Calm

Funny story goes with this one: I think I told you we’ve been adopted by a cat? Turns out he was the semi-pet of a lady down the street who feeds any feline that shows up in her yard; when I apologized profusely and professed that I wasn’t a cat burglar, she laughed and said she wasn’t surprised; “Jellybean” wasn’t getting along with his kitty comrades.

I told her that “Tazo” was good therapy … so yesterday evening she showed up at my door with a grin, a bag of Meow Mix, and this box of tea. Guess it’s official.

This isn’t a bad herbal blend; the rose petals give it a sweet and delicate scent. Don’t care for licorice, but it isn’t annoyingly present. Wonder how this would do paired with something fruity and berry.

Backlog from Sunday

I had this the other day at a restaurant after my first VYO concert of the year!! It was pretty exciting and we sounded really good, and I can’t wait for the rest of the season (VYO stands for the Vermont Youth Orchestra, for those who are knew/have forgotten. It’s the top youth orchestra in the state and one of the best in New England). My parents all got food but I had had a burrito a little while earlier and I was literally stuffed so I figured it would be best for me not to get any food (but I really wanted to! It was this really good burger joint called Sky Burger and they have this burger called the jalapeno popper which has pickled jalapenos, cream cheese, jalapeno pepper jelly, and slaw and then has a jalapeno popper on top! Yum!!!!) so I settled on some tea instead. They brought out a little box of Tazo teas (which, I must admit, I actually like a lot) and I settled on this one.

In all honesty, I really liked this. I left the tea bag in the entire time so the flavors got a little too strong towards the end, but I really do like it for a nice alternative. I don’t know about it’s calming effects because I had the earl grey right after, but I do actually enjoy the taste of this.

Thankfully the westin we are staying at had tea other than just lipton. I chose this as I knew it would help calm my nerves and mind during all the last minute pre holiday get together jitters. It even soothed my stomach which was off due to having dinner at 2am. Isn’t holiday travel fun? Wishing everyone a happy holiday and safe travels!

Kaliskaa and I found this with the coffee in our hotel room a couple weeks ago, and I decided I should finally give this a try. After all, Tazo’s Earl Grey, Zen, and Organic Apple Red are pretty good, in my opinion. I had been sort of avoiding this one for the past, oh, ten years or so.

But anyway, there sure is a lot going on in this herbal blend. It smells like straight up Robitussin. I’m assuming that’s from the sarsaparilla and licorice root. Also, what exactly are the “natural flavors” it lists? Not impressed. I was really hoping this was just going to be something light and chamomiley.

When steeped, the chamomile flavor does actually come out both in the scent and taste. Oddly, it goes really well with the sarsaparilla. Despite the cacophony of herbal ingredients, it comes out smoother than I expected. The licorice root and mint are most noticeable at the end, leaving a sort of cooling sensation in my mouth. The licorice isn’t overwhelming like I’ve had in a lot of herbal blends. (I’m looking at you, Yogi Teas!) It makes a strange, vanilla-like taste that I’m actually liking. I thought this tea was going to be a medicinal punishment, but it’s actually pretty pleasant.

The flavor of this is a bit weak for me. Mostly chamomile and spearmint. Kind of a light fruity flavor. It’s enjoyable but not something I’ll ever buy again.

In the “full leaf” sachet, this tisane is like a miniature bouquet of dried pinky red and yellow flowers complete with accenting greenery. Quite charming looking.

Its scent is hard to pin down as there is so much going on. I do smell the chamomile and the mint, but the overarching fragrance is floral with a tinge of spice. It smells like something you might take a bath in — bath-salty, without the salt.

The main flavor I taste is chamomile, and it’s a nice one. Some chamomiles have a tendency to taste a little like a mixture of paper and dried straw that’s been “flavored” with chamomile. This doesn’t. It’s a fresh-tasting chamomile, possibly aided in that respect by the touch of mint.

