Trader Joe's

Way too bitter- I can’t even drink it without a heaping spoonful of sugar, and I generally drink all tea straight. That said, when sweetened it’s not bad per se, just rather plan and lacking in any interesting flavor. I see this as pretty much the tea equivalent of how I see coffee- strong, bitter, and good for a caffeine boost.

Last one I promise!
So Now that I’m down to the bottom of the tin and only have about 2 servings left of this. I decided to try it hot again to see if the raspberry flavor was at the bottom. This was definitely the case as I could taste the raspberry in the cup this time. All of the freeze dried raspberries were trapped at the bottom of the tin but really it was just sawdust. There were no small pieces at all. The raspberry sawdust still made a difference though. I wouldn’t repurchase this but definitely look forward to trying higher quality raspberry black teas in the future.

So I know I already did a tasting note about the iced tea batch I made of this. I have a couple more things to add though. So When I made this iced since fresh raspberries aren’t great this time of year according to my family. I opted for frozen ones. I put them in the tea pot and instead of defrosting them first just poured the boiling water into the pot.

Today’s cup I decided to make as a slightly sweetened tea pop with sparkling water. I like this a lot better this way. I can’t taste the black tea in this cup though. The raspberries I added though come through as being very juicy and fresh tasting. Their not nearly as tart now after I added some sweetener. The sweetener definitely enhanced the flavor of the berries without taking completely taking away the tartness. I’m slightly conflicted though since I do wish I could taste the black tea but still love it.

This was a Christmas gift that came as a sampler of 6 teas. TJ’s doesn’t carry any of them to purchase individually though. This is my second favorite of the set. After trying them all there was only one I would want to repurchase if it’s ever sold individually.

Made a batch of this iced. When I tried this hot previously the raspberry flavor didn’t come through. So I added fresh raspberries to the iced tea and chilled it in the fridge. It’s got the tartness from the fresh raspberries and the black tea comes through as slightly smokey. My family members seem to prefer it with cream but I find it fine without. Hopefully this warm weather fades away soon. It’s much too early. Especially for those without any AC living in old houses.

After my initial “meh” experience, I’ve come to enjoy this tea immensely. I blend it with a straight black – in about a 1.5-to-1 ratio – add a pinch of sugar and frothed milk to make the perfect London Fog latte. It’s pretty potent so a little goes a long way. Blending it with another black tea helps balance the tea and lets the lavender, vanilla, and bergamot shine through gently without hitting me in the face. Makes for a nice dessert tea or afternoon pick me up. I don’t normally add milk to tea (that’s for coffee and matcha) but this is one tea that’s totally made for it.

This was an impulse buy at Trader Joe’s the other day. It was cheap ($3 for 51g) and the dark curled leaves interspersed with blue and yellow petals were quite attractive. While I’m glad to see grocery stores stocking more loose leaf teas, the flavoring on this one was too heavy for me.

The tea smells very powerful, almost medicinal. Vanilla is the dominant note but I also pick up bergamot, lavender, and licorice. When steeped, it tastes like a floral cherry coke or root beer.

Seeing as how it was unsuitable for drinking straight, I tried using it to make a london fog latte which I found a little more drinkable. I steeped 1.5 tsp in half a cup of boiling water for 5 minutes then combined with 2/3 cup of steamed milk and a teaspoon of sugar. The milk helps temper some of the medicinal flavor but there still remained a cough syrup like quality to it. As it cooled, the lavender and vanilla notes became more prominent.

I’ve had a couple of bergamot scented teas before which I found very cloying. Unfortunately this falls into the same category. Will continue searching for a subtly scented Earl Grey that doesn’t taste like potpourri.

I really enjoyed this tea…it was quite lemony, which I like, but balanced by other flavors. A bit of honey really brings out the roundness of the flavors. I appreciate that it didn’t taste like artificial flavors. Trader Joe’s website lists the ingredients as: APPLE, ROSEHIP SHELLS, LEMON GRASS, CITRIC ACID, NATURAL FLAVORS. I don’t know what the other reviewer was saying about only getting 2-3 cups out of the tin- the serving size is a generous 2 teaspoons, which when you compare to your average teabag is probably 2-3x the amount of tea. I measured it in a measuring cup and it was just over 1/4 cup, after I had already made myself a big mug full, so that’s at least 6 servings. If you don’t like Lemongrass, probably best to avoid a tea whose name has Lemongrass as the 1st word….just sayin’

It’s a grocery store brand, so, you know, calibrate your expectations accordingly, but it’s the best grocery store chai I’ve found yet, with a nicely balanced mix of spices.

