Yogi Tea

Sipdown (again before it entered my cupboard)!

Another generous add in from Kat_Maria.

Typically, I hate teas like this one which promise/boast about having great health benefits because I really don’t think that’s what tea drinking should be about. If those benefits are true, that should be like an “added bonus” for drinking tea, not the sole reason you do it because most of the time the benefits are way over hyped/played up.

An example would be the belief Green Tea is great for weight loss. The way some people push this, it sounds like Green Tea on its own is going to help you shed the pounds, but you need to combine drinking green tea (on a very regular basis) along with a good diet and exercise to see any real benefits. I once witnessed a girl purchase 100g of Bancha from Tea Desire. She had no tea knowledge at all, and was quite clearly asking about Green Tea (she just asked if they had ‘Green Tea, like is healthy for you’) because it would supposedly help her lose weight and I just felt so bad for her (she was a bigger girl, and couldn’t have been more than 15 years old) because it was clear she was looking for some cure-all when it really doesn’t work that way.

That said, and semi-rant over I actually thought this one was surprisingly very tasty, though I can’t remember what was in it. It was sort of fruity but also kind of minty/refreshing and vaguely reminded me of cookies. I’d totally drink it again, but because of the flavour and not its ability to “purify the skin”.

I’ve been trying to finish up some tea bags I had floating around. Given the recent positive experience with Yogi, I brewed up two bags of this one.

Wow, this is really spicy but surprisingly good given my usual distaste with all things licorice. I added sweetener only because without it would have been too much. This has really opened up my sinuses (my main goal this evening – you can definitely feel the burn). Not something I would stock but interesting to try.

Sipdown!

Very strong ginseng and it did seem to give me a bit of a pick me up. Be careful not to overbrew.

Tastes almost like chocolate, relaxes me immediately as well. Yummmm.

interesting, licorice and hot pepper flavors up front with ginger and cinnamon following after.
i dunno about this one, i wanna like it but i kinda don’t like it but i still wanna buy some more just in case i might like it.
After reading other reviews i decide i’ll get some more and maybe try it some hot chocolate :)

Well, not heading to bed any time soon, but a coworker gave me this, so I figured I would give it a shot.

I perpetually bounce around with my feelings on this tea, because I think it’s weird. My attitude on whatever day determines if that’s good weird or bad weird on a given day. Tonight is good weird.

There’s a lingering licorice root type of sweetness to the cup that counteracts most of the spice in the cup, but leaves just enough cayenne kick to tickle the back of my throat. There’s a lot of ginger flavor here as well, but the licorice is easily the dominating flavor. I like the cup a lot more as it cools as the sweetness lightens slightly and the cayenne packs more punch. I don’t really get much in the way of cocoa, but I want to try brewing this up in a cup of hot chocolate some night to see what that does for me.

Alongside another Yogi tea, I received this tea as a sample from the company. I didn’t really know what to expect, as I’ve never had a tea with lavender in it before, and honestly, I almost expected to hate it. I assumed it would taste too artificial and overpowering.

How very wrong my expectations were though! The tea, once brewed, had a very delicate smell. The honey and lavender were apparent, without being overwhelming, in terms of smell and flavor. There was a hint of mint and a slightly sweet and fruity taste as well.

I felt that it lived up to its name as well as being a good tea for stress relief. I felt much more relaxed and calm after drinking this. Overall, I did not expect much from this tea, but after trying it, this is definitely something I’d keep regularly stocked at home.

I received a sample of this from Yogi Tea and waited eagerly for it to arrive. Being a fan of caramel teas, I had high hopes for this tea. I wasted no time making a cup as soon as it arrived.

Though I wouldn’t say it’s horrible, I’m slightly disappointed, as I didn’t detect any caramel at all. Instead, what I tasted the most was chamomile and nutmeg and the usual “herbal” flavor that all Yogi teas seem to have. Regardles, I finished my cup and would probably buy a box of this tea to keep around, because, even though it didn’t taste as I expected, it was still a very relaxing tea to have before bedtime.

I got this from a coworker and today I could really use a boost. I’m practically falling asleep here as I type this.

Now, Yogi and I are not friends. Everything I’ve tried by them has had all kinds of weird medicinal aftertastes. Plus, they tend to put licorice and anise in everything — which is great if you’re drinking absinthe, but I don’t like it in my tea! This one smells strange dry, as I expected. Not like vanilla, that’s for sure. More like the inside of someone’s spice cabinet. Too much going on at once.

