Cookie-bucha - Health-ade Holiday Cheers

Happy Almost New Year! I'm back! 

After my last post, I tested positive for COVID, and the symptoms hit me hard and fast. Much worse than when I had it before. Luckily, I had bought my cats a heating pad on Black Friday, because it came in clutch for the body aches. By day three, I lost my sense of smell and taste. (Which took all the fun out of my scented candle advent calendar.) 

It took five days for my sense of smell to return, but it was pretty weak, and my taste was definitely off. Garlic, something I cook with and eat all the time, tasted unnaturally sweet, almost like a caramel. And in every form! I tried powdered seasoning, fresh garlic, and some garlic infused olive oil just to make sure something didn't expire on me, but it was me. ("I'm the problem, it's me.") It took two and a half weeks for my body to bounce back.

So, I'm here to celebrate with some seasonal kombucha! 

When I spotted this, the gold and white made me think this was a New Years' item. So, I assumed this was like, champagne-themed or something. But, if I had bothered to read the label, this is vanilla, allspice, and cacao flavored? So, cookies? Cookie-bucha? I don't know about that...

Chai-Boy, Chai-Boy, Wanna be your only Bev(rage) - Trader Joe's Spicy Chai Mix

Confused by the title? It's referencing a song that has been stuck in my head for over 20 years! I swore that I must have heard it on the radio. Nope! It was actually from a 1991 Barbie cassette tape! I FOUND IT! (I freaking love YouTube!) I even found the full album, including the She's got the Look cover, 19:17!

Anyway, I love chai, and was actually looking into buying some spices and making it at home from scratch, which is fairly easy to do, but I spotted this at Trader Joe's and thought I would treat myself to a little laziness. 

I'm hoping that this will be good!

Bonne Apple-Tea - Lidl Seasonal Tea

Cinnamon Apple Tea - Lidl 

I am officially over-pumpkin'd, but there is one pumpkin thing I purchase each year and enjoy, and that is Pumpkin Spiced Tea. 

A bunch of companies make this stuff. Over the years I have had Celestial Seasonings, Trader Joes, Harney & Sons, Aldi, and Lidl's takes. I even made this post about it, Three Teas Enter, One Tea Leafs! 

But, since I still had some pumpkin spice bags leftover from last year, I thought I would give apple a try this time. 

This was a bad call. 

Pinkies up! It's Tea-Time - 3 different teas (Lidl & Aldi)

Tea Time

Long story short, I like tea, but my ex was obsessed. He would steep bags of green tea, peppermint tea, jasmine tea, and black tea, all mixed up, for hours at a time. Tea snobs would probably have a heart attack looking at the concoctions he made, but, I enabled him. (My bad.) Especially during the pandemic. 

He went through tea so quickly that last March, when things started shutting down, I stocked up. People probably thought I had a bunker somewhere, but with his heavy usage of about 12 bags a day, what I bought would have been about 2 months worth. Imagine a large kitchen drawer filled with peppermint and green tea bags. Not long after that, he was gone. And here I am, STILL drinking peppermint tea over a year later. (Because I'm stubborn and hate wasting things.)  

I am so sick of peppermint tea. So let's shake things up with some fruity summer flavors from Lidl and Aldi.   

A Taste of Summer in the Dead of Winter - Peach Hibiscus Kombucha

Lidl Peach Hibiscus Summer Tropics Kombucha

For the record, this isn't one of my "oops, I meant to review this," products. I'm not sure if this is a super early release, or leftover stock from summer, but there was tons of it on the shelves at Lidl and it's not expired. Why not give it a shot? It can be a little taste of summer as I prepare for more snow on Sunday. 

Lidl Cafe Noir Cookies - The new Pinot Noir?

