where drinking tea is what matters
Another impulse buy, there was some kind of a sale or coupon or so at Smart and Final of all places, and I gave in and picked this up. I had never tried a coconut chai combination before, and I found that it actually works well. The coconut-iness mellows the spices in a complimentary and complementary way 🙂 But is there actual coconut in this? Read on to find out…
If you are looking for a reliable no-nonsense peppermint tea in tea-bags, and you are near a Trader Joe, their 20pk for $2 (I think it was $1.80 before) is a good value! It has just one ingredient, peppermint and nothing more. It is a modest minty taste, not as bright as the TeaPigs [see Prime Tea Samples Diary].
Continue reading “Value at 10c per cup, the Trader Joe Peppermint Tea”
Genmaicha is currently my definition of a “comfort tea”, a warm wholesome taste, especially nice when it’s cold inside or outside. The Numi Toasted Rice was one of the first genmaicha teas I tried. This is their standard tea bag configuration. As such, this is not a bad attempt at a genmaicha, definitely more accessible than finding the loose leaf variety at supermarkets and such.
Continue reading “Numi Toasted Rice (GenmaiCha) Organic Tea”
I found this on sale/clearance at a brick and mortar store [I don’t remember which one], and since I had never seen this before, I gave in to the temptation and bought it. This is the first time I’m trying this tea, the Bigelow Classic Blends Mint-Herb Tea…
It is packaged a bit differently, instead of twenty tea bags in a box, you get five sealed pouches, with each pouch having four tea bags inside. A good way to keep the tea bags sealed longer than usual.
Unlike their Acai Berry and Blackberry which I found quite meh, the White Earl Grey tea from Bentley’s I actually like as a flavored tea. Maybe because it was one of the first wave of teas that helped me escape from Colas.
The taste is typical of tea-bag white tea with the distinctive flavoring of earl grey (bergamot), yet somehow the combination works for me. I’m fine with how it tastes, I haven’t tried combining it with anything else. This is the type of tea that can help when you are switching from Colas and juices and want something along those lines to help you transition.
Continue reading “Bentley’s Earl White review (one of my “Cola transition” teas)”
I found this tea during a visit at a discount store (Ross or Marshals or something like that). The price was right, considering you get 50 tea bags and a colorful tin to use later.
The best use of this tea is for people trying to switch from sodas and flavored drinks to tea, it’s a transition stage tea.
Otherwise, fans of pure tea may find the added flavors rather obnoxious and unnatural. Or you can experiment co-brewing with other unflavored/boring teas to tame/hide the added flavors.
Continue reading “Bentley’s Acai Berry and Blackberry Green Tea review”
The holiday teas are coming out in all directions, and they are usurping my “Phase II” plans. Today’s review is another Trader Joe holiday classic, their decaffeinated Candy Cane Green Tea. Thanks to Game of Thrones, I have now renamed decaffeinated teas as “eunuch teas” 🙂 I usually avoid them, but because this is a holiday tea, I get one every year for the tradition and holiday spirit 🙂
If it wasn’t a holiday tea, there would be many reasons to avoid this tea. It has SOY, motherfrakking soy (soybean oil part of the “roasted chicory”), the last ingredient in the list. It also has unspecified “Natural Flavors” and of course it is decaffeinated.
If none of the above turns you off, keep reading….
Continue reading “Tea Review: Trader Joe’s Candy Cane Decaf Green Tea (2017 edition)”
A brand new tea came out at Trader Joe, the “Apple Cranberry Herbal Tea Blend”, so of course I had to drop everything and try it! It is the second tea in this brand new line. The packaging has the same design language as the new Winter WakeUp Blend. The Apple tea is all herbal, no black tea.
Continue reading “Tea Review: Trader Joe Apple Cranberry Herbal Tea Blend”
As of review time, it is the middle of Pumpkin Season at Trader Joe (TJ), but surprise-surprise, a Winter Tea made its premiere (I don’t think I’ve seen that before at TJ) in the middle of the pumpkins. It is the “Winter Wake Up Blend” (20 individually wrapped tea bags, $2.50), an attempt at the not uncommon “Winter Blend” with some modest holiday decorations sneaked in the design of the box 🙂
How does it taste? Is it a must buy or a “mindless drinking” tea? Read on to find out…
Continue reading “Tea Review: Trader Joe Winter Wake Up Blend”
This was an impulse buy of a doorbuster sale. The Stash Cinnamon Vanilla Herbal Tea blend has been going in and out of stock, when it is on sale, you get six sealed tea boxes (of 18 tea bags per box) for around $5 at amazon.com.
