Category Archives: Tea Time Tuesday

Unless you are just checking out my blog for the first time ever, you probably already know that I am pregnant. Actually, 8 months along at this point. And some people already know that most pregnant women aren’t suppose to have coffee- or rather they are only suppose to have so much caffeine. I am pretty sporadic about my coffee intake, but because I don’t have it all the time, I can accidentally guzzled too much in one day. And top it off, pregnant women have a harder time getting caffeine out of their system. I had a day or two where I accidentally drink too much caffeine and was rather jittery.

But I know many people like to drink less coffee, or can’t have any caffeine in their diet for medical reason. Because of these reasons, I was really happy to try out some coffee like products on the market. I tried to have the products in various styles to try and fill everyone’s coffee desires.

Two Quick Notes! I bought all these products on my own. So these are all my own opinions, though I never give my input about if the cost is worth it. Truthfully I like buying expensive coffee so I say all are worth the price. But if you are looking for cheap- go for the teeccino. My second note is that I don’t think caffeine is evil. I think out of most plant based stimulants caffeine is pretty awesome and safe (when in a natural state of coarse, you can overdose on the purified powdered stuff.) I am reviewing low caffeine or caffeine free products so no tea and yerba mate reviews. I also wanted the flavor to be in the same ball park but still be fairly easy to find in stores.

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Crio Bru

Website: Crio Bru.com
Where to buy?: Amazon, Online Shop, & Store Locator
Style: Ghana Light Roast

What is it?: I’ve heard about this drink for awhile and have wanted to try it ever since I’ve heard of it. Pretty much the cacao bean is roasted in the same style as the coffee bean

Positives: It isn’t 100% caffeine free, which to me is a good thing. I like having a little bit of a caffeine kick, and it also provides a little bit of bitterness. It also never claims to taste like coffee so you can drink it with an open mind. But the cacao is easy to mix with coffee beans if you are trying to help wean yourself off of coffee grounds. Mixing the two also give a really awesome and unique flavor (think mocha)

Negatives: It is a little watery and pre-ground. The drink is thinner than normal brewed coffee, and I think it would help if the grinds were a little smaller. But you can’t do that since they are pre-ground.

How to Brew: I’ve tried this in many ways, pulled an espresso shot, french press, and drip. I have found the only way to drink this is by using a french press. The espresso was a watery mess, and the drip was alright but tended to have trouble filtering. The French Press will give the best full body flavor.

What it tastes like?: It tastes like a watered down mocha latte- kind-of. There is a distinct chocolate/cacao flavor going on, but you have some rich notes that give a subtle notes similar to coffee. This clearly doesn’t taste like coffee, it has a totally different flavor profile, but can fill the void of full body, bitter, hot beverages.

teeccino

Teeccino

Website: Teeccino.com
Where to buy?: Amazon, Official Shop, & Store Locator
Style: French Roast, Mocha, Maya Chai

What is it?: A blend of various plants and herbs. The main ingredients being used are carob, chicory root, nuts, barley, dandelion root, and some nuts and dried fruit. There are many blends available in different packaging. There are some that are gluten free (without the barley), tea bags, loose for drip, and lots of accessories.

Positives: This is 100% caffeine free for anyone who wants it. The drink also comes in various different methods so you can either brew it at home, or have tea bags for on the go. There also many flavors which works well for anyone who might be a picky eater. This brand is also probably the most widely available coffee substitute as I found it at Whole Foods, Wegmans, and small mom-and-pop health food stores. 

Negatives: It is easy to mess up the brewing process. There have been times where I over brewed and had horrible tasting teeccino. Because of this, it isn’t so easy to mix the teeccino with coffee grounds if you are trying to get rid of caffein from your diet. The brew time is less than regular coffee, and you need much less grinds as well. I am also not a huge fan of their push for a caffeine lifestyle as they use very questionable spokes people sometimes.

How to Brew: I’ve tried many methods, and found my favorite is the tea bags and pulling espresso shots. The tea bags make it so you don’t add too much tea to the brew, and you want to use less than the average cup of coffee. Because of this strong flavor, it works perfectly for an espresso machine. I pulled a shot, added it to iced soy milk, and had a yummy latte, though it highlighted the flavors that aren’t as coffee-like.

What it tastes like?: This tastes the most like a cup of coffee. It doesn’t quite taste the same, but if you ever had a coffee-chicory root drink than you have a better idea what this stuff tastes like. It uses various grains and such that give a similar bitter flavor, but they use coffee flavorings which really give it that authentic flavor. Overall if I am craving coffee but don’t want the caffeine, this stuff is pretty satisfying. It is full bodied, full of flavor, and in some ways better than just drinking decaf coffee. Crazy? Maybe.

