Awake™ Full Leaf Tea

Today was coffee bean buying day, which means that it’s also free tea day! I chose Awake because oh man, do I need to become awake ;) It’s a bit flat, but with the milk and sugar I put in, very comforting and spot-hitting. I dare say today it has a tinge of honeyed goodness! I must have hit the magic steep time (which is sadly a mystery – the time it took me to walk across the street, wait for the elevator, go to the office. Who knows!?!?! Much better than the time it takes to get to my classroom at school – it’s always over brewed then!!) The full leaf is very much an improvement over the former bag.

I had this as a latte in the afternoon. Quite yummy! I’m just beginning to differentiate between different black teas— there was a day when my uncultured(still is!) palate couldn’t pinpoint the difference between a standard orange pekoe and chinese black. Nevertheless, I am figuring it out… slowly!
This was a bold black, with a strong floral scent/flavour… a forrest flower maybe? but not soapy! that is a good thing in my books.
I don’t always enjoy floral but the last few days I’ve actually been craving it. Odd, for me anyhow. I would never buy this tea to take home though, it’s just convenient when I’m on the run or don’t have access to hot water and a mug.

I found myself in a Starbucks for the early part of my day, helping my cousin brainstorm some future story ideas. I had a hand in a children’s book/app he’s developing. Also got a sneak peek of it’s near-completion; lookin’ pretty sexy…er…for a children’s book. (You can “like” it on FB, if you so choose: http://www.facebook.com/The.Riverbottom.Tales).

I was running on four hours of sleep and needed a “brewed” awakening of sorts. So, “Awake” it was. Not much special to say here. It’s black, it’s bitter, it’s the tea version of coffee. As far as English Breakfast variants go, it gets the job done. No more, no less.

I’ll be back a wee bit later for something more esoteric.

Had a nice experience with this one at starbucks yesterday. Normally the only way I can drink this tea is iced and sweetened as its just too strong hot. Its pretty good as an iced black tea lemonade as well.
So today I tried something new and ordered it as a latte with soy milk and vanilla syrup. It was actually very pleasant and smooth, while not being too sweet either. I still took the tea bag out pretty quickly to not steep it strong and once I finished the cup, I re-brewed it again with just their hot water, raw sugar, and some cinnamon and it was pretty yummy and light. Best enjoyed in a mug.

I was on the go this morning, so I decided to head into Starbucks to get my daily tea fix. I’ve had this tea many times in the past, but I’ll be reviewing it as though it were my first time.

Leaf Quality:
The leaves were in sachets. I did not get to smell them before brewing, as I was given the cup with it already brewing. However, I did smell them after brewing. They were not complete leaves; they were cut in half. Some were almost whole. Nevertheless, the leaves were loose, and smelled slightly floral and malty.

Brewed Tea:
At my first sip of the tea, I could tell that the base was a Ceylon tea. A slight hint of malt told me there was some Assam, or perhaps Darjeeling as well. The color of the brew was a dark copper-red. It smelled like a version of an English Breakfast tea. It tasted much the same as well. I did not taste any of the floral notes I smelled in the leaves. The malt was as strong as the scent either.

I suppose this would be a good cup to carry me on, but I would prefer some of the other teas I have.

Haven’t had this for a while, nor have I had it served to me by Starbucks in the big sachet. So it’s stiffer and stronger than I recall. That’s not a disadvantage on a very sleepy Monday a.m. That wouldn’t be darjeeling I’m tasting in the background? Nahhhh….

I said I would never try Awake again, but I heard that Starbucks had switched to full-leaf teas and I was in a bind. A tea bind.

I got two bags of this in a Grande cup, and steeped it for about 2:45. Then I added a ton of 2% milk. I was really pleasantly surprised; it was a very robust and flavorful drink. I think I need to try this method with other teas that I know I like – load up on the leaves, keep brewing time super short, and be generous with the milk. I would guess the brewing temperature was a fair bit under boiling because it brewed in a cup, but I don’t know for sure. This is the tea served in large, silky bags in Starbucks; the flat bags are trash, I reviewed them in another note.

The finished tea was thick and bracing, with more raisin than malt. In overall character I would say it was like a slightly more nuanced and less astringent PG Tips. There was some astringency as one would expect with so much leaves, but not excessive like the flat Tazo bags or other poor-quality black teas.

I’m not sure where to put the rating on this, as I may be rating the method more than the tea, but it was good in any case. I’ll come back and modify the score depending on how other teas fare with the same technique.

But damn, I hate Tazo’s overly-cute marketing. This tea making tea shamans remember words? Ugh.

It’s a decent one to have on hand for running out the door. I’ve had these bags a while; it’s probably a bit stale. It is better than their other bagged variety, more depth in flavor. I’d be interested to try a ‘fresh’ bag but not interested enough to go buy some of this. :P

I don’t drink coffee (a childhood mishap with a General Mills Vanilla Instant Coffee mix and overcrowded porta-potties at a New Year’s Day parade took care of that option a long time ago), but often will find myself in a Starbucks with a friend. This is really the only tea I will drink here, and to be honest, it is more like paying rent for the seats than it is paying for a drink.

I find that this tea has almost no flavor whatsoever. I tend to like smooth, but strong black teas, and I often add sweetener and milk. If I drink this straight, it really doesn’t taste like much beyond “HOT,” and if I add milk and sugar, that is all that I can taste.

