K-cup reviews: Caribou Coffee Caribou Blend

So, I honestly couldn't figure out what I wanted to review today.  It's not that I don't have tea because dear god, do I have a lot of tea and will probably review some later.  No, right now is coffee time.

I was (and currently am) writing my opinion on the Keurig brewing system and K-cups, but it basically depends on how much you want to spend on crappy coffee that gets brewed in about 30 seconds.  Right now however, I'm in a good mood.  I got my particular Keurig for free and found out later that it's a little broken.  Sometimes, it won't dispense the water it heats up, leaving me with no coffee the first few times and watered down when it does work.  Well, it did that.  Every day for about three days.  But today, it started working again and that means I can have a terrible cup of coffee!

I have not drank anything from a Caribou coffee, but I imagine that it's just like Starbucks in that the coffee is pretty bad for the price your paying for it (I know there's special blends and whatnot, but they have coffee carts all around school and believe me, it sucks).  

Outsides:  If you've never seen a K-cup, it's basically a plastic cup with foil on the top that gets poked by the machine.  They're pretty wasteful, but more on that later.  The coffee itself is dark and smells smokey.

Insides:  So, this tastes like coffee that I like to classify as "Man-coffee".  It's really smokey, kinda strong (although it said it was a medium roast) and pretty bitter.  There's touches of sweetness in this particular blend, like bittersweet chocolate, but ultimately it tastes more like coffee you've left by a campfire.  And you know what?  That's kinda appealing to me.  

I like this coffee but for a weird reason.  It's bad coffee, but slightly more endearing bad coffee than crappy coffee-cart Starbucks.  It's bitter and smokey and strong, but it also has some richness and sweetness and multidimensionality.  I don't think it tastes good but much like the oolong, it's in a sea of coffees that are either too terrible to drink or tastes like nothing (mostly the later).  It's so bad it's good, which is not going to get any of you to buy it, but is exactly what I think about it.

Overall:  I don't know.  It's in a lot of sample packs which I honestly recommend you to get even if you don't think you'll like a lot of coffees.  I can't give it a buy on its own just because it really isn't going to appeal to everyone.  But if you want a coffee that makes you feel like you're going to work in the steel mills, then this is the coffee to try.

My Rating:  Try it! (in a sample pack first to see if you like it)  Here's the site.  I've heard good things about the Obsidian, but I guess that is now the Columbia.  Also, see that $150 machine?  That's the one I think I got for free (even though it's kinda broken).

TasTEA Time! Dilmah Green Tea with Lemongrass Leaves

Outsides:  A typical individually wrapped foil sachet.  The tea itself is that gold color that ceylon tends to be and it smells like green tea without much of a distinctive lemongrass scent.

Insides:  This really doesn't taste much different than typical green tea except it has a citrus undertone.  I mean, there isn't much to say.  It's ceylon green tea so it has more of a warmth in terms of flavor as opposed to your cheap green tea.  Actually, this is probably what you're drinking when you get the Pure Leaf Iced Green teas.  The base is good, but there really isn't much different than the regular green tea.

Overall:  I got all of the green teas with their flavorings in a sample pack, and I suggest that as the ideal way to get this tea.  It's not bad, just nothing special.

My Rating:  Pass.  Here's the site.

TasTEA Time! Made! 10 calorie Pomegranate Blueberry Green Tea

Oh bottled teas.  Why are you usually too sweet?  Tea's supposed to be healthy for you, and yet you make it the non-carbonated cousin to soda.  One of the advantages of Made is that it's organic, and that'll bring up the chance that it's actually good and not overly sugary.  Another advantage is that it's diet, which still means nothing except maybe this tea won't go straight to my thighs.  Plus it's blueberry and pomegranate, two flavors that have to be good.

Outsides:  I think this is a PET bottle, or at the very least, one without BPA.  The tea itself is kind of this brownish reddish color, darker than normal green tea but that's probably the juice.  You can smell the blueberry and tea, though it's not as pungent as hot tea.

Insides:  It's actually not that overly sweet.  I mean, Sucralose was the last ingredient but you barely get that sweetener taste to it.  The fruit flavors come though nicely and have a pretty nice balance with the tea.  It's pretty refreshing and I'm even drinking it warm. 

