Hawthorn Tea and What the Hell Did I Buy!?

A week or so ago, I ordered an "oolong sampler" from Red Leaf Tea since it had a lot of oolongs and other teas that I wanted to try and was $14.99 for 12 teas.  Well, I received the teas and fun fact, the vast majory of them do not have any English on them.  Thankfully, Red Leaf Tea has a nice guide on their website as to what everything is, but I still wish I would have gotten something with labels on it or at least a list.

Hawthorn Fruits are little crabapple looking fruits that are used in many cultures except the United States.  I've unknowingly had them before as this candy called Haw Flakes, which is a bit like a fruit leather and tastes like a cross between strawberries and prunes.  Apparently, traditional Chinese Medicine uses it as a digestive aid.

Outsides:  When you open up the packet, it looks like a bunch of cut-open berries (which is exactly what they are).  I added the entire packet to 8 ounces of boiling water but I have no idea is that's what I'm supposed to do.  The liquid has a slight pink tint to it and smells like prunes.

Insides:  Honestly, this just tastes like sour water with very little other flavors or scents going on with it.  I tried ripping up the fruit a bit more to see if it does anything, but one thing I will tell you is that the fruit pretty much just tastes like a sour prune.  After forgetting about it overnight, I will say that it does taste a bit more fruity but it's mostly just sour water.

Tilt:  I don't know how much this is if you find it although I have seen haw candies at our big Asian store and they're pretty cheap.  Obviously, I don't care for this but I'm sure the fresh fruit would be nice to use in a preserve or pie for a bit of a sour kick to balance out something sweet like strawberries or maybe some apples.  It does taste a bit better cold.

Overall:  I'm not a fan.

My Rating:  Pass.

Red Leaf Tea sells an obscene amount of flavored Matchas and other teas.

Harney and Sons Egyptian Chamomile

This was given to me from a friend after I told her about my growing love for Tazo Calm.  Although Tazo is a blend of a few ingredients, the chamomile is the most prominent one and I've just been liking the natural sweetness that this tea has.  She mentioned that this tea tastes a bit different from normal chamomile so I'm curious to find out how different it really is.

Outsides:  Harney and Sons does what any tea company you should be caring for does and packages their teabags in individually-wrapped foil sachets (with paper on the outside so it looks pretty).  The ingredient is pure Egyptian chamomile.  I put the teabag in 8 oz of boiling water for 5+ minutes.  The color of the liquid is yellow and the tea smells fruity and sweet.

Insides:  When I think of chamomile tea, I think of a sweeter herbal with a fruity-floral scent and a thicker mouthfeel.  This particular chamomile tea tastes fruitier but also the scent is much more fragrant than what I'm used to getting with chamomiles.  There also is the slightest cooling sensation when it goes down the throat.  The liquid doesn't have as much of a mouthfeel as normal chamomile but I'm honestly not sure whether that's because I should have brewed it at 6 oz, my friend gave me slightly old tea (tea in teabags is usually dust and fannings or really small tea and that tends to degrade a lot faster than loose-leaf) or it's just different.

Tilt: Harney and Sons sells this in many varieties including 1.5 oz loose for $5.75 (including their classy-as-hell tin) or a 20 count box for $6.  Yes, that's a bit expensive but I think that the quality in Harney and Sons products makes them worth it.  Chamomile is one of those tissanes that you're probably going to have in your house whether you like it or not so the only thing really unique about this is the different taste notes.  Chamomile is an herb so it should be safe for children and I think it's good sweetened and iced.

Overall:  Whether you like it or not, chamomile tea is a bit of a necessity for everyone.  You don't need to get this if you already have a chamomile tea but if you don't, I highly recommend this one if you're looking for a pure herb.

My Rating:  Buy It!

Harney and Sons is a British tea company that sells mid-quality tea at a pretty reasonable price.

English Tea Store Bingo Blueberry Tea

First off, I got this tea at Margaret's but they purchase their tea from English Tea Store (I could tell from the artwork and names).  Blueberry herbal tissanes are something I always seem to gravitate towards and I think they tend to work all year round.

Outsides:  Ingredients for this tea are Luxury natural dried currants, blue berries, apples, rasins, hibiscus, cornflower petals, rosehip pieces, and natural flavors.  This is a bit different than the other tissanes I've tried in this variety because most of them use green rooibos as a mixer.  I brewed 3 teaspoons of this in 16 oz of boiling water for...7 minutes (it doesn't matter with these kinds of teas).  It's a lovely dark crimson color and smells like berries.

