Tazo Decaf Lotus Blossom Green Tea

 Excuse the extremely stained cup.

Outsides:  Tazo Decaf Lotus Blossom is in its own little individually wrapped little packet.  The ingredients are simple, just green tea and nautral flavoring.  The tea actually smells pretty fruity.  I soaked the bag in lukewarm water (I'd say 65-70 degrees C) for 3 minutes in about 10 oz of water and yes, I know that is very wrong of me (you're supposed to soak a green teabag for 2 minutes in 6 oz of water).  The tea is on the more golden side of the green tea spectrum and it smells fruity with a light, sweet mango scent.

Insides:  So, I never go into a Tazo tea expecting something good in hopes that I might be pleasantly surprised.  The green tea here is a bit lacking in flavor but that's as much of my fault as it is the company's.  It's not the worst green tea base though as there is no overwhelming bitterness or chemical taste, just a nice smoothness with a hint of sweetness.  The sweet smell gives it a hint of a fruity flavor and a small pinch of floral, but ultimately, it tastes a bit like a lighter mango green tea. 

Tilt:  Tazo can be found everywhere and isn't too expensive and considering good green tea flavor variations are hard to come by (they either all seem to taste very artificial and tend to either lack flavor or overwhelm the tea with it), this one is pretty unique if you want something with a bit of mango flavor.  That being said, I've had moon cake before and this tea doesn't remind me of the lotus used in that.  It's also not a very strong flavor so that can be a good or bad thing depending on whether you really love lotus and how much you want to share this tea with company.  The slight fruityness will make this nice cold.

Overall:  Surprisingly, I like this.  I wouldn't go out and seek this, but it's worth a try and will be one of the teas I get at the cafeteria. 

My Rating:  Try it!

Tazo can be found pretty much anywhere.

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.  

Tazo Orange Blossom Tea

  

So, I got this tea from my secret Santa on my Jumpstart team who said that she liked tea and knows how much I love it.  I didn’t tell her that I hated Tazo teas and only got them by stealing them from random places, but thankfully, this comes in a pretty sweet metal tin that will hold some of the pound of Davidson’s Tea Spring Fruit and Flowers I got (I found that I’m addicted to blueberry herbal tea and I really should just get the pound).  Anyway, this particular tea appears to be a blend of jasmine green tea, TANGERINE PEEL (as opposed to, you know, orange) and goji berries with all kinds of spices such as orange essence, chamomile flowers, fennel, tarragon and more stuff that I don’t even care about.  

Outsides:  So, I got this tea in a cool metal tin.  Sadly, it is not loose-leaf but in cornsilk sachets that are not individually wrapped.  I actually kind of think that’s a giant waste of space because you have this big freaking container and you only get 15 bags of this stuff, but I digress.  Since this is green tea based, I used 6 oz of slightly below boiling water and about 2 oz of room temperature water and steeped it for 3 minutes (but the temp was so low that you can get away with longer).  The color is similar to a lot of chamomile teas and this one smells both citrusy and flowery. 

I also need to note that the tea in here seems to be at a much higher level than the normal bagged Tazo.  For one thing, it’s whole-leaf and the bigger the leaf, the better the tea.  It’s also very pretty to look at in the cup, almost like blooming tea.  And they used corn-silk instead of paper so I’m guessing this is some fancy stuff.

Insides:  The jasmine is a bit strong, but it’s still a nice citrusy herbal blend.  The base of green tea and chamomile gives this a bit of a sweet taste while the jasmine and orange are both relaxing.  The weird thing is, I don’t know if all of these flavors are overpowering the green tea or if they just didn’t use a very flavorful kind but I’m guessing it’s a bit of both.  If you add sugar, I feel that it does a good job toning down some of the citrusy and floral flavors while bringing out the green tea and I also imagine this being nice as an iced tea.  It’s a bit of a weird blend for me, but overall it is still enjoyable.

Overall:  I’m sure that for the pricepoint, it is not worth it but this is a nice tea overall and I’m glad I got it as a secret Santa present.

My Rating:  Try it!

Tazo can be found pretty much anywhere that sells Starbucks related stuff but I'll have to check with my team leader where she got it.  I do hope that it wasn't too expensive.

TasTEA Time! Tazo Awake (black tea)

What's this?  A bagged tea?  That's right, I'm back with some tea I stole...I mean borrowed from the local hospital cafeteria.  It just so happens that they have about 6 different kinds of Tazo, so that's what I'll be reviewing.  Awake seems to be the company's breakfast blend and a rather boring black tea.

Outsides:  The tea is in a nice foil-lined bag.  It was brewed at almost boiling water for about 4 minutes.  As you can see, this tea is dark and murky, so it's probably an Assam blend and even smells like one.

Insides:  Oh Tazo, you and your mediocrity.  I think Twinnings may make a more flavorful breakfast blend than you, which isn't saying much.  It's bitter, not unbearably so but moreso than the loose-leaf teas I got from Prestogeorge or Adagio, but it DOES have a tea flavor.  If I have to profile it, I'd say bitter with a bit of musk and that's it.  Ugh, just...no.  You can get better tea at 1/3 of the cost and I'm not even talking loose-leaf.  There is nothing special here and I'm probably going to give my stolen...I MEAN BORROWED, tea away.

