Tazo

This is one of the four Target-exclusive Forager Edition herbals from Tazo, the one based on the Southwest US. So far, I have really enjoyed the Midwest “Wild Apple Sarsaparilla” and the Rockies “Juniper Mint Honey,” but really disliked the Northeast “Elderberry Blackberry.”

I was a little trepidatious about this one, as the “Elderberry Blackberry” listed chamomile quite high on the ingredients list, and this one does as well, and it’s a flavor I really dislike. I got a very off-putting soapy/baby powdery taste from the “Elderberry Blackberry” tea that I never could shake. And I’m picking up a bit of that same aroma here. But, there is a stronger melon/pear sort of aroma that is helping mask it a lot.

Thankfully, I’m okay with this on the sip. Perhaps it was the flavorings in the “Elderberry Blackberry” that created such an off-putting flavor, because I quite like this “prickly pear” flavor. It isn’t a flavor I could pinpoint very well myself (having tried prickly pear candy all of once in my life) but, I like it. It does have a strong mixed melon/pear sort of flavor, with a touch of florality. Hibi is listed first of the ingredients on the pouch, but honestly I don’t even notice it aside from a subtle pink hue to the yellow liquor of the brew (I’m a big hibi fan, so I wouldn’t have minded more of a presence from it, but for the vast majority of hibi-haters out there, don’t be turned off by its high placement on the ingredient listing). There is maybe a little citrusy-sort of tang, with a long steep? I’m not noticing the chamomile either, which is a bonus for me.

I don’t like this as much as the “Wild Apple Sarsaparilla” and the “Juniper Mint Honey”, but it is certainly enjoyable and I wouldn’t mind getting it again. I think this flavor will shine more prepared as a cold brew, which I’ll have to put on my to-do list.

A mug of sunshine. Quite the mood lifter <3

One of my favorites from Tazo. Have been drinking this for years. Is incredibly potent both hot and cold. Orange essence and rind with tangy hibiscus. I buy this in bulk.

This is one of the four Target-exclusive Forager Edition herbals from Tazo, the one based on the Northeast US. So far, I have really enjoyed the Midwest “Wild Apple Sarsaparilla” and the Rockies “Juniper Mint Honey.” I figured this one would easily also be a hit for me, since I’m one of the few people I know that loves tart, tangy, hibiscus-heavy fruity teas, which is what I was expecting to get from a tea called “Elderberry Blackberry.” Sadly, it wasn’t.

I do taste a strong dark berry flavor, but it just doesn’t have that juicy/tart element I want and expect from berries like elderberry or blackberry. Instead I get this rather awful pervasive background note that tastes flowery, soapy, and baby powder-y… pretty much how chamomile tastes to me. And then I looked at the pouch and see chamomile is an ingredient. It doesn’t have that particular hay/herbaceous/apple/honey chamomile flavor, but the things about that particular flower that always taste “off” to my tongue are present. I guess it is sweetening up the berry notes, but the result is that “chalky/powdery” fruit flavor that Cameron often describes.

Honestly, I need way more hibiscus and way less chamomile for this blend to work for me. I imagine for everyone else out there, though, the choice to make this more chamomile and less hibiscus is welcome. I wish I had some of my plain hibi stash to add to my cup, but sadly I’m out…

Drunk as a plain hot cup, I just find this rather yuck. But I’m going to continue to try to brew it in other ways and see if I can’t find a way to make this work for me, at least to use up the box. I definitely would not get more of this, while I’d happily restock “Wild Apple Sarsaparilla” or “Juniper Mint Honey.”

I had pulled an old advent packet of 52Tea’s “Crisp Cranberry Soda” to try it warm (my previous packet I drank cold brew), thinking that might bring out the “cranberry” for me. It didn’t. I found it pretty meh and the green rooibos was rather dominant in flavor (to be fair, it’s old ) but I just decided to throw the rest of the packet into a cold brew bottle for tomorrow and get a different herbal for my second cuppa.

So I grabbed this, one of the four Target-exclusive “Forager” herbal teas. This is the Rocky Mountain blend (my neck of the woods!) I’m a big fan of this one! As it steeps, it has such a lovely pine-fresh aroma from the mix of juniper and mint. The aroma of the honey, too, reaches my nose.

The sip is very pleasant. I’m a huge juniper fan and could do with it being even stronger here, but the way it mixes with that menthol/fresh flavor of the mint, the two meld in a way that creates a very nice pine flavor. There is definitely an underlying sweetness to the tea, but it doesn’t really taste distinctly “honey” to me. It’s lacking that underlying florality I associate with honey. Still, the sweetness and the mix of juniper and mint makes this a very nice evening cuppa for me.

