I first learned about Teeccino, a coffee alternative, over on the Daily Connoisseur. Thank you Jennifer!
Coffee brewing and consuming has been a simple joy of mine for over 20 years, and I didn’t realize how much it meant to me until I tried to give it up. The smell of coffee, the texture of the beans, the sounds associated with its preparation, and of course the drinking of it adds up to a very pleasurable sensory experience. When I first tried eliminating it from my diet, not a night went by that I didn’t dream of coffee. Since first trying to quit (for medical/health reasons) I have cheated A LOT with both regular and decaf. Initially, I thought I had an obvious solution in decaf, but was quickly disappointed when I learned decaf still has caffeine in it. You probably already knew decaf contains caffeine, as it seems I embarrassingly am one of the last adults I know to have learned this. Here is the thing though, I NEVER had any reason to drink decaf before now, and always viewed it as being….well… not worth my time. Caffeine was the only reason I started drinking coffee in the first place, so I never gave decaf a second thought. It wasn’t until my first attempt to quit coffee that I researched decaf and discovered the depressing truth: It is NOT A PINK UNICORN!
After a year of on and off cheating, a post on the Daily Connoisseur provided me with a solution I had never heard of: Teeccino. I watched the review on the Daily Connoisseur, read reviews on the Teeccino Website, and then placed my first order. Drinking Teeccino hasn’t 100% eliminated my cheating, but it has drastically decreased my desire and actual amount of cheating, as well as the odds I will cheat again. As long as I don’t fall off the wagon(which did happen briefly when I went home to my parent’s house across the country), I am really happy to be coffee free and drinking Teeccino. I finally have a substitute that makes me happy and allows me to NOT feel 100% coffee deprived. Sorry regular old tea, you just don’t have what it takes when what I really want is COFFEE!!!!
Since we all have different tastes, and I can be pretty particular, I didn’t fully know what to expect from Teeccino. I did know that I needed to stop drinking coffee, and was not at all looking forward to it. It is hard for me to imagine any reason other than medical/health that would bring one to a coffee alternative, but whatever your reason, be thankful that Teeccino provides us with a great substitute. My first order was for the 9 Flavors sampler pack which was $12.99, includes free shipping, and arrives quickly! I like to drink a big cup of coffee, so saying each packet brewed me at least 4 large cups, each cup would have cost 36 cents. Not bad. I brewed in a 8 cup French Press, drinking the first cup hot and putting the remainder in the refrigerator for cold coffee later. After I finished the 9 flavors sampler pack, I placed an order for the Gluten-Free Dandelion Flavors Sampler. Teeccino is also available at Whole Foods and other natural foods stores depending on where you live; click here for locations. If I haven’t mentioned it already, this is not a sponsored post. I just want to make sure everyone knows about Teeccino!
My clear Teeccino favorite was the Medium Roast Dandelion Gluten Free-Vanilla Nut (I have tried both Tee-bags and All-Purpose Grinds). This Vanilla Nut would have fooled me into thinking I was drinking coffee if I hadn’t known otherwise. It was on par with drinking the best tasting coffees I have ever experienced. I can’t say the following about coffee, but I can say it about the Vanilla Nut: “It tastes good without milk or cream.” The important thing to note is that there are two different Vanilla Nuts: 1) Medium Roast Dandelion Gluten Free- Vanilla Nut and 2) Medium Roast Vanilla Nut. They both topped my list, but the Gluten-Free version was more impressive because I didn’t need to add milk for it to taste really good. My notes on the regular Medium Roast Vanilla Nut were that it tastes sweet and caramely with milk added. Yum! After the Vanilla Nuts, the Hazelnut Medium Roast was my second favorite and one I would buy again.
Many of the other flavors were either too strong, too weak, or too sweet (and I have a huge sweet tooth) for me. For example, the Chocolate Mint, Amaretto, and Chocolate Dark Roast were ones I will not buy again because their flavors overpowered any approximation of coffee taste. I won’t buy the Orange either, but with milk added, my notes state it was “not horrible.” I would buy the Dark Roast French Roast again, but it wasn’t quite as amazing as the Nut group. Adding milk to the Dark Roast French Roast helped it to approximate how I prefer my coffee with milk to taste. Dandelion Mocha tasted like really weak coffee (which I do not like), so I will not purchase this one again. Nor will I purchase Dandelion Caramel Nut, because it was good with milk in brew form, but too weak tasting without milk and with/without milk in tee-bag form. I am looking for the most bang for my buck and versatility. Boutique Specialty French Vanilla Dark Roast, was way too sweet for me without milk and just “ok” with milk; not something I would buy again. The Medium Roast Mocha left me with the sensation of a heavily coated tongue and tasted like hot chocolate. I don’t typically get in to hot chocolate, so I probably won’t buy that one again. Too bad my husband didn’t try it, as he WILL NOT drink coffee and loves hot chocolate.
Overall, Teeccino is a definite Pink Unicorn found. It exceeded my expectations. I wasn’t expecting to like any of the flavors as much as I did, but Vanilla Nut was a real superstar. Delish.
My final notes are best summarized by another satisfied customer’s comments on the Teeccino website : “I feel like I can have this one simple joy back in my life.” Thank you Teeccino!
Have you tried Teeccino? Will you try it? What did you think? Favorite Flavors? Least Favorite Flavors?