Trader Joe's

I remember drinking a lot of this one back in college, so it was nostalgic to have a cup again today. The flavor is simple, yet enjoyable cold. It’s mostly minty with a soft, supporting herbal base. It doesn’t need any sugar. I think I’ve enjoyed every Trader Joe’s tea I’ve ever tried.

I’m recently back drinking tea regularly as I had been mostly drinking specialty coffee so I’ve been having fun exploring brands and blends. In the old days, (20 years ago) I drank Earl Grey and English Breakfast and assorted herbals and growing up in the Boston area English teas were the norm; Lipton, Tetley, Salada and the like were in my folk’s cupboard. My dad was full-on Irish so he preferred a bold and strong cuppa with milk and sugar. Anyway.. being half-Irish my review of an Irish tea can only be 50% valid so there’s that! To the tea, I think TJ’s blend is pretty much what I’d hoped for in an Irish Breakfast; strong, malty, dark and boisterous. This tea is not kidding. If you want a morning or afternoon pick-me-up, this is a great choice. Don’t steep past 5 minutes to avoid some bitterness and definitely add milk & sugar. And lastly, some reviews can be quite snobby but this is not a tea for you. This is a 4¢ bag of in your face black tea that you probably shouldn’t drink after 5 pm unless you’re on the night shift.

Grabbed a single tea bag from a tea box. I get both the watermelon and mint. It would be tastier on an herbal or green base. The choice of a black base was a little strange. It does taste pretty good though. The watermelon is quite candy-like, and it fits perfectly with the mint. I’ve found myself craving more, so it must have been pretty good. Too bad the tea box is long gone, otherwise I would definitely grab some more!

A nice warm flavored rooibos for anytime of day. I steep a maximum of three minutes or else it becomes bitter, which I despise.

While I’ve not found a maple tea I enjoy, my Canadian friend dropped off some maple espresso for me. She’s unaware that I also don’t care for coffee. BUT I gave the tea a try twice and nope it’s not for me. Gonna pass on finishing the bags I do have and give it over to my coffee drinking husband. Maybe he’ll enjoy it and I can convert him to tea drinking.

Day 18 of Sara’s Old Tea! Part 5 of 6

I like this, reminds me of the Moroccan Mint at Menara Moroccan Restaurant in San Jose. I miss eating out. Theirs is a bit sweetened, with honey I think.

The main flavor is spearmint. Okay, it reminds me a bit of spearmint gum too. Anyway, good classic flavor.

I received this tea bag from a colleague. It was a nice easy to drink chai. Spices are well-balanced with no overwhelming flavors. Enjoyed on a cold morning but will not buy for myself.

Leaves: bag
Measuring Spoon: no
Steep: 5 min
Aroma: none
Color: medium reddish brown
Clarity: Great

Taste: I was excited when I came across this tea on youtube so I had to give it a try. The packaging said to use cold water but for a first steep I wanted to try it with room temperature bottled water for 5 minutes. The first thing I did was detect the aroma but to my surprise there really wasn’t anything I noticed. As for the taste it wasn’t that great the first words that came to mind was sour citrus water. I understand it’s supposed to be tangy but I can see it probably being improved by adding some sweetener. I also want to give it a fair try so I will also be steeping using cold water (bottled or tap) so see how it comes out then. Using cold water first awakened the aroma citrus & the color was also darker. I didn’t dunk the bag as I did before steeping the first cup. The flavor this time was weak hot sour oranges. Overall I didn’t find this tea enjoyable.

A cast off from a friend who didn’t care for it. I also have to say, it’s not a favorite alone. With a little honey, I find it improved.
There’s a earthy taste to it, similar to mushrooms. I do taste the spearmint -which is not a favorite flavor of mine but I don’t generally dislike it. However, I don’t feel that spearmint and lemon is a good combination in this.

Picked this up at Trader Joe’s several weeks ago along with the Lemon Green Tea one. I did not care for the Lemon Green tea flavor but I really like this one! It has a little bit of sugar added and is only slightly sweet. I could taste the black tea and the fruit in this one. Overall I would buy this again for when I’m on the go or need something quick. It’s a pretty good bottled tea.

Impulse buy from Trader Joe’s. I’ve seen passing references to barley tea in Japanese novels (Murakami) and was curious to finally try it myself.

While I’m glad to see TJ’s beginning to stock Asian bottled teas, this one was a miss for me. My better half, who shared the bottle with me, aptly described it as “like drinking watered down coffee”. I have to agree. This is a pretty aggressively roasted tea and has a slightly oily texture. Coffee drinkers and fans of dark tea might like it but for others like me, this is at best an acquired taste.

I bought this at my local Trader Joe’s with high hopes. I was underwhelmed. Not bold enough for me as either a white or pomegranate tea.

