Tazo

Well, on the bright side, it had noticeable flavor. :P

Seriously, I hate teas that are too weak. Therefore, I must give this tea some points. It really does just pretty much taste sour. I can taste the licorice, but I am pretty sensitive to that flavor. I added a ton of sweetener, and it really didn’t help. I am going to save it for trying with a couple of bags of Luzianne in the summer – there’s a chance that diluting it with some ol’ Southern sweet tea will make it palatable. Then again, I could just rip up all the bags and dump the contents into the garden for compost…

This is a staple in my tea cupboard. It isn’t anything that’s going to set the world on fire, but it’s consistent and inexpensive. I like it hot or cold, but definitely with sweetener either way. Mild green tea, spearmint, and light citrus – it’s refreshing at any temperature. I can drink a ton of iced tea, so this is a good one for me to have in quantity – I hate using my “good” tea by the pitcherful, even though I probably should, just to use some of it up! This is a nice standby and one I’ve gone to for several years.

This is one of those infamous ones where the existing reviews already say it all! In the spirit of scientific inquiry, or “could it really be that bad”, I finally tried it today. Verdict: yes, it really can.

The smell is nice. It could probably be kept around the house as potpourri, which is the only use I recommend it for. The taste…others have put it more creatively already. It’s more tart than anything I would want to voluntarily imbibe. The only saving grace is that there is a detectable touch of lemongrass in it, to assure me that it isn’t pure acid. Never again, Wild Sweet Orange!

Pretty good Chai for simple, bagged stock that you can get at Wal-Mart for goodness sakes! Having said that, it’s nothing compared to my favorite loose leaf Masala Chai or even World Market’s Masala Chai in terms of sheer strength of spices. And after all, in my opinion, that’s one of the main things I’m coming to a Chai tea to taste. Still, I keep it “in stock” at my house for travel or if I’m visiting company that won’t have any tea equipment etc.

This tea smells so perfect, like honeysuckle. I can’t wait to drink it. I received this sample from Flyawaybirdie – thanks so much :)- but I haven’t drunk any jasmine teas in a while. I thought I wanted black tea, but now that I’ve brewed this green tea, I don’t know why I actually waited so long to drink it. Jasmine green tea is one of my favorites.

I might have brewed this a bit too much. It seems to get bitter easier than dragon pearls. I don’t make the tea often, but I do know that adding a bit of brown sugar and milk makes it taste amazing. A tea shop would use it for their bubble tea, and you could also get it iced.

I put some milk in it… nope, bad idea. I guess I’ll still drink it. It’s a pretty good tea. I haven’t bought any jasmine green teas yet, simply because I feel like jasmine pearls accomplish the same thing. I like this enough, though. I don’t know if I would buy it, but if I did have it, then I would definitely share it with friends. I think it’s a much more palatable tea for those just trying tea for the first time, especially green tea.

I think I’ll make some more.

One of my favorite mint teas. Although it is hard time find where I live.

Fairly bland, though not bad per se. Not in my top selections even for cheap bagged tea.

Backlog. This was such a surprise! Up there with the Trescerro as one of the best teas of the trip. It’s vegetal, almost like a steamed green, and there’s a slight sweetness to the aftertaste. If I hadn’t read the name I would have guessed this was a sencha or a relative. This was not quite buttery, but it does have a fresh quality with no bitterness, rare for bagged unflavored greens. I must have had at least five cups of it over two days!

Backlog. Had this and my longtime favorite Calm with a big lunch after walking around all morning. Unfortunately the peppermint in this is overwhelming, and peppermint is not really my favorite. There’s a touch of spearmint but I’d prefer more, and the tarragon is just not there. The description is better than the brew, but it was still nice enough.

Backlog. On this trip I discovered that I like Tazo’s herbal and green blends a lot more than their blacks. I don’t know what the deal is with their base black teas but they’re just not for me. This one was much better than I was expecting, although I was still not blown away. It’s more fruity-tasting than floral, and the green base is sort of there but mostly hidden by the flavoring. It’s better as it cools.

