Tea Revv

Strong cinnamon tastes. Burns in a bad way at the end. Didn’t finish. Advisory: best without milk. No milk recommended, but it may have helped r/t thickening the consistency and tone down the spice. The tea felt very thin. Tasted 12.2018

Initially tasted thin with floral and spice flavors. Greatly improved with milk – gave it a much fuller flavor. Milk tempered the floral scent and taste. Really liked it – was sad when it was gone.
Recommends adding a dash of milk or mix with hot frothed milk for a lattea. Tasted 12.2018

This has a nice finish to it, sweet and nutmeggy and a little creamy. Because of that nice finish, I like this better than most other Tea Revv teas I’ve tried, but it still doesn’t thrill me. I don’t get any real bitterness but it is astringent. As usual with this brand, I brewed it about double strength and it’s still not too strong.

Underwhelming. I used a “two cup packet” to make 6 oz and it still tastes weak but slightly bitter. The anise is evident but not overwhelming to this anise hater – but it just has no business in a gingerbread tea to me. It’s drinkable but I’m just as happy I don’t have more of it.

Sample from VariaTEA! this one is quite pleasant for me as i don’t mind hibiscus. I have a hard time with cranberries but this was fairly tasty both hot and as it cooled, and i didn’t add any sweetner to it. Thanks V!

Sipdown (243)

I made this last night and intended to review it for Sororitea Sisters. However before I did that I tried to place an order for bras and what should have taken 5 minutes ended up taking TWO HOURS!

I was ordering my bras from Lane Bryant/Cacique because they were on sale for $35 USD. I planned to send them to a store near my Dad in LA since my sister will be there next week and can bring them back for me. My Mom has a Lane Bryant card with benefits so we intended to use that but when we went to check out online the American store wouldn’t let us use the card because the billing address was international. We called customer service and they said it was impossible. This makes absolutely no sense because we could go to the Canadian site and have it shipped to Canada but the conversion was off and had us paying more for each bra than we should have been. Finally we said fuck it and just put in our address in Florida as our billing address and hoped for the best. It seems the order was processed so now we are just hoping it doesnt get flagged. Honestly though the whole thing just didn’t make sense. Why not accept your own company card with an international billing address?!?

Anyways, by the time that was dealt with this tea was cold. I took a sip and it was just a muddy mess of spices. Not good at all. I dumped the mug. Probably for the best I didn’t end up reviewing it for the blog.

Tea Revv Advent Calendar – Day 24

(originally written November 24th)

It’s the last day for my first round of Tea Advent Calendars! Tomorrow I’ll be starting my calendars for December – Bird & Blend (x2) and Palais des Thés.

This one reminds me more of mulled wine than the mulled-wine-flavored teas I’ve tried. There’s a semi-tart fruity flavor that seems most similar to cranberry. It’s pretty heavy on the spices – mostly clove and cinnamon. I also taste a little bit of floral in the background.

It’s definitely drinkable, and the cranberry adds a little something extra to the usual holiday-esque spices.

Tea Revv Advent Calendar – Day 23

(originally written November 23rd)

So I’m fully expecting to dislike this tea. It has sage and rosemary, which I’m not on the best of terms with even in savory foods. So in tea… Mehhhhh…

Oddly, this smells like bergamot? Perhaps it’s the sage.

Wow, this is very much tasting like an Earl Grey to me. I’m not sure if I’m crazy, or if bergamot is one of the “natural flavours” included in this tea.

I do also taste the sage and a bit of the rosemary. It’s an interesting combination, sort of a savory herbal Earl Grey on a green base. The base tea, by the way, doesn’t contribute anything in the way of flavor. I do get a little hint of citrus from either the lemongrass or the tangerine.

All things considered, this wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I definitely wouldn’t choose it over other Earl Greys, however.

Tea Revv Advent Calendar – Day 22

(originally written November 22nd)

Hm, this seems extremely similar to the “Snowballs” rooibos blend from a couple of days ago… Strange that they would put them so close to each other in the calendar. The dry leaf has sliced almonds instead of sprinkles, but smells similar.

Yeah, it’s pretty much just a marzipan-flavored rooibos again. Although this one doesn’t make my mouth tingly, so that’s a plus.

Tea Revv Advent Calendar – Day 21

(originally written November 21st)

Ughhh so tired after cooking things to take to Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. It’s my own fault for leaving it all to do today…

Another spice tea. How original! :P At least this one is eggnog-inspired, which is somewhat different. It does have a strong nutmeg flavor, which really is the hallmark of eggnog. There’s some clove as well, which doesn’t make sense. Also, there are no cream or custard notes, which really are a requirement for eggnog flavor. The base is also slightly bitter and astringent, which further reduces the creaminess.

So mostly, it’s a somewhat brisk nutmeg black tea.

