Hazelnut

I do miss drinking coffee sometimes but not the acid reflux that always seemed to come with it. It doesn’t really taste like coffee but it’s dark and satisfying with a nice barley hazelnut and date flavor. I did add some soymilk and it’s a nice afternoon drink, I had some for dessert last night too. I liked it and will probably get more and try the other flavors. Although I guess it isn’t really a tea! ;-)

Ashmanra’s Sipdown Challenge | January 2023 | It’s National Coffee Break Day! Take a break today with a coffee-flavored tea!

I loved this reminder to break out the Teeccino! I used to drink it fairly regularly, but I got out of the habit. With only two bags of the Hazelnut flavor in my tea chest, I figured it was ready for a sipdown!

I’d forgotten just how coffee-esque Teeccino is! This one in particular is so roasty and rich, with a really great mouthfeel and body. It sashays right up to the edge of bitterness without going over the line, the same as a good coffee does (to my tastes). And then a whisper of hazelnut comes through on the back, just enough to add a smidgen of nuttiness. Yum.

There’s also a bit of sweetness from the dates and figs. This is where it diverges from coffee (for me, at least, because I drink my coffee black 95% of the time). But not in a bad way! It’s its own thing, and it’s good.

Now I want to buy more Teeccino…

2023 sipdown count: 11/75

It has been SUCH a long day. This is Day 6 of the Teeccino advent calendar. I made it as a latte in the evening between meetings. Sadly I missed out on savoring it because I was drinking it during a meeting. Which is a shame because it was delicious! I gave my tea-skeptic partner the first sip and even his first response was that it was tasty! I remember the hazelnut flavor in this being good, and going well with the Teeccino base.

October Sipdown Challenge – A Nutty Tea

I bought one box of the teabags when I ordered an unreasonable amount of Vanilla Nut. I will probably repurchase this flavor.

When I first tried Nutella and saw it was a chocolate and hazelnut spread, I assumed the hazelnut was cocoa-y and contributed a lot of flavor to the Nutella. (I was introduced to Nutella rather late in life compared to most people.)

I was so surprised to find that hazelnuts are just what we call filberts, which come in every mixed “in the shell” nuts package you buy near Christmas and taste nothing like chocolate to me. And I like them, but since buying Teecino and offering it to people I have been surprised at the number of people who say, “No, thanks, I don’t like hazelnut. I will try the Vanilla Nut flavor.”

This is creamy and mildly nutty, not bitter unless you are counting the normal chicory-coffee taste, and delicious. These are a real treat that I am probably indulging in too often. I am limiting the sugar, as these are an attempt at a healthier replacement for evening hot chocolate, since the caffeine and high sugar content of hot chocolate was keeping me up nights.

So I first tried Teeccino several years back and at the time I remember thinking it was good but not outstanding – though I was happy that there seemed to be a reasonably well liked coffee substitute out there for the people who liked the taste but didn’t want the caffeine/jitters and such. However, in the time since it feels like Teeccino has seen some pretty dang substantial growth and, with that growth, they’ve gotten a lot more innovative in their wellness approach as well as their flavour approach. Plus, the “fake coffee” segment is booming right now! So I thought it was time I take a revisit!

I started with hazelnut because I was intrigued to see it as a flavour offering without being combined with chocolate, though to be fair the “solo nut” flavour thing is definitely a lot more popular with coffee (ex. Macadamia, Almond, etc) than with tea. I was completely unprepared for for entirely the taste of this brew would blow me away. As y’all know I’m not particularly a fan of coffee but I am a fan of a really good, strong roasty tea. Sometimes to people those two statements are at odds, but I am here to tell you that those things can both be true! The thickness of the liquor and the rich, intensity of the roast really impressed me immediately. Whether or not it was the most authentic coffee replacement is not something I feel equipped to weigh in on, but I can tell you that from the perspective of that drinker that’s chasing roasty, earthy and grain-like flavours I felt like I was seen in a way that few other roasted teas have made me feel.

It didn’t stop there though because I think this may have arguably been the best hazelnut flavour I have ever come across. If not the best a close second to the hazelnut used in DT’s Hazelnut Chocolate pu’erh blend. The thing is though that, as much as I LOVE the hazelnut flavour in the DT blend, I’m not a big chocolate tea person. There’s no chocolate here – only the naturally occurring sweetness of the trio of carob, date, and fig. So the result was very much something incredibly strong (as it needs to be to deal with the level of roast) with a rich, sweet hazelnut flavour that makes me feel like I’ve added a shot of the really fancy Torrani coffee/soda style syrups into some kind of artisan beverage. If my tastebuds could sing they would have been pulling off Mariah Carey level vocal runs.

Truly, I was in a happy place as I drank this tea!

So if you really like coffee, this is a tea for you! That said, it may not taste like the best coffee — once I brewed mine up and added a bit of cream and sweetener, it tasted exactly like the cappuccinos from the cappuccino machine in my junior high cafeteria. That worked for me, but it may or may not work for you. Pulled this out of a Sipsby box.

I’m not sure this really counts as a tea, but it is an herbal blend and it’s on Steepster so I’ll make a note of it here. To me, this tastes just like coffee. It always brews up really strong so I add some sugar and cream to tone it down. This one does have a bit of an artificial taste but all in all it’s a good cup.

I’ve really enjoyed each of the Teeccino flavors I’ve tried. I tend to keep these stocked in my pantry since I don’t drink much coffee. It’s a nice alternative.

This is a good alternative if you like flavored coffees. The cloying hazelnut flavor is a little overwhelming for me – but it doesn’t render the cup undrinkable – I just know that I have to pair it with the proper cookie :)