16 Tasting Notes
When I worked at Starbucks, I simply could not understand the popularity of this stuff. The iced green tea is made with their Zen tea, which I was never a fan of … the kind of mint they blended with the tea leaves always turned my stomach a little and made it taste cheap. The way it’s brewed doesn’t help … the water is too hot and they brew it extra strong, letting it sit on the counter and diluting it when someone orders it. For lack of better ways to say it, this is not my cup of tea.
While this is not the most exciting, refined, or even particularly high quality cup, this is my comfort tea. It was the brand my mother always bought when I was a child (and still does), and was the tea that was served when I had a cold, when we’d make sun tea in the summer, and at my first tea parties.
Okay, so the flavor isn’t spectacular. The leaves are chopped into the smallest pieces imaginable. But it’s a happy tea for me, and lends well to have things added to it, something you wouldn’t want to do with your best sencha. With a teaspoon of rose syrup, even this tea tastes elegant and smooth.
This used to be my staple tea when I was at work (Barnes & Noble carried it when I was employed there), and I would be so sad on days when we ran out. I love the subtle floral flavor of this tea, although the blend has a tendency to change time to time and it doesn’t always taste quite the same. While I love the stuff, I am very occasionally disappointed with it and would generally not drink anymore from the same tin.
This is my staple when I’m browsing Barnes & Noble … I was heartbroken when they stopped carrying the line that included Chinese Flower, but now I did.
I love the coconut in this, and the lemongrass gives it a little bit of a lime flavor to go with the ginger, actually.
