I found a filter bag of Tazo Refresh in my chest of random assorted “maybe I’ll drink this some day” individually wrapped tea bags. It’s in the dark green envelope, so it’s obviously a bit old, since the latest crop of Tazo filter bags come in light envelopes. I decided to give it a try now that I regularly imbibe the sachet version of Refresh at Starbucks as a follow-up (and free refill) to my coffee.
The filter bag is perfectly potable, but, predictably, not as good as the sachet. One immediately noticeable difference, as the blend steeps, is that the scent of the filter bag is nowhere near as strong and—I dare say—aromatherapeutic as the sachet. I seriously walk around sniffing the Refresh fumes through the little hole in the top of my Starbucks cup. People in the street who see me probably think that I’m a real weirdo. Oh well, at least I’m not talking to myself. Or am I? One never knows these days with all of the newfangled gadgets available. In the post-Y2K world of Twitter and selfies, when people walk around incoherently babbling to themselves, everyone just thinks that they’re using a Bluetooth.
Now back to Refresh. I definitely did not notice so much the scent of the Refresh filter bag while drinking it. Yes, it smelled like a somewhat standard spearmint-heavy tisane, but it did not have the same “come hither, flaring nostrils” quality at all.
The filter bag is okay. I won’t buy it, though, so long as the sachet remains available. The dried powder blend in the filter bag does not rehydrate to the same degree as the shredded herbs (spearmint, peppermint and, most importantly, tarragon) in the sachets do.