Trader Joe's

A cheap, covenient, drinkable jasmine green. Sweet and floral.

Had this one last night and this morning, while staying at a friend’s place. It is so nasty and snowy and cold outside that I needed a quick, easy warmth and grabbed this off my shelf. My apartment actually got power back yesterday, but the bad news is that it appears that my thermostat is broken, so it’s still pretty cold in there.

I definitely need a careful hand when dishing out the powder on this one, and my cup last night resulted in a slurry of tea and spices at the bottom of the mug that had never been suspended properly. This morning I used less powder and it turned out well. I want to mix this with some hot cocoa and try it out!

Last night I was in Trader Joe’s surveying their newest pumpkin paraphenelia when I noticed a cannister of this on their “New Products” endcap. Even a few months ago I wouldn’t have given this a second glance, but my love of all things pumpkin, a recent unexplained craving for spiced teas, and my recent appreciation for other forms of powdered tea made me pick it up and put it in my basket.

The first two things on the ingredients list are sugar and non-fat milk, so that should give you a sense of what we’re dealing with. Tea ingredients are listed as Black tea and Darjeeling tea. It also includes powdered pumpkin. The powder smells intensely pumpkin-spicey, like raw pumpkin pie mix. I prepared it as instructed and it yielded a intense brown color that seems dark for a latte mix. The flavor is very sweet, and quite tasty. It got a little two sweet for me at one point, but the addition of a little more water evened things out, and I will probably make my next cup with 8oz instead of 6oz of water. It’s not super tea-ish, but honestly when I drink chai I’m not super concerned about that. It is quite like drinking liquid pumpkin pie, and a good easy mix when I don’t have the energy to deal with other chais or matcha.

This tea is simply Christmas in a cup. Amazing.

I love this tea. This is definitely my go to for any event or for when I just want something simple. Best tea in the world!

Brewed hot, this is a pretty run-of-the-mill fruit-flavored black tea (you don’t even get the overwhelming sense of mango right from the off, but rather a generic sweet tropical). However, brew it for icing, add some goldenrod honey, and you’re in for a treat!

Put not one but TWO bags in my travel mug and let them steep forever. Can you tell I’m determined to like this tea? This time the Pomegranate was more apparent, but still not super flavorful like I envisioned.

I still think this would go good with agave, or honey. I just don’t have any at work to try it with.

Why yes, I did brew this twice in one day. This time I put one bag in my 16oz travel mug and just left it in there forever (it’s still in there now, 30 minutes later). Don’t know if this really made a difference in the taste though. I guess this just isn’t a very flavorful tea. The pomegranate still isn’t super prominent like I thought it would be, unfortunately. I still like it though! I’ll finish this box gladly!

Wonder what would happen if I added some agave to it…

Not super flavorful. Maybe next time I should steep it longer. It has a hint of pomegranate in it. I like it overall though! Starberry sent me some of this to try, but I caved and got some before it came in the mail.

In any case, it looks like I have a tea to drink at work that I don’t detest (finally).

I just looove this chamomile, it has such great organic flowery flavor. Super basic but super smooth and calming. I ran out of this and need to get more!

This was actually my first white tea (awww) so it holds a special place in my heart. Probably the best pom tea I’ve tasted, and since I steep it forever the flavor is strong and spot on!

You know what makes this tea awesome? The fact that there’s a picture of an over-caffeinated lemur on the package. That in itself is almost worth the purchase. As far as tea goes, this falls along the same vein as Celestial Seasonings. Not the best quality but it has its place. This is especially good if you doctor it up with milk and sugar. I have also used it to make vanilla tea-infused granola multiple times, so it gets extra points for that. It’s finely milled, so you don’t have to put it through the spice grinder.

Also recently discontinued, not the best Jasmine I’ve had, but for the price and the convenience of very generously stuffed bags, it is hard to beat for an afternoon pick-me-up.

My 2nd favorite Ice Tea after ShangriLa Tropical, and much less expensive. The $2.00 box has 20 bags. I cut 8 open and empty them into 2 coffee (yuck) filters, and put a third filter on top. I load this into my Mr. Coffee (yuck) Ice Tea Maker TM70 on the 3 Quart Setting. That means it costs about $0.25 a Quart, which is a great deal for a nice fruity Ice Tea that needs no sweetener. (The ShangriLa runs about $0.80-$1.00 a Quart)

What an amazing tea, really my favorite everyday morning tea. It has been discontinued by TJ’s, anyone have any sourcing information on it?

This tastes wonderful. Simple as that.

This was the tea that first got me into tea, but as time goes on I seem to find it a bit bitter, but maybe I’m steeping for to long?

It’s not a tea that I savor or drink often, but surprisingly I crave it once in a while. Cream, sugar and some comfy pants.

Love it. The taste is not too strong or “perfume-y”. I drank it without any milk or sweetener and it tastes very good. I suppose adding some milk and a little sweetener would make it even more delicious!

Love this tea!! I love the minty taste.

A review of Specialty Teas Green Tea by Trader’s Joe

Date: 09/30/2012
Company: Trader Joe’s
Tea Name: Specialty Teas Green Tea
Tea Type/Varietal: Green
Region:
Steeping Vessel/Amt. Leaf: Cup/ tea bag
Plucking Season:
Liquor Color: light brownish color
Leaf Characteristics:

1st Steeping:
Water temperature: 200 Fahrenheit
Time: 2 minutes

Note: Instructed is to let the water cool 5 to 7 minutes after boiling. I take one tea bag and put in my clean cup and add the water over the tea bag and let it steep for 2 minutes. I dunk the tea bag a few times after desired steep time and remove the tea bag.

Tea’s color is lightest brown, and smells of leaves in the tea cup. Tea smells very grassy like when wet after rain has fallen. I missed that smell somehow, since I have not has Trader Joe’s tea is a long while. When I take a sip of tea, I am met with something that is astringent in taste, that drying sensation on the tongue.

Overall, this tea is clean with a refreshing and mouth-drying effect, but not bitter; more like the taste of a full plate of greens veggies.