Like many other Trader Joe tea offerings I find this tea to be “meh”.

The leaves smell almost burnt (I’m thinking it really is cloves that I’m picking up on) and I pick up a very small scent of apple and cinnamon while it steeped.

Unfortunately it is too subtle a tea for my preference. I taste the apple, which is enhanced with some sugar, the flavor is not enough for me.

Not horrible. Not great.

Last night before going out I threw a couple bags of this in my travel mug with some hot water. It was so nice. It has that sweetness from the licorice, that warming feeling from the ginger and the hint of savory from the tumeric. I’m having more this morning steeped in warm coconut milk. Going to have to get some more of this soon at the rate I’m going through them.

Similar to Rishi’s ginger tumeric tea, but in a slightly lighter bagged version for easy on the go steeping. It’s great when I’m feeling lazy. I was craving a golden milk turmeric coconut milk tea the other night (and feeling lazy) I steeped it in some heated coconut milk… and it worked really well for an easy watered down version of golden milk! Not as rich and thick, but great when in a pinch.

Trader Joe’s tea selections are generally a miss in flavor for me. This tea sits somewhere between a hit and miss.

It’s not entirely bland, but it’s about one step up from it. I enjoy rooibos and pumpkin spice teas but there’s just not enough of any flavor coming through even though I steeped the tea for almost 10 minutes.

I don’t hate it but I don’t love it either. I’ve found adding two sachets to each cup enhanced the flavor enough that I’ll be able to finish the tin, but I won’t be buying it again. There are much better choices for rooibos and pumpkin spice teas.

After researching health benefits of Turmeric and Ginger – it was easy to see the rationale of adding this tea to my blends of favorite teas. This tea is not great by itself, but when I add this to the Good Earth Sweet and Spicy Herbal and Black Tea — the two are pretty AWESOME together! Love the taste of this. It is not much different than the Sweet and Spicy Herbal and Black Tea by itself, but this adds some added health benefits.

Google Turmeric and Ginger – and you’ll see why this is a great thing to add to the mix!

While I am not usually a mint tea lover, my taste for this tea has truly evolved. A nice pallet cleanser after a meal, a wonderful dessert tea, or even just a morning wake up call.

This is fairly light, and is easily watered down if you add milk to it. I actually received this for free at Trader Joe’s, when they had overstock and were giving away things to random customers.

While at the local Trader Joe’s store in Charlotte yesterday, I stumbled on this little item for the first time. I recently purchased a few pounds of tea online and said I wasn’t going to buy any more for a while but you know how we teaholics are. Plus, the price was reasonable and it didn’t break the bank.

When I opened the sealed plastic package, I was struck by the very strong aroma. Olfactory fireworks were going off inside and I struggled to pinpoint their components. I could definitely identify the bergamot and vanilla. The others were up for grabs. The leaves were short and black with blue cornflower petals and yellow sunflower petals sprinkled generously within the blend.

I steeped the leaves for five minutes at 195 degrees as instructed. The brewed liquor was bright orange and the aroma was very vanilla with a whisper of bergamot.

The flavor of this tea took a few sips to settle down on my palate. I think my taste buds experienced flavor overload at first. They seemed to be bombarded with several strong flavors all at once.

Eventually, I was able to discern the vanilla, bergamot, and cornflower tastes. I don’t know if I would recognize the flavor of sunflower even if I only had a mouthful of its petals. Ironically, the one advertised flavor I didn’t find was black tea.

My ultimate taste analysis recorded a sweet mixture of vanilla in the forefront with bergamot and cornflower accents tip-toeing in the background. This combination was pleasant with maybe just a twinge of astringency. The twinge was not too annoying but also present in the aftertaste.

This was a Christmas gift that came with 5 other teas from Trader Joe’s. So far I’ve found that each tin makes about 2-3 cups of tea.
I cannot stand the taste of lemongrass. It almost always seems to overpower herbal tea blends but tonight for some bizarre reason (probably a one in a million chance) I thought that I could drink it without having to dump the cup out.

This tea’s ingredients are almost identical to another tea that a family member gifted me several years ago that I still have from The Spice & Tea Exchange called Chamomile Twist which tasted predominately of lemongrass.
Tasting Notes:
I’m tasting the lemongrass and nothing else. Not a fan. Not much else to say.