Insides:  This tea is very tart yet sweet and almost has the mouthfeel of a juice or punch.  It seems a bit thicker than your normal tissane and every sip is full of blueberry and currant flavors.  Compared to the other tissanes of this type, this one has a prominant cherry note which I haven't noticed with other teas of this type and lacks any spice notes (like the cinnamon in the Davidson's bulk).  There is a floral top note but it isn't as noticeable as the others.  

Tilt:  It's $5.99 at Margaret's and $7.30 on Amazon for 4 oz of this so more expensive than the other places but less expensive than Teavana.  However, the subtraction of the green rooibos means that you can mix it to make a similar product to the others so that actually helps lower the price (I actually got a 16 oz bag of green rooibos for $12 so that's how I got reminded).  Like all of the other blueberry tissanes I've reviewed, this one is caffeine-free so it's great for before bed, pregnant women and children and even better for the later since it's fruity and yummy but without the sugar.  I think this kind of tea works well for all seasons and is great iced or hot.

Overall:  I'm going to buy it again since I need something to mix into the green rooibos I bought and I think it's a good tissane to check out.  It also makes a great air-freshener when brewed.

My Rating:  Buy it!

Here's the Amazon link.  I'm sorry that that tea is Add-on only, but it's something for non-Pittsburgh dwelling people.  Margaret's is found in the Squirrel Hill district of Pittsburgh.  I really hate their website, especially since they've Tea-Pittsburgh.  Seriously?  Prestogeorge has a MUCH better selection than you do.  /rant

Zen Tea Juicy Blueberry Herbal Tea

As you may know, I love blueberry herbal teas.  I love that combination of sweet, sour and floral that make it like a juice but lighter.  I also haven't reviewed a Zen Tea thing in a while, and still have quite a bit to review from them.

Outsides:  This tea has a wide variety of indredients including apple, hibiscus, currants, raisins, blueberry, lemongrass, more blueberries (?), cornflower, sunflower, marigold, rose, citric acid and vitamin C, so a really unique blend of ingredients.  The dried tea smells like blueberry jam though, so I'm excited.  I brewed about 2 teaspoons of this in 8 oz of boiling water for 5 or so minutes.  The tea is a nice berry red and smells sweet and juicy like a blueberry.

Insides:  This is definitely different than the other blueberry herbal teas I've tried thanks to the citrus flavor.  You get a strong, sweet berry flavor with a lot of fullness and depth but it's lightened up with the lemongrass favor and contrasted with the citric acid.  The fruity flavors really pop with a bit of added sugar.  This tea would be awesome for kids since it's basically a healthy Kool-aid with added vitamin C to it or iced and possibly used in a punch or sangria.

Overall:  I like it.  It's not as cheap as the other blueberry herbal teas, but it probably would be a better alternative for the summer.

I think I'm going to try to implement a bit of a different rating system.

Taste:  A strong fruity herbal
Price:  9 dollars for about 4 oz.
Uniqueness:  The general idea isn't that unique but the flavor is.
Uses:  Great for late-night and children.  Can be iced and tastes great with or without sugar.
My Rating:  Try it.  

Zen Tea is a Canadian Tea retailer that specializes n mid to high quality tea from all around the world.

Teavana Cococaramel Sea Salt Herbal Tea

Outsides:  Honestly, I don't even feel like typing this long-ass list of ingredients, so I won't.  It's pretty much rooibos tea with coco nibs, nuts and flavorings.  I have to say, this dried tea tastes delicious and if Teavana was smart, they'd expand this mix to the cereal/trail mix food world.  I put 2 teaspoons of this stuff in 8 oz of boiling water and let it steep for 5 minutes or so.  I'm not gonna lie, the color of this tea is completely unappetizing.  It looks like dirty sewer water, which is only made worse by the pieces of rooibos floating in it.  It smells tasty though, like chocolate caramel.

Insides:  First off, I probably should have added more of the herbal tea.  Second off, this does not work unless you add some kind of sweetener to it (I added Stevia, which actually works quite well in this since you expect chocolate drinks to be thicker).  Anyway, this has a nice chocolate flavor to it with hints of nuts and caramel.  I don't taste any salt in it if that's what you're wondering, but this is a nice, multi-dimensional chocolate drink.  It's also a great low cal, low fat, low sugar alternative to hot chocolate, although the chocolate flavor should be a little stronger.