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Macaccino

Website: Macaccino.com
Where to buy?: Amazon, Official Shop, & Store Locations
Style: Original Roasted Maca Blend

What is it?: These are blends of maca root that have been roasted to give a more coffee like flavor. Their original blend uses maca, cocoa, nutmeg, mesquite, and cinnamon, but they have two other blends. Their black reserve uses black, red, and yellow maca root along with beet powder. Their mint has a little dried peppermint leaf.

Positives: Super portable and quick to make. If you like instant coffee (ugh, so bad tasting) this is the coffee replacement for you. Just add hot water, stir, and add any creamers and sugar. Because of the powder form, it makes it easy to make other coffee flavored snacks like lattes, smoothies, and desserts. I also like how this brand promotes the use of other vegan products when making.

Negatives: It is a little gritty overall. I find that towards the end of the cup it gets a little too thick, which could be remedied by adding more hot water. Even when I make my macaccino latte, it still gets a little thick at the bottom.

How to Brew: There is pretty much only one way to “brew” and that is to dissolve the powder. You can use hot water or add mostly soy milk like I do. You can sub any recipe that uses espresso powder with this.

What it tastes like?: Just like the Crio Bru there is something very coffee like that comes from roasting the maca. But you most definitely can taste the maca flavor coming through. There is no way you could just sub the macaccino powder with just maca. As mentioned before, since it is a powder that is mixed with hot water, it does have some off the pitfalls as instant coffee does. But I would think more on par with Starbucks super finely ground instant coffee.


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The Tea Store

222 Kings Highway East, Haddonfield NJ, 08033
website

Does anyone remember Alexa’s spotlight Tea Time Tuesday? She started it because she wanted to try out lots of different teas. She kind of stopped in part because of time, and maybe because she has been drinking less tea. In fact the last time she posted has been almost exactly a year ago! She has a few other teas that she wanted to review, so maybe she will be making another comeback?

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I’ve always wanted to do a Tea Time Tuesday, but have been pretty lazy about it as well. But for Vegan MOFO they suggested to reach out and make a new vegan friend, so I thought maybe now would be a good time to giveaway some tea! That way I could make a bunch of “vegan friends”! I am not usually the type to get needy for followers and such, but hey, it kind-of makes this fun… right?

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So what is going to be featured? Well, Alexa has almost always featured smaller companies, including Booskerdoo, Smiling Earth Elixirs, Maple Tree Tea, and Rook. Today I feature a local shop in Haddonfield called The Tea Store. The owner originally ran a store that specialized in making gift baskets, and slowly found herself wanting to focus on tea. Her focus is keeping prices low and providing great customer service. What I love about her store is that she will make any blend you ask, so you can create your very own one of a kind tea!

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She sells some of her tea on her online shop though she doesn’t post every single blend on the site. Which brings me to the tea we are giving away- Raspberry Vanilla Mint flavored Green Tea. Okay it is a long title, but I think it is my favorite blend of hers. I love the mix of mint and green tea and the raspberry adds a nice touch. I bought it probably a year ago and I am almost done with the bag! When I thought of the contest I knew exactly which one to offer you guys

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How do you enter? Simple, you have six chances to enter.

You can simply leave a comment about your favorite type of tea, and you can follow/friend us via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, or Bloglovin. Each follow earns you an extra entry. In your comment just write how many different social media platforms you follow us on and make sure you have some way to contact you (email or social media usernames are great!). On Monday September 14th I will contact the winner!


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Every once in a while I find myself pining for the next season to start up. Since we are currently in Summer, even if it is winding down, I cannot wait for fall to start. The weather is crisp, the colors of everything are yellows, reds and oranges, and the fashion is fun. Not to mention all of the delicious foods that get brought back to the table. 

When it comes to break time during my work day it is usually the time of day when I need a pick-me-up, and that’s when I head over to Booskerdoo to grab a tea or coffee! While it has been warm I am definitely ready to celebrate the beginning of sweater weather and fall flavors, so I mixed the best of both worlds and got this delicious iced Apple Ginger Tea. 

This tea smells almost exactly like an apple pie! It brought on a huge wave of nostalgia for cooler weather and more apple/cinnamon flavored drinks. It also tastes just like an apple pie, only slightly more bitter without all the added sugar. I am sure if you try this tea with milk and sugar in it the taste would change slightly, but not in a bad way. Having it iced was great because it was the sweetness of the apple almost made it taste like a desert while still being cold. 

