Several months ago I picked up a book called The Ultimate Tea Diet. While it may sound cliche’, the truth is that this book really did change my life. Not only have I dropped several dress sizes since following the advice of the book’s author, Mark Ukra, but I have made tea (drinking and educating others about it) my hobby.

In his book, Ukra (also known as Dr Tea), argues that coffee consumption is bad for people who want to lose weight, as its high caffeine levels can cause insulin spikes. (While he is not alone in this caveat, I should note that not everyone agrees with him.)

Recognizing that many people have a strong love for coffee, Dr Tea set out to create a coffee replacement from tea. Coffee Tea, as he calls it, is a blend of oolong tea which has been roasted like coffee and hojicha de la creme, a green tea which has also been roasted and then blended with vanilla.

“But wait!”, I can hear you saying, “Doesn’t tea have caffeine too?” Yes it does, however, the amount of caffeine in tea is considerably lower than that which is in coffee. In addition, tea has other properties that can counteract the effects of caffeine.

Having tried several of Dr Tea’s other “craving teas” (flavored teas that are designed to help banish cravings for sweets), I decided to give the Coffee Tea a try.

The burning question: Does it taste like coffee? Will it actually help tame a coffee craving?

My answer to this is mixed: Does it taste exactly like coffee? No. Does it even taste a lot like coffee? No. Does it taste like tea? Not really. Does it have coffee characteristics? Most definately.

What I taste in Coffee Tea is an element of “roastedness”. The vanilla (which is pretty strong) blends nicely with this roasted quality to create a toasty, slightly sweet beverage with no hint of bitterness. It blends nicely with milk and works well hot or over ice.

Will it help tame a coffee craving? It could. I have a fondness for iced latte, and I did find that iced Coffee Tea shaken with milk made for a decent (though not by any means identical) replacement.

My Recommendation: While I don’t think that Coffee Tea truly tastes like coffee, it is a really delicious beverage in its own right. I drink huge amounts of tea during the day, and while I truly love tea, sometimes I want something different. The Coffee Tea is “different” enough to satisfy that desire.

I only have two real complaints about this tea:

1. The Cost. A four ounce can of Coffee Tea is $30(US). While one will get a lot of mileage out of that much high-quality leaf tea, the fact is that $30 is a lot to spend at once, particularly if one isn’t sure if they will even like the stuff. A better option might be to purchase one of Dr Tea’s loose leaf sampler packs, for $18.95, as it contains a sample of the Coffee Tea (along with several other Cravings Teas) for you to try before committing to the purchase of a full can.

2. My second quibble has to do with the can that the tea comes in. I understand the necessity of an airtight container that will keep the tea fresh. Really I do. But when removal of the lid requires such force that the (very expensive) tea flies all over the place, there is a problem. My suggestion is that when you first open this can of tea, you do so with the can, and your hands, inside a bag so that you can easly return the tea to its receptacle.