That’s under $1 per box. Each individually sealed box has 18 tea individually sealed tea bags inside. That means $5 for around 108 tea bags. They arrive in a Stash branded cardboard box. So you can share them with friends and family, you can hand them off a sealed box, or individually sealed tea bags.
The price is great, but does it taste good enough to justify buying so much of it?
Continue reading “Tea Review: Stash Cinnamon Vanilla Herbal Tea blend”
This is a real Peet’s tea, with the wonderfully designed tea wrapper. They had them on a clearance sale online, so I scooped up a few boxes before they disappeared into the Mighty Void 🙂 The tea wrapper is the best thing about them!
This tea has a special place in my heart. It was one of my very first “breakout” teas when I was struggling with the switch from Colas to Teas. Looking at it more critically now, years later, it is not as magical as it felt at the time, but let’s not forget, it’s still a $2 box of tea 🙂
Continue reading “Tea Review: Trader Joe Harvest Blend Herbal Tea”
I drink all kinds of tea, any tea that’s in front of me. In an effort to avoid becoming a strident elitist tea snob, I vowed to drink it all, even dollar store tea.
So when I call a tea an Abomination, it’s a high bar 🙂 This tea is an abomination. The combination of various natural and artificial flavors make the Twinings Pumpkin Spice Chai an undrinkable tea. And it’s not for lack of trying. I tried it hot, I tried iced, I tried it at room temperature. Plain or with cream. Heck, I even tried it with my favorite “Pumpkin Spice Almond Beverage” hoping it would “average down” the yuckiness of its spices.
Continue reading “Tea Review: Twinings Pumpkin Spice Chai: ABOMINATION!”
Yes, dear Tea Friends! We have a new blog achievement unlocked! Back to back days with new blog posts! Today too we have a Trader Joe tea, this is another one of their new product arrivals. It is a RED tea, Melisandre red!
Continue reading “Tea Review: Trader Joe RED Refresh: Taming The Hibiscus, Nice Iced”
This was a mild surprise, I found it at the Grocery Outlet. You can find a random selection of teas there, so I always check every time I’m there. It was an 8-pack for $1, so it became an impulse buy. It turned out to be not bad given the price, and for something in a simple flat tea bag.
Each tea bag is sealed in its own wrapper. The tea bag is a flat square, no tags, no string, no staples…
Continue reading “Tea Review: Davidson Organics Mandarin Chai with Anise”
We are back with another tea review. No drink is left behind here, I literally drink every tea that’s in front of me 🙂 Today’s review is the Ambiance Orange Jasmine Green tea, delivered in tea bags. I picked this up at Smart and Final B&M stores, where this brand typically goes for under $3 in 25-packs, such as the one I got.
Continue reading “Tea Review: Ambiance Orange Jasmine Green Tea: Meh Hot, Not Bad Iced”
So I was strolling and trolling the Trader Joe tea section the other day and I noticed something interesting. Their Pomegranate White Tea has been replaced with a new version! The differences are both in packaging and in content. The new version is fully organic, while the previous version was marked as 94% organic. I have both of them as you can see in the picture, and will try to compare them side by side later on when I find time for a direct comparison.
Continue reading “Trader Joe replaces their Pomegranate White Tea with fully organic version”
I have dozens and dozens of teas to review, but as fate would have it, it’s another Trader Joe tea that drew the assignment! This is a relatively new addition to their line-up, a flavored tea bag mix, the Chocolate Mint Black Tea! You get 20 tea bags per box. The price is $2.49 per box. [updated]
The taste is as the name suggests, you get a reasonably good mix of the three advertised flavors (chocolat-i-ness, mint-i-ness, black-tea-ness) ~ considering the price. There are various Natural Flavors, in addition to the tea leaves (peppermint, black, spearmint) and the various chocolate-y ingredients (cocoa bean shells, carob pods and such) and glueware (sunflower oil in the roasted chicory). So definitely not something for a tea purist 🙂
Continue reading “Tea Review: Trader Joe Chocolate Mint Black Tea”