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.

Quick Review: Twinnings Hazelnut Chai and Free Samples!

I apologize in advance for the lack of pictures but I had just gotten these samples in the mail and really wanted to try the Hazelnut Chai for breakfast.  Twinnings USA has a site where you can get free samples of three different teas.  Naturally, I'm all about the free stuff despite not even drinking bagged tea so I ended up getting the hazelnut chai, spiced apple chai and lady grey (which I've tried but have really enjoyed).  Anyway, I just got the samples yesterday so don't expect them for a few weeks after ordering them.

Outsides:  Twinnings Hazelnut Chai black tea is part of their holiday collection and is their blend of chai tea with hazelnut flavoring added in.  It's in a normal tea sachet.  I let the tea steep in almost boiling water for 5 minutes.  Honestly, pictures of this tea would be pretty boring because it's just a boring black tea color.  The hazelnut adds a nice scent that is noticeable and strong but not as overpowering as something like Adagio's Chestnut black tea (which has been a fall favorite of mine). 

Insides:  Although there is a strong hazelnut smell, it doesn't really add much to the taste of the tea and if you've had the normal Twinnings Chai, that's pretty much what it tastes like.  For those of you who don't know, Twinnings actually does a pretty decent job making a chai tea.  It's not as good as Margaret's (or actually, Metropolitan Tea Company) but Twinnings has a small amount of heat to their tea with a nice amount of sweet spice and it goes well with half-and-half.  For a bagged tea, it's fairly well balanced and I was surprised at how smooth and un-bitter it was despite me thinking I oversteeped.  I did end up adding hazelnut Coffee Mate to it because I wanted a treat for breakfast, and the extra hazelnut flavor complemented the tea nicely. 

Tilt:  Twinnings is relatively inexpensive and I like how they have a few varieties on their chai tea (Hazelnut, extra spice, apple cider and vanilla).  I'm a big fan of hazelnut flavoring and appreciate that a big-name brand is providing slightly more unique tea flavorings.  I'd imagine this tea would be good cold, but it's not quite strong enough to make lattes and such out of (btw guys, I bought a cheap milk-frother and find that it makes the best matcha whisk). 

Overall:  Is this tea something you REALLY need?  No, not really.  If you want a fun bagged tea for work, this might be a good choice but I'd just buy a normal chai you know you'd like and some hazelnut syrup/creamer/flavored stevia drops and achieve it that way.

My Rating:  Pass/Try it.  

Twinnings is one of the most famous tea retailers in the world and because of that, is available in pretty much every drug and grocery store.