Teeccino Review

The last time I had coffee (and a significant quantity of caffeine) was September 4th, 2008. Why did I give it up? It wasn’t even a fully conscious decision at the time. I thought maybe I’d try cutting back a little. Didn’t want to set myself up for failure. The internet had me scared that I’d have debilitating headaches for weeks. I thought I consumed a lot of caffeine, but I didn’t, really. I mean, at some point in the summer I’d unintentionally switched to 2 Starbucks visits a day, on weekdays that is. But I couldn’t consume caffeine after 5 pm any days, and most weekend days I didn’t have much caffeine. So, just two Starbucks drinks. Oh, and Excedrin when I get headaches (so now I have to take Advil, and it seems to work fine for that, though I haven’t gotten a really bad one yet, so we’ll have to see).

My saving graces in this “experiment” were 1) Teeccino, and 2) the Tea Garden’s decaf Vanilla Chai Latte. So you can see that I haven’t entirely cut caffeine out of my diet, because the decaf Chai probably has 5-10 mg of caffeine, and I still consume chocolate, so there’s a little more. I have also purchased caffeine-free (not decaffeinated, since that process doesn’t actually remove all caffeine) tea for when I want a change. So other than the chocolate, I’m at less than 25 mg of caffeine per month.

So on to my review of Teeccino!

Let me start my review by saying I’m not a lover of black coffee. My favorite drinks at Starbucks in the recent past have been the White Chocolate Mocha, the Mocha Frappuccino, the Honey Latte, and the Sugar-Free Vanilla Latte. Occasionally someone will give me a bag of coffee as a gift, and if it’s whole bean, of high quality, and I use my coffee grinder and then my French press and do it just right, I might be able to enjoy a cup of black coffee. But I’d rather have it with cream and sugar, at least. My initial thought is that if you love black coffee, Teecchino is not the way to go for you, unless you’re really committed to giving up caffeine. It just doesn’t taste close enough to coffee to bridge that gap.

However, it is still a good product. 4/5 stars.

I ordered a sampler product that I found on the same page as the Sampler Pack. It contained the Sampler Pack with all 10 flavors of Teeccino, a 50-packet box of Steevia (a fiber-based sweetener that I’ll also review), and the Swiss Gold One-Cup Brewer (reviewed as well).

Teeccino is billed as being not only caffeine-free but also low in acidity, which apparently is something people have problems with in real coffee (not my complaint).

As far as the flavor breakdown, here’s my thoughts:

• Original (75% organic), Light Roast – good introduction to the basic flavor of this “coffee.” As I read elsewhere on the internet, you really have to like the taste of chickory to like this product, and though I don’t know how chickory tastes, I’m guessing that’s the strong taste that comes across.
• Vanilla Nut (75% organic), Medium Roast – very nice vanilla flavor. A favorite.
• Hazelnut (75% organic), Medium Roast – mild hazelnut flavor.
• Almond Amaretto (75% organic), Medium Roast – very strong flavor. Didn’t like.
• Mocha (75% organic), Medium Roast – the worst one in my opinion. In their defense, I’m very picky about my mocha flavor (which is why I don’t order mochas at Caribou, because I don’t like the chocolate they use). Others might like this a lot, but it didn’t do it for me. The only one that I couldn’t finish (there are only 3 cups in a sampler, so that says something).
• Chocolate Mint (75% organic), Light Roast – strongly minty. Reminds me of Starbucks at Christmastime, and I think it would be quite enjoyable then.
• Maya Caffe (100% organic), Dark Roast – this is the one I settled on, and have been drinking for the last year.

The above noted, as a general rule I brewed my Teeccino with the one cup brewer into a portable thermos that I brought to work (which holds 1 1/2 mugs worth), flavored with French Vanilla creamer by Coffeemate. In the beginning I was using the Steevia Sweetener and half-n-half (or even whipping cream, which we had lying around the house, intending to make ice cream). I like the flavored creamer the best, since it covers up that which is different about Teeccino and makes the experience most like drining real coffee.

Briefly, some other links:

• Another review of Teeccino
• A list of 5 coffee substitutes from About.com

If anyone has tried any of the other products listed on the About.com list, please let me know if they’re good or not!

Teeccino’s website suggests gradually switching over, and I think there would be several good reasons to do this (which is not what I did – I went from coffee to black tea to Teeccino in short order). First of all, gradually switching will help avoid some of the side-effects of quitting caffeine, namely headaches. My method using black tea helped with this too. I had very few headaches that were easily knocked out by Advil. Secondly, by working the Teeccino into your diet gradually with regular coffee, I think you’d get more used to the flavor, instead of the “shock” it was to me. I highly suggest doing it the way they suggest if you can.

I did see Teeccino available (in limited flavors) at my local natural foods co-op, and you can purchase it on Amazon too if you don’t want to order directly from Teeccino (though I had excellent service from them and the packaging included a $1 off coupon). If you’re local, you can buy it at Kowalskis too, but I have not seen it in any of the major grocery chains (not even Super Target).

It’s not bad being caffeine free. I never reached that point where I feel more energetic (that the Teeccino website claims I’ll get to, though I’m doubtful), but I’m no more tired than I was when I was consuming caffeine. Some of the reasons I quit were: caffeine is not helpful when dieting, caffeine has inflammatory properties and I’m trying to keep my tendinitis under control, and theoretically eventually I’d have to give it up temporarily to give birth, and I’d rather not go through that process under duress. Plus, it’s nice to keep some of that money in my wallet and not give it to Starbucks (though I miss the girls who work there terribly, but the friendly staff at the Tea Garden took up the baton and memorized my drink order, even though I only visit once a month now).

It’s a good substitute if you really want to be caffeine-free. It doesn’t fully replace the joyful coffee experience, as it smells different (though the varieties that are strongly flavored, like Amaretto, override this), has different undertones, etc., but that’s a hard one to do. It’s not espresso, and it never will be, but that’s OK. Teeccino is an essential part of my morning routine, and I prefer not go without it (notice that I said “prefer,” and not “can’t” – because it’s not addictive like caffeine).

[Editor's note: It took me about a year to write this review from start to finish. My apologies if anything seems a little off because of that.]