Tazo

My cup of herbal apple pie :) I always say that I am not going to buy another tin of this, but when I get near to the end (as I am right now) I always change my mind. I find this tisane very unique and delicious. Apple-y and delightfully vanilla-y and good as is, or with a little honey (also lovely with milk, but I think I like it best with just honey). It also pairs amazingly with a good book. Right now I’m reading Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus and I can’t. put. it. down.

Found myself out of milk during evening tea, with lemon squares remaining to be eaten! I knew I loved this one sans additions, so I gave it a whirl for the pairing. It was very, very good. I much prefer a true tea flavor with most desserts, but this hodgepoge of rooibos, herbs, fruits and the kitchen sink was really nice with the pastry. Apple and vanilla predominate, with a fullness from the rooibos. The dessert and tisane were a study in contrasts, rather than a melding of sugarlemonvanillacarameltea like in the previous nights pairing.

I also realized that whilst it’s nice to have with a splash of milk now and again, I do prefer this tisane plain!

I have one more serving of lemon squares, and I have no intention of going to the store for milk today! Let’s see what I come up with for tonight’s pairing (!!!).

My cold has now really come out to play. Cry! A nice big mug of vanilla rooibos and honey makes it a wee bit better. Back on the sofa, surrounded by books, a cat, a dog and handkerchiefs! I am going to pull out the big guns later (Rishi Lemon MEDICINE tea!).

This is the first time I’m trying this with a splash of milk and YUM! I thought it would go great with the last two pumpkin muffins and the appley vanillay goodness mixed with the pumpkin and spices just screams Thanksgiving Eve :) I do like this without milk a lot, but the milk notches up the comfort level :) and makes the flavors melt together beautifully.

Delicious, as always. I’ve enjoyed this tea through the summer, but now that it’s getting chilly I am REALLY enjoying it. An appley delight. How could there be only 3 sachets left in my (second!!) tin?!?

A sweet apple pie end to a BRUTAL day! I can’t even begin to tell you how comforting it was to sip this appley slightly spiced vanilla tinged cup of warmth last night!!

Yummy comforting rainy late sunday night apple pie in a cup with honey tea. ♥

A sweet apple pie end to a sweet apple pie day ♥

Such a favorite in the caffeine free realm! Sweet creamy appley. Comforting and relaxing.

Oh, Vanilla Rooibos, how I’ve missed you! I said I was going to wait til Fall for you, but after enjoying that other apple cinnamon tea the other night, I realized our love is seasonless. You are a sweet apple pie delight- summer, fall, winter, and spring! I’m so glad you are in my cupboard again. Welcome home, baby!

The last two sachets in the tin (sad!) for our evening tea! Delicious with a little local raw cream honey I picked up this weekend! I enjoyed every apple pie-ish sip. I think this one is a bit Fall and Winter, so I am going to hold off on purchasing another tin until the weather gets cool.

Mmmm. So good on this rainy chilly night. Taken with a scant teaspoon of honey. I always think of “herbal apple pie” when I drink this one.

Love this one for winding down late at night. A teaspoon of honey makes it even more comforting. I am very close to finishing my tin, and plan to repurchase. I like it that much. Vanilla, apples, warmth. Sleeeeeeep!

Just in from hearing Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida. We were craving a cup of tea before bed. This one is perfect and soothing. Vanilla, apple. Taken with honey to help my scratchy springtime allergy throat. Nighty night! Or as the Bard wrote in one of his much more famous plays:

Parting is such sweet sorrow, That I shall say good night till it be morrow.

Yum. We just can’t seem to get enough of this at night! I used 20 oz water, 2 bags, and 1 teaspoon of honey. I think this is the perfect ratio! It’s real apple-y this way. It is very much helping Sick Husband (he is also covered by a blanket I crocheted and we are about to watch movies – all good medicine).

