Carrington Tea

I love this tea and had completely forgotten about it. I was looking for a bagged vanilla tea for my husband and came across this in the process. Unfortunately, this cup is a little bland to me. A little stale. Maybe it has gotten old or maybe I steeped it wrong, I’m not sure.

I’ve had this many times before, but this is the first time I’ve noticed a smoke flavor. There is a slight astringency as well. I’m having this with honey, no cream today, so maybe that’s why I’m picking up on these differences.

Second tea of the day.

I love the autumn flavors in this tea. It’s just really nicely spiced. My husband has been talking about this tea all week and took some to work with him today so I brought some to work to enjoy too. We both really like this one.

The hot water dispenser at work has the temperature set at 200°, but I’m working at a different location today and noticed as soon as I poured the hot water over my teabag that it wasn’t nearly hot enough. I let it steep way longer than I normally would have, partly because of the lower temp but mostly because I was working on some things as soon as I got here and was away from my desk for a while. It’s lukewarm now which is no fun, but I’m not in a place where I can run to the microwave to reheat like I normally would. Lukewarm tea it is. I hope it’s warm enough to melt my honey at least. Next time I’ll just heat the water in the microwave for a couple minutes to be sure it’s hot enough. I would rather do that and let it cool a bit than have it too cool to begin with.

Never mind! I was able to get away for a few minutes (an hour and a half later) to warm this up. It probably doesn’t taste as good as it would have fresh but it’s not bad.

This tea smells just like Christmas! The cinnamon really stands out. It’s a little bitter, but it has good flavor. This is just so delicious. And to think I tried talking my husband into getting something else instead.

Wow, I really missed being here. I didn’t realize how much I would. I had a cup of coffee yesterday morning instead of my usual tea and missed taking time first thing to sit and write my note. I think it really disrupted my whole day honestly. I am absolutely a creature of habit so missing that time alone with my thoughts left me feeling tired and unmotivated. I’m glad to be back into my normal routine again today.

I was surprised when my husband chose this spiced black tea over an apple cinnamon spiced herbal. He loves herbals best so I was worried he wouldn’t enjoy it. To my surprise, he tried this yesterday and loved it! He said it tasted just like apple cider and insisted that I bring some to work with me today. He normally puts a lot of honey in his teas so for him to drink this one unsweetened and still sing its praises I knew it must be a good one. I appreciate that this has very few ingredients (only black tea, apple flavor, and cinnamon) so I hope each of the flavors will really come through.

The dry tea smells of sweet cinnamon but now that it’s steeping the black tea is really coming out. I know we’re living in the summer months right now, but the smell of this tea reminds me of a cool, crisp October morning and I’m loving it. I can taste the cinnamon but it’s not overwhelmingly spicy.

I know this may not work since it’s a teabag, but I’m going to try steeping this one again since I’ve enjoyed it so much.

Second Steep
8 ounces water + 212 degrees + 15 minutes

I knew this probably wouldn’t go a second round, but I’m still kind of bummed that it didn’t work out. I let this one sit for a good 15 minutes and ended up with a very light colored liquid that smells and tastes like lightly spiced hot water. Oh well, no second steep for this one.

Carrington Company, LLC
www.carringtontea.com

Green Tea Original by Carrington Tea
Contains Antioxidants

**A review of Green Tea Original by Carrington Tea
Company: Carrington Company, LLC
Tea Name: Green Tea
Tea Type/Varietal: green
Region:
Steeping Vessel/Amt Leaf: cup/ tea bag
Liquor Color: light brown
Leaf Characteristic:

1st Steeping:
Water Temp: 170 Fahrenheit
Time: 3-5 minutes

Having brought fresh water to a boil, I pour some of the water into my cup with tea bag in it. I leave it to steep for a few minutes. Tea’s color is lightly brown and the aroma is of green tea leaves. I sip of this tea slowly to take in its flavor which is mildly astringent with slight tingling, which I have not notice when I have had this tea before.

I drink always green tea and some are good while others are simply bland, nothing to brag about. This tea is a good cup for the pricing. It is one that I would look for buying again.

Overall tasting notes: This is a good cup of green tea, there is no mistaking it for green tea.

Cup’s characteristic: fresh and mildly astringent

Liquor color: light brown

Taste: astringent but not bitter

A review of Green Tea Organic by Carrington Tea, LLC

Company: Carrington Tea, LLC
Tea Name: Green Tea Original
Tea Type/Varietal: green
Region: Asia
Steeping Vessel/Amt Leaf: cup/ tea bag
Liquor Color: light brown
Leaf Characteristic:

1st Steeping:
Water Temp: 170 Fahrenheit
Time: 2-3 minutes

I put one tea bag in my cup and poured in the freshly boiled water and leave it to steep for several minutes. The tea’s aroma is fresh and clean; with a light brown in coloring. It is more like honey in coloring. I sip of the tea slowly since it is very hot, (it is habitual with me to have tea very hot) there is a slight astringent in the cup and the more I sip of tea it seems to lessen.
-————————————

Overall tasting notes: this is a good cup of tea for the money; it is green tea in your cup and no doubt of this.

