Teeccino

January 20 Sipdown Prompt – National Coffee Break Day

This is the only flavor of Teeccino I have left, and I have about one a half bags. I thought this was my favorite flavor but I also love Vanilla Nut, which I just finished, and Hazelnut. Wwhen I run out entirely I plan to be sensible and buy only one flavor, but which???

Delicious, coffee-like but still tastes great to this coffee hater, and enjoyed in true coffee break fashion during a brief few moments alone today with two Vienna Fingers cookies.

I am drinking this to fulfill the October sipdown prompt: a coffee tea.

My first Teecino beverage was Vanilla Nut, and it might still be my favorite. I have tried Hazelnut, Mocha, and Almond Amaretto as well.

I bought Mocha because I was expecting it to be very chocolate-y, but I didn’t find it to be so. So then I wondered if mocha means what I think it means and the answer was yes and no. Mocha CAN mean a coffee-and-chocolate flavor, like our local milkshake shop has, or it can refer to a particular type of high quality coffee.

There is carob in this so I feel like they were aiming for chocolate and coffee, but I don’t get tons of chocolate flavor. I do very much enjoy the carob and the chicory in this, and I am not at all sorry I bought it.

We always preparethese the same way – half a mug of Teecino steeped in water and half milk with two teaspoons of sugar and whipped cream on top, because this is our “treat” drink.

Also, it resteeps well, and since I am using the loose version I resteeped it last night and put it in a pitcher in the fridge to save for tonight. It was plenty strong for us. Ashman says he doesn’t think he would like it without sugar and whipped cream, but he seems to really enjoy it the way we are having it now.

Unfortunately, I think this was another miss for me with Teeccino.

To be fair, when I saw Passionfruit Peach as a coffee alternative option I kind of knew it was gonna be weird and probably not my vibe, but the Mango Lemon Balm was shockingly nice so I think I held onto a bit of hope I probably shouldn’t have. I figured it would probably be better cold, as if I was getting some kind of Starbucks style flavoured iced coffee, so I made this iced and then added in some milk as well.

It was… rough. I don’t actually get a lot of passionfruit in flavour, but the peach is STRONG and it’s a very floral kind of sweet peach flavour that felts really at odds with the deeply roasty and mineral tasting base. Plus, I think there’s rooibos in this blend!? Which is the first one I’ve tasted yet that has appeared to include rooibos and I thought that was really strange because it added this very nutty, woody and honey-like taste that probably would have complimented the roast but as a trifecta of roast, fruit, and nuts it was not clicking.

I don’t know. There’s just something about these fruitier flavours that is a hard swing in the wrong direction for me…

Sipdown (1854)!

I know there’s a big trend on Tik Tok right now with people making coffee either in hollowed out oranges or with orange juice in it, and in theory it’s supposed to taste good because of the juxtaposition of the citrus with the very dark roast notes/nuttiness while still somewhat complimenting the natural acidity of coffee. So, I wasn’t TOTALLY weirded out when I saw this orange flavour in my variety box…

However, this is probably the first Teeccino blend I’ve tried where I’ve felt like it was unpleasant versus just “underwhelming” or not really my personal cup of tea. Well, cup of coffee replacement I guess. It was very unsweet, which is fine, but it was also pretty sharply orange flavoured with more of an acrid pithy quality to it. Combined with the very strong roast and the already slightly sharp notes of the chicory in the blend I just found the profile to be really harsh.

Cool idea, but I would definitely pass on this one if offered it again in the future.

Iced Latte Sipdown (2345)!

Finished this one off in the afternoon as a very strongly steeped iced latte made using oat milk. The colour was such a rich brown even with the milk added – I really wish I’d gotten a photo of it. Truly, it was stunningly dark.