Overall:  It's not the BEST bottled tea out there, but if it's cheap and in a fridge at your local 7-11, you should get it.  Hell, I prefer it to the Giant Peach Tazo.

My Rating:  Buy it!  Here's the site.  I'll probably be reviewing the Cranberry Lemon Green Tea soon. 

TasTEA Time! Touch Organic Earl Grey Green Tea

It's no secret that I love this brand.  For the price you pay (I saw a 100c cube at Marshells for 5 bucks), you get a pretty good quality tea.  I, however, am not the biggest fan of Earl Grey.  It's not that I hate it, in fact I like a cup once in a while.  But the two key points there are cup and once in a while.

This tea is slightly unique in that it's a green tea base as opposed to a black tea.  

Outsides:  Each sachet is individually wrapped and I'm pretty sure they use recycled or biodegradable paper for the filter.  The tea looks like your generic Chinese green tea.  You can smell a hint of bergamot.

Insides:  This is an interesting one.  The bergamot flavor isn't the strongest, but it really is in perfect balance with the green tea.  The tea itself is of good quality, not bitter but still strong.  I think the unique thing about this is that it isn't strong, it probably wouldn't go well with milk and I'm not sure how traditional Earl Grey drinkers would think of it.  But I like it a lot actually as a refreshing summer take on something traditional.

Overall:  If I just reviewed things off my opinion (which I usually do anyway), I'd give this a buy.  It's a well-balanced tea and kind of an interesting take on traditional Earl Grey.  But some people have expectations that might be crushed by this so I can't, but I still think you should try it anyway.

My Rating:  Try it!  Here's the site.

TasTEA Time! Dilmah Caramel

I'm not gonna lie, caramel is my favorite chocolate accessory.  It's not just because it's milk and sugar mixed together, caramel just is one of the ultimate comfort candies.  No, it's not healthy like almonds or doesn't even pretend to be healthy like raspberry filling, it's just pure sweetness.  But I don't review candy and a lot of times, I find cheap teas that attempt to have a desert flavor like this handle it pretty badly.

I thought it was a bit of a risk buying this caramel tea.  For one thing, what's caramel tea supposed to taste like?  Is it already sweetened?  But having tried a few Dilmah products, I was confident that they know what they're doing.

Her Majes-TEA

The Outsides:  Like a lot of their other teas, the sachets were individually packaged with a lovely picture of whatever flavor it is on the front.  The teabags have strings, if that makes any difference to you.  The tea itself is the typical Dilmah Ceylon color, goldish and slightly murky.  It smells great, kinda like some caramelised sugar you made for a sauce.  It's not as perfumy as the fruit, but that's understandable.

The Insides:  A hint of caramel is probably the best way to describe the flavor of this.  The tea itself is not sweetened but you probably would do well adding some sugar and milk.  Personally, I think they got the flavor down but the flavor they used might go better with a different, more muddled tea.  Still, it's Dilmah so the ceylon is nice and crisp, not mega top quality but I've had worse.  And you know what?  I've combined this with the peach Dilmah and strawberry to make some pretty amazing iced tea.

Overall:  I don't think this would have the same appeal as some of the fruit flavored ones in the states, but I recommend people at least to try it out.  It makes a great, low calorie indulgent and if you don't want to drink it plain, add milk or throw in a bag with your next fruit flavored iced tea or add ice cream.  The possibilities are endless!

My Rating:  Buy it!  Here's the site.


Hey guys.  First off, the l

Some random tea sampler I got from the oriental market

I love the oriental market!  Much like Big Lots, I go in with a set budget and list of things I need to buy, see something I "need" and still only be slightly above budget.  In this particular trip, I wanted to get veggies to make my boyfriend some Japanese curry (they often have slightly sub-par veggies for 30 cents a pound.  I mean, we're cooking them anyway).  But I always look at other sections while I'm in there and it isn't a trip to the oriental market unless I look at some tea!

