Category Archives: Easy to make

Review: Tazo Passion

Posted on May 17, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Overall Rating:
Taste: 3.5 of 5 leaves – A decent tasty tea.
Steepability: 5 of 5 leaves – This tea is easy to make!

Abby says:

Temperature: @180 (below boiling point)
Steeped: 5 minutes
Served: Nothing added

Described on the teabag packet as “A magical blend of hibiscus, lemongrass, rose hips, mango & passion fruit flavors”, this tea has a lot to live up to. When steeped, it turns a vibrant red in the cup with a bright aroma. And, yes, there is a lot flavor packed in as well. I liked that. Typically, I’m not a big fan of herbal tea because I often find that there isn’t enough flavor, or there is too much flavor making it seem artificial. I didn’t find that here. It has good flavor and a nice tartness that paired well with the floral notes.

This would make a great iced tea as well and with is bright red color it would look really good in a big glass iced tea pitcher! For anyone who likes a bold, fruity herbal tea, give this one a try. Tazo Passion makes for worthwhile caffeine-free tea option.

Taste: 3 of 5 leaves – A decent tasty tea.
Steepability: 5 of 5 leaves – This tea is easy to make!

Katie says:

Temperature: @180 (below boiling point)
Steeped: 2 minutes
Served: with honey

This, for me, is a staple tea. I usually have at least a few bags in my cupboard. My favorite thing about this tea is that it is good in both warm and cold weather. In the winter, especially with a sore throat, the citrus tastes great! Although, I find if steeped too long for drinking as hot tea it can get a tangy bite. For this reason I do a short 2 minute steep. When making this as an iced tea I steep a little longer, or cold brew. Many Starbucks locations carry this as an iced tea in the warmer weather and it makes a great no caffeine and le calorie option.

Taste: 4 of 5 leaves – A decent tasty tea.
Steepability: 5 of 5 leaves – This tea is easy to make!

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Posted in decaf or hearbal tea, Easy to make, herbal tea, tea review

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Review: Trader Joe’s Pomegranate White Tea

Posted on April 19, 2013 by | Leave a comment

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Overall Rating:

Taste: 3 of 5 tea leaves – A decent, tasty tea.
Steepability: 5 of 5 tea leaves – This tea is easy to make!

Abby says:

Temperature: @180 (below boiling)
Steeped: 3-4 minutes
Served: Nothing added to start, then with a dab of honey

If white tea wasn’t listed in the name, I would have thought this was pomegranate herbal tea. The pomegranate totally overwhelms any tea flavor. Granted, white tea has a very mild flavor compared to other teas. It is just too bad that it is completely hidden, I would like to have tasted a true blend of the two flavors. This tea also has hibiscus flowers and lemongrass and I don’t get much of that either. Ok, now that I’ve gotten that out of the way. I like this tea!

The classic pomegranate color is vibrant and cheery. The pomegranate taste is true, not artificial tasting at all and plenty tart! In fact, I added a little bit of honey after the first couple of sips to tone down the tartness with a little sweet. Then, it was even better. I would recommend this tea to anyone who likes the flavor of pomegranate or strong tasting herbal teas. Keep in mind, that although you can’t taste it, there is actual tea here. That menas caffeine even though white tea has a lower level of caffeine. This may be a nice a choice for those seeking a little caffeine while at the same time getting a herbal tea experience. I would certainly drink this tea again, in fact, I think it would make a terrific iced tea. But I would not choose this tea if I was looking for a taste of actual tea.

Taste: 3 of 5 tea leaves – A decent, tasty tea.
Steepability: 5 of 5 tea leaves – This tea is easy to make!

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Katie says:

Temperature: @180 (below boiling)
Steeped: 3-4 minutes
Served: Nothing added

Abby & I often have similar reviews, but this time reading her review was like she had been reading my mind! If this had been an herbal tea I may have given it a higher rating. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good, it just doesn’t taste like it’s name and ingredients. If it didn’t list white tea on the box I’d think for sure it was an herbal tea. In fact, as Abby suggests, it would be quite nice as an iced tea. The flavor would be similar to the passion iced tea from Starbucks. This tea is a lovely red color and has a nice fruity flavor without tasting artificial. In my opinion the biggest flaw of this tea is that you can’t taste the white tea flavor.

Taste: 3 of 5 tea leaves – A decent, tasty tea.
Steepability: 5 of 5 tea leaves – This tea is easy to make!

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Posted in Easy to make, tea review, White teas

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#teatime :) 4-9-2013

Posted on April 9, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Dry Tea

It isn’t ‘really’ tea.  It is a fig and rose herbal tea.  So, #herbalinfusiontime is more accurate, but doesn’t have the same lovely ring to it.