In terms of taste, I did have a really enjoyable time drinking this. I’m very much getting into that more “pumpkin season”/fall flavours kind of vibe right now, but it’s sweltering hot in Montreal at the moment so iced lattes are the much, much better alternative to a hot PSL right now. I actually did wish that the spices were stronger in the flavour as I only taste the cinnamon and a hint of clove. However, I also steeped this for such a long time that it’s very reasonable to assume that the chicory and other roots/roasted ingredients just got so concentrated that they actually drowned out most of the spices.

I still have a decent amount of Teeccino blends to sip through so I’m not sad to see this one go, and I actually feel a little bit of satisfaction that I was able to time out this sipdown with the right season. Not sure if I’ll be placing another Teeccino order any time soon – especially with DT’s new coffee alternative blend so much more accessible and just as delicious. But if I did, I’d consider buying more of this one.

This time around I just had this hot and plain, and I didn’t have as nice of an experience. The deep roasty notes that are always present in Teeccino blends were totally lovely but – and I don’t know a better way to say it – there was also this note in the finish that tasted so strongly of the way wet cardboard smells. Not the best.

Iced Latte!

I’m not usually into pumpkin spice flavoured things, but once it starts to feel like Fall I do like to indulge in a cup or two of something pumpkin spice. After that, I usually feel done with that profile and am able to move it. It’s just slightly starting to feel like that, so I decided it was finally time to try this blend.

The dry leaf does smell really incredible, but very nutmeg heavy in particular. Now, I know there’s nutmeg in classic pumpkin spice mixes but this was soooo much nutmeg that it more brought me to eggnog than anything else. Where’s the clove, ginger, and cinnamon!?

Steeped up as an iced latte, I get them more than I did in scent – the clove/cinnamon in particular. Definitely not any ginger – but I think that’s a pro over a con. The nutmeg is strong though; and in iced latte format it reaallllyyyyy does taste a bit like eggnog. I’m into it, though! I love nutmeg a lot.

There’s something to be said about the PSL/Starbucks association though! With the heavy, heavy roast and strong flavour of Teeccino’s usual “base” of ingredients this does give me HEAVY coffee vibes. I think, actually, more than any other Teeccino blend I’ve had so far. Since that’s kind of what they’re going for, I think it’s a raving success on Teeccino’s part – I could absolutely see this being someone’s Autumnal replacement for a coffee shop PSL in a heartbeat. Especially that demographic who’s more inclined to get an iced variation on a PSL with more of the fun foam/syrup additions.

Yeah… a surprising standout in Teeccino’s line up, for sure!

Short and sweet tasting note since this is basically spot on for the name. Very, very dark and roasty and very, very chocolate-y in flavour. Not personally for me as I don’t love chocolate teas that much (especially when they aren’t paired with something else) but I would recommend this in a heart beat to someone looking for a really bold chocolate blend.

Vitacost was having a sale and the neighbor had gone nuts over the Vanilla Nut Teecino I gave him, so we placed an order Monday. Tuesday after lunch, my box arrived. They are lightning fast, and it helps that they ship from our main mail distribution city kn the state. I have received orders in less than 24 hours before.

We bought Vanilla Nut and Hazelnut, and a couple of jars of Bonne Maman Orange Marmalade. but I needed one more item to hit free shipping because we had a coupon. I decided to get this on a whim because I like almond scented things.

Thus I fulfill my final prompt for August – a random tea.

The aroma is heady and boozy. I bought this especially to have a decadent night time treat. Even hot chocolate was keeping me up last year.

I made this with half water and half milk, added sugar, and topped it with whipped cream. Ashman the coffee hater loved it. I loved it and I can’t drink coffee because I just can’t get past the bitterness.

I only used a tablespoon and a half of the loose mix for about 18 ounces of beverage, but it was enough. I am looking forward to enjoying these Teecino blends when the weather turns chilly. I need try it cold frappucino style, too.

