Yogi Tea

I nicked this teabag from the breakroom at City Hall when I was there last month for some training, and I decided to brew it up today for Sunday tea time. Had I noticed that chamomile was the first listed ingredient I probably would’ve passed (what a strange ingredient for a pumpkin spice tea!) but I’m actually not tasting it too much against the flavoring. It reminds me a lot of an herbal version of Tazo’s “Pumpkin Spice Chai” in the pumpkin flavoring. The spice blend is pretty nice too, the cinnamon hits first but the ginger comes second with a little bite that lingers after the sip.

This is surprisingly good, especially for being on a chamomile base. If you are like me and don’t like the taste of chamomile, you’d be hard-pressed to even notice it in this blend. It has passion flower too… so I guess this would be a decent evening alternative for those that like Tazo’s “Pumpkin Spice Chai” which is on a black base. The pumpkin flavoring in both is a little weird/artificial but if you like it in one, you’d like it in the other.

This is another abandoned breakroom tea.

Brewing it up, it has a very strong citrusy aroma… I was expecting it to be quite tart or even puckering based on the aroma, but tasting it, the stevia really comes out and it’s much sweeter than I was anticipating. The ashwagandha also comes out far more strongly than I was expecting, as there is this sort of hay-like, herbaceous note in the background. Something about that herbaceousness and sweetness hits together at the end of the sip and leaves a bit of an unpleasant aftertaste. The orange flavor is good, and far less artificial than I often get with orange teas, but the ashwagandha and stevia just kind of ruin the overall experience. I also don’t taste any of the spices despite seeing cinnamon, ginger, and clove all listed in the ingredients… maybe a hint of cinnamon in the weird aftertaste?

This is drinkable, but I definitely won’t be grabbing any more teabags of this one. I grabbed Tazo’s “Wild Sweet Orange” from the breakroom at the same time as this one, so I’m curious to also try that one and see how it compares.

Tried this after getting a bag for free and it’s pretty good after adding in some milk and cinnamon to it. I don’t think it changed how tired I was but was a nice cup of tea!

It will wake you up. But that’s about it.

Not as aromatic as some chamomile, nor as sweet. Plenty fine with me.

I drank some of this recently. I didn’t have any stomach pain to begin with, but wanted to see how it would taste. I love licorice, so the ingredients in this made this a suprisingly tasty and flavorful cup. I can’t say whether this will actually help stomach pain or not.

Some days, you just need a nice, relaxing tea. You’ve had a long work week where you sat around in a circle and talked with a bunch of guys for 40 hours. I can only imagine how frazzled I would feel if they made me do much labor.

So that brings me to Yogi’s Kava tea for stress and relaxation. It suggests brewing two teabags for 7 minutes of you’re on the brink of insanity. I steeped 4 teabags for about 15 minutes. I think. I didn’t really count.

Man, this stuff tastes horrible. Because of the cinnamon and anise, at best, I would call it drinkable. I’m sure it’s there to cover the mud-like flavors of kava. It’s mouth-numbing qualities started to kick in, making it a little more tolerable. But by the end, the tea was cooling off. Memories of “bitter beer face” commercials came to mind as I cringed down the last sips.

But the tea is noticeably relaxing. A little more than sleepytime extra, the only other tea I can think of that recommends being over 18 to drink. Relaxing enough that I no longer felt like writing this review while drinking it.

If you’re both looking for the kind of flavor that makes you question if you hate yourself, but also desire mild relaxation, this is the drink for you.

Sipdown (2620)!

Brewed this up last night and was immediately surprised by how much more bright and lemon-forward the mug was. I really expected more of a 50/50 representation of the two flavours. The ginger was still there, of course. I could especially taste and feel that tickle of ginger heat in the back end of the sip and aftertaste. It was an OK cup of tea for a bagged blend, but there was a sharp and almost metallic feeling quality to the lemon that docked a few points off for me.

Sipdown (2583)!

I’m not exactly sure how “energized” I felt after drinking this tea but I did really enjoy the taste. It was more medium bodied, but the pure note of sweet, freshly juiced orange was so delicious and full of life. One of the best orange flavours I’ve ever tasted in a tea bag – mostly because it was sweet but still had a slight tang and acidity to its top notes too. Very dynamic for just a mono-flavoured tea.

Been putting off drinking this for a bit. But I wanted to shoot a video showing basic tea brewing. And this was nearby. The aroma when I opened the packet was pleasant and spicy. The flavor is calming with slightly spicy notes hitting first, followed by vanilla and chamomile. However, I’ve always found the mix of chamomile and vanilla a bit strange. It’s not bad they just conflict the longer I let it steep.