Overall:  I like this more as the dried tea, but it's still not bad for a chocolate craving.

Flavor:  Chocolate with other flavors
Price:  About 6 dollars for 2 oz, but 2 oz will not last you as many cups as with regular teas.
Uniqueness:  Pretty unique.  I've never seen a chocolate herbal tea like this before.
Usability:  Needs sweetener but good for a chocolate craving.
My Rating:  Try it!

Teavana is a chain tea retailer that can be found in malls across the United States and Canada.

Tazo Passion (Hibiscus tea with tropical flavors)

Well,  I just reviewed 2 Tazo teas, one bad and one good.  Let's see what the third one brings us.

Outsides: This one is another herbal tea with a crapton of ingredients:  hibiscus, tropical flavor (what the hell is this supposed to mean, Tazo?), citric acid and licorice (not again!), orange peel, cinnamon, rosehips, lemongrass and fruit juice extract for color.  Again, this is a nice,individually-wrapped foil sachet and the teabag is standard.  I brewed this in boiling water for 5 minutes.  The color is very purple and it smells a bit sweeter and more floral with a hint of cinnamon.

Insides:  First off, I don't see why Tazo thought the citric acid was necessary because the hibiscus already adds a bit of a sour kick to it.  If anything, I feel as though it hinders the flavor because you have this nice cinnimon and orange flavor and the tropical note of hibiscus, but drinking it, it's a little too sour.  I will say that i feel the licorice complements the sweet spices while not being in anyone's face.

Overall:  It's ok.  It needs improvement.

My Rating:  Try it (but only if you can get it for cheap/free)

Tazo is everywhere.  It's at Starbucks, in grocery stores, big box stores, drugstores and pretty much anywhere that sells coffee or tea.  Therefore, Ima be lazy and not put a website.

Tazo Wild Sweet Orange (Herbal Tea with lemongrass, orange and a lot of other stuff)

You know, maybe I was wrong about Tazo.  Maybe they aren't so bad after all.  I mean, I now like 2 teas of theirs, although I still think that they are overpriced as all hell.  And now I'm going to try Wild Sweet Orange, which sounds fruity but pleasant.

Outsides:  This tea has a laundry list of ingredients; lemongrass, blackberry leaves, citric acid (first thing that should be noted), rose hips, spearmint leaves, color (tumeric, riboflavin), orange peel, hibiscus flowers, natural flavors, rose petals, orange essence, ginger root, licorice root and licorice extract.  It's in a nice foil wrapped packet and is your standard tea bag.  I brewed this at boiling for three minutes before i tasted it (the second thing you should take note of since herbals should steep for 5 minutes).  The tea is a brighter orange and smells like oranges.

Insides:  I don't know if I can properly put my feelings on this tea into words, but I'll try.  OHMYGOD THIS IS F***ING TERRIBLE!  It's sour, and I like sour but this is undrinkable sour.  The licorice makes the texture of this drink seem very thick so it's pretty much a thick, sour mess.  It's just terrible and I don't understand how Tazo can call this SWEET wild orange.  Maybe the licorice is supposed to act as the sweetener but then it should be the third ingredient instead of friggin' CITRIC ACID!  Also, why do we have all these ingredients if you're going to bombard your drink with sour and licorice.  This is bad and I honestly can't imagine someone liking it without copious amounts of sugar and bad taste.

Overall:  No, just no.  Tazo, my lack of faith in you is restored.

My Rating:  Stay AWAY!  It's not even worth stealing.

Tazo is everywhere.  I often get my Tazo teas from the hospital cafeteria because it's "free" there.  

Tazo Refresh Tea (herbal mint tea with Tarragon)

As you may know, I'm not the biggest fan of Tazo.  I find that their tea seriously lacks in flavor or is just god-awful.  There are exceptions, such as their whole leaf teas, but Tazo as a company has just not impressed me.  That pessimistic thought aside, I was cleaning my backpack today, which is shocking for me, when I found this tucked in the same compartment as I put my make-up that I never wear.  My first thought was "Oh, that sounds tasty" and I needed a drink, so I fired up the Keurig and decided to give it a go.