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Posted in decaf or hearbal tea, Easy to make, herbal tea, teaism

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Review: Cafe Escapes Chai Latte for Keurig

Posted on March 20, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Overall Rating:

Taste: 3 of 5 tea leaves – A decent tasty tea.
Steepability: 5 of 5 tea leaves – this is easy to make!

Abby says:

Temperature: Hot straight from the Keurig!
Served: Nothing added

Who knew that a chai latte and leftover Irish soda bread would make for a good afternoon snack. Really, it was a pretty good combo. I found the Cafe Express Chai Latte to be quite sweet, so it was nice to pair it with something not-so-sweet with depth of flavor. The Keurig chai latte was one note in flavor, sweet. It completely lacks any spice which is synonymous with chai. That being said, I still thought it was pretty good. For it was more similar to powered hot chocolate in consistency: creamy and sweet. Not really like tea at all, more like a guilty pleasure (the fast food version of chai latte). :)

Taste: 3 of 5 tea leaves – A decent tasty tea(ish).
Steepability: 5 of 5 tea leaves – this is easy to make!

Cafe Express Chai Latte

Katie says:

Temperature: Hot straight from the Keurig!
Served: Nothing added

Hmmm, I’m beginning to wonder if Keurig is just for coffee! This chai wasn’t bad, but it didn’t really taste like traditional tea. Have you had the coffee shop “chai” lattes that are made from a powder or syrup and not tea leaves? Well, this k cup is like that coffee shop drink. It’s warm and even a bit tasty but more like hot cocoa that tea. Once you’ve had real brewed chai I think it’s hard to ever go back and be satisfied. If you’re a tea drinker and find yourself faced with a stack of k cups I bet, like me, you’d still greatly prefer this to coffee. It is decent, but not great. Hopefully Abby & I can find a k cup tea to review that we think is better than decent! I’d love to share one we think is quite good. For now, the hunt for a great k cup tea continues.

Taste: 3 of 5 tea leaves – A decent tasty tea.
Steepability: 5 of 5 tea leaves – this is easy to make!

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Review: Tazo Refesh

Posted on March 13, 2013 by | Leave a comment

 

 
Overall Rating:

Taste: 3.75 of 5 tea leaves – A decent tasty tea.
Steepability: 5 of 5 tea leaves – This tea is easy to make!

Abby says:

Temperature: @180 (below boiling point)
Steeped: Left teabag in the cup
Served: Nothing added

The review for this tea could not have come at a better time. I woke up this morning not feeling the best and with a little bit of a scratchy throat. I just wanted something that would make me feel better, keep me warm and taste good. Cue Tazo Refresh. Typically I’m not a peppermint enthusiast, but today it worked. The peppermint, spearmint and tarragon blend together well to create a minty flavor that though pungent, isn’t too strong or too sweet. For a mint tea, I found it very easy to drink even though I left the teabag in my mug.

For me, the perfect time for mint tea is when you aren’t feeling good because as the name says, it makes you feel refreshed and has a soothing quality to help you feel more like yourself. I would certainly recommend this tea for those times. I also think it would make a really interesting iced tea for when you are looking for something cooling a refreshing.

Taste: 3.5 of 5 tea leaves – A decent tasty tea.
Steepability: 5 of 5 tea leaves – This tea is easy to make!

Tazo Refresh Wraper

Katie says:

Temperature: @180 (below boiling point)
Steeped: 4 minutes
Served: Nothing added

It must be the time of year! I too woke up with a bit of a cold. Abby had her tea cure in the morning, but I’m drinking my refresh before bed. You know, that dreaded time of day when colds tend to settle in and make you feel worse. This is a perfect “feel better” tea. It is great for a cold or even just a bit of indigestion.

What I love about this tea is it’s mild mint flavor. Some mint teas taste so strongly of peppermint that is all you taste. The mix of peppermint and spearmint along other flavors in refresh make this tea truly refreshing and easy to drink. I highly recommend tea blends like this one over a straight peppermint tea.

Colds, please go away! I hope that spring is right around the corner! But if you do find yourself with a case of the sniffles or a sore throat reach for this tea!

Taste: 4 of 5 tea leaves – Quite a good cuppa!
Steepability: 5 of 5 tea leaves – This tea is easy to make!

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Posted in decaf or hearbal tea, Easy to make, herbal tea

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Review: Tea Forte Breakfast

Posted on February 28, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Overall Rating:

Taste: 4.5 of 5 leaves: Quite a good cuppa!
Steepability: 5 of 5 — this tea is easy to make!:

Abby says:

Temperature: @212 (@ boiling)
Steeped: 4 minutes
Served: Nothing added

Nice and strong with good flavor and body, this Assam tea is incredibly satisfying as a first-thing-in-the-morning cuppa! The caffeine level is what you would expect (and what most of us need) from a morning tea. It pairs well with hearty breakfast food, but has enough of its own flavor to satisfy long after the food is all gone. Most of all, I like the nuttiness found in Forte Breakfast. It also holds just a hint of sweetness that doesn’t turn bitter if steeped for a while, which is great for busy mornings when tea-making is not as precise as maybe it should be.

