The other day, I popped into Teavana to buy an iced tea. While waiting in line to place my order, a Teavana employee accosted gave me her unsolicited sales pitch. I had no intention of buying anything besides what I came in for, but before I knew it, I was leaving with all sorts of tea goodies.
Teavana allows you to sample a number of their freshly brewed teas, so I instantly fell in love with their blend of MatéVana + Rooibos Chai.
The MatéVana has a chocolatey, malty, sweet, nutty flavor while the Rooibos Chai has spicy and exotic taste to it. I also loved that it has antioxidants and caffeine in it!
The blend sort of reminds me of a nice, smooth cup of coffee. Surprisingly, right? This particular tea blend would be prefect for a coffee lover who wants to start drinking tea.
To brew my looseleaf tea, I also bought a tea strainer.
The tea strainer is large enough for a single cup of coffee or a whole pot of tea– it just depends how many tea leaves you add to it.
The tea was so easy to brew. For a mug, you just add hot water to 1.5 tsp of loose tea leaves and let seep for 5-6 minutes before removing the strainer. The fine holes removed even the smallest leaves and sediment from my mug.
Adding a squirt of agave nectar and a splash of vanilla soy milk made it the perfect cup of chocolately, sweet tea.
I also made myself a bowl of banana oats for breakfast.
In the mix:
- 1/2 cup dry oats
- 1 cup water
- 1 banana, sliced
- 1 tbsp ground flaxseed meal
- Cinnamon Crunch cereal
- Chocolate chips
Question of the Day
If you had the choice, what would you pick: coffee or tea?
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Decaf coffee all the way
I have tried and tried to like tea…iced, hot, herbal, black, green…I hate it all!
Good thing coffee is so delicious.
Definitely tea for me! I love my teas….and decaff coffee, of course!!
I have become a coffee lover in the past few months, but I would definitely have to stay with tea. You can have it pretty much any time!
I LOVE both! If you open my pantry door you will see a rack hanging there with an assortment of Teavana teas, and lots of others along with a few different flavors of coffee.. I was just telling my husband the other day that we have a beverage center in our pantry LOL!
Teavana is SO good, expensive but good!
I am a coffee gal all the way. But I can’t really drink it black. I love latte’s and misto’s. The only tea I can really drink is TRADITIONAL chai. I spent 5 weeks in India and became addicted. But it has to be the real stuff! I’ve been trying to get into tea b/c it is good for you but I just can’t seem to love it. But I do prefer spicier kinds to sweet or fruity.
Always always coffee! Iced
Got to go with coffee!! I’m addicted for sure!
Coffee for sure!!!!!! My favorite thing to put in it is that French Vanilla Creamer stuff but I cannot have it in my house….I would go through it so fast!
Coffee. There are a few teas that I like, but nothing beats coffee for me.
I would definitely choose coffee, but I like tea every once in a while. I used to work for The Art of Tea for a while, and it was so cool to learn about all the tea out there!
That tea looks awesome! As I’m trying to get pregnant, I am pre-emptively cutting caffeine out of my diet… I find tea to be a nicer option than decaf coffee (especially at Dunkin’ Donuts — their decaf tastes funny!). I’m glad it’s getting colder now, though, because I LOVE iced coffee.
So, in a perfect world, I guess I’d go with coffee… but in my current decaf state, I’m going with tea! Decaf tea.
I love mate + chai tea too! I had it at a festival in an iced form and bought a pack of 18 tea packets. It does give you the caffeine but no jolts so I love it. The thing I found though was that if you wanted to make iced mate chai tea, you can’t really cheap out and leave in one bag in a pitcher for a long time…it doesn’t taste full strength. You need to put in a couple of bags per pitcher (my box suggests 4!) to get it not so watered down.
Tea, definitely! I can’t stand the bitterness of coffee! I love Teavana as well!
TEA! I love Teavana – I just wish it was a little more budget friendly…
I prefer coffee! But, I received that same exact tea as a gift and I love it!!!! I didn’t know it had caffeine though…
Has to be tea for me as I love sampling new flavours. Really enjoying Vanilla Rooibos at the moment! But just sometimes, only a skinny latte will do!
