TasTEA Time! Lipton Green Tea with Mixed Berry Flavor

So, berry green tea.  It's one of my favorites for summer.  It's probably one of my favorites year-round.  The sweetness of the berries and the lightness of green tea make a fantastic and refreshing combination for 90 degree days like this.  Ok Lipton, let's see what you got.

Outsides:  Paper on the outer layer, saran wrap on the inner and all the sachets are individually wrapped.  The tea actually is a gold yellow color with no hint of berry color in it (the Touch one was like that and it actually turned out pretty delicious).  However, the smell that comes from this....smells fake.  My first thought was children's chewable vitamins but after re-examination, it smells like fake cherry.  This is fading a bit while it cools down but my hopes are a little slashed right now.

Insides:  Thankfully, you don't taste much of the fake cherry just some strawberry flavor.  It also tastes a lot more bitter than it should.  This just isn't very good.  I don't mind if Lipton is trying to do something different with their berry tea, but the only flavors you do taste are fake cherry and fake strawberry (it says natural flavors but they don't taste natural).  Those two flavors are the only ones that break though even if there are other berry flavors.  The green tea is the same as the original, not the best but you could do better.  Ultimately, I am just not a fan.

Overall:  Don't buy this.  You can get good berry tea at a reasonable price (Celestial Seasonings Green Tea with Blueberry is decent, not amazing but decent).

My Rating:  Pass.  Here's the site.

TasTEA Time! Lipton Green Tea

Oh Lipton, I've made fun of you on this blog and I'm probably going to do it again.  But it's not necessarily because you're bad.  No, it's because you're a big giant corporation that has so many different branches and kinds of tea that it's ridiculous.  Yes, something as awful as Brisk and as....decent as Pure Leaf can be in the same company.  I actually bought a sampler of green teas just to see how they compare to the other green teas I have.

Outsides:  See, I thought the sachets were just wrapped n paper, but the inside is saran wrap so good job Lipton.  The green tea looks like green tea that you'd get in America, kinda gold colored as opposed to matcha green.  And it smells very fresh and plant-like.

Insides:  The flavor is nice and strong, plantlike with a very sweet tastes.  It's not as warm as the Dilmah but it's not as sweet as the Chunmee, so I'm guessing it has more Ceylon than anything else.  Despite a strong, green tea flavor, it has very little bitterness however, I did taste a hint of chemical (Lipton isn't organic).  Despite that, it's not a bad cup of tea.

Overall:  It's ok.  You can probably do better and I'd encourage you to buy some loose leaf, but if you see it at a hospital (and mix some cold water in with the hot water so you don't burn the flavor oils), you'll have a decent cup of tea.

My Rating:  Try/Pass.  Here's the site and now I can review all the fun flavors!

TasTEA Time! Uncle Lee's Imperial Organic Vanilla Rooibus Chai

So, I think Rooibus makes the best chai tea base.  This is just an opinion, but it tastes like tea, can be steeped indefinitely without getting bitter and holds up a wide variety of flavors.  Now, if you want GOOD chai, you should make it yourself (tutorial coming soon-ish), but there's nothing wrong with having a few sachets for a quick chai once in a while.

Outsides:  The sachets are all individually foil-wrapped for freshness and you can smell that freshness the moment you open it.  It's a lovely rust color and smells like cardamon, cinnamon and hints of vanilla.

Insides:  You know, the vanilla really makes it for me.  This isn't the strongest chai and quite frankly, you should make your own, but for a "quick" chai, it hits the spot.  As stated in the intro, rooibus provides a nice base free of bitterness so the sweet spices and vanilla really shine through.  The predominant flavors are cardamon, cinnamon and vanilla,with some ginger, clove and a bit of spice from the black pepper.  There's also a hint of stevia in here but it works well bringing out the sweet flavor.  The vanilla really makes this creamy and delicious.

Overall:  For cheap organic chai, it's pretty good.  Super strong chai purists may not like it, but it's worth a try.

My Rating: Try it!  Here's the website.

K-cup Reviews: Green Mountain Naturals Apple Cider

So, this is the first K-cup I've reviewed that, to me, seems pointless and more money grubbing than usual.  I can understand why people want coffee from these things, it's a lot faster than a conventional drip machine and is slightly cheaper than getting it from a decent coffee shop.  I kinda refuse to think about it with tea, because it's still stupidly overprices, but I guess if you want black tea without steeping then it's understandable.  Then there's hot cocoa and drinks like this.  There is not steeping time, you just stick the powder in a cup with hot water and mix it.  I mean, you can even use your Keurig to make hot water!  Swiss Miss has K-cups yet they cost like 3-4 times as much as just getting the chocolate mix and putting it in the hot water you created!  I could probably get a whole jug of apple cider for like $1.50, mix it with some cinnamon and have something that's more natural and authentic than this for like 30 cents.  I guess past just money grubbing, if you have kids or people who don't like coffee who want to use your Keurig, these would be for them.  But I still think the mixes turned K-cups are stupid.