A thing about the tea in oriental markets is that it's usually cheap and of fairly decent quality.  I've bought 8 oz of rolled green tea buds in a metal tin for about 3 bucks and it having a higher quality taste than the cheap tea bags you buy at your grocery store for three times the price.  I really was looking for some matcha, but I have been eyeing these tins for a while since they're just so cute, so I got them as a birthday present at $6.99 (slightly pricier than most for the amount, but whatever).  And then I discovered that there were six different kinds!  Oh, the excitement!

This set contains 20g each of:  Green tea with Jasmine, Pu-Erh, Lung Chin (which I found out is Dragonwell thanks to /r/tea), Lychee black tea, Oolong, and Tikuantin.

Pu-Erh:  Oh god, the fishy-ness.  Ok, I know this is a sign of a low-grade Pu-erh and really I should expect this.  But yeah, this tea tastes like fish.  Not salty like fish, but fish.  I'm a little curious if I can get some kelp and miso paste, mix this all up together and make a pretty good miso soup.  For that reason alone, I'm ok keeping this in the tin, but really it's a PASS.


Lung Chin:  I think this was the most disappointing for me.  It really just tastes like dirt and bitterness, which maybe the bitterness is due to me brewing it wrong but that still doesn't excuse the dirt.  I would say something like "Oh, just use it if you need cheap green tea for something" but you know what?  I can get eight ounces of cheap green tea from the oriental market for 3 bucks that tastes like cheap green tea and not dirt.  As hard as it may be to believe, especially after I said I drank a tea that tastes like fish, this is one of the worst teas I have ever drank.  I just threw it all away and put some blueberry red in the tin.  My rating is something along the lines of KILL IT WITH FIRE or BURN IT or whatever I had as the rating.

Jasmine Tea:  Thankfully, this one isn't so bad.  It's not great either, but probably good to drink before a date so your sweat smells like flowers.  I tend to like my jasmine tea with more of a hint of jasmine and a nice pleasant green tea, but I can drink this and really, that's what matters with this tin.  Pass if you don't like jasmine, Try it if you do.


Tikuanyin:   This tea is OK as well.  OK in the way that it's really quite inoffensive and tastes like nothing despite me thinking I added enough.  It's the second time I've made this and both times, it tasted like bland and cheap green tea, kinda with this kelp-y flavor.  Honestly, I can see myself just boiling a pot and drinking it out of thirst.  Pass or Try it.


Lychee Black:  I often complain about teas not having enough fruit flavor but don't usually complain about them not having enough tea flavor.  There is a fruit flavor here, a little more than a subtle hint but far from strong.  But there isn't really a tea flavor.  If anything, this tea tastes a bit like soapy water with a lychee scent, but that's only a bit and I can drink it.  Pass or Try it.


Oolong:  I applaud this tea for having a flavor.  Compared to the Touch Organic Oolong Tea (which I haven't posted yet), it's not as robust a flavor, but compared to the rest of these, it's probably the best.  It's a little...smokey and has a woody taste to it, stronger than a green but not as strong as a black.  Plus oolong is supposed to be the most effective tea in terms of weight loss so yeah, it's not bad.  Try it!


Overall:  I bought this tea for the tins and if anyone would ask me about them, I'd tell them to buy it for the tins with the tea as a pretty crappy bonus.  The oolong and jasmine are easily the best as they are the only two that have a decent flavor.  I could probably mix the lychee and tiku....whatever with complementing teas just go get rid of them and the Pu-erh and Lung Chin (dragonwell), you might just want to throw away.

My Rating:  Try it, by which I mean buy it once for the tins and if you're tolerant of tea and want to try something new.  Don't buy it if you think you have enough tines.  Considering that the box didn't even have a company, no web site this week.

A note about metal bottles

Hey guys!

So at the beginning of my blog, I mentioned that I often took tea with me in those aluminum water bottles, which unfortunately is a really bad idea.  For one thing, tea is acidic so it ends up corroding the inside of the bottle.  The flavor isn't that bad in the beginning, but if you've used that bottle for a while, your tea is not going to taste good.   Plus, you basically have to drink your tea at room temperature.

If you love taking your loose-leaf tea with you, try a bottle like this.  I got the Majes-tea at Marshell's for 10 bucks and it's really great at keeping your tea hot and good, plus it has a strainer at the top and is easy to clean.  Much better than a metal bottle.

Happy Drinking!