Bigelow

Mehhhhhhhhh…at least going tea tasting today will make up for this crummy cuppa.

Backlog.
Far too watery. And a bagged tea to boot. Only drank because I had no other option, and a bad tea is still a tea.

Not bad. I didn’t look at the package to see if it was purely peppermint, but it seemed pretty close, though I like to Celestial Seasonings better.

This is so well named. Every time I drink it, I get a lift. It is so refreshing with the lemon accent to the black tea. It makes me more alert and ready to go so it’s a perfect early afternoon tea. Not as much of a kick as I require for mornings but a nice gentle but solid pick-me-up.

This is my favorite stand-by Earl Grey tea. It’s the one that made me realize I love Earl Grey. It’s also more forgiving on steep time than most, but will eventually get bitter as black teas do.

I’ve noticed that sometimes it has stronger notes of black pepper than bergamot; not sure if that is due to variation in the tea bags, or something to do with whatever I’m consuming with it.

I love spearmint, so I like this in the evening and as an after-dinner tea. It needs a bit of sweetener to really bring out the mint flavors.

Backlog.
Tasty white tea, but there’s a lot more fruit than tea here…

Wanted something sweet and spicy before bed. This did the job adequately, although I could have used a little more flavor. Maybe I need to use a slightly larger mug and two bags? This one gets a little cardboardy/teabaggy at the end. It seems Bigelow must use different teabags than Celestial Seasonings, because I don’t get that flat taste at the end when I leave the bag in with CS. What is the use of a lazy tea bag if you can’t be completely lazy and leave the bag in? ;)

Drove for hours, completely lost half the day, and came home so late and tired that all I could do is plop teabags in mugs. Funny how emotions play with your perceptions of taste; last night this tea that I enjoyed previously tasted watery and bland. A hint of orange, a hint of something bitter. I noticed my husband only finished half his mug! I’ll hold off on lowering the rating due to my pre existing exhaustion and frustration, but last night had me saying “NO TEABAGS. EVER!!” in my best Mommie Dearest voice.

Surprisingly very nice!!!!! I snagged a bag of this and Mint Medley (which Sick Husband is drinking and enjoying very much) when I had to go to a work function. The orange and cinnamon are delightful, and the chicory gives it some body. We each got a nice dollop of tupelo honey too :) I am going to pick up a box of this and the mint for late nights and colds. I left the bag in and there is no bitterness or overwhelming flavors.

How do you all rate on the supermarket herbal blends? Are you a Bigelow person or a Celestial Seasonings person or do you have favorites of each? I can’t abide by the supermarket black teas, but I’m finding the herbals a nice cost effective simple option!

Very soothing. Helped my sore throat. I haven’t tried it with chocolate, but that sounds really good.

The black tea grew bitter before the cinnamon grew strong enough. Had to add cinnamon in order to get any flavor from it. I wonder if sweetened a little, the cinnamon would be brought out more.

Being sick these past two weeks, the Bigelow Cozy Chamomile in K-cup form (rather than tea bags) has been great for keeping my stomach and lungs settled down. I have other chamomiles that I like, but I’ll get back to those once I finish the box of Cozy Chamomile K-cups that my hubby picked up for me.

This tea is a good blend of mint and Chamomile. Not the most flavorful nighttime blend, as others have said, but definitely a good tea that I can always be in the mood for.

This was a desperation move. I couldn’t find any of the teabags I usually had with me, and this was in our departmental conference room. I didn’t want to sit through class with nothing to drink (habit), so I tried a bag. BLEGH. Bad, artificial vanilla. The scent alone reminded me of a car air freshener. I don’t mind vanilla in teas at all, but it’s definitely got to be real.

I first tried this when I was groggy and sniffly at work, and a co-worker gave me a box of it to cheer me up. I recall really liking it, but I guess when you’re sick and have no taste buds everything will be amazing.

It didn’t really taste like anything this time around. I don’t remember what was so relaxing about it. And when I finished downing my mug of it, I had to suck on a breath mint because it left a rather unpleasant taste in my mouth. (No, really. Literally.) I had planned on stashing another box of it in my cupboard, but that desire doesn’t really exist anymore.

Steep Information:
Amount: 1 bag 2.2g
Additives: none
Water:150° hot spigot water
Steep Time: a little over 5 minutes (Steep.It)
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: peppermint, lemongrass, lemon verbena
Steeped Tea Smell: lemon verbena
Flavor: lemon, not a very tart shocking lemon but a nice soothing lemon
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: sweet floral
Liquor: medium honey brown

Gift from Janefan, yea! (only 3 more flavors she sent to try and review left)

I was expecting tart and sour and instead got nice and smooth.

I wasn’t feeling too well and was hoping this herbal would help.

I believe this is a good herbal, and recommend it as a under the weather stash.

Post-Steep Additives: honey, mmmmm delicious like a lemon candy

images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/03/bigelow-teabag-herbal-tea-i-love-lemon.html

I love Bigelows Vanilla Chai! I discovered it about a year ago while visiting Houston and now I buy it whenever I can. Definitely a favorite for people who like sweet teas. The smell of it while steeping is pretty amazing too. I wish I could find some incense that smelled this way, I’d totally load up! :)

For some reason I’m in the mood for chai today so I think I will indulge in a trio of chais, which are all bagged. This will be tea 1 of 3 in my lovely trio which will hopefully help me decide which one I like better and which I can live without.

For all intents and purposes, I will be brewing each tea the same way: 5 minutes, adding milk and sweetener. I’m not going to worry about the stovetop method because that is a lot of effort for a bagged tea.

The taste is primarily of vanilla with a hint of spice. It is very smooth, but it is hard to isolate the black tea base through the flavors. This is a good go-to bagged tea that is warm and comforting. However, it doesn’t smack you in the face to announce “I’m a chai!” This is much smoother than traditional chai with balanced, almost muted spices.

I actually had this last night before bed. The initial smell is very strong and spicy with a hint of vanilla. After brewing for 3 minutes, I added a splash of milk and a bit of sugar. The taste was not of a traditional chai, mostly a nice vanilla tea with a spicy aftertaste. Overall, this is pretty good for a bagged tea. It isn’t my idea of a chai, so I would rate it slightly higher if the name wasn’t so misleading. I could see myself buying a full box though.

Unfortunately, this will be suffering a slight decline in its rating. The particular tea bag I had this morning tastes like a great vanilla tea, but there is no chai aspect present. Just vanilla.

I had this last night and it wasn’t bad. I didn’t know what to expect from a bagged chai as my experience with bagged chai has not been pleasant so far. I had this with milk and sugar which may have been a mistake because the vanilla was extremely strong, not necessarily bad, just strong. It really reminds me of the Starbuck’s Chai Lattes that I used to get all the time. I may just buy some of this because this is on the lesser end of the evil tea bags I have tried recently.

Wow, that was really good! Being a frilly coffee lover too, this very well may be my sugar free-ish alternative! two thumb up