Outsides:  I kinda ripped the label before I could read all of the ingredients, but it looks like there's only peppermint, spearmint and tarragon.  The sachet is nice and individually foil-wrapped, and is your standard tea bag.  I just stuck the bag in 8 oz of boiling water and honestly don't care about the time because it is an herbal.  It's a bit darker than your standard herbal tea and smells extremely strong for something that has been in my bag for 2 months.

Insides:  Well color me impressed, this is some potent mint tea.  It has that hint of sweetness that most mint teas do and the tarragon is only evident in the beginning, but the mix of peppermint and spearmint really brings a lot of good minty flavor to this.  Is it revolutionary?  Not really since most mint teas taste like the same thing, but this one kicks it up a notch in terms of intensity.

Overall:  I actually recommend this if you want mint tea.  You could probably buy mint leaves cheaper, but this is a nice mix and would probably do wonders for a stomachache. 

My Rating:  Buy it!

Tazo is everywhere.  Starbucks, grocery stores, department stores, everywhere.  

Prestogeorge Herbal Red Pomegranate

I need to review more teas from Prestogeorge, but since I have about 20 teas from Zen Tea and 10 teas from Prestogeorge, Zen Tea has won priority (although, it's also because I just bought higher quality tea from Zen Tea and it's something I really need to do at Prestogeorge).  I'm not the biggest fan of Rooibos since to me, it's not complex enough on it's own.  Pomegranate is another story and I will gladly consume anything that reminds me of that fruit, plus the sweet and tangy taste with a hint of floral should do wonders for Rooibos. 

Outsides:  What's unique about this tea is that it's a blend of green and red rooibos, which I rarely see together.  It also contains safflowers, rosehips and, of course, pomegranate.  I brewed a teaspoon and a half of this at almost boiling for 5+ minutes.  The color is lighter than most rooibos teas I've tried but still that rusty orange.  It smells fantastic, juicy, sweet and tart.

Insides:  The rooibos actually serves as a nice base for all of the other flavors and doesn't hinder the wonderful pomegranate smell and flavor.  This smells a lot stronger than it tastes, but there is a hint of natural sweetness and a little needed tartness from the pomegranate.  There's also a slight floral flavor but it's more of a complement to the fruit than a flavor on its own.  I think this would go great with sugar and would make a nice iced tea.

Overall:  I've decided to change my thoughts on rooibos to not liking it unless it has some stronger flavor added to it.  This is a very nice blend and worth the extra dollar or so I spent on it compaired to the other rooiboses.

My Rating:  Buy it!

Prestogeorge is my local tea shop in Pittsburgh.  They deliver to other parts, but their shipping is expensive so I'd just look elsewhere for other tea.  

Zen Tea Bamboo Integrety

Outsides:  This herbal tea containes apple bits, carrot bits, bamboo, lemongrass, verbena, ginger, sunflower petals and natural flavor.  I'm not gonna lie, the carrot sounds really interesting to me.  I've had carrot in drinks before but never in tea.  Anyway, I put 2 teaspoons of this in my mug and steeped it in 8 oz of boiling water for 5 minutes.  The color is a light green and it smells citrusy.  This also is a beautiful tea to watch steep because the liquid is almost clear and the herbal portion has so many colors in it.

Insides:  The box suggested that this would taste tropical but it's really very citrusy and fresh tasting.  The apple and carrot add sweetness to balance out the rest of the flavors such as lemongrass and verbena so although it's citrusy, it's not very sour.  This really tastes like fresh squeezed lime with herbs in it as well.  Although I wouldn't advise adding too much sugar, this seems like it would be a good alternative to lemonade.

Overall:  It's interesting.  Not amazing, but if you're into herbal teas then it's worth a try.

My Rating:  Try it!

Zen Tea is a Canadian Tea Retailer (happy Boxing Day!) that specializes in mid to high quality tea.  

Zen Tea Yerba Mate

Yerba Mate is extremely fitting for Christmas Eve.  It's a relative to a holly plant, is often shared by people in South American as they sit around a gourd and drink from metal straws called a bombilla (my source here), and has a stimulating effect on heartrate much like caffeine does.  Mate is also supposed to contain vitamins and minerals, so theoretically, it's healthier than coffee (but that can be said about a lot of things).  Anyway, I need this today so let's drink.

Outsides:  Yerba mate is just yerba mate, and I don't have a gourd so I guess my authenticity is out the door.  I got it in Zen Tea's sample size and have to say, this is a pretty good size and can easily make 10-15 cups of this.  One thing I did wrong was that I used near boiling water when apparently (from Wikipedia and not the directions on the packet), you're supposed to use hot water and not boiling, but I let it sit for about 5 minutes (1.5 teaspoons in 8 oz).  The color is greener than a typical herbal blend but still that same shade of yellow.  It smells like a light green tea.

