Kenneth Ave

Latte Sipdown (1420)!

I just couldn’t motivate myself to try this sample as a straight tea because I just knew in my heart I wouldn’t like it. This wasn’t really great, because it still had the taste of low grade green tea, but it was creamy and frothy because of the milk and that made it better. Thank you VariaTEA for sharing – I still appreciate getting to try it, but this wasn’t something up my alley.

Sipdown (1423)!

Thank you VariaTEA for sharing – I think only one more Kenneth Ave sample left to try!

I was very surprised by how tart/sour this one tasted, though I probably really shouldn’t have been since it was visually mostly hibiscus. I guess I was expecting the standard “catalog style” hibiscus/apple mix that most of these herbal fruit blends have had but with strawberry/kiwi flavouring and the reality was that it was just so much more hibiscus. Not bad, but not great either. Pretty reoccurring feeling for this company.

Sipdown (1423)!

This is essentially just DT’s Forever Nuts – though a more particularly apple heavy cup of it. It’s not bad, but this is a tea that I’ve had so much over exposure to that I just can’t bother to really care about the cup at all. So, fine in theory – but not my forte.

Sipdown (1403)!

I feel like I’m saying the same thing over and over with these Kenneth Ave fruit blends in that they’re all pretty catalog feeling and safe/unexciting to me, but ultimately not bad teas. It’s just a pretty average quality blend that relies a bit heavily on apple/hibiscus as the base of the blend with some flavouring additions to switch up the taste from blend to blend. This one works particularly well because that style of base is already apple-y and tart, so those are spot on the flavours that should be coming through here. I liked it – it would make for a bright and lively daily drinker type of fruit blend, and would probably ice well. Nothing innovative happening here, though.

Sipdown (1404)!

This one really just tasted like chamomile to me, even though I could see there were other ingredients in the blend aside from the chamomile. I guess it’s not a bad thing that it tasted like chamomile – a lot of people like chamomile and it obviously makes a ton of sense for a sleep blend. I do not like chamomile, so just wasn’t personally my jam. I did find it interesting that it was only the fine “bits” of chamomile (I’m totally blanking on the correct word right now) that you get when you crush a dried chamomile flower, and not the flower/bud itself – no “whole” chamomile in the blend, if you will.

Thank you VariaTEA for sharing – even if I didn’t love the tea I did love trying something new to me!

Sipdown (1409)!

Thank you VariaTEA for the share – I steeped this one up late in the evening earlier this week. It’s not a very exciting blend, but definitely conveys both the strawberry and lemonade. Sweeter with more of a “candy style” strawberry with a pop of acidity from the hibiscus, and a lighter note of lemon. A little generic/rough around the edges and I wish it was more lemon heavy in taste since it’s a “lemonade” blend – but still perfectly respectable.

Sipdown (1393)!

Thank you VariaTEA for another share! I’m not big on coffee inspired teas so it was no surprise that I didn’t love this one, but it wasn’t bad! There was something cozy about the medium-ish roast and I liked the bit of amaretto style nutty sweetness. Missed the mark in terms of vanilla, though. Also, reading through the ingredients, I 100% did not taste any chocolate in this sample. Looks like I wasn’t alone – Sil seemed to have the same observation.

Sipdown (1394)!

Thank you VariaTEA for the share – I thought this was nice, though it has a lot of the trademark flavours of a wholesaler catalog blend. Y’know, the ones where they use the same base mix of apple/hibiscus and then just switch out a couple key ingredients/flavourings to convey a specific fruit. Peach, in this case.

So, all that to say it’s pretty generically fruity with just a bit of a peach flavour cutting through the sweet and tangy medley of apples and hibiscus. Safe/unexciting, but a classic style for a reason – it works for delivering those uncomplex fruit notes.

Sipdown (1386)!

This is a cute name but it doesn’t really taste like cookie dough to me – I’m not sure what I would change to help that flavour come across better, though. It’s sweet but not sugary though and I do like that quality! It’s got a pretty substantial amount of present black tea base, some vanilla, and then the taste of chocolate liqueur that I’m pretty sure if just from a chocolate flavouring. I can also feel the flavouring on my palate as I sip.

As a cookie dough tea it’s a bit disappointing, but as a stand alone cuppa I didn’t mind it! Thank you VariaTEA for sharing this one.

Sipdown (1387)!

This wasn’t a super memorable tea at all, but it wasn’t unpleasant either and I think that does say at least something for a very clearly heavily Wellness angled blend. Too often, blends meant to have wellness purposes sacrifice taste over function. I’m not really sure what this was intended to taste like, but mostly I got a mild and soothing herbal note coupled with hints of apple and berry. Very subtle, though.

Thank you VariaTEA for the share!

Sample from VariaTEA? Roswell? This one wasn’t half bad. I enjoy a good chamomile tea occasionally and this one has the added benefit of apple in the taste as well. Nothing i need to stock but it was enjoyable the other night.

Y is for… Yoga Tea!

Sipdown (1393)!

What makes a tea a “yoga” tea!? If I had to guess based on this cuppa, I’d say that it’s having what I’d consider a pretty classically soothing/relaxing flavour profile. This is pretty much just a mint blend, although it’s got a very, very subtle hibiscus note and an undertone of something sort of licorice-y to me as well – perhaps fennel, but maybe just licorice root. I don’t find it off putting like I do most licorice root, though.

Thank you for sharing VariaTEA – I find this simple yet soothing.

Sipdown (1398)!

Thank you VariaTEA for sharing!

