Tazo

Smells like apple pie!…has a funny aftertaste, though.

Drinking the last of this tonight. It remains the best bagged straight green tea I’ve tried (whole leaf version). I don’t forsee buying more as I have discovered Chinese green loose leaf teas I prefer, but this is one of the better choices if one is in need of a bagged green tea. I don’t know whether it is available in whole leaf other than in Starbucks stores and I haven’t tried the non-whole leaf version.

DISCLAIMER: At the outset I should say that I have very little green tea experience, and even less positive green tea experience. I have yet to try brewing a loose green tea. Most of my experiences (other than random restaurant experiences prior to my interest in tea where I wasn’t really focusing on what I was doing and those I’ve written notes about here) have resulted either in completely tasteless cups of colored water, or completely tasteless but bitter cups of colored water. I thought for certain it must have been an acquired taste that I would never, ever, ever acquire.

After doing some very basic research, I determined that the reason for my awful experiences was essentially temperature and steep time related (though water quality may also have contributed). So I significantly lowered my water temperature and lessened my steep time, and things started going better. But I still haven’t tried high grade loose green tea, only bagged Tazo, Twinings and Numi variants.

With that said, I am liking this one a lot. Compared to others I’ve tried, it is very flavorful in a vegetal way, sort of cabbagy/spinachy, but I don’t find it grassy. And it’s sweet, not at all bitter. The first time I got this result I said to myself, “Self, this must be what all the green tea fuss is about, more or less.”

The flavor comes across at 175 degrees, but even moreso at 140 degrees. I’m using two bags in about 16 oz of water and the bags are the full leaf version.

Sipdown no. 184. I had a lot of help sipping this down. The kids quite liked it, as did the BF. I had my last bit last night hot. It was too hot for no. 2, who kept dropping ice into it so I put the rest in the fridge for him and he drank it this morning to rave reviews. No. 1 also had some and asked me to make some for him to put in the fridge as well, which took care of the last two bags.

Not a repeat for me, as I mostly got this at the beginning of my tea journey to understand better what plain honeybush tasted like, but if the kid lobby has any say about it…

Is Steepster flaking on everyone tonight or is it just me? Every other screen is a black screen error saying someone left the pot on too long. Hmmm.

The peanut gallery was a big fan of this one after taste testing it tonight.

Both no. 1 and no. 2 used the term “awesome” to describe this.

I’m glad to have help drinking down the rest of this box and I can only anticipate that things will get even more interesting as I start trying fruit blends and other flavored tisanes on them. Then again, it’s possible that they’re purists. Too early to tell.

I haven’t had honeybush before, but after this I definitely want to have it again! It’s a very interesting flavor. Subtle, sweet, and slightly grassy, but the dominant note is definitely a somewhat dilute honey flavor.

The bag smells like apricots (!) and it brews to a dark apricot orange color. The aroma is of honey, with a fruity tang to it.

I made this at work, and I am guessing it would be even better at home with better water. It will be interesting to try different types for comparison.

I had this with a bit of honey and 2% milk, and it’s quite tasty. Unlike some chais the additives don’t drown out the flavour if the spices in the tea.

I’ve always enjoyed Tazo’s chai, despite not beeing terribly thrilled with their other teas. This chai just has the right mix of spices for me – I can distinctly taste the cardamom and cloves and the faint prickle on the tongue that’s the black pepper and a bit of heat from the cinnamon, finished off with the faint licorice taste of the anise in the back of my mouth.

Maybe I’m biased – this was the first chai I ever tasted, though it was in the form of a Starbucks chai latte I seem to recall. But I also think that this is a good cuppa, particularly for a bagged tea.

This is the proverbial “not my cup of tea.”

Now, I should have know better, because there are very few chamomile teas I really like. But, I’m at this training facility today, and their tea selection is very limited. So I thought I’d give it a go.

I should have skipped it. I thought the flavors were kind of.. meh. And I thought it smelled bad. I feel like I’m pointing fingers and singing like a grade schooler "Nya, nya, nya-nya nay – you smell bad!’ but I really don’t have any other descriptions. It was just icky. My mouth + Calm = not happy.

I think if you like chamomile, this might be more for you.

Brewed up 12oz with 2 full leaf sachets, 2 tsp sugar and 1 tsp milk. Great pairing with my cinnamon swirl coffeecake this morning. Wish I had more coffeecake! I like this Chai blend more and more. It is my staple and I haven’t found a better replacement yet. Yum!

Much better than my previous chai of the evening. Brewed up 16oz with two full leaf bags. Added a splash of half and half and 1 packet of splenda and this is heavenly compared to my previous attempt at stove brewing Masala Chai by Teavana. This tea is a bit heavy on the anise for my tastebuds, but I like the blend of spices more than most I’ve tried. This is one I keep coming back to.

Got a tin of these bags yesterday when stopping for my monthly chai tea latte. Tried it tonight with hot water steeped 2 bags for 4 minutes and a splash of vanilla creamer. Had no time to run to the store today for milk and forgot on the way home. This tastes quite a bit different from the concentrate. The concentrate they serve seems to have more of a cinnamon and cardamon kick to it whereas these bags I’m really getting anise flavor as the foremost flavor with hints of the others. I really hated the first sip, but a few more sips into it it has mellowed out a bit. I like the amount of spice in this, but would prefer a different kind of spice. I’m curious to try this with some steamed milk. Maybe the next cuppa.

This is my father-in-law’s tea. It tastes a bit like warm orange drink, but I actually like it. It’s a bit tart and sweet at the same time. I typically dislike fruit teas.

Didn’t used to be an earl grey fan. I tried it a while ago with Stash. I didn’t care for it then so I shelved it. I tried it again fairly recently and it quickly became one of my favorite. I tried an earl grey latte from Tazo and love it. One of my favorites.

First tried this as a latte from Starbucks. I was instantly hooked. I love it. Went to Starbucks recently and bought a vanilla rooibos tin for my wife. I am converting her to becoming a tea snob with me.

Ahhh…this is as good as I remember it. This was the cup of tea that started it all. Had an immensely flavorful cup at Starbucks when they first came out with the tea sachets. Was so impressed with the flavor I started my tea addiction, found teavana, found steepster and now have the cupboard to show for my addiction!

Sweet, smooth with a little bit of a spicy tingle in the aftertaste. This is good!

Tried this this morning since I had some time to relax and really enjoy it. I added a splash of Vanilla Coffeemate as we were out of milk, and I like this much better with milk. The vanilla creamer really changed the taste. I could really pick out the apple and peach flavors with the rooibos. Very amazing how much more wonderful this was with the vanilla coffeemate over a splash of milk. Definitely glad I bought a tin of the full leaf bags last time I was in Starbucks! Now to see if the second infusion is half as tasty.

Certainly not the best tea out there, but for something fairly commonly stocked in supermarkets it’s reasonable if you like a strong tea. This is the kind of thing I buy so I can throw a couple of bags into my backpack so I’m not at the mercy of whatever tasteless bags they have in the school cafe when I need a caffeine hit.

Where it really shines for me is as an iced tea, where the strength gives it a pleasant briskness that I find quite refreshing on a hot day.

I like rooibos teas. This was absolutely appalling. No love for chemical dreck, Tazo.