Bigelow

It’s not going to be my favourite tea by any stretch but Mom absolutely loves it. I can’t taste much spice from it, maybe I should have put some milk in it..

I have received this US tea from postcrossing and today evening seems to be a great time for that. A bit of sore throat appeared, so extra dose of ascorbic acid won’t hurt and it’s caffeine free, so, yep, evening is great timing.

When I have sniffed the tea bag, I noticed strong lemon aroma, so sour it tickled my nost and spearmint. I wonder if it is that peppermint which is in (is it hat strong?) or lemon verbena (but that’s a different aroma than mint).

When sipped, I thought I bit a lemon peel. Not that strong lemony note and lemongrass dominates here to me. Also, it is a bit medicinal for me, definitely in the aftertaste and powdery like.

Definitely expected more zingy lemon from this tea, almost sour like, but my throat is much better and that’s at least something positive, while the flavours fall a bit off to me.

I am done with radiation. The doc is 98% sure he killed those two cancer lesions dead. More scans every 3 months for at least 3 years to be sure to detect any return early. To celebrate I stopped at Sweet Dreams Confections on the way home and bought two raspberry truffles and some expensive gourmet hot chocolate. They also carry some Republic of Tea canisters and some English Tea Shop gift boxes. I did not buy any tea, because, really, I need to drink what I have!

Blech. That $3.99 cup of hot chocolate did not agree with me. Made a cup of this instead. I think I gave this a rating of 70 before, but I am raising it tonight. This tea is very nice. It’s flavor profile is not bold, but tonight it was just the thing.

This really doesn’t have a lot of flavor. It was on sale and my tummy is frequently uneasy so I thought I would try it as an after supper cup. Nope. Not my thing.

Another tea bag from lovely Canadian Postcrossing member. I had a mood for black tea, although hot afternoon says that some light tea would suit the weather better.

Well, this tea is strong. Steeped for recommneded 2 minutes in 300 ml cup. I got a bitter (not astringent) cup full of tobacco. Not a fan!

Single bag pulled from a TTB. Well, I taste the vanilla and a tiny bit of chai spice. The quality of the black tea isn’t amazing, but with milk and sugar, this isn’t a bad cup of tea. I prefer a heartier chai though.

It’s lavender season here and last weekend we visited a local lavender farm. The blooms are a bit late due to all the rain we’ve had but it was a fantastic experience. I’ve not been feeling great the last few days and saw this one hiding in my cabinet. Where it came from, I’m not sure. I’m not a huge fan of Bigelow teas but this one is a hit. Immediately smelled the lavender when I opened the packet. It steeps up a nice golden color. The chamomile and lavender come through very well. It does feel a bit oily and I wonder if that’s the probiotic addition. I tried googling the additive but my head hurts too much to focus on the science. The tea though is a nice addition to my lavender week.

Pros: Affordable, convenient, not bad when piping hot.

Bigelow says this is black tea, but the chicory is prominent. It does have a decent but quite sharp caramel flavour when hot, but after this cools down, it’s a tosser. The caramel becomes quite chemical-tasting the cooler it gets. Served iced, this could probably be used as a torture device. Is it more humane than waterboarding? Not sure.

As always, I drank it black but I suspect some milk/sugar would improve this a good deal.

This was nice for a grab and go in the office. You know- when there’s a sad, lonely teabag at the bottom of the communal tea basket, and you just want something to drink before a meeting? Yup. This is it.

For the price, it’s not the worst tea I’ve ever had. I wouldn’t seek it out but it’s a decent sip whilst hot.

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Another one that I mostly sipped through with creamer added, but having this last cuppa plain to refresh my memory.

Not a favorite for me, as there’s a lot of clove going on and I’m not the biggest clove fan. I wish there was more orange and less clove. Still a pleasant tea, just not to my personal tastes. The creamer did help mellow the clove out a bit, which was nice.

Single teabag from a TTB. This tastes kind of metallic? I also taste something like coconut, though that’s not listed as an ingredient. I can’t tell if the alcohol flavor is coming from the vanilla flavoring or the tea itself. This is a little desserty, but just low quality with weird flavoring, so I’m glad I only saved a single bag.

Weak and bland. It smells okay.

This is The People’s Work Tea XD Nabbed some from work to try as a latte with my espresso machine method I mentioned in another note. Surprisingly, I hadn’t tried it with a green tea yet. It produced a big ole cup of NOPE with the fannings of 4 teabags. I’ll just stick to using this as an emergency tea on the job

A friend loves this one and had included it in a mug gift for me. It’s been hanging out in my “to try” bin for a bit, so I snagged it and heated up some water. The tea bag smells quite a bit like blueberry candies. The tea has a purply- red hue to it and smells sweet. I’m reminded of Sweet Tarts candies while drinking it. I don’t quite taste the blueberry but do taste the acai. This would not be a winter tea for me but I think it would be good in the summer months or as an iced tea.

I was rather surprised at how much I enjoyed this tea. I often find the Bigelow’s flavors I’m okay but nothing to write home about or that I would go out of my way to find. This tea might become an exception. My typical way of preparing it is to bring the water to just under boiling, add two tea bags to my 10 oz tea mug, top off with some half & half and a touch of sweetener, and sip. I do find that letting it cool down a touch enhances the flavor. It might not fool me into thinking that I’m drinking eggnog, but it definitely scratches the itch for that flavor profile.

Nope.
It is very plain black tea with little fruity — generic red fruits, flavour. What a shame, because it smells (when dry); like a raspberry jam.

Thank you anyway Devon that I could try it.

Whew, what a weekend this was.

Well this one was hidden today in advent calendar from Devon ad honestly I have to say, I am not a fan of it.

Theoretically, I would like it. I like coconut as well the almond, however it’s somehow weird. Soapy, at least. It also tastes quite funky. Almonds and coconut are overpowering each other. I see now that Almond bark is another US confection. Also it has got some kind of fruity + dirty taste as others have mentioned.

Pretty much average tea from Devon’s Advent Calendar.

Slighlty fruity, even I can say it is a pomegranate, but the base was completely boring and fruit flavour was like adding a juice into black tea. Cheap black tea.

Had this while out for lunch today. A good, strong peppermint flavour. I liked it.

Getting close to being done with these holiday teas! \o/

Pleasantly surprised by this one, it smelled much sharper dry. But steeped up, it tastes like a combination of a lemon drop and a ginger-spiced cookie. Not like gingerbread, but like a lighter, buttery-er cookie with ginger added. There is a touch of earthy, fresh ginger flavor as well, but it’s not as strong as the dry scent implied. It’s actually quite mellow overall, perfect for relaxing on the couch with the pugs before bed.

This is one I would consider keeping in my cupboard!

Holiday grocery store teas tried: 17/19

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This one was okay. I wouldn’t call it peppermint bark-esque since I didn’t really taste much chocolate? Mostly it’s peppermint with an undertone of roasty chicory and a bit of cloying sweetness from the licorice root.

It’s not awful, at least there’s no cinnamon like there sometimes (inexplicably) is in peppermint/candy cane teas. But definitely not one I would purchase again.

For some reason I’m always excited by peppermint bark teas, but they’re always disappointing to me.

This one tastes mostly like peppermint leaf with a bit of added menthol from the flavoring, with an undertone of roasted chicory and a slight sweetness from the licorice root. I don’t really get chocolate at all.

It’s drinkable, but not something I would purchase. A shame, the wrapper is very pretty.

Holiday grocery store teas tried: 11/19