Overall:  You'll be getting better tea from Twinnings or Biglow.

My Rating:  Pass/Burn it!

I don't feel like putting up the link but Tazo can be found everywhere so it doesn't even matter.  

TasTEA Time! Tazo Organic Green Tea

 

There's a lot of things to like and dislike about this tea at first glance.  The good things include how it's organic, is sweetened with cane sugar and has a few herbs to jazz up the normal green tea flavor.  The bad things are that it's still full of sugar and calories, is about as expensive as Lipton Pure Leaf if not more and is Tazo, the purveyors of bland tea that always has a hint of mint somewhere.  But I'm at work with tea and love telling the world every detail about my beverage, so here we go.

Outsides:  Much like Lipton Pure Leaf, this comes in a glass bottle which to me, results in a better flavor than plastic (although plastic is more recyclable (?)).  It looks like slightly cloudy gold green tea and smells very much like the Lipton green tea in a bottle.

Insides:  I think the best way to describe this is a jazzed up Lipton Pure Leaf Green Tea.  There's a hint of lemongrass and mint which gives it a more refreshing taste even when warm.  I personally find it a bit too sugared-up, but it's not nearly as offensive as the Giant Peach (spoiler alert:  if you're not a sugar maniac, it's barely drinkable unless it's chilled).  Other than that, the green tea flavor is nice, there but not too bitter although the sugar overwhelms it a little.  I also like the citrus touch it has.

Overall:  If you find yourself buying Lipton Pure Leaf Green tea and want an alternative, this is pretty much a jazzed-up version of that.  I wish they'd cut back on the sugar, but ultimately, it's not a bad drink.

My Rating:  Try it!  I'm not giving a website because Tazo is literally everywhere.

 

TasTEA Time! Tazo Zen

First off, all 10 of you may be wondering why I'm writing so many posts today.  Don't you have a life, Domino?  The answer to that last question is no, but there are a couple of reasons why I'm writing so much.  The first one is purely because I am bored.  The second one is because I'm going to be very busy in the next few weeks and this'll give you all (including new people) more posts to indulge yourselves in before the possible drought begins.  The last reason is because the Hot Coco and this tea were both drunk on impulse.  I only have one sachet of this tea and I honestly want to get it over with (which sounds like I'm biased against Tazo but i'm not.  If it's awesome, I'll tell you how awesome it is).  Now where were we?

Tommy was not feeling in a mood of Zen for this.  

What:  Green tea with lemongrass and...you guessed it, spearmint!

Where:  USA

Why Should I Care:  Seriously Tazo, I know you love mint and all but does it need to be in everything?  I mean, it makes more sense for a tea called Zen to have Lotus, Jasmine or even Ginger.  My rant aside, I do have a weakness for lemongrass and green tea.  Maybe this'll be awesome!

Packaging:  So, when I said before that Tazo had a paper/foil combination, I was wrong.  It actually has a paper/wax paper combination.  I don't know if that's supposed to be better or worse but legit tea companies use foil and that's what I want to see!

Non-Taste Senses:  It's a lot yellower than normal green tea and it smells like lemongrass.

Taste:  You know what, this green tea is awful.  It's just like the kind you get from Biglow (the worst tea company ever) where there really isn't a taste past some bitterness.  I brewed it right, the water temperature was at about 70 degrees but man, I don't taste the green tea at all.  Honestly, the only thing I taste is the mint (I'm not even being a jerk, that's just all I taste).  Sugar just doesn't do anything and I doubt it'll taste better cold.

Overall:  Look, just don't buy it.  It's bland, boring and overpriced no matter how you get it.  There are better brands of green tea out there.

My Rating:  Pass.

TasTEA Time! Tazo Calm

More Tommy with Tea

What:  Tea that's supposed to make you calmer

Where:  USA

Why Should I Care:  Everyone knows Tazo.  It's that fake Asian tea company that adds mint to everything!   It's also kinda expensive for the quality I'm getting (a 20c goes for about 5 bucks.  I'm ok with paying 25 cents per sachet but not on lower end mid-quality tea without being fair-trade or organic or anything).  This particular variety is the Calm blend with chamomile, mint and other tasty ingredients.

Packaging:  It's that paper/foil packaging that I hope most of the teas I buy have.

Non-Taste Senses:  It's chamomile tea colored and it smells a little minty.

Taste:  So, this is basically a more mild version of the Night Time tea I tried.  It's not bad and if you don't like mint, you might like this one more that the Heath and Heather version.  It's just kinda....meh to me.

Overall:  I just don't think this is worth the money.  The taste itself is ok but it's not really worth getting unless you can't find any other brand of calming tea.  I mean, look at this review.  I'm not even excited talking about this.

My Rating:  Pass   If you do feel inclined to buy this, just go to a Starbucks or Seattle's Best Coffee (Why Seattle is my question).  Here's their website (which is beautifully designed).