Trader Joe's

I bought a box of this tea in January to have as a work tea, and I’m finishing it off today. Overall, I like this tea. The base tea is incredibly light. Light enough, in fact, that I often leave the tea bag in my mug throughout the day, and I’ve never had this tea tun bitter or coarse on me. The main flavor is cinnamon, but the ginger does make itself know here and there throughout the cup. Easy to sip, and a nice little pick-me-up in between helping patients.

I had not noticed this at TJ’s in the past, so I snagged a box this week. Trader Joe’s teas can be hit or miss for me and I find them to be inconsistent from box to box. But I love TJs and am a sucker for picking up tea there to go with all the other snacks I shouldn’t be purchasing.

I had a mug after yoga and hoping for a good night sleep tonight. The primary flavor I taste is spearmint with a slight hint of floral. Not too bad. I’ll see how the other tea bags stand up.

I finished a tin of this around eight years ago and have kept the adorable tin on my shelf ever since (currently filled with lavender). I was visiting family recently and was thrilled to see this same tin on their shelves, and it still had a few bags left in it! They use a tasty rooibos as a base, and the spices are mild, but pleasant. There’s a tiny bit of fruitiness from the pumpkin. It may be nostalgia, but I’ll always love this one!

Saw an unsweetened ‘tea beverage’, decided to try. Chilled.

Smells cleaner-ish, like pithy grapefruit with a touch of mint. Doesn’t taste like much at first, then all I can taste is bitter earthy green tea, bitter grapefruit pithiness, bitter-tangy carbon dioxide.

Yawn.

I picked this up at TJs about a week or so ago— it was 2 bucks and with the season changing to spring I was excited to make some iced tea to bring in the warmer weather.
I did a quick google search on rooibos, saw all of the positive feedback about it, and brought it home and started making lots of tea!
It tastes great iced. I didn’t add anything— no sweetener, no lemon, it was perfect just as it is.

About two or three days after I started drinking I woke up in the middle of the night with scary, intense heart palpitations. It alarmed me for sure, but I wrote it off as a nightmare mixed with poor sleep. Then things got even more frightening: The heart palpitations continued on the next day, all day, into the night…this has lasted for a week. I saw an urgent care doctor yesterday who tested all of my vitals (normal), did an ekg (heart was normal), X-ray (normal), iron and thyroid test (Thyroid came back today and was normal, still waiting on the iron) and the doctor essentially told me that I was very healthy and that if the palpitations persisted to see a cardiologist…well, last night I realized that the timeline meshed with the rooibos tea— I started researching and loads of people have had the same response. Apparently the side effects are uncommon, but not extremely so, you may very well have a bad response.

I would say pass on this tea. Or only drink It once a week or so, definitely don’t let it be a daily treat or you may suffer for the next few days with a heart beat so hard it looks like a cartoon falling in love and beating out of their chest.

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.