I also adored the color of this tea. The picture might not do it justice because the cup was beginning to get all fogged up from the heat and cold all at once. It was the perfect orangey red that just screams “FALL” (the season, not the action)! 

I am definitely excited to drink this when the weather cools down more, I might even do another review or at least post more pictures while talking about it. That’s how much I enjoyed it! Thanks again Booskerdoo!

Drink me! I'm delicious!

Drink me! I’m delicious!


Head On! and mug

I visited Asbury Fresh again recently, and while I was there I got to take more time walking around the tents and noticed a lovely place named “Smiling Earth Elixirs” and the owner of the company, Stefanie was manning the table. 

 Stefanie had a bunch of home brews lining the table in little cardboard packaging, everything looked so nice that I couldn’t help but inquire! She had a bunch of different teas to try, and of course I chose the blueberry one. Blueberry has been very ‘in’ in many ways for the last few years and it hadn’t really hit me until I was of drinking age (but when was that? The mystery of my age continues…) when I had a blueberry beer in the Summer time. 

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Rose Petal Green Tea

Hurray for Tea! Hurray for Tuesday! At least it’s  not Monday, right?

I am still (always will be) on my Green Tea kick, and now that it’s hot outside it is the PERFECT time to enjoy Green Tea over ice! I have only ever gotten tea from Booskerdoo once before and it was quite delicious. If memory serves, it was called “French Lavendar” and was unlike any sort of tea that I have ever tasted. So I figured it was worth a shot to try one of their green tea options. 

The Rose Petal has a very floral and earthy scent and flavor – go figure! But it isn’t heavy like some other floral teas that I’ve tried. Sometimes that kind of flavor can make or break a tea for me. I am sure this would taste great on a winter or fall day as a warm tea as well but it was extremely refreshing on my walk during my break. I love the fact that I can also still taste the “green” in the tea. I thought the rose petal portion might be too over-powering, but fortunately all the flavors combine to make one delicious summer drink.


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A few weeks ago I visited Burlington, Vermont for my brother Trevor’s Graduation from College! He attended the University of Vermont and (as far as I know) is going to be teaching Crossfit classes and competing in Crossfit competitions for a living. It was nice to be able to see him and his lovely girlfriend, and I had never been to Burlington before then, so it was an added bonus of adventure! 

My favorite part of the weekend was when we all met up (my Mother, Step Daddy, Trevor, his girlfriend Jules and myself) and walked around the Burlington Farmer’s Market. I already love farmer’s markets, and Trevor had told me that this one was especially nice. 

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First off – yes, I definitely missed last week’s Tea Time Tuesday!! Shame on me! Moving on though, this week’s review is about one of the new teas that Rook Coffee Roasters has to offer, just in time for summer! 

I just want to start off by talking about Rook as a company. They are based in Monmouth County, NJ with shops set up in Oakhurst, Long Branch and Little Silver. The company was started by two childhood friends (Holly Migliaccio and Shawn Kingsley) who have a passion for specialty coffee. The brews that they make in shop range from fair trade, organic and water processed (a chemical-free way of decaffeinating their coffee). 

I usually frequent the one in the Little Silver Train Station as it is on the way to dropping Mr. Ian off at work. The location for it is great, and the staff are really wonderful people! They always make you feel welcome when you walk in the door, and if you are not used to their different roasts they will happily explain them to you. 

I decided to try the Berry Tea this week, I have had the Black Tea that they offer and it wasn’t really what I expected. It was just more of a regular “Iced Tea” than an “English Breakfast” blend. 

The Berry tea was extremely refreshing! It wasn’t too sweet, and not very bitter. Just perfectly tart after you finish taking a sip. The flavor tastes like there are a few different berries in the blend – raspberry being the most notable (to me anyway…I can’t say for sure what’s in it). I would definitely recommend it on a hot day if you are not feeling like grabbing coffee, but need a little pick-me-up. 


It’s Tuesday! Do you know what that means? … no? Well hold onto your butts boys and girls, because I am here to kick off a new segment that I would like to call Tea Time Tuesdays. It’s quite exciting! 

I would consider myself relatively new to the “tea scene”, I still only have a few types that I stick to for the most part. Luckily for me (and for all of you lovely readers out there) the world is filled with different types of tea. Or even just different ways to drink each type of tea. That is what I am going to look into in each of these blog posts. Each entry could range from a different type of tea each week, exploring different tea flavors within the same brand, or different ways to prepare and enjoy certain types of tea. 

Without further ado, let me introduce – 

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– the Green Tea Frappuccino from Starbucks!  

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