Strawberry Paraiso

Wow, it’s been a long time since I logged this! I had a very sleepy day after a very interesting mortuary analysis course! :) I love school some days. :p
This tea is almost gone! I’ve noticed that many of my super sweet teas are getting low/are gone now!
This tea is pretty darn good. I love that this one re-steeps very well. lol I was about to complain about the price (I thought it was $15), but it is $10. I still think this is a little higher than what I think the price should be. But it does get some of that back by being able to be infused 2-3 times.
I think that Teavana doesn’t advertise enough that their teas can be re steeped. But that’s my personal experience; not to mention if people forgo this Teavana gets more money…
yay!!! I just noticed that this is my 101st tasting note! :D

Been a while since I’ve had this tea, and wanted to review again. I am starting to get where I can taste the artificialness of some teas….though this has yet to really bother me. I imagine it can be difficult to add certain flavors to tea, such as fruit. Though I do wish for a more ‘fresh fruit flavor’. I still like this tea though, and now that I am getting close to the end of it…need to make that decision to buy or fly past it in favor for others….as there is like 50 odd more teas from Teavana’s that I wanted to try. Another complaint is that (as with most of Teavana’s teas I am noticing.) there is not alot of tea, more dried fruit and ‘stuff’ so what I am thinking is that I want to pair this with a plain white tea (or maybe a plain black tea or earl grey might be intriguing.) My craving for white tea has certainly gone up! lol. Of course I would pick the type of tea that is usually some of the most $$ of the tea world. Though for the Strawberry Paraiso at $10 isn’t bad…I know with the straight white teas such as Silver Needle it is much more pricey. I do hope that the more traditional tea drinkers don’t think it blasphemy at the idea of pairing these up….though if anyone has a suggestion as to what would be a better pairing, (preferably unflavored, as I am looking for a combination white tea taste with the Strawberry Paraiso.)And preferably one that Teavana’s has as it seems easier to blend that way.) I am also contemplating adding just a pinch of Hibiscus to it. I am not a huge fan of tart, but I do like it in the sense to make the flavors stand out and be somewhat complex. Or maybe some lemon rind? Let me know if you got any ideas….the idea of doing some blending is exciting!

I’ve been having some reflux issues lately and Amy oh recommended some white tea as being gentler if I just HAD to have some tea during this time-and yeah, I just HAD to have some tea today! I bought this tea to have for summer-especially iced. I had really enjoyed TG’s Strawberry white and this seemed similar enough and had good reviews.

Now, I did not get this lovely pink color that everyone else mentions-however, I did rinse the tea for a few seconds before brewing. I will not rinse tomorrow to see what the liquor looks like.

Glad Teavana recommends 175 because my Zoji tea boiler does not have an automatic setting for 160.

Anyways, the tea out of the bag was mostly popcorn and strawberries and precious little tea. After my first brew I put this in a tea tin and saw more tea in the bottom-I will very gently try to blend this a bit more evenly next time, but still, more fruit and less tea than I am used to seeing in this type of tea. The white leaves are also smaller than I am used to seeing in other fruit/white blends. The strawberries and big and so are the papaya chunks. Didn’t notice any raisins, but wasn’t looking for them. The popcorn is, well, popcorn.

So, brewed at 175/2. Liquor very pale straw.. Strawberry flavor is nice, but subtle. Hard to taste other flavors as much. I gave this a second steep with the same parameters and added some sugar and it really brought out the flavors-very enjoyable. I know that I will enjoy this iced during the summer. No rating number yet-want to try it again tomorrow, but consider this a positive review.

Went to Teavana today and they fixed me up a drink of this but mixed it with Azteca Fire (chocolate ) and it honestly tasted like a Chocolate covered Strawberry. The taste of the Latin cocoa pieces from the Azteca were exquisite and with it shaken with the Strawberry Paraiso makes it a perfect cup. I made a double batch for my mother and I and put 3 tsp of each in my Tea Press. Shook it up a little bit and let it steep for precisely 15-17 minutes. Then put it on ice. Wonderful treat :)

Not a horrible tea at all. It is a little tart though there isn’t hibiscus that I know of, so I think it is just the strawberry and apple combined. I can’t really pick out the popcorn, so I think it is pretty useless in the blend except to look pretty. I also get no white tea base either…just a lightly tart and floral taste, with some fruitiness. Maybe the floral is from the white tea? Normally, I’d never spend the $5 for this as a tea to go (it’s a white tea which is a rare tea category tea and the most expensive one) but I got a $20 tip from one of my customers, so I thought I’d splurge on this one since I’d been eyeing it for a while. I’d probably get this again, as a splurge, but I’d honestly probably get something I like as much or better that is cheaper. I doubt I will buy any of this tea to have on hand at home, at least til possibly summer again, as I can tell this will be nice iced.

Got this tea today as my first tea from Teavana. I made it using the Teavana Perfectea Maker. I’m on the road traveling, so I wasn’t able to use boiling water—but the tea was still delicious using water heated the microwave. 2nd steeping was a little bitter, but I didn’t add as much water—I’ll probably try it again tomorrow morning. I’m also excited to mix this with a Dragonwell tea I have from an organic shop I visited a few weeks ago. definitely worth the $10.00!

I’ve tried this tea iced before and I really liked it, but yesterday I decided to go for a hot cup (I was really in the mood for white tea, which is odd since i don’t normally drink white tea).

It started off as pretty good, a nice, sweet strawberry taste, but as I got further into the cup and it started to cool it wasn’t as great. It started to taste a bit strong (the fruity flavours I mean) and too sweet (probably from the beet root, I didn’t add any sweetener). So, it wasn’t awful. If I really wanted a strawberry tea I would consider drinking this again, but I don’t think I would ever buy a bunch to take home.

Strong Strawberry and Papaya notes, needs sugar or honey to bring out best flavor.

I gave this a shot for my last cup of tea this evening. (In retrospect, was I ever on a tea drinking roll tonight!!) I liked this! I have been looking high and low for a strawberry tea that tastes natural and isn’t just a hint of strawberry and this may have been it. I taste hints of the popcorn, no tea base, and lots and lots of strawberry. I drank it plain, it wasn’t overly sweet but it tasted really natural. A nice way to end the evening!

Made this mixed with some Peach Tranquility from Teavana. SO YUM. Tastes like a delicious fruity mix. This is one of my favorite combos any time of the day. Probably would be amazing as an iced mix too – may have to try that!