I don’t get an overpowering taste of mint as some other tasters have. It’s a suggestion more than anything else. There’s also a suggestion of something that is probably the hibiscus, a tangy, herby/earthy taste. It’s interesting to me that I don’t really taste lemon, though both lemongrass and lemon balm are listed in the ingredients. I taste lavender more than lemon, and that’s toward the end of the ingredient list.

It’s not bad, and I’m not a chamomile-hater. I like this much better than the Numi chamomile. The main thing I find objectionable about this is that it’s too busy to be calming. I can’t chill when I know there are nine different flavors, as I keep trying to account for all of them and how they interact with each other. It’s like trying to meditate and being unable to keep track of the mantra because the thoughts are coming too fast and furious.

Calm should be simpler than it is.

A review of Calm Herbal Infusion by Tazo Tea

Company: Tazo Tea
Tea Name: Calm
Tea Type/Varietal: Herbal
Region:
Steeping Vessel/Amt. Leaf: cup/tea bag
Plucking Season:
Liquor Color: soft amber
Leaf Characteristics:

1. Steepings

1st Steeping:
Water temperature: 190 Fahrenheit
Time: 5 minutes

I volunteered for The Massachusetts Women Conference and obtained these tea samples from them. I had a cup of this herbal infusion while waiting in the volunteer room and decided to take some home. I have so many teas to review; there was no need for my taking them. Yet I did. A thief I am. Anyhow, I fixed for myself a lovely cup of this Calm tea this morning and not mid day mind you.

I seem always calm, and yet the world around me is chaotic since it is not my home; my life is not my own it feels like. The other reason for being attracted to this tea is because I had purchased a bottle of Tazo Herbal Infusion but it was infused with spearmint and peppermint. So seeing this herbal infusion strikes a cord of familiarity and the tea is quite nice.

I take one tea bag and put in my cup and pour in the hot water leaving it to steep for a good five minutes and the aroma fills the air immediately with hints of chamomile, hibiscus and rose petals. It is a lovely light amber (yellow base) and when I sip and sip this tea it is the Chamomile that is most prevalent and with more sipping there is the hints for other herbs like lemongrass but not too strong and hints of rose in the fragrant as well.

This is probably the most soothing tea that I have had and I can just keep drinking it all day long; similarly I did while waiting in the volunteer room at the conference after having found this tea. I had been there earlier in the morning and had not notice that there was tea; well I did not think to look for tea. But in the afternoon while in the same room I look closely at the table and saw the tea sampler box and ventured over to finding (Tazo teas, Tetley Teas and Lipton tea bags) I chose this herbal infusion of Calm tea and fixed myself a cup of this tea and taking some of the tea bags with me.

I am happy to say I have had another wonderful cup of tea by Tazo Tea. Thank you to the conference staff for having such good teas available.

ehhh. blah. i think it’s interesting that they add turmeric for color, but mass market appeal is appealing, and turmeric is a pretty color, so, fine. i get it. Was at a meeting, this was the best tea choice to have with the conference room lukewarm water. eh.

This was another tea in my “xmas-tea-giftbasket-of-meh.” I guess that I had really really low expectations since I’m not a fan of chamomile since having it straight-up, and I really like my spearmint plain. Well, it wasn’t as “blarg” as I’d feared. AmazonV described this as busy flavor-wise and I think that she nailed it. I’ll probably keep this one and go through the box since it’s an okay herbal, but when it’s over I will not be buying more. M

This is the proverbial “not my cup of tea.”

Now, I should have know better, because there are very few chamomile teas I really like. But, I’m at this training facility today, and their tea selection is very limited. So I thought I’d give it a go.

I should have skipped it. I thought the flavors were kind of.. meh. And I thought it smelled bad. I feel like I’m pointing fingers and singing like a grade schooler "Nya, nya, nya-nya nay – you smell bad!’ but I really don’t have any other descriptions. It was just icky. My mouth + Calm = not happy.

I think if you like chamomile, this might be more for you.

