Alchemy of Avalon sells sampler packs of tea. You order the sampler, then in the notes you can name any three teas from the site and get generous (about 1 ounce) sample bags of each. About six weeks ago, early in my tea journey and flush with my tax refund, I ordered three sampler packs at once.

As you can see, they come in nicely labeled resealable bags. You’d have no trouble storing them like this, but my youngest kid and I wanted to open and sniff them all right away so we transferred the teas to cute little jars.

Alchemy of Avalon has a wide selection of green and black tea blends, as well as a few herbal teas. There are a few blends for specific healing or magical purposes, but I was more interested in trying a variety of flavors. I ordered a couple herbal blends, one magical looking oolong blend, and a whole lot of black tea blends. Out of nine samples, I thoroughly enjoyed most of them. As a total tea amateur, my opinion won’t count for much, but I’ll still give some brief details and thoughts on each tea.

Unsurprisingly, my favorites were all black tea blends. Massachusetts Maple had a nice deep smoky undertone from the Lapsang Souchang in it. Professor Earl-a-mental had a hint of smoke, too, which really added some depth to the earl grey base. In Love Spell, the cinnamon and rose really came through for me in a good way. This one really reminded me of the winter holidays. These three were my favorites.

I don’t know what possessed me to order both Peppermint Chocolate Chai and Chocolate Mint teas, but that’s what I did. I love mint so I finished both samples, but I liked Chocolate Mint a bit better. The mint flavor is gentle but clear, giving the tea a nice cooling note I really enjoyed.

Scorpio tea was the only black blend I didn’t love. It’s got black currant and ginger but neither of those flavors came through very strongly for me.

A lot of the black teas have little hints of chocolate and vanilla and other sweet flavors. Since I don’t take sugar or milk in my tea, these hints of sweetness came through nicely and made these teas feel a bit more indulgent than my basic blacks. I definitely plan to order a couple in larger amounts and keep them around for days when I need a little sweetness in my life.

The two herbal blends I tried were fairly unique. Siren’s Song was as much about sensation as flavor, with a little ginger heat, cooling spearmint, and licorice root giving it a strong sweet note that really hit the back of my throat. I’m not in love, but it’s interesting. It definitely felt like drinking a medicinal tea brewed by a wise woman. The second tea, Selene’s Blend, was much gentler and tasted lightly of lemon balm. It was also a beautiful golden yellow.

The last tea I tried, Lady of the Lake, was also a beautiful color, this time a deep blue-green. I knew I might not like an oolong blend, but I had to try it just for the magical color. It does have a touch of that savory grassiness I don’t like about green tea; if you like that flavor this is a wonderful tea to try. If you do love greens and oolongs, there are a lot of interesting blends to choose from. I might favor black over green, but Alchemy of Avalon doesn’t play favorites like that.

Overall, this was a great little adventure. I appreciate the wide variety of flavors Alchemy of Avalon offers. It’s definitely a wider range than most small tea shops I’ve looked at and their prices are no higher, and the sampler packs are a great way to take a chance on new flavors and learn more about what I like. I had fun and found a few new favorites. My only warning is that, as such a small company, teas seem to go out of stock quickly so you might have to keep an eye out to snag your favorites while they’re available.