Tazo

I used to drink Tazo tea all the time at my last job because it was freely supplied. Awake and Earl Grey got me through many tiring mornings. Since I am not a coffee drinking, I would drink the tea quite often.

Now that I don’t get free tea at work, I decided to try out a couple different Tazo teas of my own. Organic Apple Red sounded amazing on the box. Organic? Check. Caramel Apple? Check. This sounded like it would be fantastic.

Unfortunately the taste and smell did not live up to my expectations. It was just quite bland compared to how I envisioned it. I will drink it until it’s gone, but I wouldn’t ever purchase it again.

I’ve had it both hot and iced … and this is not a tea to drink hot. Ice it, and it is tangy and refreshing. Hot, it tastes like it’s just trying too hard.

This tea is not particularly soothing to my palate … the ginger is too strong and I have no idea what they mean when they say hints of pear … the pear is pretty non-existent. It is excellent for settling motion sickness, morning sickness, or any other sort of nausea, however, and I drank it often while pregnant.

Not an exciting tea, but very pleasant. It doesn’t have the incredibly bold flavor of a black tea, but lacks the grassiness inherent in a lot of green teas as well, making it a nicely balanced cup that I often recommended to novice tea drinkers when we had it in stock.

I’ve never tasted anything artful about this particular tea … I’ve tried it hot, iced, whatever, but have yet to have a cup of it I liked. The herbs just make it taste cheap to me rather than enhancing the natural flavor of the tea leaves.

As herbal teas go, this is one of my favorites. Hot, it’s incredibly soothing to the nerves, while icing it makes it perhaps one of the most refreshing beverages I think I’ve ever had. When I worked at Starbucks, this was the tea I usually drank (especially while I was pregnant), and not a shift went by without my drinking at least three cups of it.

When I worked at Starbucks, I simply could not understand the popularity of this stuff. The iced green tea is made with their Zen tea, which I was never a fan of … the kind of mint they blended with the tea leaves always turned my stomach a little and made it taste cheap. The way it’s brewed doesn’t help … the water is too hot and they brew it extra strong, letting it sit on the counter and diluting it when someone orders it. For lack of better ways to say it, this is not my cup of tea.

This was very relaxing and calming after a hard day at work. There was a hint of cranberry after taste and slight notes of blueberry which I truly enjoyed. I had a gift card from Boarders that I purchased this with (not sure I will purchase this again).
I am enjoying learning and tasting all the different teas I seem to be adding to my collection.

I was given a box of Tazo Zen teabags from a friend who knew I enjoyed tea and while I typically avoid teabags this one is pretty good. While the presence of the lemongrass and spearmint partially masks the taste of the likely cheaper base green tea, it produces a nice overall effect in how the sweetness of the spearmint and lemongrass nicely complement the green tea. Almost good enough to make me consider picking up some more Tazo teabags to try if I can find any variety packs as Zen is one box of teabags that I will not have any problems finishing off from how enjoyable it is to drink.

Fixed this tonight since I really wanted CS’s Peppermint, but was out. Had never tried this before and had a couple of bags lying around from a hotel visit. This is a really yummy way to do a mint tea. This may become my new favorite mint!

Finished this box in record time! As a regular drinker of CS Morning Thunder, I can say this blows MT out of the water. Sorry CS! Focus is a smooth, sophisticated blend of black tea and mate. The additional flavors added really give it such a good flavor. Will buy again soon!

I am a big fan of Zen, the lemongrass flavoring is just incredible and I am very impressed by this tea!

This is a nice minty flavor, with plenty of spearmint tones and a slight tarragon fragrance. (In fact I smelled the tarragon more than I tasted it). Refresh is definitely aptly named; I do feel this tisane refreshes my senses. I find it perfect hot, during a stressful day or as I unwind. Delish! A side note: I added sugar free vanilla syrup to it and loved the additional flavor profile.

While I was out last night with friends at a restaurant, I asked for tea and they only had tea bags. So, I went with this Earl Grey. Really weak. Now, I am biased when it comes to tea bags. I think they are a waste of space on your store’s shelves – only loose tea for me, BUT I do occassionally use them. And I have to say I have had better Earl Grey in a bag.

Dragging my feet this morning from a late night at work. Thought I’d try to see if it woke me up.
Tea is pretty bitter, although this is my first black tea. Added a little honey to be able to drink it. Not really feeling anymore awake.

Drinking this this morning and it is good

This is good this morning

Very good quality chai. I’ve tried and smelled other bagged chai’s and none come close to the wonderful aroma and taste of this tea. Not very peppery for those who love pepper. I don’t. Very interesting blend of spices and tea.

Decided to grab a bottle at my local herb store’s cooler today. This is the first time I have had this iced and bottled. I think it was half watered down and half too sweet. Iced-wise it’s ok on occasion but nothing I would buy often. It was ok for the specific day and time of day!

Add Cinnamon Dolce (4 pumps) to a Venti @Star$… Superb.

Smelling the leaf bag is almost overwhelming, the mint over powers every other scent. Strong veggie/mint flavor, not something I enjoy honestly. This might taste pretty good to some other people, but for myself I doubt I’ll even use another bag. I may try resteeping the bag to see if it dulls down the flavor, but for the most part I’ll either trash or give away the rest of this tea. Now I remember why I don’t like green tea’s.

Having more of this, this morning…and throughout the day…lol (I don’t think there’s a minute in the day I don’t have tea in my hand while at work). Takes forever for the water to cool down to be drinkable, but its worth the wait haha. I also tried re-steeping the bag some yesterday and was able to get 3 uses out of it before I decided to trash it. Pretty good stuff!

I’m still very new to teas, but after having a few of these leaf bags I have to say that the previous “tea dust” bags just don’t cut it anymore. I can safely say that I’m done with tea bag tea’s, and moving to leaf teas full time. I’m also upping the rating I gave this tea the last time. I can actually taste and smell the difference in this tea vs a bag tea. So good!