Estes Park Tea Kind Coffee, Strawberry Cardamom Kombucha

 

https://yayafarmandorchard.com/

While in Colorado we headed to Estes Park.  Along the way to Estes, we stopped at a farm/orchard.

It was beautiful!  We saw animals, pumpkins, apples, and all sorts of fall-like items.

I love the colors of fall!!!

We then headed to lunch.  Goodfellas Diner was a nice stop for an omelette and iced tea.

https://www.eatatgoodfellas.com/

Longmont is a cute town.  I enjoyed our stops there.

Then were were off to Estes.  The drive was just breath taking!  The blue sky, the white clouds, and the scenic mountains.

When we got to Estes I wanted to find all the tea places I could.  We found Kind Coffee.  

The funny thing was, I posted a pic of me at Kind Coffee.  A friend in Ohio saw it and I got a text, that her sister, who lives in Estes, loves this coffee place.

Her sister used to live in Orrville, so I knew her too.  I just missed meeting her there.  That would have been a hoot.  She texted me then to see if I was still there, but sadly we were already on our way home.  It has been three years since I have seen Jo.  I would have been shocked to see her at the coffee shop.

https://www.kindcoffee.com/

I ordered their house made Strawberry Cardamom Kombucha.  It was really good.  I loved it.

I gave it four out of five tea cups.  The only reason it was short a tea cup was the price. I thought it was too much money- $6.50 for a small and $8 for a large.

This is a cute shop.  I found it very inviting.

The have a large variety of drinks. They also have sandwiches and burritos. 

Behind the coffee shop is this great walk way.  It even started to snow while we were walking.  It was beautiful.  We walked along the river and looked for Elk.

On the way home I was excited to see an Elk.  We were hoping to see lots of them, but I would take the one.  We were told that Elk come down the mountain and hang out all over town. 

Colorado Kombucha

In Colorado for vacation and looking for kombucha to try....

I have had Wild Tonic before and I am a fan.  The bottles are super pretty too.  It was kind of hard to toss.  My friends in CO, recycled it for me, so I didn't feel to guilty getting rid of it.

The flavors in this kombucha are fresh and popping.  I love it!

https://www.wildtonic.com/

 

https://drinkthebu.com/

This one was just okay.  I really liked he lavender flavor, but the base notes were nothing special.  Kind of fell flat for me.  I did love that the entire can as only 40 calories.

The weather was constantly changing while I was in CO.  The skies were amazing to watch.

I saw Elk while in CO.  I was hoping for more wild life, but this was it.  But, I'll take it.

Excited to check out the kombucha at the local Brighton, CO grocery store.  I love love love finding local kombucha.

This store also had some unique fruit too.

https://drinkmortal.com/

This kombucha is form Boulder CO- fitting I am in CO when I tried it.

I found it super refreshing and delicious.  I wish this one was local to me.  This was my favorite of the three I tried.  They get 5 tea cups out of 5 for sure!!!

Ranking of the kombucha....

 Mortal Kombucha for the win

 Wild Tonic came in 2nd 

 Bu came in third 

Estes Park Tea, Rocky Mountain Chai from Sereni TEA

My first full day in Colorado, we drove over to Estes Park.  It was spectacular.   The views were majestic.  God has such creativity in His creation.   I love seeing different areas of the US.  I bet He had so much fun creating the world.

In Estes there were a few cafes.  But, I was super excited to find a tea shop, dedicated to all things tea.  We were only in town for about two hours, so we didn't get to see everything, but this was one place I decided I had to stop in to this shop.

 

I thought this was a real nice Chai.  Having the jasmine and rose in the chai threw me off a bit with the warming spices, but I did still enjoy it.  The store was adorable, the prices were good, and the staff was really friendly.  I gave the tea four tea cups out of five.

Luxury Ingredients: Black tea, Ginger, Cinnamon, Cardamom, Black + White pepper, Clove, Nutmeg, Coriander, Jasmine + Rose + Lavender petals.

Tea(s) From: India / Thailand / China / Egypt / France

Region(s): Assam + Kerala / Petchabun /Fujian / Nile Delta + Fayoum / Provence

Antioxidant Level: High 

Caffeine Content: Medium 

https://www.rockymountainserenitea.com/

I loved how many kinds of tea you could try and for only $3 a cup.  I wish more tea places had tea at their shops that you could try before you buy.

These are high altitude and luxury loose leaf teas, created in Estes Park.

They had a very nice and large selection of teas.  I purchased some, but would have loved to try more.

Very fun store.  Lots of great tea items.  I was glad I had discovered this place.

Starbucks Apple Crisp Chai, Brighton CO

While I was in CO on vacation I picked up the Colorado Starbucks cup.  Even though I am not a huge Starbucks fan, I love their mugs, lol.  I do like their passion iced tea and their flavored chai teas.

At my friends local grocery store there was a Starbucks, so I was able to pick up Apple Crisp Chai.  Did you know that you can ask them to add any flavoring to their chai teas.  If they can make it as a coffee, they have the syrups to make a chai too.

https://www.starbucks.com/menu

I liked the chai flavor, but the apple crisp flavors were not as strong as I would have liked them to be.  However, the chai flavors were on point.  The staff was friendly, the store was clean, and the prices were good.  I give the tea four tea cups out of five.

It is a beautiful day in Brighton Co.  I can not wait to spend the week in Colorado.  

I was here to see about 8 friends.   These are special people to me.  These are friends I have done mission work in the past.  For the first four days here I am staying at four different houses.    

I started volunteering with the Christian & Missionary Alliance in 2013 on mission trips and working with kids.   I met up with these ladies in 2017 and have gone on five trips with them.   We have been Thailand, Spain, Malaysia, and the Dominican Republic twice. These people are family!

You can see the Rocky Mountains in the distance.  It is just beautiful here.

Big Heart Tea Co, Blue Lullaby

https://bighearttea.com/products/blue-lullaby-1

I was given this tea as a gift and I love it!!!  First off the packaging is super cute, but then the taste is even better.

I enjoy mint and I love Tulsi- which is holy basil and very good for you.  I have several teas with tulsi added to them.  It has a distinct flavor, hard to describe, but I love it.  The easiest thing to say is has a spicy flavor- but not hot.  It is kind of peppery.

 Tulsi or Holy Basil can help protect against infection, lower your blood sugar, lower your cholesterol, ease joint pain, and protect your stomach.

This is a herbal tea, so your water can be higher. I did 200 degrees.  It says to steep for 2 minutes, I would normally steep for longer for an herbal tea, but I did steep for 2 minutes.

The tea bags are cute too.  I like the encouragement on the bags.

This tea is great mix of mint and tusli.  The butterfly pea tea does not have much flavor at all. 

You can also see that there is a lot of real herbs added.  There are not dustings here.  There are real herbs here!

The tea is a beautiful color too.  And if you add citrus to it is changes to a beautiful purple color. 

That is one of the great things about butterfly pea flower- it makes your tea a beautiful blue color, but as soon as citrus is added it becomes a gorgeous purple color. 

Here is the green color tea- what it looks like before you add lemon to it.  Then I mixed it lemonade and it became purple.  It is gorgeous and tastes as great as it looks!