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.  

Zen Tea Pu-erh Vanilla Mint

I kinda feel like I'm cheating a bit because I haven't really tried good Pu-erh yet (I have another Zen Tea sample sitting in my tea storage), but pu-erh is another tea that you're supposed to drink in multiple infusions and I just don't feel like doing that right now.  I also feel as though this is a great tea for around the holidays since it's a sweet peppermint and all.

Outsides:  First off, this one blatantly states that it's organic and fair-trade so it gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling for supporting a good tea cause.  It contains pu-erh, peppermint, cinnamon (which seems almost contradictory to me), vanilla and the bane of my existence, licorice.  One annoying thing that Zen Tea did was not include how much of this you're supposed to put per cup, so I'm just going to assume that it's a generous teaspoon per 8 oz of boiling water.  This tea is DARK but smells fantastic, like candy canes and holiday cookies all rolled up into one.

Inside:  I know that Pu-erh is different than black tea but I'm going to revoke Adagio's Candy Cane Tea's honor of being the best black tea because this is fantastic.  Pu-erh doesn't seem to be as bitter as black tea and the mint and vanilla flavors come through so nicely.  The licorice is barely noticeable and is actually done right by having it act as a slight sweetener.  I'm going to include a picture of when I add creamer to it because the milk tea has this slight reddish tone to it which I think is very pretty.  Oh, and this is amazing with creamer.  It's like you're having milk and cookies with a candycane in there. 

Milk Tea Goodness

Overall:  I felt like I took a risk getting the 50 gram pouch of this but I'm glad I followed my instincts.

My Rating:  Buy it!

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

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.

TasTEA Time! Stash Black Currant Herbal Tea

What:  Herbal Tea with Blackcurrant

Where:  Oregon, USA

Why Should I Care:  First off, this tea is probably at least 3 years old because my mom buys tea then never drinks it.  Anyways, Black Currant is pretty much just a souped-up blueberry.  It's stronger in flavor, has more vitamin C and can withstand stronger teas.  I can't say much about this company except they seem to have a wide variety of unique flavors.

Packaging:  Thankfully, they know how to package their teas so this may have a chance.  The outside is paper while the inside is foil.

Non-Taste Senses:  The tea is this reddish-brown color and smells like berries and licorice.

Taste:  The taste itself is kinda weird, but not quite bad.  There's a strong berry taste but it's also mixed with the taste of licorice which gives the impression that it's thicker than it actually is.  Unlike the Yogi Egyption Licorice Mint, there isn't any weird sweet aftertaste and ultimately, if you like licorice, this one is the better bet.  I don't recommend drinking this cold but you can add sugar since the tea takes it well.

Overall:  I never realized that I'd be reviewing two licorice teas on the same weekend.  The good news is that this particular type doesn't quite taste like death and if you do want licorice in your tea, this one's the way to go.  Do I say that you should go out and buy it?  No, but it's not terrible and that's all that matters.

My Rating:  Try it!  Here's the site and that tea has Yumberry in it!

TasTEA Time! Yogi Egyptian Licorice Mint!

If you think this is cute, I'll let you know that he's snoring.  

What:  Mint Tea with Licorice.  It's organic and promotes well being too!

Where:  USA

Why Should I Care:  I was going to write about how my stomach is still a little sensitive and I need some mint as well as ginger, but then I looked up the company information to see where they were established.  Yogi Teas are blended using traditional Ayurvedic spices and are made to promote well-being and holistic health.  I especially love how they have different teas that are supposed to help with different ailments, like tea for cold, arthritis and even Women's Health (Note:  I don't want people to think that by drinking tea, you'll cure your ailments.  However, a lot of medicine is naturally derived and using herbs has helped people with certain conditions).  I'm trying the Egyptian Licorice Mint, which sounds a little terrifying thanks to the licorice.


Packaging:  First off, this tea is probably about three years old but thankfully is packed in individually foil-wrapped sachets.  

Non-Taste Senses:  It's yellow colored and it smells strongly of mint.


Taste:  You know, for a tea that's at least three years old, it held up pretty well.  The licorice is there, it's not excessively strong, but it's there and you have to deal with it.  I also read that the tea has Stevia flower in it (an ingredient found in artificial sweetener) and that attributes to this strange sweet taste.  It takes sugar well if only because it already has a bit of sweetness and I just don't recommend drinking it any other way than hot.  


Overall:  You know what, I review things on taste and price and not whether they're healthy for you.  There's other mint tea out there and more than likely, they're better than this.  If you want strong mint tea or something that REALLY takes care of a sore tummy, check this out.  It's not bad, I just can't say go out and buy it.


My Rating:  Pass (unless you want something more healthful than your average mint tea which is already pretty healthful.  Or you like Licorice).  Here's the site.