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It occurred to me that this is the oldest thing in my tea collection (although it’s only about two years old, which isn’t horrible), so I’m trying to finish it up. It’s usually a pretty unremarkable cup (although other notes that call it bitter and sometime astringent are accurate), but it was a good choice for the tea newbie I was.

A box of this somehow made it into the cupboards at work, so I’ve been having it every so often. I’m usually a loose leaf kinda girl, but this makes me want to try more from Celestial Seasonings, since it’s pretty nice! Fruity and very tart, and almost reminds me more of heavily flavored water than tea — not always a bad thing in my book.

I think I might be underestimating the best steeping time for this… note to self: keep going.

I sorely wanted some kind of candy cane tea, but I have nothing of the sort. (Note to self: buy at LEAST two kinds this year while every company is selling holiday blends.) As much as I love mintastic, I wanted a heavier and more caffeinated cup, so I threw it together with matévana.

The result? Perfection. The mint flavor is very strong, but the almost-coffee taste of the maté still peeks through — and for me, a mint lover, I can think of nothing better. I’m strongly considering recreating this as a signature blend on Adagio.

This isn’t half bad — something that really surprised me considering that it smells vaguley of sweat (although that may have been the fault of how it was stored by the person I got it from). The taste is mostly darjeeling and oolong, somewhat spicy and more astringent than I would like. Still, for all that it has going on in terms of ingredients, I feel like this is a fairly boring tea.

My school’s dining halls have Bigelow, and I tend to avoid it… but if I absolutely must have some tea, I pick this one.

This is nothing special. The scent is decent enough — simple, but not overwheming. The taste, though, is merely that of a black bagged tea with the tiniest hint of vanilla. Drinkable if it’s your only choice, but not worth making any effort to get.

Not the best jasmine I’ve had, but decent enough. It’s too bitter for my taste and I have to add something sweet — but then again, I almost always feel the need to sweeten floral teas. As others have said, this is definitely worth the low price point and I personally expect to keep some around as long as I’m on a budget.