Teavana Tea Review: Gingerbread Black Tea

(photo credit - Me)

The second of the two Teavana teas I received for my birthday is the Gingerbread black tea. This tea is a limited edition black tea and smells great in the package! OK, so what is in this tea?

Ingredients:

Cinnamon

Rooibos

Chicory root

Candied ginger pieces (ginger and sugar)

Apple pieces

Black tea

Natural and artificial flavoring

Ginger pieces

Cinnamon sticks

Cloves

Cardamom

Popcorn with cocoa (corn, sugar, canola oil, and cocoa powder)

It's simple as always to make this tea. Use 1 to 1.5 teaspoons of leaves for every 8 ounces of water, let it steep for 2 to 3 minutes, and you're good to go.

As I said, it smells great in the package, and it smells great after it's been steeped as well. I mostly smell cinnamon at first at first sniff, but I do smell the ginger also. When I was scooping out the leaves for the tea, I did see pieces of popcorn (not in the photo above though). That surprised me, I didn't expect to see popcorn in my tea leaves

As for the taste, this is my first impression, so maybe I need to tweak what I do with this tea. It seems weak to me. Maybe I didn't use enough leaves, maybe I need to let it steep longer, but it was definitely weak the first time out. I know with certain Teavana teas, the longer you steep them the more flavorful they get. I have a feeling this is one of those teas. I'll try steeping it for 5 or 6 minutes next time and see how it tastes.

Definitely a great flavor though. I taste both the ginger and cinnamon. That's pretty much all I taste with this one. I don't taste the apple, and as I said in previous reviews, I don't really know what chicory root tastes like.

If the taste is stronger and if I tweak it a bit, I think this is going to be a great fall and winter tea. I don't know how long Teavana is going to be selling this one as it is a limited edition, but give it a shot.

Edit: I did tweak how I prepared the Gingerbread Black Tea. I added a tad more tea leaves and I let it steep for another minute. That did make it stronger. So, this is another hit with me from Teavana!

Be sure to check out more of my Teavana tea reviews!

Teavana Tea Review: White Chocolate Peppermint Rooibos Tea

(photo credit - Me)

Back in November (I know, a long time back), I received two Teavana teas from my parents for my 40th birthday (thanks Mom and Dad!). It was hard to choose which one to try first, but the White Chocolate Peppermint Rooibos tea won out for one reason. The scent.

When I first opened the entire box with all the gifts in it, I instantly smelled a bubble gum smell. "Hmmmmm, that's interesting" I thought. When I got to the teas, I understood why. Peppermint. Yum! I love anything with mint in it. Mint is a refreshing scent and it actually perks me up.

Let's get to the good stuff. What is in this tea?

Ingredients:

-White chocolate pieces (sugar, cocoa butter, milk powder, dextrose)

-Cocoa kernels

-Carob pieces

-Red rooibos

-Artificial flavoring

-Vanilla pieces

-Coconut blossom sugar

-Liquorice root

On the description page for this tea they put in all capitals that this tea contains milk and coconut. So if you're allergic to these two ingredients, you should stay away. Other than the peppermint scent, the second strong smell was indeed the milk.

Now, what did I think of this tea? When I saw the name of the tea, I was all in. Then I saw that one of the ingredients was coconut. I'm not a huge fan of coconut, so I started to wonder how strong that flavor was going to be.

Fantastic tea! The coconut is definitely there, but not overpowering at all. The peppermint is probably the strongest flavor out of all of them. I can also taste the milk powder too, which surprised me. And of course the chocolate. The milk powder is actually in the white chocolate pieces,  so I guess it really doesn't surprise me that I taste the milk.

The description on the web site says "Richly sweet, creamy white chocolate with a delightful peppermint finish". That describes it perfectly. The after taste is definitely peppermint.

This one is a keeper! I wouldn't say this is one of my favorites though. The only reason I say that is because of the milk. I'm not a huge fan of milk in teas. I don't care for the smell of warm milk. It puts me off somehow. If this tea had no milk powder in, I think it would be high on the list of my favorites. This tea is easy to make as all of Teavana teas are. Use 1 and a half teaspoons of tea for every 8 ounces of water. Let it steep to 5 to 6 minutes and you're good to go.

The bad thing is, I don't think this tea is available any more. I know with the other tea that I'll be reviewing was a limited edition tea, but I don't remember seeing that notation on this tea. Not sure why it's no longer there, but maybe they'll bring it back again in the fall for the holidays.

I'll be reviewing the other tea very soon, so stay tuned for that!

Be sure to check out more of my Teavana tea reviews!