We’re actually moving offices right now with work, so the last week most of the tea and tea making equipment I’m used to having such easy access to has been in boxes. So the last few days I’ve had less tea than usual and what I am making while there has all been teabags…

Anyway, this was very good. It has the typically “thick as mud” slick mouthfeel and deep, dense roasted root flavour with the sweet, brown undertones of the date its naturally sweetened with. Always delicious! However, as much as I adore the flavours of the base used here, I can’t say I reallllyyyy got any notes that make me think of macadamia nuts. Teeccino definitely has way stronger options if you’re looking for a nut flavour – my personal favourite being hazelnut.

The last couple of nut flavours I’ve tried from Teeccino have been a little disappointing because they haven’t really tasted accurate, so my expectations for Macadamia Nut were low – but it’s actually really spot on! I definitely found that this one was significantly less sweet than many of the other Teeccino formulations, but the macadamia notes themselves were rich and distinct. It was kind of weird to taste macadamia without either a cream or white chocolate addition since those two are paired together so much, but I suppose you could add your own cream or milk and easily solve that.

My main thing with this one is that, even though I liked the lack of sweetness, it was a bit noticeably bitter – and in a way that extended past just the roast and earthiness of the base ingredients and slight sharpness of the chicory/dandelion that’s always present. Also, it was weirdly oily in texture!? I think I need to try this with milk before really cementing in an opinion, and thankfully this is one of the few flavours I have more than one serving of so I will have the chance to do that. But it’s still pretty cool just how much it did actually taste like macadamia nut!

Interesting that I didn’t like this the last time I made it, because I had a mug a few nights ago and I really felt like it was impressively like the Butter Pecan coffee creamer that my mom used to drink frequently minus, well, the cream part. Wonderful sweetness level and that rich brown pecan taste, though! I drank it black, but with some added milk or cream I do think this would have been deceptively like her coffee and flavoured creamer combo. I guess having this as loose tea (what I drank this time) versus in a teabag really made a world of difference…

Like I mentioned in a past Teeccino tasting note, I was surprised to see that they carried two different pecan flavours – that seems like such a niche nut for two different options! My hope with this one was that it would be more buttery and creamy as I associated the “Southern Pecan” name with more of a “Butter Pecan” taste/profile. It definitely didn’t match up with that expectation, but more than that it also just didn’t feel distinct enough from Teeccino’s Maple Pecan either!? Neither really taste like pecan, and overall it was just kind of a meh cup. Still tasty because the base ingredients used in all of these blends are really tasty with the sweet carob/date last roasted profile. Just not really stand out like some of their other flavours have been.

Okay, this one definitely had the best dry leaf aroma to it out of any of the Teeccino blends I’ve tried yet – even with the Hazelnut included in that batch. It was really familiar too with that deep dark chocolat ganache and sweet syrupy raspberry kind of vibe. Reminded me a little bit of DT’s Chocolate Rocket but thicker. The taste was great, but not as amazing as the dry aroma. It’s almost more of a hot chocolate kind of vibe with a shot of very indulgent sweet raspberry syrup in it, except for the gentle earthy roast that manages to push past a thick and full bodied wall of rich cocoa. I still like the taste of the Hazelnut more, but this is maybe the next in line for me!

Sipdown (1802)!

I’m drinking this one right now and it tastes good but it also tastes reeeaaalllyyyy similar to some of the other Teeccino flavours I’ve tried and I feel like that’s maybe a bad thing since I actually haven’t tried anything vanilla flavoured yet other than this one. To clarify, similar in a sense other than just the overlap of base ingredients that these blends all share.

That said, I usually think of “Vanilla” as the more generic flavour that people often pick for their routine/ritually consumed food or beverage flavour. Like, if you were the kind of person to drink a cup of Teeccino daily in place of a cup of coffee, French Vanilla is one of the flavours I would feels that makes the most sense to be true about. It’s also another classic in terms of coffee flavours – something that wouldn’t make you even bat an eye if you saw it as an option in a coffee shop…

So, it’s also maybe a good thing that this doesn’t exactly stand out? Neutrally good tasting could be, well, good. I don’t know – thinking about it tonight is breaking my brain a little bit…

Steeped this one up last night. It’s still kind of middle of the pack for me, in terms of Teeccino’s assortment. I did really pick up on a lot of the maple last night though, especially in the mid sip. Very round on the palate with a hint of red fruit too. Of course still deep and roasty, as always.