What is this exactly? Not a tea really, and not an herbal. Perhaps more honestly classified as a medicinal . It has a very clean taste. Neither the ginger or turmeric are overpowering but they are definitely both present. the same cannot be said for the other listed ingredients, I get no orange peel or orange oil. I’m assuming the sweetness comes from the licorice. No black pepper on the tongue either.
It is a nice warm tea to end the night with . I can’t quite call it cozy. But it is quite good.

Decided against better judgment to stay home with the migraine today (work gets pissy whenever someone happens to “be sick” on a Monday or Friday, but damn it all) so I promptly got a batch of this cold-brewing first thing this morning so I could sip on it throughout the day to help with the nausea. Mint and ginger are two of the only things that help curb that rather unfortunate side effect. I don’t have a Trader Joe’s anywhere near me, but my friend Todd sent me a box of this from one of his Bay Area stores when he made a Taylors of Harrogate Yorkshire Gold run for me (which is another tea that isn’t sold in any of my local stores). Popped four teabags in a quart-sized mason jar and left it until it was that brown color you expect of mint tea.

Cool. Refreshing. Has that nice, fresh, cool menthol mintiness of spearmint that settles in the back of the throat and is calming on the tum. Mildly grassy from the green tea, and there is a gentle citrusy burst from the lemongrass, but the spearmint is the dominant note. Satisfying. I should get another jar steeping now as it will probably go quickly.

Thanks Todd!

Cold-brewed. Smells like fruit punch, tastes like nothing but sour and in a thin way. Increasing brew time and number of bags doesn’t do much for the better.

Probably ok with sugar. Even then, it might taste like Kool-Aid.

It’s amazing it is so well accepted here.

I have to say I am with derk in same boat. It was quite weak in taste, ginger was weak and turmeric almost non present.

Quite strong on the licorice root, I have to agree – bit too sweet for me.
Quite meh, unfortunately. But maybe it is caused I prepared it for all in the family in big family pot (two bags per liter and something).

Not a fan. But thanks derk anyway!

It has a good flavor and is refreshing.

Very strong on the pomegranate—nice and tart!

I’m sure why I bought the tea in the first place. I have this habit of leaving the tea bag in the cup which another reviewer mentioned, definitely infused a lot of cinnamon flavor. It has a slight sweetness which I love as I’m not a fan of adding sugar to my tea (diet and everything?). I wanted to try this with milk but didn’t find it necessary.

As it is a holiday tea, you will love pairing this with a Christmas Fruit Cake, a pumpkin spice muffin or any holiday cake. Can’t get cozier than this! :)

Non-spicy ginger overpowers the weak turmeric. Strong orange oil and licorice root, no black pepper.

Do Not Like.

A tea-drinking coworker loves licorice root so I’ll be gifting the rest of this box to her, along with another licorice heavy tisane.

This tea is going to be sour and tart. That was my first impressions when I took it from box from derk. Thank you. And as I had choice paralysis, I let choose tea my faithful friend – random.org

And it decided this one. I smelled the bag and yeah, it is going to be sour and tart.
Brewed for 4 minutes, it became deep red (as in the picture).

It is – sour and tart. But with some notes of raspberries or something? It should not be in, but tastes like raspberry jam or something. It is pleasantly sour. But yeah, it’s tart tea. It’s not bad, but nothing to really enjoy. At least for me.

I went for a walk while waiting for some new rubber seals, a boot and a lock to be installed on my truck’s camper shell. As soon as I strolled into another business’s parking lot, I ran into a coworker and her wife and two dogs… this other business being another location of the company we work for. Both of us on our days off, the four of them not visiting our employer but going for a walk along the creek across the street. I am often surprised by this ‘small town’ thing. I enjoy every encounter and learned connection I have.

After receiving dog kisses and getting a spritz on my shoe by a terribly excited standard poodle puppy, I walked back to the waiting room of the camper shell business and was surprised to find it spotless (I was scared it was going to resemble a junkyard bathroom — I’ll never go in one but my imagination was running wild after visiting a pick-and-pull last week and finding a brand new bra on the ground…) and with a selection of herbal and green teas on the counter. Picked this, something I’ve seen at Trader Joe’s but never considered purchasing.

I steeped one bag in probably 12oz of watercooler hot water and left the bag in while I sipped. I think the instructions said something like 1.5 to 2 minutes but I was feeling hypoglycemic and lazy. This tasted unlike any other tulsi I’ve had. It had a very vibrant aroma and flavor along the lines of star anise, clove and a bit of soft mintiness. No bitterness, no astringency, no flat herbaceous flavor that I was expecting. The texture was at first somewhat thin but developed into something more oily and medium-bodied as the bag continued to brew. I may have to purchase a box to have on hand until I grow my own tulsi.

Arby Advent Backlog
This one is at first pretty unremarkable. Mostly tastes like a weak bagged fruit tea. As I have more bags of it, I do find myself enjoying it more. It’s tart and the berry flavor is decent. I don’t mind this one! Thanks for sharing so many bags of this, Arby! I did end up becoming a bit of a fan of the cherry flavor mixed in there with the usual berry flavors.