I had this one a few nights ago and I found it pretty tasty but also pretty average – a lot of those generic “wild berry” notes that lean into the hibiscus for support/body/tanginess. Despite having some tang to the top notes, the overall tea was surprisingly mellow for the composition. A pretty standard and perfectly enjoyable “berry herbal” – and that seems like all it’s attempting to be, so… nailed it!

M is for… Mocha!

Sipdown (1401)!

Thank you VariaTEA for sharing this – and all the other Kenneth Ave teas – with me! I think we were actually pretty aligned with this one in that it’s a bit too coffee like. I typically REALLY enjoy the earthy robustness of shou pu’erh but I think it really leaned into those dark roast coffee notes in a way that made me feel less like I was having a tea and more like I was having coffee. I actually appreciate the accuracy of the flavour a lot, but it’s not for me. Coffee flavours like this are always just so weird for me because I like REALLY dark roasted/earthy flavours a lot – Hojicha, Guinness, Shou Pu’erh, Buckwheat…

But not coffee.

It’s not a “tea is the greatest, coffee sucks” thing either. I’ve just never really liked the taste of coffee, even long before I got into tea.

Sample from VariaTEA! Today’s a bit lighter with work so i’m getting a chance to try a few of the samples she gave me. Not that i’m in a rush to try them but my 52 tea order from last year arrived today AND my tea girl order also showed up lol. So i need room haha

I would not have called out any chocolately notes in the one per the companies description. Vanilla like…yes but not strongly. Not bad, but for the price….i can find others.

Iced Latte Sipdown (305)

My sister and I chipped in to get my brother-in-law a nespresso for his birthday. We also grabbed the aeroccino aka the milk frother. He was very surprised and very excited. He was like a kid and wanted to try all the things but it only arrived around 5 pm and having cup after cup of coffee and espresso seemed like a bad plan. So when he wanted to try the cold froth option on his frother, I said we could drink one of my caffeine free teas.

He loves caramel and this was one that I saw recently so it was in my mind. I made this while he frothed the milk. Unfortunately, this, like many of the other teas from this company just wasn’t great. We took one sip, looked at each other and dumped it. It was mostly bland and the little flavor we did get was a woody rooibos.

Kenneth Ave Advent Calendar – Day 24

I found it weird that this was the final tea in a calendar that had both Gingerbread and Candy Cane earlier on. I saw on their Instagram that they captioned their photo “Berry Berry Christmas” so I guess that is kind of cute but still seemed weird not to end with a more festive flavor.

I cold brewed this. It has that standard berry-hibiscus profile that a lot of berry teas have. It is sort of a flat hibiscus note that tapers off to a slight berry sweetness. It is also just generic berry flavor – nothing specific. It’s fine but neither festive nor memorable in the sea of basically the same tea. So while I am enjoying my cup well enough, I don’t need this again and likely will forget it in the near future.

Kenneth Ave Advent Calendar – Day 23

I opened this and was immediately not looking forward to it. I hate when teas try to promote wellness in some way. And I find it even worse in an advent calendar tbh. I just feel like advent teas should be fun and festive and whimsical and “immune booster” is none of those things.

When it comes to taste, its fine. It is actually less offensive and in-your-face than most other wellness teas. It’s slightly herbal but more than anything it has the softest generic berry flavor. It’s not bad as far as wellness blends go but also not good enough that I want more.

Kenneth Ave Advent Calendar – Day 22

Made this as a latte and while this is caramel, its not necessarily blissful. It’s the darn base tea. This definitely has caramel flavor but its burnt thanks to the base. And not burnt in a tasty creme brulee way. Burnt as in its not so great. Do Kenneth and Adagio use the same supplier for the black base tea because both are not great quality and tend to ruin the blends for me.

Kenneth Ave Advent Calendar – Day 20

I made this as an eggnog latte and was excited for it but ended up dumping most of the cup. It was heavy on the ginger but not much else. Mixed with the mediocre black base, it all came off with that sort of muddy quality that Adagio blends often have.

Kenneth Ave Advent Calendar – Day 19

The teas in this calendar have been fairly mediocre and I don’t really love earl grey teas so when I pulled this out I was not excited. I decided to make it as a London Fog. However, in line with the other blends, this is just okay. And an okay Earl Grey is brisk and astringent and not my favorite.

Kenneth Ave Advent Calendar – Day 18

I made this iced and it’s quite good. It’s meant to be like a wine and it has an ice wine quality to it for sure. It’s sweet and has a great blackberry flavor. However, it’s not fully rounded. I think the black base keeps this all a bit flat, which could be wine-like at times but I’m not loving it. This is surprisingly better than I thought it would be and also better than a lot of the other Kenneth Ave teas I’ve had.

Kenneth Ave Advent Calendar – Day 17

I like this one and its not a standard flavor combination you see everywhere. It’s not the most unique but it was rare enough that when I opened this door and saw Lemon Mango Punch, I double checked to make sure that’s what I read.

I made this iced. Lemon comes in first but it ends on the mango note. A touch of lemon zest than lingers in the back of your throat as an aftertaste. It’s refreshing and juicy without being overly sweet or in-your-face. I think this is the first tea I would actually consider buying more of from Kenneth Ave. However, it’s not so good that its encouraging me to place an order with the company. One of those teas I would add if I needed to reach free shipping.

Kenneth Ave Advent Calendar – Day 16

Cold brewed this. Not overly excited about it since strawberry kiwi is one of those flavors that almost all companies have some sort of variation of. Like the others, this tastes good enough, kiwi at the front and then a strawberry gushers flavor at the end. I miss gushers. I probably won’t miss this tea.