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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.

This was one of the teas my coworker had abandoned in the breakroom. I had no idea Bonne Maman had teas, I’ve only known them for jam. I was immediately interested when I saw star anise as the first listed ingredient, then became wary of the Brazil pepper, which I didn’t know anything about and feared it would be a spicy tea. At first I passed for that reason, then changed my mind and decided to take just two bags from the box to try it.

It’s… an interesting tea. The star anise is indeed very strong, and for that reason I can’t really recommend it to many, since most people hate the flavor of black licorice (which I happen to love). But while the flavor note is there, it doesn’t come across as very licorice-like since there is no licorice root, so the texture is very thin rather than sticky/coating. There is still a sweetness to the tea, but not quite to the levels you’d get from licorice root. The second main note is the black currant, and while I enjoy both anise and black currant the taste of the two together was just… kind of strange? Not exactly unpleasant, just very different. A bit like a fruity licorice, if you dialed back the sweetness a bit. I kind of liked it…? But I wasn’t wowed by it. I’m still on the fence if I’ll take the rest of the box out of the breakroom or not… mostly I just feel like none of my other coworkers would be able to tolerate it. Team Black Licorice is very small in my workplace, and the overlap of liking that and tea even smaller…

As for the Brazil pepper… nothing to worry about. I didn’t even taste anything I’d consider peppery. And apparently it is similar to pink peppercorns which I’ve never had issue with. The tea definitely is not spicy.

This was the other unmarked tea from my coworker’s de-cupboarding. The paper wrapper of the teabags was simply white with a green leafy pattern that said “Davidson’s Organics” on one side, and the other side just had some verbage about the benefits of organic ingredients. There was no tea name or ingredients list. Several of my coworkers asked me what it was and I was like, “Until I brew it, your guess is as good as mine.” I was brave enough to take it home and uncover the mystery.

Ripping open the bag, I immediately could see and smell the orange tumeric powder. There were only two teas I could find from Davidson’s that has turmeric and the other looked like a pretty chunky tea, so I had a feeling this was their Tulsi Turmeric Ginger. But I needed to use up just a little bit of milk I had lingering in a carton, and after adding milk, while I could taste the tumeric and ginger and some other lovely spices that tasted great as a latte, I couldn’t taste any tulsi, and decided I needed to do another experiment to be sure.

So I pilfered the rest of the teabags and brewed it up today plain with no additions. Ding ding ding! I definitely taste the tulsi, which has such a fresh flavor bordering on citrusy/minty/peppery that goes great with the spices. It isn’t aggressive in its spiciness either, despite having turmeric and ginger… I get a bit of pepperiness at the back of my throat but not a burning sensation. Also a better blend of warming cinnamon and cardamon notes. It’s really nice! I like it, so I’ll probably just finish off the rest of the teabags instead of returning them to the breakroom with the tea name revealed, heh. I will probably make my last remaining cup as a latte again, it tastes very nice with a touch of sweet vanilla almond milk.

Rating: 30

My coworker decided to clean out her teabag collection and after carefully picking through it in the breakroom with the 2-3 other employees besides me that like tea, I came home with several teabags to try. A few were unmarked and no one was adventurous enough to try something without a name or ingredients list… except for me. This was one of the unmarked teabags. It was a sachet that just said “Vitacost” on the teabag tag sitting in a clear plastic baggie.

Looking at the sachet, I could see cinnamon and ginger, and after steeping… I think that is all that was in it? At least, I didn’t taste anything else discernable. It was quite barky/earthy, and the ginger was pretty strong, causing a peppery taste and a burn at the back of my throat after the sip. Maybe there was something else in there adding to the earthy notes, but overall it was pretty non-descript. I finished the cup, but the level of ginger hedged on the side of a bit too much for my extremely spice-sensitive self.

I’m all out of pumpkin spice teas and the seasonal cravings have been horrible. But I remember I snagged this out of the City Hall breakroom when I was there for required leadership training… I just got back from the dentist and had to forego my morning cuppa, so I was really hankering for this cup.

Sadly, it doesn’t really hold up… not that I was expecting much from Bigelow, as I rarely enjoy their teas. It just has the same problem I tend to have with grocery store bagged chai tea, in that all the spices taste really artificial and oily, especially the clove. I’m fine with clove, but clove flavoring or oil just absolutely wallops the whole tea. It’s all I really taste. I’m definitely not getting the “natural pumpkin flavor” and the spices just taste like clove rather than a spice blend. It reminds me of the “Double Spice Chai” by Stash I tried not long ago and also didn’t care for. Meh.

At least it was just a single teabag… I definitely would not buy this if I stumbled across it.

I am a coconut fan, but rarely order teas with coconut in them because I usually can’t get to them before the coconut turns. Thankfully this tea is still okay since the November 2023 order date, even though Simpson & Vail doesn’t heat-seal their packaging (what the heck, S&V?)

