Trader Joe's

Mild and floral flavor perfect for bedtime

Surprising tea from Trade Joe’s. Nice mild mint flavor delicious at bed time.

First time drinking this tea which I bought on a whim at TJs yesterday. It has a very mild flavor with the lemongrass hitting me first and the coconut at the end. Grassy throughout. Not tasting vanilla or ginger at all . It brewed very light and I guess this accounts for the mild flavor. I typically like a bolder flavor profile, but don’t mind it for a bed time tea, even tho I am drinking it at 3 am. Will definitely try again but make it with more tea and maybe steep longer

Sample #1 in the cheap, hastily purchased Trader Joe’s Tasting of Ten Teas box. I am tired and want to drink something caffeinated that I don’t have to think too much about. Enter Assam Black Tea.

It smells very malty. And surprise! It tastes malty too. In terms of flavor, it’s not complex and does not require me to think much. So it did the job for right at this moment. It’s actually pretty good. It’s not what I’d want if I ordered this from a good tea shop, but considering what it is, it’s much better than bagged tea from Trader Joe’s. It doesn’t taste like pencil lead or anything. There’s even a bit of a malty aftertaste.

I am sure this comes from some wholesaler, but as far as I know, this tea is only available in the Trader Joe’s taster set in a 12 g. sample. It’s one of only two teas in the box that is pure tea. This being Assam, it occurs to me that this tea may have bee grown on one of those horrible Indian tea plantations with inhumane work conditions profiled by the BBC. I don’t think there’s any way of knowing one way or the other, which… So I probably shouldn’t buy more of this kind of thing.

I’m rating this as a 70, which is actually pretty high given my low expectations. But these are obviously subjective ratings. I demand more from specialized companies and judge them more harshly. And “it doesn’t really taste like pencil lead” is not the highest of compliments one could give a tea.

Also, it goes well with the lemon tart that I bought at Trader Joe’s yesterday. My food shopping went a little off track… Anyway, I feel a little bit guilty for saying this, but it’s far better than the Tealated English Breakfast I had yesterday.

If/when I use up these teas, I’ll probably rate them individually, but… Well, I was feeling a little low on tea since my birthday is a few weeks away and my birthday present order hasn’t come in yet. I haven’t spent anything on tea in 9 months, and I’m due for some big stock-up orders this year.

I went grocery shopping today at Trader Joe’s and I found this adorable little set of tall glass samples with 10 different teas. It was 121 g. for $12.99, which… Looking at my purchase in retrospect, it may not have been the wisest way to spend my first money on tea this year. It’s true that I don’t like flavored tea, but this one is filled with things I don’t mind too much: mint, lemon, bergamot. And some of these things do feel good on the throat when I get sick in the winter, so… I went through with it. Plus, a healthy majority of them aren’t made with fake natural/artificial flavorings, so that pushed me over the edge.

If nothing else, it will look like nice loose leaf tea for when I have non-tea people over and don’t want to part with my favorite stuff yet. I know that’s awful. Please don’t judge. Due to all my health issues, I’m kinda broke right now.

I hope it’s okay to go ahead and write this when I haven’t tried any of the teas yet — I’d prefer to review them individually. I did go ahead and smell them all. I’m happy to report that the only one with an odor that made me nauseous was that of the Raspberry Black Tea, which is a pretty good ratio for me with flavored tea. And it’s unsurprising because this one has “raspberry flavoring,” and fake raspberry flavoring is my most hated fake flavor (Fake watermelon also ranks pretty high.). I probably won’t ever try this — I’ll give it away. Ugh… I love real raspberry — hate the fake stuff. Other than that, I don’t mind the mint or lemongrass or anything else some of these blends have. Much better rate than I anticipated.

For what it is, this seems more decent than I expected, but take that with a grain of salt. It’s a tea taster set from Trader Joe’s, and I’m not expecting greatness. It’s the only loose tea I’ve ever seen there. It looks better quality than that stuff, but we will see as I go through them.

If nothing else, I’ll continue using the little glass containers.

MONEY SPENT IN 2016 TOWARD ANNUAL TEA BUDGET
$12.99 on tea, $13.00 on 2 inexpensive small porcelain tea kettles to stand in for the favorite gaiwan until it gets replaced.
Total: $25.99

I sipped this down at work yesterday. Still not very impressed by it, but the pomegranate was more distinct in the second cup.
Ah well.