Tea Revv Advent Calendar – Day 20

(originally written November 20th)

Oddly, this rooibos blend makes no mention of what it’s meant to taste like. There are cute snowflake sprinkles and dragées mixed in. Dry scent is almond extract, possibly something cake-like?

There’s definitely some almond extract flavor here, like marzipan. I think there’s something that makes my mouth feel a bit tingly? Not sure if that’s ginger or just too much artificial flavoring.

So mostly, it’s just a marzipan rooibos. Meh.

Tea Revv Advent Calendar – Day 19

(originally written November 19th)

Ugh, I am severely grumpy today…

To make a long story short, there’s an online retailer that’s been having a sale over the past week. Today is the last day. I am also in a social group that revolves around this particular company. They always follow the same pattern with their sales this time of year, with the weeklong sale starting the week before Thanksgiving week and ending on the Monday before Thanksgiving. Then they also have a sitewide percentage off code for Black Friday / Cyber Monday weekend. These two sales do not overlap.

We all know this schedule. But this year they seem to have accidentally activated the percentage off code early, and of course someone managed to guess what it was based on the code from last year. The retailer did not release this code, and it was obviously meant for Black Friday weekend based on the name and past precedent. For me, that’s enough to not use it for ethical reasons. I alerted the retailer of the issue and did not us the code. But of course, other people don’t seem to have the same ethical standard when money is involved. So many people placed orders using the code, and got the combined discount of both sales at once.

The retailer has now disabled the code. But there is no mention of any of the orders using it being cancelled, or being updated to remove the code. And this really bothers me. Add to that that there’s a limited edition item (that was not discounted in the weeklong sale) now showing low stock, so most likely it will be sold out before the percentage-off sale, so only the people who used the code early knowing it was a mistake will have gotten a discount…

I’ve run into the same issue in online games. Often when there’s some form of exploit and people use it to cheat, there are no consequences. The company will simply fix the bug and that’s the end of it. Sometimes they will attempt to remove the advantage gained from the exploit, but most often not. And punishment? Forget about it.

Maybe I care too much about things being fair, but it really just makes me think, “nice guys finish last”… And that just makes me lose a little more faith in humanity.

Anyway, sorry for the tangent. I’m just really in a mood today.

This is another generic spice tea. Strong clove, some ginger, maybe a hint of cinnamon. It’s supposed to be white chocolate (I think), but I don’t get that at all. Tea Revv has definitely not been impressing me with their chai selections.

Tea Revv Advent Calendar – Day 18

(originally written November 18th)

Is it bad that I’m already tired of spice teas? And these are only my first two advent calendars out of five… XD I guess, to be fair, spice teas aren’t my favorites so it’s not surprising.

Anyway! The ingredients in this don’t sound very gingerbread-y to me. And unsurprisingly, it doesn’t taste like gingerbread anyway. It sort of tastes like an oatmeal cookie with anise in it, which is not entirely unpleasant. I love oatmeal cookies and I do like anise, it’s just an odd combination. It’s a very lightly-flavored tea.

Not bad, as spice teas go! It’s not clovey, which is a nice change of pace.

Tea Revv Advent Calendar – Day 17

(originally written November 17th)

Continuing on with my tea advent-ure!

This one sounds good – I love pancakes. But I’m not expecting much, as I’ve been disappointed by pancakey teas in the past, plus I’m not generally impressed by these Tea Revv blends.

Yeah, this is mostly just a plain black tea. There’s perhaps a little bit of caramel or vanilla, but definitely not pancakes. The base tea is actually somewhat bitter, even with a 3-minute steep. It’s quite earthy and mineral, with a bit of astringency

Very meh.

Tea Revv Advent Calendar – Day 16

(originally written November 16th)

Ginger green tea #2, LOL! It’s funny to me, what a specific combination for both advent calendars to line up on. I was surprised that this doesn’t smell gingery at all while dry.

Wow, this is so different from the other tea. The ginger is mild here. And something is quite sweet, I guess it must be the base tea? It almost tastes like there are blackberry leaves in here. Otherwise, the sencha is grassy and leafy with a hint of bitterness.

I’m not sure how I feel about this… It’s quite weird to have so much (apparently natural) sweetness in a green tea, but no vegetal notes. And the ginger sort of draws it toward savory too, and doesn’t meld well with the sweetness in my opinion.

Tea Revv Advent Calendar – Day 15

(originally written November 15th)

So this is one of those advent calendar teas that makes me go “oh well, I guess I’ll just get this over with”. I do like coffee (with adequate milk and sugar), but if I wanted coffee I would make coffee, not tea. I just don’t get the appeal of coffee-flavored teas.

Yep, tastes like weak black coffee.

Nope, not for me.

