Coffee Break! Mr. Brown Macadamia Nut Iced Coffee

What:  Coffee

Where:  Taiwan

Why Should I Care:  Well, I've never seen macadamia nut flavored coffee before (probably because they're expensive).  I got this at my random local Oriental Market for 85 cents while shopping for drinks to try out.  I've seen this brand there and they have about five different flavors, but this one stood out to me the most.  Anyway, it's cheaper than Starbucks but the container is smaller.

Packaging:  It's about the same size as the Monster (8 oz) although the can is fat instead of skinny.  I like the tropical flowers and palm trees in the can design.

Non-Taste Senses:  It looks and smells like coffee.

Taste:  I think if you're looking for plain ol' iced coffee, you should try this out.  It's not bad coffee but it's nothing that'll knock your socks off.  There's a nice nutty flavor to it and it's not exceedingly sweet but also not exceedingly creamy (I like my coffee creamy).  The roast seems to be closer to mild so keep that in mind.  If I made a totem pole of the canned coffee I tried, it's better than the Starbucks Lite but not as good as the Monster Xpresso.

Overall:  If your local Big Lots doesn't have Monster Xpressos for 50 cents and your local Oriental Market has these for 85 cents, I recommend trying them out.  It's just coffee, but it's still slightly cheaper than buying it from Micky D's or Starbucks.

My Rating:  Try it!  Did I find a site?  No.  But I did find a Wikipedia, Facebook and general love letter to the Italian-Taiwanese man.

TasTEA Time! Traditions Whole Leaf Green Tea

What:  Green Tea

Where:  Taiwan

Why Should I Care:  I don't know if it's just me, but it's hard finding quality inexpensive green tea sachets.  Most of the good green tea that you'll find is loose leaf, but I want my green tea goodness on the go.  This was something of an impulse buy from the asian mart because I wanted Macha and they didn't have Macha but this also looked good.

Packaging:  First off, the estimated cost per sachet of this tea was about 17 cents (which considering that I try to get my tea for 10 cents a sachet is a bit pricey but it actually is very cheap in the real world without Big Lots and discount stores).  For that 17 cents, you get an individual, foil-wrapped tea sachet which isn't made out of paper, but corn silk.  That's good.  Very good.

Non-taste Senses:  The tea is greenish-yellow and it smells like a very strong green tea.

Taste:  This stuff is bomb.  I feel the need to review something terrible next because I almost feel bad having two buys in a row but this is really great if you like strong green tea.  It has a bit of that grassy taste but not nearly as much as other teas that are a lot more expensive than it.  The flavor is strong, the tea has a floral hint that is really brought out with sugar and there's a bit of warmth to it that I love seeing in green tea.

Overall:  If you need green tea on the go and you see this at your local Oriental Market, buy it (assuming that it's as cheap for you as it was for me).  Heck, even 20 cents a sachet is worth it for this.

My Rating:  Buy it!  I'm not going to find a site for this.  It probably doesn't even exist in English.