Tazo

I noticed that a number of folks are keeping track of their sipdowns, which seems like a fun idea. I haven’t put all the teas I own into my cupboard so I can’t use that as a measure. But I can keep track of all my sipdowns for 2014, which could be amusing.

By my count, this is 2014 sipdown no. 8. I’m having the very last bag here at work.

I’ll remember it fondly, though I’m unlikely to buy more. If the blend ever changes to be heavier on the apricot and lighter on the vanilla, I might be persuaded to reconsider.

Look what else I found in my work stash! I thought it was gone because it hasn’t been part of my home stash for a while. Turns out I have a few bags left.

I concluded a while back that while they were neck and neck for a while, I prefer the Berryblossom White to this. I find the flavoring of that one a bit more subtle, and the vanilla in this one somewhat more pronounced and the apricot somewhat less pronounced than they should be. Still, it’s pleasant enough for an afternoon at the office.

I’ve been drinking more of this lately, as part of the protracted project to finish up my original bagged training teas.

The more I drink it, the more I have realized that vanilla is really the primary flavor here. The apricot is more of an afterthought and the tea is most noticeable when it’s a day old, which is to say, it starts to sour pretty much immediately (yeah, I admit it, same way I finish up the rest of day old Diet Cokes I do that with tea too).

Though it is heads and tails over the White Cucumber with its rather nasty pickle overtones, this is at most a passable bagged white flavored tea. I won’t have to hold my nose to finish my stash or anything, but it’s something I’ll wave goodbye to without much of a second thought when I get to the end.

Dropping the rating some.

I tried this one several different ways and by far the most successful was (believe it or not) steeping for 15 minutes. The flavors blended best after this amount of time, so that neither the apricot nor the vanilla dominated, and the tea was present, albeit as a backdrop. It has a gentle aroma and flavor. The apricot/vanilla lingers for quite a while and changes over time, first becoming quite sugary, then frutier, then sugary again.

I am doing an internal happy dance because I’ve basically put this one to bed. I have one more cup’s worth or so left from the initial bagged tea stash. It was one of the first I drank when I started this adventure last February, and one of the first I took an active dislike to. I kept drinking it to see whether that would change. Although I got used to it, I can’t say it grew on me. Or I could, but I’d have to end the comment with “like a fungus.”

In truth there’s no ready explanation for why I should dislike this tea as much as I do. After drinking my way through more than a box of it I can say I can taste pretty much all of the ingredients, so that’s not the problem. I think the main problem is either in the ginger or in the green tea and I’m going to go with the ginger. (The pear is subtle enough that it can’t be objectionable by any standard.) The ginger doesn’t have that fresh, sharp, ginger aroma or flavor, nor does it have a particularly sweet or candy-like taste. Either would have been an improvement.

The ginger here seems to me to be tired. And stale (not literally). Like it is mustering all its strength to exert power and so doesn’t have the will left to try to taste good. It certainly is powerful. It all but pushes the green tea taste out the window.

I’m not at all sorry to see this go. Happy dance! Happy dance!

I’ve been trying to like this one, as I like all the flavors in it individually. So it stands to reason I’d like the combination, no? Though it has grown on me over time (and with better water and better steeping rigor), I generally find the ginger spice overpowering and though I can smell the pear, I can’t taste it. I can’t really taste the green tea either, except very lightly in the finish. But the little bite at the tip of my tongue from the ginger spice is kind of interesting…

Look at me with a tisane! Be sure to pay attention, Steepsterites, as this is not something that happens that often, but it’s too late really for tea when I’m trying to re-learn getting to bed at a proper hour, and I wanted to try something else of what TeaEqualsBliss sent me.

I dipped my sleeve in the cup (no, not on purpose), so it’s not starting well.

It smells strongly of spearmint and I can’t really find any tarragon. It’s like a mix of toothpaste and that chewing gum that my mother prefers. Daunting… Maybe it can help on my stomach reflux though. (Oh avocado… so yummy, yet so deceitful!)

It tastes a bit like that chewing gum too, but it’s not as overwhelmingly spearmint-y as I had expected. I think it’s because the tarragon is lying down a base and controlling it. It’s just spearmint-y enough to give me that prickling on the tongue and brief fresh mouth sensation. The latter doesn’t seem to last very long after swallowing, but then again, it’s a tisane, not a tooth-paste replacement.

Tisanes don’t really interest me at all, and I don’t buy them unless for someone else or because I want to mix with stuff. Although I’d be unlikely to purchase this if the brand was available here, I still like it rather more than I thought I would.

This is a green tea, so I prepared it as such, with lower water temp and less steeping time. It isn’t the best I’ve ever had, but my experience was not as negative as that of other reviewers. Liquor color was a gentle, light orange/green. Flavor was sweet, very slightly vegetal, with an orange finish.

