Guava White Tea with Passion Tea, Starbucks

Shout out to the BEST Starbucks employee I have ever come across- Michelle!  She works at Columbia Tech Center in Vancouver WA.

Michelle was super helpful when I was trying to decide what to order.  She told me her favorite tea drink and that is what I went with.  Guava Iced Tea (no lemonade) and then she substitutes in the Passion Iced Tea for the white tea.

https://www.starbucks.com/menu/drinks/tea/iced-guava-white-tea?foodZone=9999

It was good, very sweet, but good.  I think I am done trying other teas here, I know that the Passion Iced Tea (half the syrup) is what I like, so that is what I am going to stick with.  

 We went since it was Happy Hour and the kids were out of school.  I got them an ice frappuccino buy one get one free.  It was a fun time together.

 

Love my niece and nephew- so fun to be with them for 10 days!!!!

Bird and Blend Tea- Pink Grapefruit, Cold Brewed

This is my new favorite.  I know, I know I say that a lot....but this one is AmAZing!!!!

It comes from England and I love it cold-brewed!!  I gave it to my sister and she enjoyed it a lot too.

It smells so fresh and so full of grapefruit!  This is the best summer drink :)

https://bluebirdteaco.com/us_en/pink-grapefruit.html


Chinese sencha green tea, hibiscus, orange peel, red cornflowers, natural flavouring

Cold brew it great- have you tried it yet?  I put in about 1 teaspoons per 8 oz of cold water, within 10 minutes I have cold brew tea. It doesn't get bitter because the water is cold. I can add water to the cup at least 4 more times throughout the day. I strain it into a cup when I am at home, but I use a bottle from steepware when I cold brew at work or when I am out and about.  Check out the website.  you can add ANY loose leaf tea

http://theteaspot.com/cold-brew-tea-bottle.html?catid=153

10/11 update....more cold brewing tea...

This tea is beautiful. And the aroma is wonderful- you can smell the citrus very clearly.

Cold brew is a great way to drink tea.  By not heating it, you are not releasing the tannins and you can add cold water over and over again. Also you retain more antioxidants than hot brew and also it releases only half the caffeine.  I usually can add water 2-3 more times to my glass.

If I have bagged tea I do one bag per 8 oz of water.  When I do the loose leaf in a pitcher, I generally eye ball it, but if you want something more specific go with 4 Tbsp per 1 quart.

Perfectly Peach Tea, T-Sticks of London

http://www.t-sticks.co.uk/flavours.php

Okay, this is something new for me and I loved it!!  I purchased these at World Market and they are so fun.  I have never seen anything like them.

What are they?  I guess they are like bagged tea, only not.  These individually wrapped T-Sticks hold your perfectly measured tea in them.  There are 427 even spaced holes on the sticks that disperse the tea into the hot water. You can stir the stick and have a great cup of tea in just 2 minutes.

I know you are thinking it is just a tea bag, but it's not.  They're a lot less mess than a tea bag too.  Once you let the water drip out no more water comes out.  I'm telling you water doesn't leak out. 

 I made two cups of tea and I am sure I could have made a third.  The flavor was really good and the T-Stick was fun to use. I was so excited to share the tea with the ladies that I work with.  There are 5 of us ladies in our department and we all enjoy drinking tea...and I love sharing new tea stuff with them.

Amy says this stick has, “improved the quality of my life.”  She is a big fan!!!!  Amy adds sweetener to her cup of tea and she said she loved stirring in the sugar with the stick itself.  

Dawn from my office tried the T-Stick and she really liked it too.  The peach flavor really comes through.  We give it three thumbs up!

I got my sticks on sale when I was in Vancouver, but still not a bad price. You can get at least 2 cups from each stick. So, that is 30 cups of tea for $7.99.

Black Rock, Shaken Mango Black Iced Tea

https://br.coffee/

One last outing with my niece and nephew before I head home.  I had a great time visiting coffee and tea places from the PNW that we do not have in Ohio.

Black Rock is a coffee brand that is all over the area where they live, so I decided I needed to check out their teas.

I decided to try their Shaken Iced Teas- they had black tea or green tea options.  They have a nice list of syrups that can be added to the iced tea, for a small fee.

I got a black tea with Mango and I thought it was good.  They did a nice job steeping the tea- it was not bitter at all.  Also, the mango flavor was nice and not over done.  I'd get iced teas here again.

This was a nice, clean shop. I am glad that we decided to try this place.

Boy, I am going to miss these guys!!  I love spending time with them.  They are bright, funny, and so wonderful!

Steve Smith Teamaker, Portland, Tea Flight

My sisters and I were having fun in Portland.  We did Stash Tea, the Oregon Culinary Institute for lunch, the Pittock Mansion, hunted for Tazo Tea and then to Steve Smith Teamaker.

Did you know that Steve Smith co-founded Stash Tea  in 1972 and then sold it in 1993.  He also started Universal Tea Company.   Then he was the founder of Tazo Tea in 1994  and then Starbucks acquired the tea company in 1999, Steve lead the company until 2006.   He was the co-founder Steve Smith Teamaker in 2009, sadly he passed away in 2015.  

Since we saw Stash in the morning, I thought it would be fun to see all his tea places- but the Tazo place was closed, but I was happy to see Stash and Steve Smith.

110 SE Washington, Portland is where the headquarters are located.   This is their newest location.

This is my third time to this location.  My 6th time to Smith Teamaker all together.  I first went in 2013 and we actually got to have tea with Steve Smith!!!  I was there in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019.  I am a hug fan of Steve Smith.

2013

2014

2015

2016

2018

https://www.smithtea.com/

My favorite Steve Smith Tea is their Fez and the Jasmine Pearl.

 

I tried the kombucha and was surprised to learn that there was chamomile and Rooibos in it.  I don't like either item and I would not have that either item was in this kombucha.  I was very pleasantly surprised.

Sisters going for a 2nd tea flight of the day!  Loving vacation!

Smith Tea, Tea Flight, $12.  The three of us shared it.

Bai Hao oolong, Masala Chai, 

Chocolate Peppermint Pu-erh, and Red Nectar

We were able to read about the area that the teas came from.  We went from lightest tea to darkest.

Oolong is my favorite tea and I have to say I was really disappointed in the flavor of this tea.  I felt it should have a stronger Oolong flavor.  The tea was bland.

I enjoyed the other teas, my favorite of the tastings might have been the Chocolate Peppermint Pu-erh.

I had fun slurping my tea.  MY sisters were not impressed, but I said I was getting all the flavors out of the tea and they were missing out. They then made slurping sounds....but sadly they had no tea in their mouths.

**Do not add the leaves to the tea, it effects the flavor, and never in a good way***  

We just missed the tour. I never thought to check and see if the gave tours.  So, we said next year we would do a tour. Always fun to have something to look forward too!!