After reading the other tasting notes, I think I should make an effort to steep this tea a bit longer from now on. However, I tend to avoid steeping my teas for very long because I don’t like the bitterness/astringency that comes out of them over a long steep. And this tea is simply not strong enough to leave me with any flavor in the amount of time I spend to steep it.

I have to say that, especially for a plain black tea, I find this divine. I’ve purchased a few boxes and it’s a staple go-to tea for a quick cup of tea that’s bold and refreshing when I have little time. I do drink it with sugar (1 tsp.) to enhance the flavor. Deep and rich, careful not to oversteep. My son enjoys it with me sometime. Just refreshing and a nice rich black tea taste.

Had this at lunch time today while on the run. I definitely like it better in this “full leaf” incarnation than the previous bagged variety. Nicer, fuller flavour. Richer and more enjoyable. I could go for a cup right now, come to think of it.

I think this tea is okay. I do put it through my Keurig so I am positive that makes a difference (rather than steeping myself). It’s more of a convenience tea when I’m feeling lazy haha. It’s quite strong and bitter, I have to put some agave in it to help balance it out a bit. I don’t mind the taste, I’m sure it would be great as an iced tea. But I do get a pretty astringent-y after taste with this tea. It’s just a little bitter for me! But…it’s still okay. I always get these tea if I go to Starbucks. My friends are Starbucks junkies but I don’t really drink coffee or enjoy anything else besides this or an Earl grey tea latte :)

I bought this tea with a discount and because I felt like having a no frills black tea. This tea was good, though I have had better. All in all, this is a nice tea to have when you’re not looking for something extravagant and in a pinch.

Mmmmmm, it smells like honey! And the forest. There’s a beautiful woodland quality to the smell Tazo Awake tea. Like I should be drinking it on the front porch of a log cabin, wearing a hand-knit toque, scarf, mittens and a big flannel coat, watching the little snows drift silently to the forest floor. I think I might have used too much water, because it’s a little on the light side, but it still smells delicious. It has a bit of sharpness to the taste (which I’ll attribute to the age of the tea itself*), but plenty of that down-homey black tea taste that I like. Can’t describe it, other than Black Tea.
Tasty! (But not ultra tasty. A good go-to tea.)
*Full disclosure: I HAVE the full leaf tea, but don’t care for it. I used the crumbly old tea bags that they used to have at Starbucks (making this tea a little on the old side as well, perhaps.)

After Red Rose, Awake has always been my favourite.

Probably the one bagged tea I’ll keep a mean, firm grip on. For one, so far it’s the only English breakfast tea I’ve tried that has that tangy taste along with the otherwise typical breakfast taste. But the main reason is that, as a Starbucks employee, I get to take a tin of this home with me every week for free. Hard to beat that. It’s also the only Tazo tea I can drink. Every other variety by Tazo? No thanks.

Awake tea is very, very fussy. Oversteep it even just by a marginal amount, and BAM it turns to mud. For me I’ve found the magic time to be three minutes. Two minutes it’s hot water. Four minutes it’s mud.

If you get the magical time, you get the typical taste of a breakfast tea, with a unique tang like finish that sort of buzzes on your tongue. The tang is the best part as it gives it a very nice flavor.

I like it with a little bit of golden sugar and a little bit of milk.

Unfortunately, if you oversteep this, the tang is the first part to disappear into the mud taste. Set the oven timer when preparing! :)

If you would like to order this a latte at your local Starbucks, I recommend ordering a tall size with one pump vanilla, no classic syrup.

Had this served from Starbucks. Smelled pretty good, but the taste just wasn’t my thing. Didn’t care for the bold bitterness. I don’t drink tea for bitterness, I drink coffee for that.

I am drinking the flat bag variety so I will not be too harsh on this. It’s a good breakfast tea. It sure has an accurate name, it’s a great tea to brew as soon as I get to work, wakes you up great. It’s a plenty bitter, but I am way oversteeping it so it’d be silly to blame it on the tea itself. But I like this intense boldness of flavor, after all it leaves a great after taste. As far as bagged teas go, this one is a keeper (and it’s not the first time I refresh the stash).

Very surprised! I absolutely love this tea especially from Tazo. I tried the China Green tips loose leaf years ago (I was a neophyte to tea then) and didn’t like it very much so I didn’t buy Tazo since, until recently from the Starbuck’s website; I thought of giving it a try again…glad I did.

Aroma: A little mild and a little vibrant (not spicy).

Taste: Surprising given the name of this tea. It is not awakening what-so-ever like Lipton’s Brisk regular black. It is quite mild with a little vibrancy (again, not spicy like a Darjeeling) with a slight mouth feel and a honey sweetness to it…very delicious.

Aftertaste: The sweetness is there but fleeting, the full mouth feel is there as well but the true aftertaste is clear and cleaner than a true-blend Darjeeling.

This tea is a hybrid blend of Indian and Sri Lanka black teas. It is a very enjoyable tea for anytime of day. Awakening is a very acceptable afternoon tea as well as an after dinner tea. I would highly recommend this tea…a must buy!

this is my go to tea in the morning, one of the reasons I switched to this is ease of finding it when traveling I always over steep this tea and find the second steep with fresh water even better than the first cup of tea. Great for waking up in the morning and keeping you caffeinated.

This is a Grab-and-Go tea bag. It will wake you up and keep you there for a while. As much as I like loose leaf teas, sometimes you got-to reach down and get some.