It’s that time of the year again, so I picked up a box of the full-leaf from Starbucks yesterday. Checked out Tazo’s fancy new website (redone for the launch of the standalones, I suspect?), and noticed that it describes Joy as having “peachy notes”.
Didn’t think much of it at the time, as it could just be describing one of the teas in the base as having a fruity note to it.
Picked it up from Starbucks and returned home, opening the tin to take a whiff. And getting… a strong peach scent. Confused, I looked it over—still Joy, still black, green and oolong. But looking at the “ingredients”, I found “natural flavours”.
I’ve had this tea many times before, last year. My brother worked at Starbucks back then, and he brought me home the full-leaf bag, which is what introduced me to this tea. I got it many more times after that, and I don’t remember any peach.
This is the second time I’ve made a cup from this tin. It’s definitely lighter than I remember, less unforgiving with steeping parameters despite being green, black and oolong. And I’m getting definite notes of peach. But I don’t remember any peach before.
I could have sworn this tea didn’t have peach in it last year. Am I going crazy?
I googled for an article about blend changes. Maybe this is the first year they’ve added peach? But I keep coming up with no results. So I don’t know (then again, when they switched from earl grey fannings to full-leaf, didn’t they throw lavender into the mix without saying anything too?). Maybe, because I had always had this tea from an already-opened tin, the ‘peach’ flavouring had dissipated before the tea made it to me. And since I bought a fresh tin…? But the tea overall is lighter.
Seriously, am I going nuts? I checked Steepster’s “Joy” reviews for any mention of “peach”. I found that the ONLY mention of peach was from a review from a few days ago—from this year’s release of Joy. No mention of peach in any reviews from last year or earlier, that I could find.
I feel like I missed something. Maybe I just suck at finding news articles. It’s an all-right tea, but definitely not the tea I remember (and loved) from last year. Peach just doesn’t do it for me in this (and peach is a fine tea flavouring—I have a peach white). I loved this tea because it was a black-green (and oolong) blend. My favourite.
Not changing my rating from last year. For now.
Last year’s tasting note, for comparison: http://steepster.com/supermoon10/posts/55853