This one scared me. When I bought it I thougt “Chamomile is great!” Then when I opened the box it was very reminiscent of licorice twist by DT, with which I had a run in with earlier. . . But once brewed it wasn’t half bad, very chamomile. And it definitely made me want to go to bed!
I find you have to extend the steep time with Tazo full leaf though.

Pretty average in every way but a nice evening tea

So I went laser tagging with my work friends last night, the first time I played since those elementary school birthday parties from a million years ago. :) I had tons of fun, but now my throat hurts from screaming too much. DX; So I thought I’d give this tea a go on my break.

I didn’t realize this had hibiscus so I oversteeped it. It’s a really dark color now and I can’t really taste the chamomile anymore. It’s still fairly sweet though naturally, the cool mint feels good on my throat. I agree with others who said this was a bit on the busy side. I kinda just wanted the chamomile. Overall it’s okay, but I couldn’t be bothered to bring a tin home even though it’d be free.

Tastes like chamomile. I like the almost-fruity note that I assume is the rose and hibiscus, but it’s barely there.

This is probably better if you like chamomile.

One of my coworkers has been out of town, and her hotel had tea in the rooms. She pocketed them and left them on my desk at work, bless her. I love having enablers in my life. I brought these couple of bags home to try before bed tonight.

It’s minty chamomile. Or, rather, chamomiley mint. Mint is the first big flavor that I got from this, then followed by chamomile. There’s a hint of fruity, but you kinda have to be searching for it. Smooth, and fairly light. But the more I drink, the more the mint stands out.

Not too bad, but not something I’d purchase, either. I’m just happy to see that hotels are starting to provide more than coffee in the rooms for their guests.

I had a bad morning—nothing was going my way, and it’s raining like crazy again. Student activities sponsored a tea bar (free travel mug!) in the student center today, which really made my day. At the suggestion of a friend, I chose this one, and it helped me relax. The rose and spearmint complement the chamomile nicely—I usually don’t care for the herb by itself, unless I am really in the mood for it.
At arranging, I realized I’d made yet another mistake on the assignment I’d just turned in, but I’ve done well in the class otherwise. The chamomile said to shrug it off.

I enjoyed this tea and found it very calming and soothing. I did add a bit of sugar as I enjoy my tea on the sweet side. I will make sure I keep this tea in my cupboard at all times.

Amount: 1 teabag
Additives: none
Water: 20 ounces hot spigot water from Starbucks Barista
Steep Time: a little over 5 minutes before first sip, but i left it in for the duration I drank it on the train, approx 30 minutes or more
Served: Hot

Notes: This is a very busy flavor, I was not able to pick out many of the individual flavors. I think that although it is a good tea, it is too overwhelming and i prefer other herbal Tazo flavors over this one. During the resteeping process the string ripped the filterbag where it was attached with glue. This was disappointing as this is supposed to be a higher grade teabag and tea from Tazo.

Smell: Chamomile, Floral, Vegetal, A little mint very busy and strong heady odor
Flavor: Chamomile, Mint
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: tingly, flowers, a non-hot burning even on the front of my tongue
Liquor: Honey yellow-brown

Resteep: I re-steeped for 44 minutes, it remained light bodied, lighter colored, and weaker scented and flavored (same 20 ounce but with filtered boiled water). I do not recommend resteeping this tea.

I was a little anxious this evening and thought I’d grab a book and a cup of this tea to try and calm myself down. Maybe it was the act of sitting and reading, or maybe it was the placebo effect, but something worked!

I’m actually very pleased with the tea. It reminds me a lot of “Tension Tamer” from Celestial Seasonings, but it’s more delicate, with less of a pungent aftertaste. It’s nice and sweet—it smells and looks like what I imagine nectar would smell and look like =).

I find this tea so relaxing. The chamomile is effective, but the taste isn’t overly present. I know not everyone likes the taste of chamomile. I enjoy the rose flavor that comes out after brewing and thankfully I don’t taste the licorice at all. This is a great tea for bedtime – I love to curl up with a book & a mug. In fact, that sounds really nice…