Outsides:  Your average K-cup.  It's a light-looking apple cider with a nice apple-cinnamon smell.

Insides:  It tastes good in that it tastes like you'd want apple cider from a Keurig to taste.  It's sweet, it's sour and has a slight hint of cinnamon and possibly nutmeg.  One of my personal complaints is that it's a bit TOO sweet so if you have a 10 oz. setting (I don't think any of them do), it would be perfect.  It also has a nice thick texture much like normal apple cider.

Overall:  It's not bad, jut not something I personally would get.

My Rating:  Try it if you need something for kids or people who don't like coffee.  Here's the site but dear god, that's like 80 cents per K-cup!

K-Cup Reviews: Coffee People Donut Shop Coconut Mocha

Yes, I'm going back to reviewing tea soon, but it was a rough day at work.  You see, I work 2 jobs:  One at Big Lots during weekdays and the other at Pitt during the weekends, which is great because the worst days at BL are during the weekends.  People are cranky, think they're the center of the universe and all shop on the same day.  I haven't had that many bad days at BL after not working weekends, but I guess everyone wanted to do their last minute shopping and dear god, it was a doosey.  All I really want to do is have some of this fru-fru flavored coffee and relax (probably make a cup of tea later).

I was excited about this for three reasons.  First, Coffee People is generally a good brand.  If you look at the Keurig website and other venders, you'll notice that the Coffee People Donut Shop is usually at or near the top of the list.  It's also a medium roast, which is a bit unique for a lot of flavored coffees because they tend to be light roasts.  Last but certainly not least, it's coconut and chocolate!  I mean, that sounds delicious, like a Mounds bar without the sugar.

Outside:  It's your average K-cup, but it does have a pretty cool design on the lid.  Sadly, this does not amaze me with its brewing smell, just a little bit of coconut but the coffee itself smells like coconut.

Insides:  The coffee isn't the strongest in the flavor department, but is very smooth and slightly sweet.  The coconut flavor is more in the smell than in the coffee, but that's actually pretty nice since it isn't overpowering.  and the chocolate serves a a nice background flavor.  It's not very bitter or acidic and tastes more like a cookie than coffee.

Overall:  I think it's solid and a fun flavor to boot.  The coffee's a bit light, but if you're just looking for something different or need a cool flavor to mix into your collection, check it out.

My Rating:  Try it!  Here's the website.

K-cup reviews: Wolfgang Puck Breakfast in Bed

So, you guys want another K-cup review?  I'm guessing so and I don't blame you.  I've seen a few sites that do these, but they're usually into the exotic ones while it's just me, your average coffee and tea drinker who has no real bias towards Keurig past the fact that they're overpriced as hell, reviewing these K-cups.  I also feel really fancy having Wolfgang Puck coffee.  

Outside:  Your average K-cup.  The first thing you will notice is that this smells AMAZING when you brew it, like that perfect coffee smell.  It doesn't really carry over when you have it in a cup, but it has a medium dark color.  Also, the box says this is a medium roast coffee which seems unique for Breakfast blends because they tend to be light roasts.

Insides:  It's nice.  Definitely on the lighter side of medium roast but nice.  It's not very strong but still is a fairly satisfying cup of coffee.  The bitterness is very low with several sweet notes that come through.  Actually, the sweet dominates any other flavor, so this is probably a good coffee to get if you want a person-neutral coffee (for people who don't like really strong coffee).  It's not complex or multidimensional, but that's ok.

Overall:  From what I've seen, all the K-cups cost the same.  Not across different stores, but one brand costs the same as the others.  This isn't a bad one to get if you want your coffee to taste like coffee and really, the smell is quite nice to get out of bed to.  

My Rating:  Try it!  Here's the coffee site, which I'm assuming has the K-cups somewhere.  

TasTEA Time! Made! 10 calorie cranberry lemon green tea

It's so hot here.  Like over 90 degrees hot, which is pretty much as hot as it gets in PA.  I'm not shy to making hot tea in this weather, but right now I don't care.  I don't want to drink something that's over 100 degrees when I want to stay in temperatures below 70.  Just ignore that hot coffee review I'm posting after.  Here's a cranberry iced tea review!

Outsides:  It's in a plastic bottle, presumably PET.  The stuff looks like yellowish cranberry juice and smells like a light cranberry juice.

Insides:  It immediately hits you with the bitterness of the cranberry juice but once you taste it, isn't as strong or thick.  There isn't much of the lemon flavor, but it could just be mingling with the cranberry.  The best way to describe it is one of those cranberry juice cocktails, except not as sweet and with a very light, refreshing flavor that comes from the green tea.  It's actually really good if you like cranberry.  Oh, and that cranberry taste completely obliterates any sweetener flavors too because I couldn't tell there were any in here.

Overall:   I like it.  I'm sure even if you don't, you could mix it up with some booze and go to town.  Plus it's 10 calories, so it's great for people who are STILL looking out for their beach bodies.

My Rating:  Buy it!  Here's the site.