Cafe Noir Cookies - Lidl

If you are a Maria, you must at some point in your life consume Maria cookies. It's the law.(It doesn't have to be Goya-brand, but they're what my grandma ate.) They aren't trendy, they never have new flavors, shapes or colors, but that's because they don't have to. They are the perfect hot beverage cookie. Tea, coffee, cocoa...they're all better when consumed with a side of Maria cookies for dunking. They don't need gimmicks to keep me coming back for more. But hear me out, what if Maria cookies had a coffee flavored glaze on the bottom?

Let's Get Cozy - Lidl Pumpkin Spice Tea Review

Pumpkin Tea - Lidl

I normally like to be detached and light hearted in food posts, and I know this has been a difficult time for everyone, but somedays I'm able to take it in stride, and other days it just sucker-punches me in the gut. This month was filled with a lot of sucker-punch-days. 

But in the end, my little food blog here is one of my happy places on the internet. So let's all take a breath, get cozy, and have a cup of tea to forget about all the hard stuff for a minute.

I'm certainly no stranger when it comes to pumpkin teas. Over the years I have had three different varieties: Celestial Seasonings, Trader Joe's, and HT, and while that is but a mere scratch on the pumpkin-themed-tea surface, I still feel like I have a pretty good base to judge this new contender.   

Familiar, Yet Different - Green Tea Ginger Ale

Canada Dry Green Tea Ginger Ale - ShopRite 

Another April impulse buy. I normally don't go to ShopRite, because I'm cheap and prefer Aldi, but during the early days of home quarantine I had a hard time getting groceries delivered to the house, and my ex and his daughter were into things like Mountain Dew and Mio water enhancers, so I sewed a few masks and braved the stores to make a massive grocery run for the household. 

Along with essentials, I grabbed this, and a few other random items thinking they'd be fun to review, after all I'd have so much free time at home that I could get back into blogging again...(poor, naïve, past-me had such good intentions.) Now here I am, 5 months later, fingers crossed it's good! 

Enter the G-Dragon - Citrus Tea with a Pop-Idol Tie-In

Nongfu Tea π Citrus Green Tea G-Dragon (Big Bang Promo) - Asian Food Markets

This line of teas has the BEST illustrations on their labels. Seriously, each one looks like it should be printed onto fabric and turned into trendy clothing and throw pillows. I feel in love with their visuals and reviewed their Peach Oolong tea awhile back, and now I'm back again, this time with a BANG. A Big Bang.

It's Always Tea Time - Pomegranate & White Tea Gummy Pandas

Pomegranate & White Tea Gummy Pandas - Gift from Work

Another tea-themed candy! This time it's a gummy candy, which is my favorite kind of candy, so I'm pretty excited. 

The packaging is really simple, it's another gusseted plastic bag, but this time it has a shiny finish and it's resealable. Instead of the faux vintage look of the hard Tea Candies I reviewed yesterday, this product is going for a  crisp, but colorful, design that lets the product do all the foot work. (Along with some nice fruity imagery.) The outside is really appealing, but there's something inside that I wasn't prepared for...

Hello, is it Tea You're Looking For? - Iced Tea Flavored Candy

Tea Candy, Classic Iced Tea - Gift from Work

I actually found an awesome Lionel Richie mug with that exact saying at the thrift store. 

Most of you know that I got a new job a few months ago, I'm still a graphic designer, but instead of making business cards and custom invites, I'm working with food! Right before the holidays I received a big gift basket filled with different specialty products, like these tea-flavored candies. They sound really refreshing, so let's get this review started! 

Tea π Peach Oolong Tea - Asian Food Markets

Tea π Peach Oolong Tea - Asian Food Markets $1.79

First off, hello to anyone stopping by after my food tasting and discussion at the Cherry Hill Public Library, and welcome to the blog!

If you don't know what I'm talking about, a few days ago I posted an event on facebook stating that I'd be doing a small panel at the local library's comic-con, highlighting Asian snacks, sweets, and the local markets where you can find them. (Like those DBZ cheese puffs, or those bakeable Kit-Kats.) 