My final working cup of the evening, and I did not really care for it at all.
Its pink, which is fun, but the pomegranate was a bit too tart. It reminded me of hibiscus, which is never my favorite flavor profile. Hmm.
Its fine, but I wont’ run out and get more.

I really like this tea – it’s the one that got me actually liking tea (and I’ve tried many many times before to get into it), and it’s the one that got me into loose leaf tea (probably why this took even though I always found tea too harsh or bitter before).

I don’t taste very much coconut in it – at least not that I identify as COCONUT. I get more of the lemon grass, which I’m very pleased with. It’s a very citrusy tea. It lends itself really well to adding lemon and then it’s really excellent.

It’s fantastic tea for the price

This tasted like a decent peppermint tea but I have tasted better.

I stumbled into my trader joes grocery, picking up odd items here and there. Then I saw it… The Tasting of Ten Teas gift set.

containing ten tubes of flavor-rich tea, it contains: Raspberry Black Tea, Bergamot Black Tea, Chai Spiced Black Tea, Assam Black Tea, Licorice Root & Ginger White Tea, Minty Green Tea, Gunpowder Green Tea, Vanilla Rooibos Tea, Lemongrass Rosehip Infusion, Floral Herbal Infusion.

I have tried them all but my favorite is the Raspberry Black Tea. I wish they would make this alone! So yummy and you get a strong raspberry feel without anything artificial. Not sure about the caffeine count or how much to use with any of these. My only complaint is that their isnt enough information on the package or individual teas. Also the opening of the tube isnt the best for getting tea out. Still very small complaints considering this gift set was only $12!

I’m always suspicious of a tea labeled “decaf green” but BLEH.

Sipdown! First of all, I love the packaging on this. It’s just so gosh darn cute! I also really enjoy the blend. I am very fond of cinnamon, which is the dominant flavor here. It’s well supported by the apple and ginger flavors. Overall, this makes for a full-bodied and satisfying mug.

I do. It is lovely. My favorite.

Directions say to use one roughly 2.8 g sachet per 8 oz water. I used two sachets and 14 oz. The recommended steep time is from 3-5 minutes, so I went for 4. Decent Assam. Not too bitter, I like a bit of honey in mine.

I haven’t had great luck with Trader Joe’s teas before, but this is delicious. I love the packaging too. So cute! I’m always hunting for calming herbal teas, and this is one of the most calming I’ve had yet.

This is a lovely cup of white tea. I struggled to taste the pear and the ginger was more subtle than the packaging implied, but this resulted in a balanced and soothing coat of flavor.

In fact I think that’s the theme of this tea. Upon careful recollection, I can’t quite place my finger on precisely what, besides peach and ginger, comprises the center of the tea’s flavor.

And weirdly enough I caught a whiff of what resembled my father’s favorite IPA beer while this was steeping, and the taste of hops was there, too, dancing ghoulishly on the tip of my tongue before melting away.

Plus if you taste it carefully, there’s the tiiiiiniest hint of mint underlying the whole flavor profile.

Overall, a very well-rounded cup, not too sweet but not bitter at all, with little dazzling, ephemeral shimmers of unexpected flavors tiptoeing in a circle around a mysterious but refreshing prima donna core of pure white tea.

I enjoy a hearty tea in the morning, and this one does not disappoint. It is robust, malty, and does well with milk and sugar. For an off-the-shelf tea bag option, this one is a winner!

I think I didn’t steep it long enough, will try 4 minutes next time. Lightly spicy, heavy on the apple.

I would prefer a little more flavor but it isn’t bad.

I don’t often go to Trader Joe’s but sometimes it’s fun to go pick up some ‘treats’ for the weekend. We are going to the Pumpkin Patch tomorrow so I got this tea to get in the mood. It doesn’t taste like pumpkin (kinda glad actually). It is more of a vanilla cinnamon. I put in a splash of Trader Joe’s Coconut Creamer too for kicks. Yummy after dinner drink. I will be saving the tin, it’s super cute.

Like other reviewers said… the TJ Chai Tea Latte mix is good. I’m also a sukher for ‘pumpkin spice’ and grabbed this one, it is not so good. In fact kind of terrible. Not too sure when awry here?

A big spicy in a nice way. Mostly, it tastes like apple. It’s not the best tea out there but it can work on a chiil, not so cold, fall afternoon.