Tazo

Hello! So sorry I have not been around, the headache turned out to be the start of a 48 hour flu/virus/bug thing, I won’t get into details, but that had knocked me out of commission for a few days. I’m at about 99%, food is still an enemy, but I am definitely feeling better, and ready for tea!

I started with this one, because I wanted the caffeine. I wanted a smooth black tea blended with a full green tea to help me kick start my day and push the rest of whatever that was that ruined the last few days of my life out!

Brewed hot, three minutes, added one packet of splenda sweetener. I feel the splenda, being sweeter than the equivalent amount of sugar, helps this tea. This tea hits the common problem that if you brew it long enough to be a black you make the green extra bitter, but if you brew only quick enough to be a green, you get no black tea at all. This is why, I always go with three minutes, a nice median, and a little bit of sweetener to brighten the black and dull the bitterness of the green.

Tried this again this morning, brewed very quickly, about two minutes and added a few crystals of Rock Sugar. Still not where I want to be with this tea, still a little too bitter, still no notes of peach or cucumber. Going to have to keep playing with brew times and additives to get this right I think.

I know green and black blends can be very good, I am just hoping I can get this one to be where I really truly enjoy it.

I get very excited by black and green tea mixes, this one was not the best I’ve had, but not bad either. The aroma of the bag is enticing, fragrant cucumber with a note of green, blended with the clean scent of cucumbers and peaches. The flavor of the tea is mostly green, I can taste a hint of black tea, but no cucumber or peach whatsoever.

Had hot with no additives and iced with no additives. I think adding sugar or honey would help to bring out the dulled cucumber and peach notes, but I will have to brew more and see.

Tasty chai, not overly spiced and smells good in between sips.

Wow there’s a lot of haters for this one. I liked it a lot, but then, I nurse a violent passion for citrus fruit. It’s violent in that I abhor orange-flavoured anything because they don’t taste like oranges etc. But this tea tasted like an orange should, except for the strange unnatural sweetness. Still, the label should have been warning enough. Caveat emptor

Visually the tea is stunning, absolutely orange. I have never seen potable fluid this shade of clear orange. I don’t see the point behind adding all this other peripheral stuff like spearmint into the blend because I cannot taste it behind CITRUS and maybe just a little bit of rosehip. It smells great. I imagine it might be very popular in times of cold, flu, sinusitis.

I drank this in accompaniment with a piece of chocolate fudge cake, and that was a great decision.

Amount: 2 teabags
Additives: none / none / 2 packets of white sugar / 4 packets of white sugar
Water: 20 ounces / 16 ounces second steep both with hot spigot water
Steep Time: over 5 minutes (walking back from Starbucks), then 2 minutes on the second steep
Served: Hot

Notes: I had limited ability to pull the bags while walking back from Starbucks to work, so the first infusion was too strong and bitter. The second infusion ended up a little weak. Watch the brew time on this carefully it seems to turn bitter very fast. The first over-brewed cup was not salvageable even after trying to add milk and sugar. The second batch after 2 packets of sugar there was a hint of sweet and the flavor was smoother and less sharply bitter, 4 packets worked great, 3 probably would have done. I’ve always preferred my earl grey with sugar and milk. I did not try adding milk to the second infusion as it was already weak. The leaves stood up very well to the second infusion.

Smell: Black tea, citrus
Flavor: citrus, strong black tea
Body: heavy, it lingers
Aftertaste: bitter
Liquor: batch 1: dark reddish brown, batch 2: light reddish brown, opaque

Smells amazing. That’s about it. I wasn’t to pleased with the deceptive nature of this tea. With what appears to be a hint chamomile and a few Goji berries this tea is easily over steeped. Perhaps I shall give this one another try in the future with a lesser steep time. Flavor over all misses orange as it’s primary target and we’re left with just the taste of chamomile to keep us entertained. If you like that then give this a try. If not, don’t be deceived by the aroma!

