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I’ve been avoiding this tea for a while. Not sure why, just haven’t been in the mood. I tried it once after I bought it, and I dunno… the flavors just didn’t quite sit right. I think this tea and I are a better fit now. We’re both a little older, more experienced… xD

The pineapple flavor has definitely mellowed since it was fresh out of the package. It’s very light now, and the cake-y flavor can come out more. I like how somehow there’s also that hint of caramelized cherry in there. I don’t think it’s my imagination, either.

I tried it sweetened and unsweetened this morning, and I like both! The fruit and cake flavors do come out more in the sweetened one, but that’s to be expected. I’ll know to go unsweetened when I’m looking for mostly green tea flavor with a hint of fruit and flavoring.

Overall, this tea is perhaps not for everyone, especially not if you are not fond of pineapple. The sencha is pretty good quality, and the pineapple does not take over everything else, like I’ve seen it do in other teas. Probably won’t restock this one, but hey, then I can move on to some of the other teas on my wish list… :D

This is definitely the tea I wanted this morning! Normally, I get up and have to ponder and sniff and deliberate before I find a tea that I am in the mood for. Today, my palate said “That one” without even having to start that process.

This tea is just so pleasant and chocolatey. It’s a little chilly in my house this morning (outside it’s in the 50s, which is a very nice surprise, considering where I live), and this beautiful black tea warms me from head to toe. I decided to have some bacon to go with it, which may have been a mistake, since it was peppered bacon and the pepper is kind of taking over my mouth right now… but it’ll pass, because bacon doesn’t last long in front of me. I decided to add some honey and cream to the tea(I know, it’s a Chinese tea, I just really like my black teas British style… sue me). It’s very malty and like drinking very high quality semi-dark chocolate… which is making me want to go to World Market and get some. Might have to make a stop there today sometime…

Having this tea this morning with some wheat toast and blood orange marmalade. :) The vanilla flavor comes out more than the pear, I’m afraid… but I could probably guess that pear is a difficult flavor to detect anyway. I love eating the fruit, though, so I was really excited when I saw this tea in a sampler pack from Harry & David. Omg, that store makes me poor. D:

Anyway, it definitely is a wonderfully light black tea (despite the fact that I steeped it a bit longer than I meant to), with some delicious fruity notes that I suppose could be the pear. It just doesn’t scream “I AM A PEAR TEA” at me. Still tasty, though. :3

In my latest bagged tea drinking endeavors, I came across this one when my husband and I were about to leave the house but we wanted something to take with us. I asked him what he was in the mood for, and he said, “Surprise me.” So this tea came out. I brewed it, added sugar and milk, and then let him smell it. He wanted to try and guess what it was. I was expecting him, based on the kind of tea it is, to mistake it for chai, but surprisingly, the pumpkin flavor and aroma was enough to distinguish it (which I found out immediately after by smelling it myself).

I really like the pumpkiny-ness of this one, even if it may be a little artificial. I didn’t get a big artificial vibe from the smell and the taste, so it didn’t bother me. It tasted like pumpkin, the stuff from the can that you get in the grocery store. Some people might prefer it to taste the way fresh pumpkin smells, but I actually am not as fond of the smell of fresh pumpkin. I am, however, fond of this tea, and I will probably bring it back out sometime in the near future… if I can get over whatever pregnancy funk is preventing me from wanting tea right now. This being my first pregnancy, I don’t know how long this nausea thing is supposed to last, but whenever it wants to quit is fine with me. xP

I’ve actually had this one for a while, but I have been sorely neglecting my bagged tea stores for quite some time. It’s just that my loose-leaf ones are so much tastier, that I tend to gravitate toward them, understandably. Still, my boxes and boxes of tea bags are taking up space in the hubby and I’s new apartment, so I have vowed that I will focus my attention on them until I’ve at least drunk our stores down so that they will all fit on the bottom shelf of our tea shelves.

In my browsing of our 30+ boxes of tea, I came across this one. I know, I know, it is not winter, and I am not ill, but that doesn’t mean I can’t drink spiced tea or chamomile—and this one happens to be both. I have liked this tea for a long time—it being Twinings makes it hard to dislike—and am glad to have rediscovered it. :)

Okay, I’ve had this tea for a while, I’ve just not posted it up here before because I’m lazy. Sue me. ;P

Anyway, this chai is by far my favorite chai of all time. You never forget your first love. :) The black tea probably could be of a higher quality, but I don’t mind that because if it was, it might take away from the wonderfully balanced spices, which are my favorite part. _ Seriously, these people have it right. They make this blend in-house, and I’ve never had a more well-balanced chai, ever. The Indian Chai from Butiki Teas came close, but not close enough. The cardamom notes are just right, and it’s just cinnamon-y enough without being overwhelming, there’s anise there but in the background (not a big fan of anise), there’s even a few hints of nutmeg, and the CLOVES. Oh, the cloves. drools I really can’t wait until winter so I can have an excuse to drink this every day. It’s not fruity, it’s got no vanilla flavoring, it’s just pure unadulterated spicy sweet goodness. Like getting a big whiff of allspice or pumpkin pie spice—it just hits you in your whole face all at once. _____

I decided this tea would be just the thing to help me feel better today, as I was feeling a bit faded and wilted, not to mention having stuffy sinuses, but I was a bit disappointed. The warm liquid did help, but the taste wasn’t quite the same as it usually was. I guess probably my taste buds were a little wack, as they can be when you’re sick. Anyway, I’m kind of wishing I had chosen a tea that had a little eucalyptus or something in it to break through the gunk in my sinuses, but I still do love this tea. :)

I think I have found that magic blend. Teavana is always promoting blending teas, because supposedly some teas were “meant to go together”… whatever. I just like that I can tailor the taste of my tea to my moods, and sometimes I’m in the mood for something familiar, yet new. Anyway, I’ve been trying several blends (mostly just with Teavana teas, as the others that I possess are generally too precious to risk blending, because I have to wait until the next blue moon, when I generally order more tea, to get more), and I think that I’ve found the perfect blend. I’m almost always in the mood for this one.

The two teas in this blend are French Spice Quartet and Cha Yen Thai, both from Teavana. Both are spicy-sweet teas, but one is a rooibos/black mix and the other is an oolong, which works to my advantage. I like that there isn’t too much rooibos, because it can kinda take over the flavor, and I like that there’s some oolong in there, because, well, oolong is fantastic. The coconut flavor of the Cha Yen Thai smooths over the jagged edges of all those spices—peppercorns, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and a few others—creating a refreshing palate that isn’t quite as heavy as chai. Basically, if you’re like me and you LOVE LOVE LOVE chai, but sometimes you’re just not in the mood for something that rich, then this is a good happy alternative. :)