Insides:  Well, it's not bitter so that's good.  This drink has a medium to light body with a sweet and slightly planty flavor (kinda like green tea).  Another thing is that this yerba mate seems to be very mild in flavor, especially compaired to something like coffee or energy drinks.  I went and added some sugar to see if any new flavors would be brought out and with that, this drink tastes like the Dilmah Ceylon Green Tea or Lipton Pure Leaf Green tea.  I like it and am curious to try some of the fruit flavors.

Overall:  If you don't like coffee or energy drinks but still want to get your caffeine in somehow, try this out. 

My Rating:  Try it in general.  I'm probably going to get some from Prestogeorge, but Zen Tea still has a decent price on this.

Zen Tea is a Canadian Tea retailer specializing in mid to high quality tea and has a wide variety of teas around the world.  

Zen Tea Anti-Strain Herbal Tea

I'm going to assume Anti-Strain is supposed to be the Canadian Tension Tea.  I don't really drink normal tension tea, but figured I'd try a bag.  Plus, I've had too much caffeine already and don't want to be up forever.

Outsides:  This tea contains cinnamon, licorice, ginger, fennel, orange peel and cardamon and i have to say, it smells amazing, like a sweet and spicy chai tea.  I put a teaspoon and a half in 8 oz of boiling water and let it sit for 5 minutes.  The tea is the normal yellow herbal color (It's funny how many herbal teas get that color) and still smells amazing.  This also apparently supports the Dosha "vata" in accordance to Ayuvedic teachings, which I know very little about.

Insides:  Well, this smells great and it might possibly taste great except for the smack in your face of weird sweetness that is the licorice.  Is there supposed to be that much licorice in accordance to Ayuvedic principals, because the aftertaste is riddiculous.  Putting aside the licorice, which is pretty near impossible, the herbs used are the spicy sweet kind and the tea has a nice brightness to it.  But you better like licorice.

Overall:  Works great as an air freshener, not as a drink.

My Rating:  Pass.

Zen Tea is a Canadian tea retailer that specializes in mid to high quality tea. 

Yogi Ginger Tea

So, I've had this tea since....a long time.  Probably not as long as I've had the other Yogi tea at my house, but still a fairly substantial amount of time.  Since this is Ginger tea, it is supposed to aid with digestion and I've just never needed help with that in the last few months so it's been laying in my cupboard for a few weeks now.  I also enjoy ginger and have to try this sometime :/

Outside:  The tea is in an individually foil wrapped envelope with your average tea sachet with string inside.  Ingredients are all organic and include ginger, lemongrass, licorice, peppermint (which you can smell very strongly) and black pepper, so expect spicy and sweet.  I boiled about 8 oz of water and am letting the bag sit in it for 5+ minutes since this is an herbal and I just don't care.  The color is not a typical ginger tea color in that it's an opaque medium yellow as opposed to the light color that comes from ginger.  It smells like peppermint tea.

Insides:  Why did I have apprehension about trying this tea?  Because this is clearly supposed to be medicine as opposed to a fully enjoyable beverage.  It comes in and tastes a bit like peppermint but then burns as it goes down your esophagus and leaves an aftertaste of licorice.  I feel as though I'm in the wrong state of mind while reviewing this and would be much more helpful if I was hung over.  But, I feel as though I am not giving as accurate of a description of the flavor as I should so here it is.  Each herb has a component to the flavor.  The peppermint gives a nice head to what would be a flavorless beginning, the licorice adds a nice sweetness, the lemongrass gives a nice citrus hint, and the ginger and pepper burn when they go down.  There!

Overall:  This is not a tea for enjoying but possibly a good cure for a hangover.

My Rating:  Pass on flavor, try while hungover.

Yogi Tea is a nice organic tea company that specializes in holistic medicine.

The Republic of Tea Comfort and Joy Holiday Black Tea

It's been a long time since I've reviewed a bagged tea, but I recently ordered the Republic of Tea Catalog for a reason that may or may not have been for free samples, and wanted to try this one.  I'm a sucker for holiday teas since they're usually fruity and spicy and get you into that holiday mood.



