Favorite Tea Blends (and counting)

Marty and I joke that we've become "Tea Alchemists" (hence the blog name). We buy loose tea and have fun creating our own custom blends. Sometimes they're delicious, and sometimes a train-wreck.. all in trial-and-error. We have 2 iced tea makers and a 32 oz. tea dispenser - which is great for making smaller batches and hot teas.

Some of our favorite blends include:

(Teavana) Youthberry White/Wild Orange + Jasmine
(steep 2 min. max.)

Jasmine + (Adagio) Spearmint + (Adagio) Lemongrass* (I only find lemongrass at Adagio)
(steep 2 min.)

Where I buy my tea

I buy bulk teas from the following vendors for different reasons:
- Teavana
- Adagio
- ESP Tea Emporium

Teavana - nice to try different blends in the store. Geez, their iced tea is expensive! (at $5 per 16 oz. !) I usually order online for the price discounts and free shipping. Many of their flavored & herbal teas contain fruit pieces, so it seems like you get less for your money..

Adiagio - new store opened in Naperville. They have a tea station were the customer can create own blend - hot or cold. They offer different sizes, so prices vary. They have a points club, where you accumulate points to get free tea. Their online store offers customer-inspired custom tea blends you can't find in the stores. Kind of fun to try out a blend, then create your own.

ESP Tea Emporium - I came across this vendor through a LivingSocial deal (competitor to Groupon). Small company, the owners, I think run this from their home. They don't offer as much variety as Teavana or Adagio, but they offer some pretty good blends - Mango & Friends and Goji/Blueberry are two of my favorites. They offer price discounts and free shipping deals. Shipping is super-fast - in just a day or two.