I have discovered that making iced tea at home is incredibly easy. I am really glad I bought the Teavana infusion pitcher designed for making iced tea. I ran out of the Blueberry Bliss tea (from my first trip to Teavana) and went back to try some more. It’s super easy for me to get to Teavana since they’re located so close to home.
So, on January 25, 2013, I dropped by and bought some more loose leaf tea to make iced. I’ve been making all my iced teas pre-sweetened with the “German rock sugar” that I featured in the first Teavana blog article. By the way, on this second trip into Teavana, Emily, the same Teavana partner who helped me before, was there again, and guided me through this second Teavana adventure.
Let me talk about the teas that I tried:
Peach Bellini Blush Tea:
This tea is a rich mixture of fig, dried peaches, and berries. Emily assured me that this would make a wonderful iced tea, so I got a small amount of this tea scooped out for me to take home.
This is amazing. The peach flavor in this is fantastic. I realized that after I’d let the tea steep, the brewed tea looked like some edible concoction. I was pretty curious about it – I couldn’t help but wonder what it would taste like if I put a spoon in there and ate the brewed “tea,” which really appeared to be mostly chunks of peaches. Here’s the brewed Peach Bellini, with my infuser of brewed Peach Bellini in the pic too:
So what did I do? I guess I am a little embarrassed to admit this, but I sprinkled some sugar on the brewed tea, grabbed a spoon, and then carefully picked out the dried peach pieces. And then I ate a small spoonful of them. It’s not bad at all. Totally edible. Caveat emptor: Teavana clearly is selling the Peach Bellini Blush for making hot or iced tea, and although it might look like a breakfast cereal, it’s not. 😉 Don’t try this at home!
Oh yes, this was two solid thumbs up as an iced tea. Fantastic. And yes, I wish Starbucks would offer some kind of peach tea! I had had hoped for a peach tea at Starbucks when they did the test of their peach tea in the South last year.
Sevenberry Sangria tea:
I also bought a little Teavana Sevenberry Sangria tea to try at home too. It was incredibly aromatic and it sounded great.
Let me tell you, the name of this tea absolutely describes it perfectly. I can’t believe how much it has a sangria-like texture and flavor. I took a sip of it iced and I flash-backed to being 19-years old again. Suddenly, I was in the Air Force, stationed at Torrejon AB, Spain, and drinking Sangria in Madrid.
I distinctly one evening in Madrid, dining at restaurant called Botin’s. The special occasion was that one of my sisters had flown from California to Madrid for a vacation, and of course to visit her sister in the Air Force. I was a little buzzed from the big glass pitcher of sangria. I can remember at that moment knowing that I’d always want to remember that night. I stole the wooden spoon from the sangria pitcher, which had the word “Botin’s” stamped on it. It might be the only thing I’ve stolen in my life! But I was buzzed, and I wanted a memento of that night. By the way, the year was 1986, and I don’t think that Botin’s was considered as such a high-brow establishment back then as now. When I look at their website, it just looks way more expensive and high-class than what I remember.
As to the tea, this was the only mild disappointment. I am not totally convinced that it’s best as an iced tea. Try this Teavana tea hot.
Pineapple Kona Pop!
Last but not least, I want to mention the Pineapple Kona Pop tea at Teavana. The aroma is stunning. This too made a fantastic iced tea. The pineapple flavor was very strong. It’s interesting, but Teavana comes up with tea names that truly do exactly describe their teas! I would buy this again, and prefer it as an iced tea over the Sevenberry Sangria.
I know it’s not really iced tea weather in many places, but I sort of think of iced tea as a year round drink. Hope you enjoyed this second trip to Teavana!
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I’ve heard that there are about 300 Teavana stores in the US, and you can buy their teas online too at Teavana.com.
More random photos from my trip to Teavana:
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Melody! Because of you I have found my new favorite tea, Peach Bellini Blush Tea:) I tried it and love it, I had it as a hot tea and am AMAZED. Thanks for the wonderful recommendation.
@Nathan – That is very cool to hear!
