French Vanilla

For a while everyone on here was on the Teeccino train and I was admittedly curious, because I actually like coffee, but the acidity of it gives me GI troubles so I rarely drink it these days. I really love mugicha (roasted barley) tea because it tastes like coffee to me, so I figured these would be up my alley. Sadly, this is not a widely available brand in my area; there were no teabags at my local grocery, but I did find three different flavors in a coffee grounds style bag over in the coffee section, and I grabbed the French Vanilla one. It really does look like coffee grounds inside the bag, too.

I made one hot cup and was very surprised how much it did remind me of coffee. It was dark and roasty and had a very coating mouthfeel. The French Vanilla flavor reads as coconut to me, though; thankfully I like coconut, so I’m not particularly bothered by that.

Now I just use this for cold brew, which I like even better because instead of having that coating mouthfeel that makes me feel like I need an accompanying glass of water with my tea, it goes down really slick and smooth and refreshing. I can also get a lot of use out of the “grounds” as well; two full teaspoons in a fillable teabag left in a liter of cold water overnight creates a strong dark roast sort of brew, and I usually reuse the bag for another liter, which creates a light roast style brew.

I will likely try out the other two flavors available to me next time I’m at the store and need a restock.

Day 10 of the Teeccino advent calendar. This blend is good, but I’m not enjoying it as much as I’ve enjoyed the other classic coffee flavored Teeccinos. It’s just not as striking. The vanilla doesn’t hit until the tail end of the sip rather than being evenly distributed throughout, though it is on point and does linger pleasantly. Adjusting the steeping length (probably shorter) might help with the balance if I have this again. Overall, I’ve just enjoyed other Teeccinos more, and if I want a vanilla tea would be inclined to reach for a vanilla oolong over this.

Here’s another one from the sampler and this one is from their organic line so the ingredients are probably a bit different.
This one reminds me of a milder Vanilla Nut but I think I prefer Vanilla Nut. Since it’s organic I think the vanilla flavor here is a bit more subtle compared to the rest of the ingredients. I think if you want a flavored one it’s best to get the vanilla nut or if you prefer the plainer blends go for the Mocha or the French Roast. One difference between this one and the vanilla nut is that this one doesn’t have dates in it or any fruit that would provide some sweetness. Another difference is that this is considered a dark roast while the vanilla nut is considered a medium roast blend.
The other organic ones I have left to try from my sampler are more interesting flavors so maybe I’ll have better luck with them. This one is still enjoyable it’s just not a favorite from the bunch.

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…