I used one bag plus 2 tsp plain rooibos in 16 oz water in order to sort of stretch it out (I’m going through my tin at an alarming rate!!!) but it’s not nearly as good. Ah well. At least I tried. I think I will try this experiment with the Passion herbal as well just to see. It may come out better since the Passion is so strong (hmm that doesn’t sound right… ;)

Sipping on this, trying to wind down on a Sunday evening after an extremely busy weekend. Warm, vanilla, sweet, apple, cinnamon, comfort. Taken with honey.

I picked up a tin of this at Starbucks as I was getting some coffee beans. I am looking for some low/no caffeine teas for evenings (my poor husband was up ALL night the evening we had the Tiger – literally not a wink of sleep!! Me – I’m pretty sure there is actually coffee and tea in my veins, and not blood, and it doesn’t bother me. ANYWAY!).

This was in the new pouches with the full leaf tea – well, as full as rooibos gets – they were like twigs (which is actually fuller than the plain rooibos I have which looks almost like a powder). There were all kinds of bits and pieces of Stuff in there too (the tin tells me licorice root, blackberry leaves, cinnamon, apple pieces, peach pieces, vanilla extract, chamomile flowers). I put a touch of tupelo honey in our cups – maybe half a teaspoon each.

This was really good! The tisane tasted a little like an herbal apple pie to me, crust and all :) I did a resteep at 6 minutes and it was a little watery- I would try it at perhaps 8 minutes. It was a real treat.

It’s a little expensive (a little over .46 an 8 oz serving if you don’t resteep) but really nice. Good job Tazo and Starbucks! I would definitely repurchase and now I’m curious about the other full leaf offerings! If you’ve had one you enjoyed, do tell!

Hubby and I had these while shopping at our local Target. I tried mine with no water, and it was quite creamy. I think it’s much more spicy when it has water added. I think I’ll keep drinking it that way. Or just keep drinking my full leaf bags at home with a splash of cream and a packet of splenda. I haven’t found a loose chai blend I like better than their full leaf yet. I’ve tried a few, just haven’t tried Rishi or Samovar’s yet.

Had a coupon for a free drink at Starbucks so I opted for this. I do like the Tazo chai tea bags with milk, but this is too sweet for my liking. It does have strong cardamom and pepper with cinnamon, which I like. I really need to find some loose leaf chai to try, there are so many options out there, where does one start?

We stopped at a Starbucks for this one. Its not a bad tea, but its nothing to write home about either. It was bold and brisk and wasn’t bitter. It will wake you up. The tea bags are huge.

This tea was much improved by controling my temperature and brew time at home.

1 teabag to 16oz water @ 170F for 7 minutes.

This tea has such a great aroma, getting such a strong cranberry (tart) and a softer calmer berry aroma.

The taste is much richer this time, still a white tea, but more fruity notes to it. Much improved on the cardboard water taste of my last brew attempt.

I tried this tea at lunch today.

Used hot (nearly boiling) water from the water spigot at work.
Steeped 1.5 minutes
Liquor was a pretty cinnamon bark brown, darker than I thought white tea would get, maybe from the berries?

I think the temperature of the water really hurt this brew of tea. At first sniff I didn’t smell anything but a very faint berry. First sips while still very hot tasted like infused cardboard. After cooling down for a few minutes I noticed a bit more of the berry, but not really any tea flavor. Quite a bit of cardboard like aftertaste.

I’ll give it another shot with a much cooler controlled temp, but first taste this was awful!

Had this tea with hot water from the water spigot at work. Let it steep in a paper cup the whole drive home while sipping throughout.

This tea smells great: ripe red apples with a bit of floral undertone (not sure where the floral is coming from, maybe part of the apple?). I didn’t taste much apple, but I did taste a very creamy (the roobios?) with spice (cinnamon) that got stronger the longer I kept the teabag in.

I really thought I’d love this tea after sniffing it, but it tasted different then it smelled. I don’t know what it was about this I didn’t like, but it kept turning up a floral note in my taste buds that just didn’t sit right.

I’ll try again soon with a smaller cup and steep time I can control.