It’s hard to not compare all of these Teeccino blends to each other since I’m having them all bunched together, and I think this one probably falls somewhere in the middle of the pack for me. I was optimistic about it because that Hazelnut truly was just fucking exceptional. I know I’ve been talking about it a lot, but it made a HUGE impact on me when I steeped it for the first time. So, since this is another nutty profile, I thought it might have similar wow factor.

Unfortunately, the pecan was kind of all but absent from the cup. That was disappointing, but it wasn’t a deal breaker because pecan only makes up half of the overall titular flavour and I thought the maple was very well executed. The most impressive thing about the maple was that it wasn’t cloyingly sweet or just maple-syrup like in flavour. That could have been a very easy out, and instead this was sort of that perfect balance of deep sweetness with more of the hint of red fruitiness that comes out in some amber maples. Not too little. Not too much. So as a maple profile, I was very into this cuppa.

It’ll be interesting to try the Southern Pecan and see how different the two flavours are, and if that ones actually does taste like pecan. It’s such a novel nut flavour, so the fact that Teeccino is carrying multiple of it is something I find intriguing.

Sipdown (1802)!

If I had another teabag of this blend it would be interesting to taste it against the Mango Lemon Balm from Teeccino that I had not too far back. I remember thinking that tea had a chocolate-y note to it, but I think this would have blown it out of the water. It was just very thick and chocolate heavy in an incredibly decadent and rich way. I’m not normally huge on chocolate teas, but I will admit that wish the strong roasted foundation I actually enjoyed this combination much more than I’d expected to. Especially as it cooled.

Last tea of 2022.

There was zero intention behind having this tea specifically as my last tea of the year – it just kinda worked out that way. I used to be really sentimental and cheesy about the symbolism of teas associated to things like that, but I’m trying really hard to let go of that for my own mental sanity.

It was a really nice cuppa though! It’s the same predictably roasty, cozy and darkly delicious base of ingredients that Teeccino uses across most of their flavours but with a bit more of a molasses-y note and a hint of ginger. Definitely one of my favourites of Teeccino’s line up – though the flavour could be stronger.

The different seasonal flavours Teeccino has carried definitely interest me, and this one honestly just feels like low hanging fruit in the best way. I’d definitely say it does taste like gingerbread, but most of the heavy lifting is being done by the really nice molasses flavour and not the ginger itself. That’s okay though – I mean, what’s a good gingerbread cookie without the molasses? Overall, it’s nice – I think it could be a littttllleee bit stronger though.

I don’t think it’ll ever stop surprising me how much I enjoy this flavour option since, with the standard Teeccino base blend, it seems to wild and uncomplimentary. But, it’s not like either the mango or lemon balm are super intense. The tea actually barely tastes like mango at all. It’s just a very smooth, roasty and semi-sweet base blend with a tad more general fruit flavour than I’d otherwise expect. And just, so smooth. You really taste that mix of date and carob in the best sorta way.

Once again, it freaks me out a little bit just how much this blend doesn’t taste like mango or lemon balm. It’s definitely fruitier than the other Teeccino compositions but if I didn’t know better I feel like I’d just describe those notes as, like, excessively fruity top notes from the carob?? It’s a weird tea, but I still kind of dig it…

Not gonna lie, I was definitely worried about this one. The idea of mango and lemon balm in a coffee replacement blend sounded very strange to me, and I thought the flavour might be weirdly sour or just cacophonous. However, I was pleasantly surprised by just how smooth the taste was. It was a really sweet, rich cup that tasting strongly of carob to me and maybe even chocolate a little bit? I think it’s actually my second favourite I’ve tried so far despite the fact both mango and lemon balm seemed absent in the taste…