I love the flavor of a good cup of Earl Grey tea. I recently brewed a cup of this particular brand using one of the filter bags. It was not bad, but it did not meet expectations of a clean finish. I will try changing the brew time slightly and water temp to see if I am thoroughly happy. I will also brew a pot of tea with a freshly warmed pot, etc., to see if the proper technique improves the taste.
Glad I joined this group for tea lovers!

Tried this morning. Not that impressed. It didn’t have the bold, wake-you-up flavor I remember.

Tazo’s description is actually pretty accurate! The tea is sharp and light-bodied, perched just on the edge of bitter and sweet. It’s refreshing, and comfortingly “unsurprising”—perfect for your daily mug of green tea.

Amount: 2 filterbags
Additives: none
Water: 20 ounces, hot water spigot at Starbucks
Steep Time: a little over 5 minutes to first sip, and then I kept it brewing
Served: Hot
Smell: sweet, honey
Flavor: sweet, vanilla
Body: light
Aftertaste: sweet, woody, cinnamon

I don’t normally like rooibos teas. So according to me the rating I am giving this tea is good for a rooibos tea. I liked this tea but the vanilla was overpowering. Once I got past the vanilla it was enjoyable, smooth, and relaxing. I expected a fanning grade tea but got a better grade tea than most Taza teas that I’ve tried. Therefore the tea bags were larger. Tossed out the tea bag and then realized I should have tried for a second steeping.

I was doing some school work at starbucks and decided to get something simple. I gave this a shot because I had never heard of it being on the menu. Deeeeelish, I sweetened it a bit. The teabag was kept in the cup but I never noticed any faulty flavor toward the end.

Ugh! What in the world…..I could only take one sip. Don’t do it to yourself.

Ok maybe not all Earl Greys are made equally. This one just seems to have a lack of flavor that so many other’s bring out. Even in loose leaf I was sorely disappointed. Eh it’s ok, with a little sugar and cream it makes for a good tea to find on almost every corner in America. ;-)

(backlogging from last week again)

I got a blank stare from the Starbucks cashier when I ordered this, and was informed by another employee that they don’t make these any more (officially), but she listed the ingredients and told him how to ring it up for me. The girl who made it, though, must not have been listening because she left out the syrup and I was well on my way to work by the time I tasted it and realized this. When she handed it to me, she called it an “Earl Grey Misto” so I’m guessing that means a plain tea latte? I’ll have to ask them what I need to order next time when I want the syrup.

The ironic thing is that I usually requested no syrup but I actually wanted it that time. Oh well, it was healthier for me that way!

Had this without the syrup today (so I guess it’s basically just earl grey tea & skim milk)… this is my chai alternative for Fridays when I feel like something less spicy. Unfortunately, I got stuck in traffic on my way to work and wasn’t able to remove the tea bag so it oversteeped by a good 10 minutes but I just added a lot of extra hot water and it turned out okay.

I really like the Tazo black teas, and steamed milk is so much better than just adding my own boring milk. Without the over-steeping, it woud’ve been perfect! I like it better with the syrup, but I can’t taste anything with this cold anyway so I didn’t want the extra calories.

I like how the rooibos holds up in the milk, what I don’t agree with is the amount of sugar in it a whole 32g of sugar?! Oh my. I’d hate to work my butt off to try and burn those extra calories. I enjoy the vanilla sweetness that it has albeit a tad artificial, but it’s sort of like the same complex I have when I go to the Cheesecake Factory: Everything is so good, but I really shouldn’t think twice about consuming it. Tea lattes should definitely be more about the tea than the milk or sugar that goes into it.

It enjoyable and a once-in-awhile indulge, but definitely not something I would drink everyday.

YAY LOOSE LEAF! Starbucks finally got smart and changed over to whole leaf teas from Tazo. Makes all the difference! China Green Tips is by far one of the most classic green teas I’ve tasted. Very bold grassy taste that says “I’m a green tea!”. Perfect straight. Put down that creamer & sugar!

I had hoped the tarragon would make this more than just another mint tea. It didn’t. Instead I have a lingering taste of the spearmint.