Top 5 Teavana Teas

Happy Leap Day, friends!
Since I've done a Top 5 Teas From David's Tea post it's only fair to do a Top 5 Teavana Teas post as well. Teavana is slightly more expensive than David's Tea and when you purchase tea you must buy at least 50 grams.

5. Maharaja Chai oolong tea has a low level of caffeine. This tea is the perfect blend of wonderful spices such as cinnamon, ginger, pepper and cloves. You don't need to add any sugar to it because it's sweet enough on it's own.

4. Moroccan Mint green tea has a medium level of caffeine with a wonderful taste of spearmint. I love mint teas and this is no exception. It's a great tea to start your day off in the morning.

3. Passion Tango herbal tea has no caffeine in it. If you love Passion Tea Lemonade at Starbucks then you will love this tea. It's refreshing and tastes delicious as well!

CocoCaramel Sea Salt is always a winner! 

2. Grape Wulong oolong tea has a medium level of caffeine. It's one of my current favourite drinks and is only available on the website in larger quantities. It's pretty finicky and needs to be made exactly right but when it is, it tastes amazing!!  It's also very good iced.

1. CocoCaramel Sea Salt herbal tea has a low level of caffeine. As the name states, there are notes of chocolate, caramel and sea salt that blend together to make such a wonderful flavour. I highly recommend this tea to everyone who asks!

Honourable mention: Teavana's Rock Sugar! It dissolves in hot water very well and brings out the flavours of the tea.

Keep calm and steep on!

Teavana's Defense Tea Review

Teavana has come out with a new line of wellness teas. Being a person that is constantly worried about getting sick, I wanted to buy all 7 teas but I restrained myself and only bought Defense. Defense is a white tea that is meant to boast your vitamin C levels.

White tea got its name because the part of the leaves used is covered in white hairs. White tea leaves have the least amount of treatment during production, they are rapidly steamed and dried, leaving the leaves fresh. This is what sets it apart from other types of teas. It is also thought to have a multitude of health benefits including antioxidant, antibacterial, and anticancer effects.

I'm not normally a big white tea fan, it has a very distinct taste and it's very delicate, the tea leaves burn easily if the water is too hot. This tea smelt so good at the store that I couldn't turn it down and I am always up for a little Vitamin C boost.

I tried this tea at my parent's house with a kettle that wasn't programmable, which makes it harder to get the proper temperature.  I used 2 teaspoons of the tea without
any sweetener added and steeped the tea for 5 minutes as per Teavana's instructions. This tea smells like citrus with hints of lime, pineapple and orange.

I could definitely taste the notes of citrus, however, it wasn't as good as other wellness teas that I have tasted. It wasn't a tea that I would go out of my way to drink but it wasn't bad. The things that I didn't like about the tea were typical white tea characteristics. With that being said, if you like white teas, you will probably like this one. 

Steeped and Infused

Loose leaf tea is not prepackaged into tea bags, the tea leaves are loose in a bag or container until you decide you want a cup. The most important loose leaf tea accessories to have are tea infusers or tea filters. A tea infuser is a device that holds the tea leaves while they're steeping. When it comes to infusers and filters, it really comes down to preference.

Tea Filters

Filters are essentially make it yourself, single use, tea bags.
The ones that I like to use are from David's Tea. They are made of biodegradable and chlorine free paper and the pull string makes them easy to use. I try to use these when the tea has tiny pieces in it, or I am making tea to go because they are $12.00 for a package of 100 filters. There are cheaper options for filters at Teavana starting at $4.95 for 100 filters, however, they do not have the pull string. They have an open flap which can get tricky.

For my tea infusers, there is the traditional mesh ball infuser, which is not my favourite. I find them hard to clean and they tend to let pieces of tea slip through the holes.

My Favourite Infuser

Traditional Mesh Ball Infuser

My favourite infuser is a stainless steel fine mesh infuser that fits into most mugs. I use it in my tea pots and my mugs and it has never given me trouble. It is also easy to clean.

My Penguin Infuser

There are some fun infusers as well. I got a cute red penguin infuser for Christmas and I love it. It's great for days when you want something cute and different and this one works well. Some others on my list to buy are: the Deep Tea Diver, the Pug in a Mug, and the Tea Rex.