After a phase of pyramidal sachets in covered plastic cups a few years ago, Teavana seems to have been reconstituted yet again—this time as a line of individually wrapped bagged teas on the target-audience level of Tazo or Stash, but a little costlier. At a conference, I saw several new Teavana offerings, and took samples home to try on my own well water and review here. They're also for sale at Amazon and Wal-Mart, and probably other stores, which tells me the reincarnation of Teavana is serious. I hope it succeeds, because historically their teas have been of reliable quality. So what about the new teas? As one of my favorite quarterbacks like to yell at the line of scrimmage: "Here we goooooo!"

Modern Earl Grey goes first, since it's not "ancient" or "really old" Earl Grey from Teavana's previous life. :-) The dry-bag aroma was pleasant but not very strong. However, the in-cup scent is stronger, and the taste more vigorous still. It brews up dark, quickly, probably due to the fine chopping of the tea leaves in a traditional bag. The flavor is one of the richer EGs I've had of late from any source, especially from a bag, with a good deal of bergamot, but not enough to overpower the base tea. It's more floral than a lot of EG teas, and also seems to carry a little vanilla (though not specifically advertised nor labeled as an Earl Grey Creme). The bergamot, which is a smooth variety and not sharp nor very bitter, lingers a really long time in the aftertaste too. The wet bag offers the strongest of the various aromas: robust, but just bergamot and tea, and plainer than the more layered flavor. Conventions and hotels could do a lot worse than order up a bunch of new Teavana teas to post at the coffee and tea stations!

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