77 Tasting Notes
I am finally using up my last potful of this tea. I made it in the coffee maker. That spring/plug device at the bottom of the coffee basket works to keep the brewing liquid there once the pot is removed. It’s actually a splendid device for letting tea steep in the basket. Just pull the pot collecting the hot tea away so that the basket fills, then replace the pot so the basket drains the hot tea, then repeat: delay(brew), drain, repeat.
I had no sugar here, so just drank the tea black. It was much better than the last time I’d had it. Since Teavana’s discontinued it, there’s no point in recommending it or not. Just know that the longer steeping time and hotter temp seemed to improve it. Still not a favorite, but drinkable.
Flavors: Apple Candy, Artificial, Cranberry
Preparation
This is a nice tea, although I was disappointed there was no actual pumpkin flavor. It’s a nice spicy blend, lighter than a chai would be. One can taste the green tea, but it’s definitely more for the spice that one would drink this. A flavorful mild tea, nice for autumn.
Flavors: Anise, Black Pepper, Cinnamon, Ginger, Orange
Preparation
I bought this five years ago when visiting in NY. Recently visited, went looking for tea, found this. Knew I must have been the one who bought it, as my very recognizable printing was on the box in bold marker “This is BLACK tea”. ( So many boxes of Lipton green tea are yellow and green boxes I wanted to make sure nobody looking for green tea would drink this one in error.) Since I can’t drink too much caffeine, I was glad to find it. Even five years old, it was worth drinking. NOT GREAT, mind you, but I was still glad it was there so I could enjoy decaf tea at our daughter’s house. I tried comparing it to Twinings decaf English and decaf Irish Breakfast teas. It was not the time. This was weaker by comparison—but in fairness, the other two teas were only six months to a year old, not five years old, like this one! Will save the comparison testing for another time when I have a newer sample of this one—whenever that may be. Good old reliable Lipton pekoe and orange pekoe black teas, always good hot with lemon and sugar! The regular (caffeinated) is the black tea I grew up with. Still makes a reliable cuppa.
Preparation
I am comparing this to its sister product, Lipton White Tea with Island Peach and Mango. This one I found in NY recently. I brewed my last cup of the other and a cup of this in order to compare them. The mango flavor is much more pronounced than the peach in this blend. The scent is as heady as walking into a bodega: tropical and fruity. I brewed both cups using lightly boiled water (so, just under boiling temp), for maybe four & 1/2 minutes. Oddly, though both teas are white, this one brewed much darker, nearly as dark as a green tea`would steeped for that length of time. This one is fruitier, stronger tasting. Turns out I prefer the peachier blend of the other; it’s not as fruity, not as mango-ey, and is a lighter, not as sweet flavor as this. I will use this when making my multi-tea blends, as the fruit will blend well with both herbal and plain teas.
Flavors: Fruity, Mango, Peach
Preparation
I’m very sorry this was my last pyramid ‘bag’. I really like the green, not-quite-floral clean taste this has. It’s a light, clean bright tasting cup of white tea, with peach-to-nectarine notes. I drank it today to compare it to the other Lipton Peach Mango pyramid. This one is MUCH better, and I wish I could find it again. Maybe it’s in another part of the country, like the one I’m comparing it to is. Too bad this one isn’t here in the Chicago area. I would buy more of it again in a heartbeat!
Flavors: Floral, Green, Mango, Peach
Preparation
This tea is good value for the money. Aldi sells it, it’s very nicely packaged (each bag is contained in its own clear cello packet), and the price for 20 bags is less than $1.30. The green tea is light, as is the lemon flavor. There’s a certain astringent quality to it (the ginseng?), but not too objectionable. I prefer using a bag of this to boost a mix of herbal teas together.
Flavors: Lemon
Preparation
I just made a big pot with the last five bags I had. I see I stretched it out not to make it last, but because it wasn’t all that great by itself. Normally I would use it one or two bags at a time combined with other fruity or herbal teas, to make the flavor fuller. All by itself it seems lacking, like there should be more flavor than there is, even after long steeping. I get the flavor of red generic berries, rather than a crisp cranberry note. It’s neither sweet nor bitter—just sort of blah, really. I will say the flavor perked up more once I had added sugar. I liked it better than Teavana’s Sweet Cranberry Black, but that’s damning with faint praise. There are many teas better than this one, though it blends well with other teas.
Flavors: Fruity, Red Fruits
Preparation
I’m drinking through my old stores. Teavana’s stuff is pricey, so I tended to ‘save it for later’. Now I realize I wasn’t drinking it because it was too darned sweet and artificial-tasting. When I was a kid our doctor would give out a Charms (brand) lollipop for being a good patient. Teavana Sweet Cranberry Black tastes like that candy, as in way too sweet and artificial-tasting. Its cloying flavor was only masked when I mixed other teas with it. I’m not sorry Teavana discontinued this one.
Flavors: Artificial, Candy, Cranberry, Dust
Preparation
This tea has been discontinued. I was just starting to get into chai when I discovered this one. I used to make a blended pot, combining this tea with a ‘sister’ blend, CS’ Vanilla Ginger Green Tea. I wanted a flavor which evened out the over-sweetness of this one; the other added more ‘kick’. Milk and honey were perfect in this. As with the other, I’m sorry it’s no longer available. But I’ll recommend it anyway.
Flavors: Honey, Vanilla
Preparation
Another tea that has been discontinued. I was just starting to get into chai when I discovered this one. I used to make a blended pot, combining this tea with a ‘sister’ blend, CS’ Honey Vanilla White Tea. I wanted less caffeine, and also a flavor which evened out the spikiness of this one, with its strong ginger surge at the end. I loved adding honey and milk to this. Sorry I can’t get it anymore. I’ll click the ‘recommend’, even though it’s no longer available.
Flavors: Ginger, Honey, Vanilla