The sevenberry sangria is one of my favorite hot teas. Haven’t tried the peach bellini blush yet but will put it on my list!
As you know Melody iced tea for me is an all year enjoyment and I love to try all sorts of flavors. Making it at home is quite nice as you have found out! Glad you are enjoying sampling all the new choices. This store looks big is it? Thanks for the tour.
Did you hot brew or cold brew the tea? Cold brew, much like with coffee, works well just like hot brew then ice/chill 🙂
I love that you like all the teas that are my favorites! Well, sevenberry and blueberry bliss are always on my counter…and I just ordered peach bellini because you liked it so much. I took advantage of that partner discount weekend. Can’t wait to try it!
@Donna – I want to hear how you like it! I’m glad you were able to get a discount. The teas are a little pricey. @AmazonV – I boiled water on the stove top, poured it in, and let it steep, then put the whole special infuser in the fridge. One thing though, as I was raeding through the customer comments on the Teavana website about using the infuser, I noticed that one person suggested just added hot water (the hottest you can get from your tap) and then throwing it in the fridge, and letting it steep overnight – It sounded much like a “cold brew” to me, as I’m familiar with coffee brew methods. I don’t know if that would change the flavor at all, but I am curious to try it at some point. I am overdosing on iced tea right now.
@purple1 – Come to Seattle, and we will have iced tea together! 🙂
Wow – my husband is the biggest Teavana addict I know, but he didn’t tell me about the Sevenberry Sangria tea! I’ll seek it out the next time we go by! I do love the Peach Bellini Blush, and he usually uses either the “German Rock Salt” or honey, or sometimes both. I remember when we saw an episode of The Walking Dead with [presumably, because it looks like the one we have] the Teavana infusion pitcher, and he got a bit too excited about it. Thanks for this article!
I too checked out Teavana lthis past weekend and ended up purchasing a perfect tea maker, a maharaja chai oolong tea, and a Thai mountain oolong tea with the partner discount. I have to say, the chai was one of the best chai teas that I have ever tasted. It actually had whole pieces of cardamom and other spices which greatly upped the spiciness of the tea.
Devin – Teavana seems to have mastered the art of whole pieces of things in their teas. The Peach Bellini has huge pieces of fig and peaches in it, and the Blueberry Bliss definitely has dried blueberries. I should try the Chai next. Glad you got your tea at a discount – are you near a Teavana store?
Ahhh… That makes sense. With Teavana a part of the Starbucks family, I hope that Tazo is able to take some of their concepts and integrate them into their current line up.
And I work in a mall location which has a Teavana as well. It is relatively new, and I had no idea it existed until hearing about the news that Teavana had been purchased by Starbucks.
These are some tea flavors I’m going to have to go back and try at my next visit to Teavana! Partners, I recommend asking if you get a discount as a partner at your local Teavana… I’m not sure if “officially” we are still supposed to, but my local Teavana has, even after the special discount weekend – it wasn’t as significant as during the promotional weekend, but still a pretty sweet deal. So far I have tried Earl Grey Creme (yum), Strawberry Rose Champagne (yum), Zigniber Ginger Coconut (Yum), Wonderberry Chocolate Truffle (Yum), Snow Geisha (good, but I want to try it mixed with the Strawberry one and see how that is) and a sea salt caramel herbal one which I didn’t particularly care for.
@Kitenarie – The Strawberry Rose Champagne one is on my list of teas to try. It is expensive tea! I am finding that to closely match the flavor of the iced teas in their stores, their “German Rock Sugar” is part of the secret. That sugar adds A LOT of its own flavor, and let it steep longer than what they suggest. The Peach Bellini and Blueberry still have been faves. The Sevenberry Sangria is good, but boy does it have a strong flavor! Thanks for the recommendation – I think today I will try to get some of the Strawberry Rose one.
all of these teas sound amazing. Now that it’s starting to get warm where I am, I’ll definitely want to get on the iced tea train – maybe I should get my hands on an infuser. Strawberry Sangria in particular sounds great – I’m sure to stop by my local teavana.