This tea is wonderful for relieving headaches but the mix of flavours may be overwhelming for those with sensory issues.

I’ve only made one other note about this Yogi blend, but the box is nearly gone…the backstory is that our Walmart Neighborhood market had this crazily sale priced at 25 cents last winter/spring; a price like that made it worth the risk.

I truly despise most Yogi teas because they are loaded with way too much licorice. This one, however, uses stevia for sweetening, and while that’s still a little strong for my taste, it does give the peppermint a bit of a candy cane vibe. The peppermint is also helpful when you’re working off the effects of a Halloween potluck at work.

Bigelow does a holiday Peppermint Bark tea that leans to the sweet side; this is a close cousin. Will I buy it again? If I find a 25 cent price sticker on it, you betcha!

When our Walmart Neighborhood Market (a grocery-only Walmart) puts stuff on clearance, they want it gone. Thus, this box was priced at 25 cents. Now, normally, Yogi would have to pay me to imbibe, because I loathe licorice and it’s in nearly everything they blend. However, a quick look at the box surprised me…not an L-word in the lineup. So, for a quarter, why not?

This is evidently Yogi’s take on holiday candy cane tea. With a very cautious steep (3 minutes instead of their recommended 7), it performs as advertised. There’s some stevia in the blend, but the mint tones it down. All in all, a surprisingly decent cuppa.

A box of this tea was left on the up-for-grab’s table in our library breakroom, so I decided to take it home. The name sounded great… cinnamon horchata? Yum!

…………….

Welp, I now know why this tea was being given away for free. The teabag smells like stinky feet and cinnamon, and the steep cup… just smells like stinky feet. I’m not exactly sure how to put the taste into words, except HORCHATA THIS IS NOT. This is a musty damp basement where a lone cinnamon stick was left forgotten in a corner.

It’s so bad, but I can’t bring myself to take it back to work and put it on the up-for-grab’s table, passing it on like the curse from “The Ring.” If I have noticable sleep benefits from it, I’ll probably try steeping a teabag with something stronger (like some roasted buckwheat or Teeccino, maybe hot cocoa) to use it up. If my sleep still sucks after drinking this monstrocity of a cup, it’s gettin’ tossed.

Flavors: Stinky Feet, Mold, Dank, Cinnamon(?)

I was gifted this tea from a coworker after it gave her heartburn. And ya… I can see how she could have that problem with it. The spices in it come off a bit muddled for me and present as more of a general “peppery” taste. Maybe I’m being hard on it because I’ve had some really great loose leaf rooibos chais (Rishi’s being my favorite). It’s actually fine for a cheap bagged option, but I’ll probably try some other brands next time. As a free gifted tea, this was perfectly servicable in the evenings, and I actually quite enjoyed it steeped in sweet apple cider.

Well, it’s that time of year again…the MLB post-season has officially started and I’m already on the edge of my seat hoping (but not holding my breath) for a Brewers WS victory. Currently watching Game 1 of the NL Wild Card and…I definitely needed something to help me relax, so I decided to break out this little number I’ve had in my cupboard. On my second cup now. Is it helping me relax? Maybe. But it tastes really good, which is helping to distract me a little bit at least. Sweet but not overwhelming, fruity but not obnoxious, everything just works well with this blend.

Here’s hoping the Brew Crew can do the improbable!

I’m not a big believer in health claims like this one. Hydration will usually add to a healthy glow. Pretty sure this was from an office tea stash that wandered home with me. My office mate was a huge believer in various herbal supplement claims.

It’s quite floral and I only taste the rose and hibiscus. I rather enjoy it. The aroma and taste match, which hasn’t been the case lately. There is a sweetness to it (probably the stevia) and I found no need for additives to make the tea more palatable for me. Would I drink this 3-4 times a day, every day as recommended? Probably not, so I doubt I’ll see the skin benefits it claims to have. But if this was on sale at the market while shopping, I’d probably pick up a box.

I have received this through postcrossing for once again and decided to give it a try right in the afternoon.

Sadly, it seems nice, but only what I notice is cloying licorice root and little of herbs; but not even the mint.

About tangy citrus notes, nada.

This was not what I thought it would be. It claims Caramel but I don’t get that at all. I do taste chamomile and black pepper. That’s all I taste (and smell) even though there is a ridiculous amount of ingredients listed for this blend. I’ll admit, I do appear to be yawning and feeling kind of cozy but I’ve also had a long week and probably should go to bed early.