Tastes great! just wish it had caffeine…

this was given away. It didn’t taste even remotely like “cocoa” “mint” or “mate”

too much cinnamon… I had to give this one away. Far too strong without any “sweet”

Overboard Traveling tea box

Hot this was weird and really hibiscus-y, but cold, it is really nice! I steeped per the instructions on the back of the bag (175 degrees, 3 minutes), tried it warm and just thought “oh, no no” and carefully poured it into a glass to be put in the fridge. It actually kind of reminds me of my Tealux Angel Falls Mist. Definitely drinkable unsweetened. I can’t even taste the licorice! Total win. Definitely claiming the last 4 bags of this!

Overboard TTB.

This one just tasted like green tea to me. The concept is interesting, I don’t think I’ve seen a peach-cucumber tea before, but I don’t really taste the flavors here.

Overboard TTB.

This is quite a good hibiscus tea. It tastes fruity and not as tart as most of them are. It’s naturally a bit on the sweeter end. The most prominent taste is definitely hibiscus, but it is tempered by some jammy berry notes, and an underlying herbaceous taste. I notice that this blend doesn’t contain rosehips, which is unusual for a hibiscus tea. The flavor is a bit different because of that. I can’t taste the licorice at all, which is great news since I really don’t like it, especially in fruit teas. I think the only reason I might hesitate to buy this, is because I mostly try to avoid caffeine and I like plenty of hibiscus blends that don’t contain green tea. It’s a nice variation on the theme, though.

My mom picked up the decaf version of the Chai concentrate and didn’t read the instructions on the box. Thank goodness I was there to tell her that she really needed to add milk or else it would have been way too strong for her. This is the lady that leaves her teabag in for half a minute or less. A full minute if she forgets about it.

I did try this both hot and iced. I liked this iced a lot better than hot. I can’t really taste any tea out of it. Mostly just weaker spices and milk. It isn’t anything special, but it is nice to have in the house when you are weaning yourself off of sodas and when you really want a latte but you are just feeling too lazy to do it yourself.

I really enjoyed it, but wish it had stronger spices in it.

When I bought this tea, I didn’t really know what to expect, as I’ve never had yerba maté before. I was very surprised and happy at how wonderful this tea tasted though.

The smell as it’s steeping is a very mild but sweet. You automatically pick up a slight chocolate smell from the cocoa peels and a subtle mint underneath. The mint becomes much more apparent when you taste it though, and the cocoa becomes the more subtle ingredient. The mint leaves a burst of coolness on your tongue without being overpowering or bitter. The sweetness isn’t as apparent in taste as it is when it’s steeping.

I’m not sure how this yerba maté blend would compare to better quality yerba maté, but this is still a good tea and worth trying if you pass it in the store.

To be honest, this wasn’t half bad.
It steeped for a while and yet it was smooth.

It’s not strong, but it has a slight caffeine kick, like that of a can of coke.

If you’re wondering what size to get Starbucks for this tea, I’d recommend medium as it will make it less strong than the large with two bags. Eeeeeggghh.

Get some! It’s not bad as an afternoon to evening relaxing tea.

Yay for impulse purchases! My sweetie and I made a trip to Target this morning (mostly to pick up a new game for the Wii U that they ended up not having) and there was a lovely endcap display of Tazo teas. After giving it a quick once-over, I chose this tea to take home with me. They also had a holiday tea called “Joy” that sounded interesting, but I figured one impulse tea was enough for today! This is an earl grey with orange, vanilla, and buttercream flavors. Sounds amazing, right? The sachets were sealed in a plastic bag inside the tin, so the bergamot scent was, of course, super overpowering when I opened it. Inside the sachets is a mixture of small black tea leaves and citrus peel.

Hmm, this is actually quite good! Having no experience with Tazo, I was unsure what to expect in terms of quality, but this seems right on par with Harney & Sons and similar companies. The bergamot is actually a tad stronger than I would like, and I find that it slightly overpowers the more delicate vanilla and buttercream. I added a touch of sugar to take the edge off of it, because I find strong bergamot to be somewhat hard to drink – it becomes almost bitter and perfumey. Perhaps next time I will try a 3-minute steep and see if this helps the flavors to be more balanced. I could taste the orange, thankfully, and I could see this being an amazing creamsicle earl grey tea if the bergamot could be reigned in a touch. Will experiment! For now, I’m quite satisfied with my $6 purchase. :)