Mileage Monday: Short And Quick

Here are some more of the pictures I have saved from the virtual walk site from the last several weeks. I mentioned in my last Mileage Monday post that I've been dealing with anxiety and avoidance issues. I'm getting a hold of it though, at least to some degree. I do intend to write about it, but it is a touchy subject. It's personal and hard to talk about sometimes because it makes me feel uncomfortable. But I figure there are other people with cerebral palsy who are dealing with the same set backs and fears, so why not share my experience? That's what this whole blog is for right? To share my journey and how I deal with my situation. I won't be "cured" of anxiety, but I can learn to deal with it and keep moving forward. It's no fun to go through, and is downright scary sometimes.

Onward and upward. Here are some more pictures from the cross country walk.

Mile 868 (Leslie Sansone for 2.4 miles)

Mile 869 (elliptical for 1 mile)

Mile 872 (elliptical for 1 mile and Leslie Sansone for 2.4 miles)

Mile 872.4 (marched in place watching The Biggest Loser for .5 mile)

Mile 874.8 (Leslie Sansone for 2.4 miles)

Mile 877.2 (Leslie Sansone for 2.4 miles)

(photo credit - Virtual Walk Site)

I'm almost current with the pictures. I have three left. Now if I can just get my butt up and moving I can add to those pictures. It seems I've lost my mojo. I'm nowhere near as consistent with exercise as I once was. I'll get there again, I just need to focus and DO IT. Keep moving!

Mileage Monday: Slacking Again

I've missed several weeks again for my Mileage Monday posts. I won't appologize, I won't make promises to do better, but they will still be posted. I may miss a week here or there, but oh well. As Roni and Carla would say...WYCWYC.

My workouts have been hit and miss lately also. I'll get into the why of that at a later time, but long story short, it has to do with avoidance of a certain issue. If you guessed fear of falling as a cause for this avoidance, you're spot on. Like I said, a story for another time. But it's time to deal with it.

On to the virtual walk progress report. I'm still going, although like I said, it's hit and miss. I got back on the wagon this morning though. Only did 1/2 mile on the elliptical, but it's something. I still have a few weeks of pictures to get caught up on, so let's get started.

Mile 858.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)

Mile 861 (Leslie Sansone for 2.4 miles)

Mile 861.4 (elliptical for .5 mile)

Mile 862.2 (Jessica Smith for .8 mile)

Mile 864.6 (Leslie Sansone for 2.4 miles)

Mile 865.5 (elliptical for 1 mile)

(photo credit - Virtual Walk)

Onward and upward. Hope everyone who is dealing with the tons and tons of snow is safe and staying warm. Wish I could send you our 90 degree weather. How about I send you 30 degrees of warmth? I'll give you all 30 degrees from our temps. I miss the 70s and 60s. Too soon to be getting into the 90s. Bah. Oh well. Keep moving!

Mileage Monday

Hope everyone is having a great Martin Luther King day! I got my mile on the elliptical done first thing. I actually drank my coffee during my breaks. Probably not the best idea to drink coffee to rehydrate, but oh well. At least I got it done. And yes, I did drink water when I was finished.

I'm still working on my exercise consistency. I seem to start out the week strong, lag in the middle, and end strong. Let's see if I can get some type of exercise five days this week. Here are some more pictures I have saved up from the virtual walk site.

Mile 852.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)

Mile 853.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)

Mile 854.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)

Mile 855.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)

Mile 856.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)

Mile 867.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)

(photo credit - Virtual Walk site)

Onward and upward. Keep moving!

Mileage Monday

Here's some more catch up pictures from the virtual walk site. Starting off a new week raring to go as always. Hopefully I can be consistent this week. So far so good.

Mile 845.4 (Leslie for 2.4 miles)

Mile 846.4 (elliptical for 1 mile)

Mile 848.4 (marched in place for mile, elliptical for 1 mile)

Mile 849.6 (marched in place for .75 mile, elliptical for .5 mile)

Mile 850.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)

Mile 851.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)

(photo credit - Virtual Walk site)

Keep Moving!!

Mileage Monday: Hard Habit To Break

I realize now that I sometimes don't post a Mileage Monday entry because I have nothing to say. Well, today is one of those days. However instead of not posting anything at all (like usual), I am still posting the pictures and a short update. This is my first success at beating my procrastination and deadline issue too. It's almost 4 PM here on the west coast, and I am in fact posting. Woohoo for me!

Since my last Mileage Monday entry, I've passed through Maud, KY (Washington county) and Bardstown, KY (Nelson County). I have 20.5 miles to go until I reach Howardstown, KY.

Here are the pictures from the virtual walk site I still have from a long time back.

Mile 838.4 (walk down the street for .2 mile)

Mile 839 (elliptical for .6 mile)

Mile 839.6 (elliptical for .6 mile)

Mile 841 (elliptical for 1.4 miles)

Mile 842 (elliptical for 1 mile)

Mile 843 (elliptical for 1)
(photo credit - virtual walk site)

It has in fact been way too many times that I skipped a Mileage Monday post. The .2 mile walk down the street (first picture) was back in October when I screwed up my upper back by startling. No more waiting until I have "something to say".

Keep Moving!!