Trader Joe's

I had this tea twice today. I rarely want the same tea twice in one day. Obviously, there’s something going on with this tea. It grows on you. It’s simple on the surface, but when you pay attention, the individual flavors emerge. Today, I had the bag in the water for a few hours and I tasted something that seemed like chocolate. Then I figured it was the chicory and carob. I think I’ll do long steeps more often. And the peppermint is so cooling. It would probably be great for sore throats too.

So I keep looking for Candy Cane Lane at my grocery store cause of all the hype that this tea gets. It’s almost the middle of December and still no Candy Cane Lane. You suck, A&P. And not just because you don’t stock holiday tea. (2nd to worst produce everrrrr) Fortunately, I have a nearby Trader Joe’s and I’ve been assured that this tea is the same. Yaaaay. I love you, Trader Joe’s.

So the packaging is just adorable. A polar bear in a sweater having a hot cup of tea. I want to meet this bear and have tea with him. I’ll bring some smoked salmon sandwiches. And the narwhale is invited too. We could do some holiday decorating. He seems into that sort of thing. In short, the package art indulges my childish imagination.

The smell of the tea reminded of the car freshener my dad used when I was young and prone to car sickness. I had a brief moment where I re-experienced all the times I threw up in dad’s old Lincoln. Then that moment was over and I smelled peppermint, cinnamon, and vanilla. There’s also some mystery smells that I don’t recognize. Together, it all smells kinda crazy.

Then I let it brew for a long time while I had dinner. The flavor is really close to a candy cane, actually. I’m sort of impressed. Then I notice the individual flavors. Nice. The more I drink this, the more I like it. I love the cool peppermint and the smooth vanilla. And the cinnamon works so well here. I do wonder why there’s sugar in the ingredient list. Isn’t the sweetening of a tea left up to drinker’s preference? And gum acacia? Whyyyyy? I’d like this a lot more if not for the last two ingredients. But I totally see myself drinking this when I find looseleaf inconvenient or when I want a peppermint fix. It would probably be awesome with chocolate desserts. Mint chocolate!

A nice, basic peppermint tea. Nothing special, but good if you just want to sit back, relax, and unwind after a long day.

This tea has a wonderful scent, just like candy canes with a hint of cinnamon. I had it plain without anything added, but next time I would definitely add sugar or honey to sweeten it a bit. This mix begs for it.

winter fave

I love Celestial Seasoning’s Candy Cane Lane. And, as this is just that tea, repackaged, I love it too.

Really good for a bagged tea.

Not bad if you are travelling and need a quick cup of Earl Grey. I still prefer loose leaf tea to bagged, but this will do in a pinch.

tastes like snow in october

nice ginger taste, not too sweet or fruity, but i can still taste the pear and white tea.

the perfect blend of chamomile, mint, spearmint, and catnip. now called ‘well rested tea’ and comes in brown and black bags instead of gold and black. still tastes the same though.

This is a one of the better Earl Grey teabags I’ve had. I occasionally use it to flavor a second or third steeping of my loose leaf green tea, and it compliments the green tea flavor very nicely. It’s good on its own, too.

Can’t beat the price. This was my very first green tea. And I wish only to log it as such.

My favorite tea from TJ’s.

Cheap. Easy. Quick. Strong.
Can’t complain.

Too bad this tea was discontinued. We still have a few bags in our cupboard. It is very tasty.

I drank several more cups of this over the last two days, 5 min steep in 205F water, taken with milk. My main complaint before was that the bitter was out of balance—too strong. Hot, and especially with milk, the bitter is strong but I can enjoy it. There is no noticeable maltiness, and only faint sweetness. Every cup has a hint of cinnamon flavor and a faint rose aroma.

A 5 min steep at 205F produced an opaque cup with a beautiful red-brown color, with a fair bit of tea oil on the surface. The aroma above the cup was a bright rose aroma with a faint hint of wet bark.

Each sip gives a very strong bitter flavor, a bright, side of the tongue bitter, and also a powdery bitter in back, and not much else. There is a faint sweet aftertaste that is overpowered by bitter aftertaste. Astringency is there, but hard to notice because the bitter is so strong.

I like bitter, but in balance. This seems very out of balance for my taste. One dimensional.

A splash of milk knocks down the bitter to a more pleasant level, and allows some faint floral and evergreen notes to squeak out, but only squeak.

My Irish Breakfast ritual is the same as I used to do when I was a kid drinking black tea at a restaurant (with my parents looking askance at me, as if wondering, “Where did this kid come from? WE don’t drink tea…”): Lots of cream. I had a partly-used container of heavy cream at home, so this box of bulk tea bags kind of called out to me at TJ’s this afternoon.

My previous decaf Irish Breakfast was Stash, and I’m thinking after one cup of this that the Stash is tastier than this is. Maybe I understeeped (I’m too used to whites and greens, three minutes seems like an eternity to steep something!), but it just doesn’t have a lot of flavor. Tons of color—the spoon disappeared into the brew—but a less assertive, rich flavor than I’d like. The deep malty Irish Breakfast taste is supposed to blend into the cream and get deeper and richer, but this just sort of sits there in the cream, as though it’s been through a lot and wants to rest. For $3.49/box I guess I shouldn’t have expected much. It’s not that it’s bad—just that it isn’t standing up to my cream tea ritual. Sigh…

Yum. I really like this iced tea. I love that it is unsweetened and comes in such a large quantity. I can usually only ever find pre-made unsweetened iced tea in a small (and expensive bottle). It has a nice hint of lemon and mint. Very refreshing flavor.