Forte Breakfast is USDA certified organic! Just another reason to give it a try. We sampled this tea in Tea Forte’s biodegradable filterbags, but it also comes in single serving loose tea packs. Love those too!

Taste: 4.5 of 5 leaves: Quite a good cuppa!
Steepability: 5 of 5 — this tea is easy to make!

Katie says: Abby gave me a sample of this tea but I can’t find it. Oops! I’ve had it before and enjoyed it but haven’t had any recently enough to remember for an accurate review. Guess you’ll all have to just trust her word on this one!

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Posted in black teas, Easy to make

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Review: Bhakti Chai (Unsweetened)

Posted on February 15, 2013 by | Leave a comment

 

Overall Rating:

Taste: 4 of 5 – quite a good cuppa!
Steepability: 5 of 5 — this tea is easy to make!

Katie says:

Temperature: Hot from the stove, but not boiling
Steeped: N/A
Served: With 1:1 ratio of milk, then with honey

For me this is hands down, the best chai from a bottle ever. I love the idea of chai mix due to convenience but most are just a syrupy mess. This tastes like real TEA! Also, without sweetener or milk added you can make it to your taste. One word of caution, I think real chai needs real milk. I’m talking 2% or greater…in India it’s practically cream!

I have to say, I was surprised to see Abby’s rating on this one because we tend to agree more often than not. It may just be that while she likes chai, she’s not a fan of milk in tea. And this mix NEEDS milk.  I love that I can count on the ratio and make the same cuppa more than once. If you like traditional chai with a kick of ginger than this is a MUST try. But pass the cream. :)

I also like that this tea comes refrigerated and has a shelf life. That certainly makes it seem more real. And, when you real the label there is in fact good (ie real) stuff in there. It’s also a pretty cool company out of Fort Collins, CO. Check out their website for their story & more of their flavors.

Taste: 5 of 5 – outstanding a must try!
Steepability: 5 of 5 — this tea is easy to make!

Abby says:

Temperature: Hot from the stove, but not boiling
Steeped: N/A
Served: With 1:1 ratio of milk, then with honey

Seriously spicy! You know how, sometimes you find chai teas to be dull without the spice that you love? Well, forget all that.  This tea is spicy and has a ton of flavor. Bhakti Chai comes pre-brewed in a refrigerated bottle containing: “organic fair trade black te, organic ginger juice, organic cardamom, black pepper and other spices.” It carries the fair trade certification, but it is not certified organic. The directions call for heating the tea with milk at a 1:1 ratio and heating on the stove top or in the microwave.  It also says you can serve it over ice, but I can’t even think about that right now (too much snow everywhere for that).  Typically I choose not to add milk to my tea, but for the sake of the review I decided to be a good girl and follow the directions.  I’m glad I did because I think skipping the milk would have been a mistake for sure.  In fact I ended up adding more hot milk and a bit of honey to mellow out the spice level. This tea was good, but I will only have it when I am craving the spice!

Taste: 3 of 5 leaves: A decent tasty tea.
Steepability: 5 of 5 — this tea is easy to make!

Bhakti Chai

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Review: Timothy’s Chai Tea for Keurig

Posted on January 30, 2013 by | Leave a comment

TIM-LG-CHAI

Overall Rating:

Taste: 2.75 of 5 tea leaves – A decent tasty tea.
Steepability: 5 of 5 tea leaves – this is easy to make!

Abby says:

Temperature: Hot straight from the Keurig!
Served: Nothing added at first, then a touch of honey

So, the Hot Apple Cider for Keurig that we reviewed in the fall was pretty good, but I was still skeptical about how Keurig tea would match up against tea, tea. I was really interested to try Timothy’s Chai K-cup because I love chai tea, and have a tried a fair amount of varieties. I’ll admit, the idea of instant, right now tea is compelling. I wanted it to be great.

Well, it wasn’t great. It was OK. The aroma was chai for sure, but it didn’t carry into the room like when I steep tea. The spicy chai smell was there, but I had to practically stick my nose in it to get it. The taste was fine. Not great, but not bad either. It tasted like weakish chai. Typically I don’ add anything to my tea, but in this case it needed something. So I added a bit of honey and it did make it taste better, sweeter. The honey also added some depth that I felt the tea itself was missing. The honey I added, I got from the Honey Exchange here in Portland, Maine. The honey is Gallberry and hails from Weil Farm, Florida. Typically I look for local honey for its health benefits, but this honey is SO good.

Gallberry Honey

For now, I think I’ll be sticking to more traditional tea preparation methods, but in a pinch Timothy’s Chai is a pretty good option.