This is a solidly decent bagged chai tea for under $5. Nicely balanced spices — you can taste the cinnamon, cardamom, star anise, and black pepper in turn. Definitely the winner of my grocery store tea expedition so far.

Not long ago, I decided I really needed to stock up the pantry with some quick-and-easy teabag herbals, as I’ve been quickly using up my non-caffeinated loose leaf due to my “no caffeine after 6 pm” rule. I remember hearing about the limited “Forager’s Edition” teas exclusive to Target (four blends, each “inspired by” a different region of the US). When I went, Target was sold out of the Midwest blend, Wild Apple Sarsaparilla, so I went home with a box each of the other three.

Then, gmathis was kind enough to offer me a sample so I could try all of them! Today I (finally) got out to the mailbox and was surprised with a beautiful card, kind note, and two teabags. So I am now steeping it up as my nightly cuppa today!

The aroma from my steeped cup is giving me sort of a caramel apple vibe… I smell apple, but there is a sweet vanilla/caramel sort of note as well. On the sip, I taste green apples, and it actually has more of a bite to it than the syrupy sweetness that plays on the nose. Sort of an herbaceous peppery flavor… which, looking at the ingredients on the package, I’m going to guess is coming from the cardamom. After the swallow, a sweetness plays out on my tongue… I do taste licorice root, but mildly, without the long, coating-sensation sweetness. I’m actually having a hard time making out the sarsaparilla, which is what interested me the most in the blend (I’m a big fan of it!) I had been initially worried about the chamomile (a flavor I’m not keen on) but the flavors/spices in this tea completely cover up that weird “soapy” taste I get with chamomile.

This is really pleasant! A nice blend to unwind after what felt like a very long work week. Thank you so much, gmathis!

Normally, this time of year at work, if your hold out your hand, a truffle or cookie falls into it. It’s not been quite so snacky this year, but it was Christmas lunch day, so a little mint is needed to lighten the digestive load.

This isn’t exactly an evening go-to for me, but it could be. Mint aplenty. Honey flavor is present, but restrained. It’s a little light on the tree sap, but has enough essence of evergreen to feel a teeny bit Christmasy while I watch Minnie bat her shiny catnip-stuffed Christmas ornament around the kitchen. (Somebody at my house may or may not have purchased a cat toy Advent calendar…)

I’ve worked my way through nearly a full box of Juniper Mint Honey since the first of the year, but gave it a summer hiatus—the honey didn’t appeal to me on ice.

However, the honey, which is the aspect I care for the least in the trio, is downright pleasant tonight. I’ve got a cup sitting next to me, windows open, and the cool breeze is blowing honey scent my way. Were it not for the mint and juniper to cool it down, I’d say it reminded of sweet and sticky baklava.

Recommended if you want an inexpensive change of pace from conventional lemony-minty herbal nightcaps.

Tried this one on ice today for a change of pace. The honey flavor that mellows out the minty-piney is pleasant when you’re drinking it hot in the winter, but today it’s a little annoying because I just want icy-minty-pine. Even so, it’s still a good choice cold.

Between weather, being under it, and being overwhelmed at work (love those January 31 tax statement deadlines), I haven’t gotten out much lately…so much so that a stop at Target on the way home was a Big Adventure. I did a little foraging in the tea aisle and snagged a box of Juniper Mint Honey, primarily for office purposes. I’m going to dare my morning teakettle queue to give it a go and keep a little for afternooners…my old schoolroom office is so cold that I’ve been sipping nonstop and some friendly non-caffeinated bagged options are always welcome.

It just dawned on me that I’ve not said anything about the tea itself. It’s just a nice balance of three flavors I’ve never enjoyed at the same time. the juniper adds a nice piney touch to what would be ordinary honey-mint tea, and the reasonably authentic honey flavor (not 100%, but a decent 79%) complements the mint to keep it from being just another minty tea.

My usual complaint about honey flavoring in tea is that it just doesn’t taste real, which seems to be the general impression of the reviews for Juniper Mint Honey so far. This is the best (or least worst) emulation of honey I’ve had in a long time. With the cooling mint and slightly piney juniper (not a lot), I enjoyed it and was looking at the bottom of the cup surprisingly quickly. Thanks to Michelle for this sample!

I kind of had a feeling I wasn’t going to like this one as soon as I opened the tea bag. WAYYYY too sweet for my tastes, plus I’ve never been a fan of butterscotch or blondies in general. But, guess you can’t knock it ’till you try it.

It does taste better than it smells, in my opinion (insofar as the taste isn’t quite as pungently sweet as the smell). All the same, I really don’t care for the taste either. Again, I’m really not big on overly sweet things, particularly when it comes to beverages, so my review is entirely biased.