The tea really does remind me of a coconut macaroon cookie. There is a sort of buttery sweetness to it, beneath the strong coconut note. I also oddly taste a faint cinnamon note, and I don’t know why… there isn’t any in the tea, but some combination of flavors is tricking my brain into tasting it. It isn’t bad though, if anything it goes nicely along with the sweet and creamy coconut vibes.

While I enjoy this tea hot and plain, it is really decadent as a tea latte. I brew 400ml of the tea and mix in 100ml of warm and frothy sweetened vanilla almond milk, and it is absolutely dessert in a cup. Perhaps even a bit too sweet and cloying for some that way, as it is very sweet and quite mouth-coating, but the creaminess and flavor are exquisite… definitely a liquid coconut cookie with this preparation! I’ve been enjoying said lattes as a Sunday morning treat.

My first cup of this came out as weak cinnamon water… there was a little hibiscus but the flavor didn’t come out until I was nearly done with the cup and it was a bit thin. So for my second go with this tea I amped up the amount of material to a little over double the initial amount, and left it steeping a good 10+ minutes (probably closer to 15-20). Now the tea actually has some flavor, though it isn’t anything to write home about. I love hibiscus/spice teas, but there isn’t anything about this one to set it apart from the many others I’ve had. It doesn’t taste much of almond or apple… the apple is mostly apparent from the hibiscus base being pretty sweet with just a little tartness at the end of the sip. I’m honestly not tasting anything nutty in the flavor. The hibiscus/cinnamon combo is certainly cozy on a rainy fall day, and a flavor profile I enjoy, I just wish the two notes listed in the title of the tea popped more. I’ll have no problem quickly finishing this off, but will likely replace this with a more complex mulled cider sort of tea, or Rishi’s “Cinnamon Plum.”

I really only have matcha in my breakfast smoothies rather than drinking it plain, and I like the 3 Leaf Tea matcha because it is pretty much the only flavored matcha I have found that doesn’t include sugar, which just makes my smoothies too sweet.

I like to pair this lemon flavored matcha with berries, or occasionally with mango and ginger for a lemon ginger vibe. I really like mixing his one with some vanilla almond milk, Greek yogurt, and strawberries. The vanilla milk and yogurt gives it a sort of “creamy” lemon dessert flavor and the strawberries pair well with the bright citrus, like a strawberry lemonade.

It was good, but not as memorable to me as their lavender matcha or mint matcha… I’d probably try a different flavor in the future over ordering this one again. But I certainly enjoyed my time with it and how easily the citrus went with a variety of smoothie combos.

Back in the day Simpson & Vail had a tea simply called “Pear Black” that I absolutely loved… it had a really strong and syrupy pear flavor that I really enjoyed. When I finally got around to ordering from them myself for the first time, that tea was gone, but this one was listed… I assumed it was the same thing just with ginger added, and since I like ginger, that sounded fine. Unfortunately, it really isn’t. The pear flavoring in this just doesn’t hold a candle to that older tea… either it is much weaker, or the flavor just doesn’t hold up the same against the stronger ginger note. The base tea is malty and smooth, and there is still a pear flavor but it is more subdued, lacking that “syrupy” quality I enjoy and leaning a little more towards the floral notes of pear than the fruity notes. The ginger is the much stronger note… it isn’t uncomfortably strong, landing in a tolerable level for me (I’m extremely spice sensitive) but it does pack a little bite and lingers in the aftertaste. Overall, the tea flavors do blend quite nicely together, I just wish the balance was a bit stronger on the pear and a little softer on the ginger. It at least doesn’t taste like bubblegum, which I often get from a pear/spice combo in teas. I’d prepared this as a warm cuppa, both sweetened and unsweetened, and have found that adding just a touch of honey to the cup helps bring out a bit more fruitiness. I still want to try this as an iced tea, as I think the flavors would work well with that preparation.

I purchased this at a local Natural Grocers under Natural Grocers packaging, but it is the same tea offered from Tiesta so I’m recording it here rather than creating a duplicate under the Natural Grocers name.

This is the last of the chunky herbal teas I brought home from Natural Grocers, which I’ve been preparing as coldbrew waiting for our weather to change to fall here. It’s very tasty! I rank it just above the “Maui Mango” and just below the “Blueberry Wild Child,” both of which I also really enjoyed.

I wouldn’t call the flavor of this tisane “watermelon” persay, but it has that really sweet “melon” flavor that tastes like a cross between cantalope and honeydew that is popular in Japanese snacks, and it makes a very refreshing iced tea. It is very naturally sweet, and I want to try adding some Co2 to see how close it can come to a melon-flavored Ramune.

It’s a pretty servicable alternative to Lupicia’s melon teas at a lower price point and easier accessibility. Like all chunky fruit teas, though, you don’t get a lot of bang for your buck since the bags are weightier and it requires quite a bit of material to get a nicely flavored brew.