I would almost always choose coffee. The only time tea really sounds good is on a super cold winter day.
I love Teavanna!! BUT I think Juan Val Dez is my relative somehow! I HAVE to have coffee in the morning and sometimes in the afternoon (as a treat).
This is a loaded question for me! I recently gave up coffee due to some stomach issues. I missed it desperately until I found an alternative called Teeccino. It’s made from barley, chicory root and some other things. but, what I liked best about it, was that you “brew” it as you do coffee. Something about that morning ritual made me feel better about switching. However, the other day I couldn’t shake a craving for Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks and I caved. Verdict: Man, is coffee good…
I’m definitely a coffee girl, but a good cup of tea really hits the spot some time. Normally, I’ll have coffee in the morning and tea in the afternoon if I’m feeling snacky.
Well, I actually am a TEA gal myself. My mom has an herb business and I’m often out at festivals and outdoor markets helping her run her vendor’s booth so I’m passionate about looseleaf herbal tea. YUM! But I do drink organic coffee sometimes.
I drink coffee mainly, but I love the smoothness and sophistication of a nice cup of oolong, Earl Grey, or mint.
Very hard to decide, but i would have to go with tea and all the many flavors it offers
I drink both but lean more towards coffee (Starbucks Lattes). Love loose teas, favorite is Golden Yunnan. Use to drink only tea and hated coffee up until about 1 year or so ago. Not even sure how I made the change!
I absolutely LOVE coffee! I drink it black (the true Pacific Northwest way
lol) and love trying really great roasts and drinking it slowly and savoring the flavor.
Yeah that store got my mom too while she was visiting me in Boston…$80 later we finally left the store!
Oh where would I be without my coffee? That will always be my favorite of the two. BUT I have to say while in Asia (Hong Kong) I drank a lot more tea and from that point on I learned what kind of tea I actually like and better yet how I like it prepared (I know that no one is excited for winter but I am excited to buy Black Tea Soy Lattes from Starbucks!!).
That’s such a hard question, because I love the traditions that go hand in hand with both coffee AND tea!
I don’t go anywhere near Teavana unless I want to walk out with tons of tea. My tea drawer is filled with teas from there. I love it though and I only get there about once every 6 months. I drink tea all winter long. I only recently got into coffee for the quick caffeine but I’m trying to switch back to tea. It’s easier on my tummy.
I love Teavana! I had an interview there last month but didn’t get the job.
i used to be a coffee person but since weening off caffeine i like herbal tea, straight up!
coffee! i love coffee. i’ve tried all different kinds of tea, but unfortunately i just can’t acquire a taste for it.
Cinnamon crunch on top of your oatmeal! Genius Teen
I’m definitely a tea person, but I LOVE the smell of coffee. LOVE IT!
congrats on your article!!!! I am not going to lie I love tea but Coffee is def. better. The aromas, the texture, the taste once it hits your mouth. so yummy
Coffee for me! I drink iced black coffee every morning. I used to have mine light and sweet from DD until I realized that was the reason why I was putting on so much weight, ahhh! So, I switched to black with splenda until I realized how bad that stuff was for you too. So, black unsweetened here. I do enjoy peppermint tea (hot) and the passion tea (iced) from Starbucks.
Oh, I forgot to mention Turkish tea. My husband is Turkish so it’s tradition to have it for breakfast or dessert. We mostly have it only with guests. I prefer mine iced and VERY strong. He always gets upset because I make it so strong. But it’s very delicious especially with honey…mmm!!
coffee for sure, but i do love tea! This time last year i was a total tea addict, but then all of a sudden i became a coffee fanatic. i would love to try some new teas!
I totally go back and forth, but I LOVE teavanas roobis chai. so.good.
coffee. =)
hands down.
nothing better than a fresh cup of joe in the morning, or the search for that perfect shot of espresso. bliss.
I have tried so hard to like tea and I just don’t. I do like coffee, but I only drink it occasionally.
i would have to defintely say TEA!!
Jenna
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