Youthberry / Wild Orange Blossom Blend

Tony got a free sample of this awhile ago, when he ordered a refill of german rock sugar crystals. My taste buds are still a little wonky, but I’m actually enjoying this right now. It’s tart & tangy, & with a little sweetness added, it’s not bad. I suspect it would be even better cold brewed. Maybe I’ll find out.

One of my kids liked this on the store, so I had her pick some up. I don’t know if she tried it hot or cold, but I am using it for iced tea. I added 1/4 of rock sugar and infused the mixture twice. It is a decent pitcher of iced tea, but I like 52teas much better, so I doubt I will invest in this again. I bought so little of it, I am not going to add to cupboard because it will be gone very quickly since I am making pitchers of iced tea. It is pretty and fruity tasting and would be fun to serve to guests who are not familiar with many teas.

Why am I so mad at Teavana lately? Is it because I have to steel myself for a hard sell before I walk through the door? I feel like such a jerk because I have to shut the persistant sales associates down when they try to sell me over-sized tins and pounds of tea at a time. It’s unfortunate because I love to learn about new teas, but I feel almost afraid to ask any questions lest I be subjected to a long sales pitch.

My most recent visit was particularly edgy because I had misread a forum thread, and I was convinced that the Tevanaites were adding sugar to the dry tea they sell. My husband said I had a crazy look in my eye and I believe it. I was going confront those tea posers about ruining pefectly good tea. Well, it turns out that they add sugar to their tea samples but not the actual dry tea you buy. I’m glad to know this because I really do enjoy a few of Teavava’s teas, and I was ready to write them off with my sugar misunderstanding.

I’m pleased that I purchased both Youthberry and Wild Orange Blossom. This white tea and herbal combo make a fantastically refreshing iced tea. Yes, it’s a super fruity tea but I make no bones about loving fruity teas. It’s hot like the surface of the sun in these parts, so a refreshing iced tea really hits the spot.

Sipdown!! (196)

So I am not a huge fan of citrus teas and yet this is my second citrus tea this hour. I am not sure how I worked that out but at least both of the teas are pleasant enough.

This was a little overleafed but that is due to the fact that I didn’t have enough to make another cup so I just tossed it all into the infuser. I am getting a lot of the base which is on the bitter side. That is mixed with the orange flavor so it is sort of like drinking a glass of orange peels. Not the most pleasant cup but at least it is gone now.

Going through my stuff I found another one of these so this time I tried it as is and made it iced.

I feel like once it’s done steeping, someone should come bursting through the wall of my apartment to say, Congratulations, you’ve made kool-aid with more natural appearing ingredients.

The July TeaLog Catchup !

I got this tea/tisane combo as a sample with the previously mentioned [in my SBT Lime Cola iced tea post] pitcher. The sample stated to use the whole packet in 16oz of water. But, man, was it a lot of tea. No way, I decided. So I split the packet evenly in two and made half of it in 12oz of water in a mug that could hold 14oz, in case it was still too much and I had to dilute it because even half of the packet came to over 4 heaping teaspoons of tea.

Still, I was surprised when 12oz came out a hint on the watery side and made a mental note to steeper the other half of the sample in a 10oz mug. That said, it was plenty flavorful. I got tart, apple orange, fruity. No tea to speak of though. I easily consumed the cup and steeped up a resteep in 8oz of water doubtfully. I did remember when I walked away to come back sooner rather than later to collect it. A weaker tho more tart somehow version of the same fruity taste.

2nd steep: definitely less than 15 mins, possibly around 10 mins. I think I used around 180 F water, not boiling.

I’m rating this tea a 65, smack dab in the middle of my nice range. It should possibly be a bit lower, but it’s a novel change from my usual non-caffeinated evening options.

This came as a free sample in an ancient Teavana order I placed months ago but I decided today was the day I needed to try it. I kinda knew I was in for trouble when I opened it up and it looks like a bag of dried fruit, yeah I think i saw one or two leaves of white tea in there… lol

This is really not my thing.
1) I do not EVER use sugar in my tea so this sample is instantly way too sweet.
2) It tastes like warm fruit punch.
3) No tea flavor whatsoever
4) If I want to drink a fruity tea I would prefer less hibiscus/rosehips/tart-ish crap

I decided to pour it over ice and it is better as a cold drink. I Teavana should really market this as a cocktail, mix it with rum and stick an umbrella in it.

I steeped this sweetened sampler a second time, adding more sugar, steeping it for hours (like, 12 or something), and finally adding ice. I’ve never made iced tea with loose leaves before, so I don’t know if I did this the “right” way, but it worked. It’s excellent as iced tea: a little mango-y, a little peachy. I didn’t get even a hint of the floral things that are on the list of ingredients, like rose and such; it’s just a really refreshing, sweet, tropical iced tea.

This tea is definitely better iced than hot.

Sipdown, 132. Got a free sample of this with my latest Teavana order.

Of course pre-blended with a pile of rock sugar, but then again this tea has hibiscus and rosehips in it so I figured the sugar might be welcome. This smells strangely exactly like the powdered hot apple cider mixes that my mom used to drink in the ’90s. Actually she would sometimes mix them with Tang (yes, it is an odd blend), which totally matches with the orange flavoring here.

And yes, this taste pretty much exactly like that, especially when she would mix them a bit weaker. Fruity, tart, appley, citrusy, with little else to it. It’s not bad, and I enjoyed my pot of it, but it is certainly not very exciting as a tea. They could take the tea out of it and market it as an herbal blend (and I do like some of their herbals), but then they couldn’t tout the “health benefits” of white tea.

Thursday Feb. 24, 2011
3rd Steep of the Day.
My Wife Suprised me with a Pot Of Tevana’s YouthBerry
Great After Dinner Drink Bold Citrus Flavor.
This Pot Had some Strong GrapeFruit Presence in it.
Although its not an ingredent in this Blend.
Great Sippin Pot.
Keep on Steepin