If you were wondering what I was sipping on during the discussion, it was this: Chinese Peach Oolong Tea! I picked it up a the Asian Food Market just last week. The labeling caught my eye thanks to it's bold, flat, illustrations and if you turn it over, there's even an adorable little wiener dog! (Check him out under the cut.)

Popcorn-less Matcha Milk Flavored Caramel Corn

My hard drive had a case of the hiccups, but thanks to my awesome b/f,
my video files are safe and sound! 

Here's something I shot a while back, Popcorn-less Matcha flavored Caramel Corn!

Battle of the Pumpkin Teas! - 3 Teas Enter, One Tea Leafs!

(Get it? Leafs?) Welp, give me a pity laugh any way because I'm sick. It's just a head cold, but my voice sounds oh'-so sexy, and I'm pretty much bed-bound playing Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon on my 3DS until my thumbs fall off. 

The bright-side to being sick (other than playing video games) is I'm stuck at home, which gives me the time to type up some long over due reviews! I decided to focus on some sick-stomach-friendly items in my stash, and I found three different fall themed teas! So let's have a throat-soothing showdown to see which tea shall reign supreme!

Pumpkin Oolong Milk Tea (Iced) - Kung Fu Tea

Pumpkin Oolong Milk Tea (Iced) - Kung Fu Tea $4.00

Welp, this week has been a quite the roller coaster ride. (To say the least.)  

On a personal note, my debit card was compromised (boo), but the bank caught it right away and locked my account before anything could be stolen (yay). I drove over there to get that mess straightened out and I saw a new bubble tea shop had opened right next door! (Double yay!) Once my accounts were back in order, I treated myself to some tea.

Oh Say Can You Tea! (Limited Edition) Snapple -Target

Oh Say Can You Tea! (Limited Edition) Snapple -Target

Welp, I'm still sick and when you're sick you're supposed to drink tea. While I'm 110% sure this tea won't be all that beneficial or hasten my recovery, I'm going to drink it anyway, 'cause 'Merica. (Plus it has an eagle on it, and that's freaking hilarious.)

Japanese Matcha Almond Video Review (YouTube)

New video is up! This was the last one I filmed while wearing my awesomely comfy pizza shirt, so expect a new outfit next time!

Snapple Fall Spice Tea - Target

Snapple Fall Spice Tea - Target

I've reviewed a lot of fall products, everything from pumpkin-based pasta sauces to seasonally spiced chewing gum, and I've even reviewed some fall themed teas...but they've always been in tea-bag-form to be brewed at home. Not bottled, and especially not iced. Since it's been a while since Snapple has done anything new, they were kind of flying under my radar. When I saw that they had released a fall themed product, I was really excited because it seemed to come entirely out of left field. I mean, I haven't done my homework, but I think this is the first time Snapple has thrown it's hat into the limited edition fall flavor ring, and I think they might be the first American company to release a fall-themed iced tea as well. 

It may not be pumpkin spiced, but let's give this seasonal Snapple a try!

Meville Candy: Honey Spoons - Marshall's/Home Goods: Cherry Hill, NJ

Meville Candy: Honey Spoons - Marshall's/Home Goods: Cherry Hill, NJ

It's that time of year, everyone around me has a cold, the flu, or one of those oh-so-fun viruses. Even though I'm surrounded by sick people, I'm still going strong, well not really. I have a bit of congestion and raspy throat, but so far that's it, and I intend to keep it that way.

This is another item that's been sitting in my review pile for a while, and what better time to try it out? Honey is perfect for raspy throats, so let's give these spoons a try.

Meltyblend Royal Milk Tea Chocolates - Asian Food Market: Cherry Hill, NJ

Meltyblend Royal Milk Tea Chocolates - Asian Food Market: Cherry Hill, NJ

This is another case of me wandering around the Asian Food Market and having a pretty package catch my eye. I wasn't a fan of the spiced chocolates I tried this fall, but I wonder...how will a tea infused chocolate taste? I guess I'll find out!