; not sure of the process for this, but it left a powdery residue when I brewed it in the filter basket in my teapot. The basket is admittedly a fairly standard wide-ish wire mesh, but this residue is very fine, much like matcha powder. This does mean that if you’re a slow sipper, the residue in your cup will continue brewing in the tea and the flavor will change while it sits. In my case, the vegetal flavor got stronger, but there was also an overall increase in bitterness. Also I would assume there is more caffeine intake in this case, since if you drink the whole cup you are ingesting the leaf residue along with the tea. Next time I make this I might choose to use a t-bag paper filter in an individual cup or in the teapot, to try to eliminate the powdery residue. That’s the finest filter type I can think of.

Visually this is a lovely deep yellow with pea-green tones. If it looks watery it probably is (I tried a taste from my teapot at 2 min. and it was yellow-y and under-flavored, which is why I gave it almost another minute). The package says 2 min. at 180, but my Cuisinart tea-water boiler says green is 175, which might account for the under-brew at 2 min. Have not yet tried this as a gongfu brew, but I bet it would be wonderful all around.

As I implied earlier, this tea tastes almost like a good gyokuro, with strong brothiness and a taste of greens, almost spinach-y. I like this, but you might not! The flavor keeps my interest through a couple of cups, which is really all the caffeine I personally should be ingesting at one sitting, since I’m pretty sensitive to caffeine and also have sleep problems. The aftertaste is pretty faithful to the original taste, though it also has a little bit of a dry/clean sensation in the mouth ( a little bitter in the current cup I’m drinking, too, but then that is probably due to the residue as I mentioned). Other senchas I’ve had do have the dry finish (and a little bitterness depending on brewing conditions) but aren’t remarkably vegetal or brothy, and I don’t find them very interesting in flavor, so this one is a real revelation to me. No idea why it is different from other senchas, but it is, and it’s great!

HGTTB

Mmm! This smells so rich and creamy. Almost musty. There’s lots of shredded coconut and dried pineapple pieces among the leaves. It does produce a bit of oily film on the top. The taste is very rich. I’m getting a white chocolate or heavy cream feel, more than young fresh coconut. Even the boyfriend, who doesn’t care much for tea called it “very thick, for a tea”. The pineapple lingers longer on the tongue than the coconut, tasty fresh citrus. If I didn’t already have so much pina colada flavored tea, I would consider picking some of this up. It’s very smooth and desserty. Yum!