As it steeps, the water changes to a shade of brown I’d expect from a black tea. It smells much more like vanilla and cinnamon now, but with some other herbal, chamomile-like notes. The actual taste is surprisingly pleasant! The vanilla is creamy and really lingers in my mouth. It’s complimented by the cinnamon, though the spiced aspect is pretty tame.

As far as the effects go, I’ll have to come back and edit.
EDIT: While this tea didn’t work any magic on me, I do feel considerably more alert. I can imagine this would be good first thing in the morning, right before work. But for now, I’m too far gone. Nap time…

I don’t know why, but I’ve always been drawn towards detox blends. When done right, they are gentle on the body and I notice I feel a little better after drinking them (in comparison, serious detox blends are seriously bitter and make you feel sick). Just like other detox teas, the package says to not drink continuously for longer than a month. With that in mind, this tea isn’t one to drink simply for the flavor, though it is still a tasty blend. The sarsaparilla is quite noticeable which blends in well with the other spices. Licorice root prevents this blend from tasting bitter. Overall, it’s a pleasantly medicinal root beer with a number of spices thrown in.

The stevia can really be tasted here, with chamomile and licorice tasting after. After that, it tastes slightly sweetly medicinal, reminding me of my mother’s traditional chinese medicine.

I’m never really sure that I believe all of the hype swirling around echinacea, but then again I rarely choose to use it unless I’m already sick—when it’s too late.

Tonight I decided to imbibe a couple of cups of Yogi Echinacea Immune Support because I had a horribly stressful day thanks to my insane new landlord who told me that I must vacate the apartment where I’ve lived for ten (count ‘em 10) years in one (count it 1) month. Oh, or else I can pay triple my current rent, that’s right: $3K. But I’ll still have to leave after another month anyway, even if I pay $3K, because they are planning to renovate the whole space. So as you can see my charge of insanity is not hyperbolic in the least. My only consolation is that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has tenant-friendly laws.

I am drinking this infusion to stave off whatever stress-induced illness may descend upon me, and all the more because the temperature seems to be hovering around single digits again, with another snowstorm on the way. That’s right: I’m supposed to sort through, pack, and move ten years of accumulated “stuff”, in addition to finding a new place to live, all in one month. The guy is nuts, and I see a court appearance in my not-too-distant future. With this kind of scandalous behavior (the nasty threats have already begun!) he’ll probably go all out and unambiguously violate the criminal law code by changing the locks on me or turning off the utilities (in winter!) or some other typical maneuver by this type of extreme loser. Yes, those are crimes in the state of Massachusetts, so all I can say is: bring it on!

So the tea. It’s slightly sweet because of the licorice root (and stevia?), but honestly it’s a tough call trying to even guess what else is in here. The ingredients list boasts an amazing array of herbs and spices:

peppermint, lemongrass, three (count ’em 3) kinds of echinacea root, cinnamon, licorice root, spearmint leaf, fennel seed, lemon flavor, cardamom seed, echinacea extract, rose hip, ginger root, burdock root, clove, mullein leaf (what is that????), stevia leaf, black pepper (a Yogi favorite…), astragalus root extract, elderberry extract, cinnamon oil, cardamom oil, ginger oil.

It’s a mostly organic blend, and with all of that stuff in it, no wonder I cannot describe the flavor. It’s fine for a functional herbal tisane. Let’s hope it works!

I believe that this was a sip down. One less thing to pack.

A sample from KittyLovesTea! I brewed this as a latte today — it’s been too long since I last had one, and it’s still officially winter. The chocolate in this one comes out really strongly, particularly while brewing. It’s like melted milk chocolate. There is something a little artificial about it, but I can tolerate that because it’s so slight. The spices help to mask that, too, so the overall effect is pretty reasonable.

With milk added, this is gloriously creamy and chocolatey. The cocoa and chocolate notes come out first, followed by a wonderful swirl of chai spice. Cinnamon, cardamom, clove…it’s a wonderfully sweet and comforting combination. The spice isn’t too strong or overwhelming, unlike some I’ve tried recently, and is balanced well with the chocolate to create an overall flavour that is both chocolate and chai — it well deserves its name. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this one, but it’s actually one of the best chai blends I’ve tried in a while. I’ll be saving the rest of my sample for another cold day, the better to enjoy it! A great find.