Tazo

BACKLOG: Made this on Mother’s day weekend as a lightly sweetened ice tea for my mom and brother during a break from yard work. I enjoyed the tart flavor but it was acidic enough that it gave me instant heartburn. Both my mom and bro added additional sweetener to theirs (agave).

Reallllllly confused about the pear… love the lemongrass. ehhhhhh

I received this tea in swap which was interesting because I’ve never seen Tazo in loose leaf form. I decided that it sounded like a nice tea to make iced via cold steeping overnight for my graduation party. I went ahead and tasted it after I finished brewing it and realized that it’s a fantastic cold steeped tea. The black tea is mild like a sweet tea without sugar and the peach is quite nice, not too juicy with the small spice. I hope everyone else likes it tonight because I find it to be excellent as an iced tea.

I’m confused. My co-worker brought some sachets of this to work in a tin and I have been enjoying about one cup a week. The enjoyment part is what is puzzling to me.

I wouldn’t say I get anything from this tea. It isn’t particularly calming or comforting and comes off rather flat. Chamomile seems to be competing. Leaves a dry taste in my mouth

I received this tea as a gift a good while ago and have made it several times without reviewing. It’s certainly not something I’d buy for myself due to the rooibos content and the sheer LOAD of hibiscus.

When steeped, it’s what you’d expect with a hibiscus tea. A bright, cheerful magenta. Very pretty! I made it iced and had to sweeten it – it’s pretty dang tart otherwise. The flavor makes me instantly think of Starbucks’s Berry Hibiscus Refreshers. There is a nice berry flavor that goes along with it, but it’s on the lighter side and kind of blends with the tangy hibiscus.The green tea aspect might as well not be there, but the rooibos… It doesn’t let itself be forgotten about. It leaves that aftertaste I hate so much in my mouth and nose with every sip.

Like I said, this isn’t something I’d get again, but I won’t mind finishing it over ice on hot days. Also, I’m not tasting wine at all. I think they just call it that to sound fancy.

Among the Tazo varieties this one is just a mystery to me. So much as touch this to your water and you have a bitter steep. Maybe it’s the fannings in there. I don’t know, but this is a pretty astringent Earl Gray without a lot of complexity (dull and muted, in terms of flavor).

The best thing about this is the strong floral bergamot scent after brewing, but by the time I finish the tea I always regret those first few sips—it gets increasingly bitter, not more flavorful, as you drink.

THE RUNDOWN
1) Before Tasting: I’m pretty sure I’ve tried this before, but never reviewed here. All in all I’m working through my herbal bags because I want an excuse to go buy something at David’s or Teavana in the Herbal section, so this is the third herbal I’m reviewing this week. I’m getting a stronger Spearmint scent here than anything else, but I don’t think this tea is made with any quality in mind – even Tazo’s Earl Grey is pretty overpowering in the “scent instead of flavor” department. Peppermint is there too, but pretty faint.
2) First Try: And there’s how you know it’s all scent no flavor – the first taste is overpoweringly peppermint! I still don’t get how they accomplish this, but maybe they consider like this: “part of taste is smell, so if we counter the powerful spearmint aroma with a power peppermint taste, they’ll never know how terrible this is!” Yeah.
3) Second Sip: I should mention the mouthfeel is pretty lacking too. Another powerful punch of peppermint, mixed with, yes, my favorite and yours, dustiness. I can’t tell you this enough: dust is ONLY a flavor I taste when drinking filter bag tea. And folks wonder why I’m a whole leaf girl.
4) Afterthought: So, I take it back, there is a mouthfeel, but it’s the dusty flavor. I can’t imagine this would even make a decent blend with something else. Yeah, I do not recommend it and I do not think I would try it again. By the way, if there’s any licorice-flavored tarragon in this bag, I never tasted or smelled it. And I would know licorice, believe me.

A little more green tea than I was expecting. Went well with some Earl Grey.

I can only take this steeped for exactly 5 minutes with no milk or sugar. It’s mild – or maybe flavorless is a better word? It smells like black tea, but it doesn’t taste like much of anything at all.

Steeped it with a bag of Higher Living’s Ginger Kick. It transforms this tea from being just meh to being absolutely delish.

This tea is icky plain and hot. I’ve had the best luck either cold-steeping it plain or steeping it with something else hot.

I won’t be restocking when I’m out of it. It was too expensive and too underwhelming. If a bagged tea forces the drinker to get creative in order to make it drinkable, it’s officially not worth its asking price.

Cold-steeped overnight in my glass teapot. It’s soooooo much better this way! I got lots of cobbler, dessert-y taste and fresh, juicy peach. It was fabulous. My mind was blown— it was like I was drinking a totally different tea. The astringent base is completely subdued. Never drinking this hot again.

I got this because it seems summery. It smells very fruity and cinnamon-y in the dry bag.

Once I steeped it, I only got peach in the aftertaste. It was mostly a mediocre black base with a lot of apple and cinnamon.

Oh well.

Another one to be donated to the staff break room stash. As others have said, there is almost nothing reminiscent of Chai in this tea – it tastes like hot chocolate mixed with a lot of water and a tiny, tiny bit of bagged tea.
I vow to always check steepster before impulse buying tea at my local grocery store in the future.

The green rooibos was the appealing part for me. I’ve never tried it before.

I sniffed the dry bag and had a mini panic attack— surely they wouldn’t DARE put stevia in this tea! I reread the ingredients and breathed a sigh of relief. It’s just naturally sweet from all the fruit.

The hibiscus somehow doesn’t make my lips pucker with disgust! It’s a miracle. I taste lots of cherries and jam, and even a echo of wine in the aftertaste. Not bad! I’m starting to reconsider Tazo.

Another sample from The Cookie Lady! I’ve tried quite a lot from Tazo, but I don’t remember ever seeing this one before. (Maybe it’s discontinued?) Anyway, it’s lovely! I don’t notice the base tea at all, but the apricot flavor is spot-on. The vanilla is more subtle, but it definitely imparts a nice creamy mouth-feel to the blend. This is one of those teas that tastes like you added milk to it even though you didn’t. I would definitely drink this one again!

I liked this a lot more than I thought I would!! The mint and lemongrass complimented the green tea perfectly… I never think I’m a big fan of green teas but then a tea like this comes along and I really like it… probably because of the addition of the mint and lemongrass. It’s just a nice, soothing blend, perfect for getting down to work in the afternoon.

Terrible. Tastes like overcooked vegetable-boiling water. Asparagus? Collard greens? Either way, not what I want in my cup.

Notes: Teabags, Made specifically for pitchers of tea
Type: Herbal
Leaves are tea fannings
Dry leaves smell strongly of orange peel, cinnamon, and hibiscus
Pouring hot water over tea bag resulted in immediate dark red liqour, resembling Kooaid
Brewed tea smells like hibiscus and oranges
Brewed leaves hardly expanded
Head Notes: Hibiscus
Body Notes: Tropical Flvors
End Notes: Orange
Aftertaste: Orange
Tea is extremely sour. I ws not expecting the astringent and tart flavor.
I added a little bit of unrefined cane sugar to my glass and it made the tea sooo much better.
With Sugar, the tea is light, fruity, and refreshing.
I would share this tea with my friends on a summer afternoon.
It would have ti be a really hot day for me to truly appreciate and enjoy this tea.
I give this tea three stars because I like the packagin, the liquor, and the flavor.
I probably wouldn’t buy this tea again.