Cup’s characteristic: fresh and mildly astringent

Liquor color: light brown, honey-like in coloring

Taste: astringent, medicinal in flavoring with a stronger brewing.

Ran out of my stash of Stash mint. So I sprung the 98 cents at Walmart. Let me just say you get what pay for. There is a grassy flavor to this instead of that clean crisp mint flavor. Meh

Sipdown!

Bye bye, plain, cheap chamomile. Probably at some point, I will end up with another box of this in my tea chest. But for now, I’m having a fling with Twinings Camomile, Honey & Vanilla. Plus, one of the classes I’m currently taking is making me seriously question how they grow, produce, and package this stuff, and sell it for so cheap. I’m officially suspicious.

It’s a nice staple tea to have around, though. Good for blending, good for a simple de-stressor, and just good to fall back on when all else fails.

However, for now, it’s TTFN.

Still the best deal going for tea. A dollar for a box of 20 bags? Sold!

Will be restocking as a staple tea. I’m down to my last four cups. It’s everything you’d expect and want in a simple bagged chamomile.

The lymph nodes under my jaw are swollen to the size of marbles. I HATE being sick! arrrrghhhhhhh! >.<

Brewed a mug of this stuff last night and added a teaspoon of honey for good measure. I read somewhere that chamomile is a mild antihistamine, so I figured, what the hell.

It was the first thing I could even remotely taste in two days. So I was grateful for that. It was sweet, warm, good for my throat, and surprisingly, still fresh, even though its packaging is a little iffy. (Stringless pouchless sachets in a non-resealable plastic bag inside the box.) It also soothed my nerves and gave me something else to think about besides how crappy I feel.

Still not sorry I bought this tea. I will probably keep a box of it it in my tea stash always, for times like this. Peppermint, chamomile, and echinacea teas are my go-to medicinal teas.

What can I say? I have simple taste.

The price of this tea was the most attractive thing about it to me. It was only $0.98 at Walmart! So I figured: One, it’s pretty much impossible to screw up plain chamomile; and two, it cost less than a dollar, so even if it turned out to be nasty, I wouldn’t have invested too much into it anyway, and I could always brew it with something else to cover up the ickyness.

However, this is a pretty okay tea by itself. Not particularly outstanding, but not particularly offensive either. It’s a good, cheap chamomile to have on hand whenever you or someone you live with has a stomachache or trouble calming down, or trouble going to sleep. Or if you just want some frill-free chamomile.

The box says proudly, “Microwaveable.” So clearly this company’s demographic is not people with picky tastes. However, as a broke college student, I appreciate their down-to-earth, budget-friendly attitude anyway. Also, they imitate Celestial Seasonings’ packaging style, with the stringless pouchless bags in a plastic bag inside the box, so they’re eco-friendly, too.

All in all, a pretty good find for 98 cents.

Summer tends to be my least favorite season because I have a tendency to sporadically get migraines starting in late May and lasting through the early part of September. I suspect a few reasons (pesticides, heat, staring at computer screens for too long, Idahoans, etc.), but it usually hits the hardest early in June and in the middle of August.

…That is, right now. This year has been really weird, too. I’ve had the normal full-on migraines, but I’ve also had random difficulty speaking, partial loss of sight (?!) that gradually went away, loss of sensation, and all sorts of symptoms that haven’t happened on their own before, including a lingering nausea.

I’m just going to blame the university students coming back to town until I can find a decent clinic (that usually requires a 2+ hour drive), but I’m drinking this tea for now. It’s pretty good for my nausea, especially at night and at work, but it’s also great as an add-in for green tea since it’s 100% peppermint. If I can survive the annual undergrad migration and make it to Walmart, I’ll probably pick up another box of this simply because it’s so easy to make on bad days.

OK, what do you expect for a 97-cent box grabbed from Wal-Mart out of desperation?

Can’t really pick up any flavor at all. Sort of mucky-muddly. The bags have no strings; at least I can make eye compresses.

Nice cup of tea. The emphasis here is on the cinnamon rather than the apple.

I didn’t have super high expectations for this tea, but was pleasantly surprised. The ingredients say 100% chamomile, so I guess I just like chamomile in general.

This was one of the first Carrington teas I tried and it’s my favorite. It’s good to drink if you have an upset stomach, as peppermint is good for settling an upset stomach! I usually steep it for about four minutes and forty five seconds