Taste: 3 of 5 tea leaves – A decent tasty tea.
Steepability: 5 of 5 tea leaves – this is easy to make!

Katie says:

Temperature: Hot straight from the Keurig!
Served: Milk & honey

I was very surprised by this tea. First, I expected k-cup chai to all be similar but this one was unsweetened and without milk. At first I was excited to add my own to taste. Before making my additions I took a sip and was surprised by the lack of traditional chai spices. This tea was very bland and to me tasted more like a regular black tea than a chai. Even after adding cream & sugar I didn’t think it was much improved. I don’t think I’d try this one again. To me it was just OK.

Taste: 2.5 of 5 tea leaves – This tea was just OK.
Steepability: 5 of 5 tea leaves – this is easy to make!

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Review: Harney & Sons Holiday (HT Tea Blends)

Posted on January 4, 2013 by | 2 Comments

Overall Rating:

Taste: 3.25 of 5 tea leaves – A decent tasty tea.
Steepability: 4 of 5 tea leaves – This tea requires very little effort

Abby says:

Temperature: @200 (below boiling point)
Steeped: 3 minutes
Served: Nothing added

Better late than never. That’s what I say! Here is a holiday tea from Harney & Sons, called “holiday”. So appropriate for today – when the holidays are officially over! Enjoy…

When I first opened the tea tin I was overwhelmed by the spicy aroma of this tea. I smelled some clove and what seem to me to be licorice. Licorice is not my fav, I did not enjoy that but decided to steep it anyway. And I’m glad I did. Though the aroma was strong, but the tea was not. It was flavorful and spicy and thankfully did not taste like licorice at all! I liked that it was light with mild spice flavor because so much of what we eat and drink over the holidays is heavy and rich or over-the-top. While still festive, this tea provides a much need break from all that with something lighter without being dull. The flavor might be strong if steeped longer, so that could be something interesting to try next time.

Taste: 3.5 of 5 tea leaves – A decent tasty tea.
Steepability: 4 of 5 tea leaves – This tea requires very little effort.

Katie says:

Temperature: @200 (below boiling point)
Steeped: 3 minutes
Served: With cream & sugar

The spices in this tea smell and taste similar to chai with strong notes of clove and cinnamon. Chai is one of my favorite teas so when I opened the tin I was so excited to try this similar-smelling tea. I thought this tea was good, but what kept it from being great was the strength. I found the favors, while nice, to be very mild. I’d suggest steeping it longer or using two tea bags if you like a strong cuppa!

Taste: 3 of 5 tea leaves – A decent tasty tea.
Steepability: 4 of 5 tea leaves – This tea requires very little effort.

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Posted in black teas, Easy to make

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Review: Tazo Awake

Posted on November 13, 2012 by | 2 Comments

Overall Rating:

Taste: 4.75 of 5 leaves: Quite a good cuppa!
Steepability: 5 of 5 — this tea is easy to make!

Abby says:

Temperature: @212 (boiling point)
Steeped: 3-4 minutes, then left in mug for the second steep
Served: Nothing added

Tazo Awake is a wonderfully strong black tea with full flavor and no bitterness. As you can guess by the name, Awake is what it promises and and awake you will be after just one cup. Not only does the caffeine work its magic to get you going, the complexity of flavor keeps it interesting. Mixed with the intense black tea taste is a bit of malty cocoa flavor that adds richness. Though I’m not much of a coffee drinker, the robust nature of this tea give me that sense.

Katie has been telling me about this tea for awhile now and I am happy to have finally tried it. Awake will clearly be a go-to for me from here on out! If you are looking for a strong, tasty tea – give this one a try.

Taste: 4.5 of 5 leaves: Quite a good cuppa!
Steepability: 5 of 5 — this tea is easy to make!

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Katie says:

Temperature: @212 (boiling point)
Steeped: 3 (med) – 5 (strong) minutes
Served: Milk & honey

This is one of my favorite morning teas. Awake is a strong and flavorful black tea. Steep 3 minutes if you like a medium strength tea and 5 if you like it strong. Some days require stronger tea! The best thing about this tea is this that it can be made quite strong without getting bitter. I like a good strong tea so that it can stand up to a good amount of cream & sugar. See the photo above for how much half & half I like in this tea. I know, have a little tea with my cream, right? It’s like my Grammie says, a tea is good when it’s “strong enough to float a horseshoe.”

This rich and flavorful tea certainly passes the horseshoe test! Because it is strong it also makes a great tea to brew in the summer and then pour over ice with lemon. This is an Indian Assam style tea. I find Assam to have particularly nice flavor and this one has a rich and malty taste. I don’t drink morning coffee but this is my tea of choice for a morning pick-me-up.

Taste: 5 of 5 leaves: Outstanding, a must try!
Steepability: 5 of 5 — this tea is easy to make!

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Posted in black teas, Easy to make

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