If you use more water per teabag it is better… meaning it has less astringency and bitterness.

This tea seems really bitter to me.
Why is this popular?

Had a cup earlier this morning. It’s pretty refreshing.

Steep Information:
Amount: 1 teabag
Additives: none
Water: 12 ounces hot spigot water
Steep Time: a little over 5-6 minutes, enough time to get to train stop from store and take out bag
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Smell: cinnamon, clove, ginger
Flavor: ginger, pepper/cardamom, cinnamon, clove, black tea
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: ginger pepper burn, followed by a warm cinnamon and a slight bitter tinge probably from oversteeping
Liquor: dark brown, maybe a little red tint

Probably should not have gotten this so late as now I’ll be up all night, but I couldn’t resist. I do think it would be better with some honey and creme so it would be a proper chai, but if you ask for that they give you the concentrate (my favorite Starbucks drink-Chai tea latte!). I think this would be a nice tea to make chai at home with.

Post-Steep Additives: none

As soon as the water pours in you can smell the orange peel. I taste mostly the orange and not the black tea or the cocoa peel, but it is still a wonderful tea.

Steep Information:
Amount: 1 teabag
Water: boiling, let sit 1 minute, 12 oz
Steep Time: a little over 1 minute (http://steep.it/)
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: mint
Steeped Tea Smell: vegetal
Flavor: lemongrass, mint, vegetal
Body: Full
Aftertaste: mint
Liquor: translucent brown-green

not really exciting or delicious, a lemon-grassy green tea.

Rating: 2/4 leaves

Blog: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2011/11/tazo-teabag-green-tea-zen.html

Resteep:
2 teabags
a bit less than 20 ounces of hot spigot water
3 minutes
More of a floral lemongrass and mint scent
taste is lighter, lemongrass followed by mint
color much lighter-more of a honey tone
So done properly this is a light refreshing tea that hints at green and is more of a lemongrass mint flavor apparently.

I don’t think I’ll buy this tea, but it would be an easy choice when this is an option offered when dining somewhere.

Steep Information:
Amount: 2 teabags
Additives: none
Water: 20 ounces hot spigot water
Steep Time: a little over 10 minutes (walking time)
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Tea Smell: sweet, floral, vegetal
Wet Leaf Smell: lemon, mint, grass
Flavor: floral, sweet, grassy
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: sour tangy, bitter that feels thick on your tongue and lingers
Liquor: murky cloudy brown-green

I think the water spigot is too hot and I let it sit too long ruining any changes the poor tea ever had.

Post-Steep Additives: none

Steep Information:
Amount: 1 teabag / filterbag
Additives: none
Water: 12 ounces hot spigot
Steep Time: a little over 5 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Smell: black tea
Flavor: black tea, bergamont
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: bitter
Liquor: dark brown

I think I let it get overbrewed – and threw out the teabag because I was walking through NYC. I may give it another chance if I will be staying in store and can better monitor it. I couldn’t finish it.

Post-Steep Additives: none

Since my husband had claims to the final steep of the English Breakfast we had been working on this morning, I decided to give this a try. I was pleasantly surprised, after reading some of the other reviews I was afraid that I would have a bitter, tasteless cup. I steeped this for a low time at a medium temp and found it very good. I definately pick up a malty quality that sort of reminds me of coffee, however, the claims of caramel and dark cherry are crazy…did not get either one of those. Overall, this is decent for a tea bag, in fact my favorite tea bag so far. When I run out of my loose leaf English Breakfast I may have to pick up a box of this until I can get an online order.

Great tea that lives up to its name. Is very strong, so for those of you that don’t like stronger teas, I would stay away. Many complain of the taste, but be careful on how you brew it. Follow the instructions many others have used: very hot/boiling water and low steep time.

Steep Information:
Amount: 1 sachet
Water: 175°F 12 oz
Steep Time: a little over 2 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: floal, perfume
Steeped Tea Smell: orange potpourri
Flavor: perfumy green tea
Body: Light
Aftertaste: chemical
Liquor: translucent green-brown

I am not even sure I will finish this mug.

Rating: 1/4 leaves

Blog: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2011/10/tazo-green-tea-teabag-orange-blossom.html

Steep Information:
Amount: 2 filterbags
Additives: none
Water: 20 ounces, hot spigot at Starbucks store
Steep Time: a little over 10 minutes, the walk back from the store
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Smell: Orange, wood, and chemical?
Flavor: bitter, citrus
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: heavy, sandy, bitter
Liquor: dark orange brown, nearly not transparent

I do not like the smell or flavor, however it was too hot water and too long, so we’ll see how the resteep goes.

Post-Steep Additives: none