Tea Revv Advent Calendar – Day 14

(originally written November 14th)

Wow, I’ve really delayed writing a note for this one. Oops! I’ve been sipping on it for a few hours now…

It’s actually quite nice for a chocolate tea. It almost reminds me of malted chocolate, like a Wendy’s Frosty? The chocolate is quite strong, and it’s definitely a milk chocolate flavor. The base tea is fairly mild, but a bit malty and doesn’t disappear completely under the flavoring.

I’m not sure I’d buy it, but it’s definitely better than I expected.

Tea Revv Advent Calendar – Day 13

(originally written November 13th)

So this should be interesting – I don’t generally like red rooibos or chai much.

Wow, this is really heavy on the pepper. I can’t really taste much else other than the rooibos itself, even though there are several other spices in here. The beginning of the sip just tastes like red rooibos, and then the pepper hits near the end and in the aftertaste, and it’s strong enough to make my mouth tingly.

Nope, this is not for me. I think I will give it a rating though because, objectively, who would want a black pepper rooibos blend? XD

Tea Revv Advent Calendar – Day 12

(originally written November 12th)

Ugh… For some reason, last night I got terrible heartburn, so I ended up staying awake until around 2, then drifitng in and out of restless sleep on the couch until 4, before finally being able to fall sound asleep in my bed. I’m not sure if it was because I didn’t eat much yesterday, but drank a lot of tea? I don’t generally have stomach issues with tea though. Anyway, I’m feeling exhausted because of that and, of course, it’s a crappy dark and cold, rainy day today.

So I really just want to go home and take a nap…

I was somewhat happy to see a breakfast tea in my advent selections today, and hopefully it will perk me up a bit. This is not quite as strong as I would like, especially since it’s a bit astringent. I feel like if a tea is going to be inherently brisk and/or astringent (like Assam) it should be big on the flavor as well. The base tea does have some maltiness, but otherwise is quite plain. I can taste the creamy vanilla flavor, and it’s in good balance with the tea, not overpowering it too much.

This is a pretty good one. I would like a more flavorful base tea, but it gets the job done.

Tea Revv Advent Calendar – Day 11

(originally written November 11th)

Another herbal tea from the Tea Revv calendar.

I’m very surprised by how mild this is – it smelled quite minty in the packet. It’s very inoffensive for sure. I feel like I only taste the peppermint, and maybe a hint of the licorice root. Shocking considering the list of ingredients that contains cardamom, cinnamon, and ginger.

Mostly this is just a very mild peppermint tea. Occasionally I get a little random hit of ginger in the back of my throat.

This is probably my favorite Tea Revv black tea yet. It really just tastes like a black tea that has underlying chocolate notes, but they are strong enough that I definitely taste them. Not bitter but definitely not sweet. Distinctly chocolate enough that I’m not searching for the flavor, but not so strong that I can’t drink it with a meal. Nicely done.

I’m not usually a rooibos fan but it worked OK in this tea. Perhaps the fact that it was mixed with honeybush helped enough. This is a fun, kid-friendly kind of tea. It made me think of strawberry frosting somehow, though I’m not sure it was strawberry vs. general tutti-frutti taste. There’s also a strong sweet almond flavor. I was in the mood for warm and sweet and this did the trick. Is it refined in any way? No! But I enjoyed it, so who cares?

Tea Revv Advent Calendar – Day 10

(originally written November 10th)

So this is apparently a mix of Sri Lankan, Kenyan, and Indian black teas. The leaves look pleasantly large, they’re not small and broken up which is nice.

I’m surprised at how light the steeped tea is, considering it’s a breakfast blend which I would expect to be dark and strong.

Well, it’s definitely flavorful despite its light color. I noticed some of the spent leaves are quite green in color, and that combined with the tea color makes me wonder if the Indian tea in this blend is a Darjeeling. It’s a tad bit bitter after 3 minutes as well.

It does taste somewhat Darjeeling-esque to me, with floral and somewhat muscatel notes and some astringency in the aftertaste.

It’s not bad. I’m not sure it could stand up to milk though, and to me that’s a requirement for a breakfast blend.

I’m not sure I should rate this, as I would have steeped it at a lower temperature if I had known that it’s a lighter black tea.

Tea Revv Advent Calendar – Day 9

(originally written November 9th)

Hmm… I’m not sure I’m going to like this one. It smells extremely savory and there’s quite a bit of ground turmeric. Onward, into the breach! :P

The steeped tea doesn’t smell quite so savory. I mean… it’s not awful. It’s definitely quite earthy and tastes mostly of turmeric. I don’t get too much ginger, so that’s a relief. Strong ginger is definitely off-putting to me. I have no idea what a bael nut is, but it does taste somewhat nutty to me.

Overall, it actually reminds me quite a bit of potato. Raw potato, even, and with turmeric added. Definitely strange, but an interesting experience… I think I’ll leave off the rating, as this blend really isn’t up my alley.

Flavors: Potato, Turmeric, Ginger, Earth, Root Vegetables, Nuts