Outsides:  I got a biodegradable envelope with a round, unbleached sachet of tea inside.  TL;DR:  The most environmentally friendly a sachet tea can be.  This tea blend contains black tea, apple pieces, cinnamon, cloves and licorice.  The tea smells great unsteeped, like a sweet apple spice cake.  I steeped it in boiled water for about 4 minutes.  The color is lighter than but still very similar looking to apple cider in both hue and opacity.  It still has that sweet spiced apple cake smell to it.

Insides:  First off, I can barely taste the tea.  It's there, but it lacks astringency (good) and balance between all the other flavors (not so good) with a little bit of a weak tea body.  The flavor mix does have a very nice balance between fruity and spicy, with the cinnamon, cloves and licorice adding sweetness to the apple flavor that this tea had.  If anything, this is a good tea for anyone wanting the flavor of apple cider but without all the sugar.  And despite my not-nice things that I said about the tea portion, I think that it was at one point, a decent quality tea for a bagged tea, just overshadowed by the flavor.

Overall:  If you have someone on your holiday list that likes bagged tea and cider, this might be the gift to give.

My Rating:  Try it!

The Republic of Tea often advertises on my blog, meaning they have tons of money but also some higher quality tea bags as opposed to most of the other tea bag companies I review.  I got this sample from a catalog which I will look through and they seem to have a cool "Design your own gift" thing which looks like a good idea.

Davidson's Tea Bulk: Spring Fruit and Flowers

A pound of tea is a LOT of tea

 

  

I really love this type of blueberry herbal tea.  It's usually tangy and fruity and caffeine-free, so I can drink it before bed without having to worry about not sleeping.  However, I keep on running out of it so I took a risk and ordered a whole pound from Davidson's tea on Amazon for $17.05 (I have prime so I got 2 day shipping for free).  Buying in bulk is always a bit of a risk unless you know your supplier well, but I figured that there wouldn't be that much of a difference in the herb quality between this and Prestogeorge.

Outsides:  The mix in this is pretty much the same as previous blueberry herbal teas; blueberries, hibiscus, green rooibos, blue cornflowers and a bit of cinnamon and chamomile.  The colors are always beautiful as the blue flowers and yellow have great contrast against the dark red of the hibiscus.  I brewed a hefty teaspoon and let it steep in boiling water for 5 minutes, but my last cup before this was left brewing for...10 hours (?!?).  I actually think the color of this is more on the red side whereas the previous blueberry herbal teas were kind of a dark magenta.  It smells fruity with a hint of cinnamon and chamomile.

Insides:  First off, I think the Prestogeorge one had a stronger spice and hibiscus taste to it because this one is a bit more mild in terms of sour.  The hibiscus flavor still dominates, giving this nice sour taste, but the blueberry and cinnamon give a bit of sweetness and warmth.  Now, there was a LOT of blueberries and cinnamon pieces in the mix, but you don't really taste them as much as smell them and they add little nuances to the flavor.  I actually think that the Prestogeorge one used fresher ingredients which is why the blueberries and spices tasted stronger, but this is still good just not the best.  It's very versatile and makes a good iced tea, plus it's caffeine free so it's good for bedtime and kids.

Overall: I'm assuming that this type of tea is popular so try a different kind before you buy in bulk, but if you like these kids of teas then you'll probably like the Davidson kind.

My Rating: Try it.

I got this tea on Amazon, but Davidson's Tea is an online tea vendor which I forgot to mention is organic.  It's funny because if you order this tea from the Davidson website, it's $29 whereas the Amazon price is $17.  

Prestogeorge's Cranberry Orange Herbal Tea

Outsides:  This tea is LOADED with big, chunky pieces of fruit.  What you see in my picture is the very bottom of the bag where all the little bits gather, but the vast majority of this is big pieces of cranberry and big pieces of orange.  Apparently this has Chamomile, Rosehips and Hibiscus as well.  I didn't have much left but still wanted to review it, so I put more tea than was necissary into the basic infuser ball and stuck it in 8 oz boiling water.  The liquid is a lovely red color and it smells of sweet citrus and cranberries.

Insides:  There's almost a juice-like quality to this.  The liquid tastes very thick and tangy, not like the normal tea (granted, this is herbal tea).  It's sour, but if you like hibiscus tea then it shouldn't be a problem for anyone.  I really like this.  It tastes like a very fall/winter beverage with the cranberry and citrus flavors and is what I expect when I think of cranberry tea.  Since this is a fruity herbal tea, it can handle hot or cold, sugar or no sugar.  I might even add some cinnamon if I'm feeling audacious.