This chai blend had a strong aroma of cardamom before steeping but after smelled only of fennel and/or licorice (just checked the ingredients and I’m guessing this is the star anise). The flavor is unremarkable, vaguely spiced. I’m not able to pick out anything specific. It’s one I might have tried because I do like Tazo teas generally, but I’m glad I was able to sample it first. Thanks, Devon Bartholomew!

From Devon Bartholomew.

This reminds me very much of Bigelow’s Salted Caramel black tea. Both have a black tea base with chicory root while Salted Caramel has rose hips and Butterscotch Blondie has cocoa peel, licorice root, cinnamon, and cardamom.

This has a very full flavor. I can taste the sweetness from the licorice root, but it really works here. I’m not sure what cocoa peel is exactly, maybe shells, but I don’t taste any sort of cocoa flavor. Neither do I taste any of the spices. It’s a rich caramel cup, and I can see the similarity to a blondie with its sugary caramelly bite, but I don’t taste the butterscotch.

#tiffanys2021sipdown Tea #220 overall / Tea #44 for May
#drinkwhatyouown March ?/25
Sunday 5/30 — Tazo Zen 2 teabags. Hot & plain before bed. I do think these teabags were in my collection too long or maybe I’m a loose-leaf tea snob because it isn’t the BEST, but this tea was fine for what it is, just something to throw in some water (I brewed it green tea appropriate) easy to sip something warm before bed.
#tiffanydrinkstea #tiffanys2021 #tiffanysfaves #tiffanyinthe614 #tiffanysteasipdown

From Michelle.

I’m not too familiar with juniper, but I had some juniper berries in my spice cabinet so I pulled them out to compare. I don’t notice any connection in the aroma or flavor of the tea. Instead, I smell and taste vanilla mint. I really like it actually.

How does this actually smell like cake?! And taste like vanilla frosting?? I’ve heard a lot about this tea, and I’ve been looking forward to trying it since Michelle sent a bag in her tea box. If I weren’t selfish, I would have let James have it since he loves lemon and herbals. Instead, I let him smell the inside of the tea wrapper after I drank it. Yeah, I’m not exactly winning any awards for wife of the year. Oh well.

I added some cream for World Milk Day and it really seems to bring out more of the lemon flavor. That surprised me. I would have thought it would encourage the creamy frosting to shine, but it didn’t. I have to give this one a good rating, if only for the fact that Tazo nailed the flavor here. But I also really, really liked it.

I almost forgot – Happy Pride, everyone! <3

Water: 8oz

Leaves: Tea Bag

Steep: 5m

Aroma: Sweet, glazed doughnut/pound cake

Color: Golden yellow

Clarity: Cloudy

Taste: I was excited when I saw this tea on amazon fresh, the name of it alone drew me in so I added it to my cart. Today I made 2 cups of it using a different method. I didn’t dunk my tea bag as I normally would it came after the steep & the 2nd time I did the dunking before a full steeping. Although the tea has a great aroma it has no flavor/taste only a hint of tang, which I found to be disappointing. Overall, I don’t think I’ll be making another cup or I might try it with some sweetener.

Another great companion for a hot and humid southern road trip. I ambient-brewed a few bags in my 20oz thermos overnight and was greeted at dawn with the refreshing, sweet taste of a mixed mint and tarragon tea. The spearmint seems to come through more this way than when brewed hot, taming the usually bracing peppermint.

Looks like this is Tazo’s “Refresh” renamed, both teas containing peppermint, spearmint and tarragon.

Surprise, surprise, it’s refreshing. But not overly so. The taste is muddied earth underneath the high, sweet peppermint. Spearmint more prevalent in the aroma than in the taste. A tiny uprising of tarragon after I swallow, otherwise it’s not noticeable. I do wish the tarragon were stronger since I’ve gained an appreciation of it in culinary use.

Refresh Mint is an average mint tea to me. Good enough to buy in a pinch, but something that can be created easily, and perhaps made even better, with a well stocked pantry.

Sipdown! (30 | 234)

This one seems so intriguing to me, so I was so thankful to get a few bags in a swap! I love pine and juniper, so I’m always happy to try more teas with those notes.

Unfortunately, this is not for me. It’s mostly honey, and the flavoring is fairly artificial-tasting. There’s also a sort of cloying floral note that I assume is part of the honey. I do get a bit of mint, and it’s nice and cooling and refreshing. Juniper? Nah, not really. There’s a weird bitterness in the aftertaste as well.

So mostly it’s artificial floral honey. Womp womp.

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