I have quite the sweet tooth, anyone who knows me can attest to that. I do happen to like my tea and coffee sweetened with stevia though, so that’s good. Anyway, when I got the Mayan Cocoa Spice home I asked one of the kids to make it for me with my usual amount of stevia.
Bad move.

Mayan Cocoa Spice tea is pretty sweet and when the stevia was added it was really too sweet, at least in the usual amount. Just a touch of sweetener in this one will bring out the chocolate, and ginger flavors. It is very low/no caffeine and I really like it in the evening before bed. Sort of like a hot cup of cocoa..only not.

The first taste is sweet, followed by tea and a touch of acidity. Next the cinnamon opens up and it finishes with a nice bite from the ginger. There is another flavor in there I can’t quite figure out and the print on the box is too small for my eyes. The aroma is more spice than cocoa with a definite ginger scent. I suppose that if you can imagine sitting at the table with a cup of creamy hot cocoa and a gingersnap you would have an idea of what this reminds me of.

It takes milk well, and would make a great tea latte, or whatever they are called. If you are trying to kick a coffee habit this may help. It has the mouth feel of coffee.

Give it a try.. I found it at the grocery store so it is definitely available.

Image: Vaps Cotta, Stockxchnge

Post from: Kettle and Cup

I figured out that we are unusually big tea drinkers here when Chris walked in the door for the first time in over a year and said,”Hey mom. Got any green tea?”

I know I have said it before but everyone here, with the exception of Marc, drinks tea. Chai, herbal, tisane, fruity, cold, hot, black, green, white…loose, bagged…well you get the idea. Nick prefers his, no matter the type, with at least 1/4 cup sugar. Kyrie likes sugar and milk…it goes on and on.

I like a spicy chai. I like something that leaves a slight burn on my tongue that has nothing to do with the temperature of the tea. If that is your taste as well then you owe it to yourself to try this tea!

It is the one that I used in the Chai Snowball cookies a week or so ago on Baking Delights. I love it with just some sweetener, but with some heavy cream added and made into a latte it is fantastic.

Classic India Spice Tea is caffeine free, if you are watching that. Ingredients are: (all organic I believe) ginger root, chicory, carob, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, stevia, black pepper, butterscotch flavor.

See? I told you it was fantastic. In fact, I have never really drank much of this company’s tea in the past but I am increasingly picking it up. It is all very flavorful and fresh..and intense. I like intense!

Give this one a try. I am pretty sure you will love it.

Image:Marye Audet

Image: Amazon

Post from: Kettle and Cup

Every time I am in the store I check for cool teas that I haven’t tried. Quite honestly, I can’t continuously afford to order the really GOOD teas off-line or run to Teavana on a regular basis, and I am pretty sure most of you can’t either. So, my goal here is to find the best of the available teas (and coffees) and let you know. And..throw in some really special stuff as I can. I am not cool enough yet for the companies to seek me out for reviews and send me free tea and coffee.

O.k…so here I am, at my local organic produce store..which sells other cool stuff…and I see this tea. Mexican Sweet Chili Intriguing. I am game..so home it goes.

I was lucky to get a cup of this! It has a stronger licorice flavor than I was expecting. But beneath that there are definite cocoa notes and a final smokey warmth that spreads over your tongue and down your throat…chili!

I sort of expected a chai and it sort of was…not. All ingredients are organic and are:

• licorice root
• orange peel
• ginger
• fennel
• clove
• anise
• cinnamon
• cardamom
• cayenne
• black pepper
• organic cocoa shells

You would think this is a winter time tea, but it didn’t seem that way to me. it seemed like a tea to enjoy after a meal of enchiladas and tamales. Give it a try, unless you don’t like licorice…because that is the primary flavor.

Hey, if you try it…let me know what you think. I especially liked it with cream and sugar.

Image:Marye Audet

Post from: Kettle and Cup