Overall:  It's a bit sad that this was my last cup of this.

My Rating:  Try it!

Prestogeorge is my local tea shop in Pittsburgh.  It has a nice, big variety although the shipping is expensive so you should probably find somewhere else if you need a place for tea.  

TasTEA Time! Prestogeorge Sleep Tight Herbal Tea

You know how you realize that you need something right as you need it?  Well, that was what happened to me.  I really needed to get to sleep and thought I had a big box of sleep time tea, but my mother removed it or it got lost somehow and alas, it was not there.  I ended up drinking some Celestial Seasonings Sleep Time tea, but I only have a few K-cups and figured whatever they had at Prestogeorge would be about 5 times tastier so I ended up buying 4 oz for about 5 bucks the next time I went.  Now, that was a risk but I figured that this tea was more for function than flavor.

Outsides:  The tea contains Chamomile, Valerian Root, Spearmint, Lavender and Lemon Balm.   I brewed it at boiling for about 5 minutes.  The tea itself is a nice yellow from all the herbs and actually smells very floral but not in an overpowering way.

Insides:  The lavender really sets this apart flavor-wise from any of the other sleep teas I've tried.  It really adds a nice delicate floral aroma to the tea and really brings out the subtle sweetness that the chamomile has.  It also ties all of the flavors together so it doesn't just seem like this random hodgepodge of herbs, but a nice relaxing garden.  Needless to say, I really love this sleep tea and it's by far, the tastiest I've had.  Oh, and it definitely calms you down and probably could help me sleep.

Overall:  I feel like if you're overly sensitive to chamomile or mint, you MIGHT not like this but the lavender does a good job masking the flavors.  It's a buy for me.

My Rating:  Buy!  

Prestogeorge is a tea and coffee retailer in Pittsburgh where I live.  You can order online from them but it's more pricy, so I encourage you to find your own local tea shops.  

TasTEA Time! Prestogeorge's Blueberry Herbal Tea

Sorry that the glass is almost empty, but I didn't want to make another cup to tea just to review this.

So as you can see, I drank most of this but will give you my pre-thoughts anyway.  This is blueberry herbal tea, a popular and very versatile blend of  hibiscus, green rooibos, berry, cinnimon and in my case, blue marigold flowers for added color.  If this sounds familiar, that's probably because I reviewed a blend like this from Teavana.  Now, I really liked that herbal tea blend and honestly found it pretty addicting, but it was 8 dollars for 2 oz.  This tea was $6.25 for 4 oz. 

Insides:  I probably should take a picture of the tea because the flowers make it quite lovely, but you're supposed to drink tea, not look at it.  I just got it in a resealable paper bag with cellophane lining.  Since the tea is herbal, you want to brew it at boiling for at least 3 minutes, but I've left it on for a half an hour and it's been fine.  It's a lovely dark pink and smells a little bit stronger in spices than what I would expect from a fruity herbal tea, but it reminds me of mulled wine.

Outsides:  I think as far as herbal blueberry blends go, this is a little different from the Teavana one.  There's a bit more hibiscus in here, giving the tea a nice tart taste and the cinnamon makes it a bit different too.  It still tastes a bit thicker although the berry scent is not as strong.  The sweet and tart flavors give this a nice balance and despite the differences, I really love this (this is the second 2 oz. bag I'm consuming in about a month).  It doesn't need sugar, I can drink it at night and it tastes great hot and cold.  This is kinda how I wish those Vitamin Water drinks would really taste like. 

Overall:  It doesn't have as strong of a berry flavor as the Teavana version but at less than half the price, is still pretty damn tasty. 

My Rating:  Buy!

Prestogeorge is a local coffee and tea retailer in the Strip District of Pittsburgh.  They have a website here where you can order tea, although the shipping might be a bit expensive.  However, this tea looks almost identical to the Davidson Tea Bulk: Spring Fruit and Flowers,  meaning that if you think you'll like this then you can buy a whole pound for $17.05 (which is probably what I'm going to do).

Well, today is Black Friday and I just bought a holiday giftset at Adagio for $13.30 and free shipping (and an added ounce of blueberry).  If anyone is a new customer and wants a 5 dollar giftcard, go to my twitter at @teaandpolish. 

Have a nice Holiday if you're in the US!