Earth Fare

The shorter steep and lower temperature seems to have kept the bitterness at bay. I may have added too much honey though. I’ll cut back next time. I still don’t like this one. It’s drying out my mouth and has a strange cardboard aftertaste.

I’m having a late night cup tonight after finishing up my tea cabinet. I have been meaning to go through everything for a while, to take note of what I have and what I’ve finished. Not too much had changed, but I did have several teas to add and few to take off my list so I’m glad to have finished it.

I mainly chose to have a cup of this green tea because I wanted to snap a picture to add here since I couldn’t find one on Earth Fare’s website. I’ve had this a couple of times before and, as usual, this tea is bitter. I don’t know if it’s something I’m doing or if it’s the tea. Aside from the bitterness, it’s not so bad; it just doesn’t taste at all like the pomegranate it promises. Just as it did in earlier cups, it begins to taste better once it’s started to cool.

I do think this has potential if I could just figure out its secret.

Even though the directions suggest boiling water, I should have known it would make this green tea bitter and it did. Even adding honey doesn’t help. Next time, I think I’ll try a lower temperature with a few extra minutes of steeping time. I’m not tasting any fruit, pomegranate or otherwise and there is an oily film on top that is coating my spoon. Not pretty.

Second Steep
8 ounces water + 175 degrees + 8 minutes, 30 seconds

This cup is so much better. It’s not bitter at all. I’m still not tasting anything fruity but it’s a nice cup.

This is my first time to try this tea or any tea from Earth Fare for that matter. It’s one my husband picked up on a recent trip. The dry tea smells a little fruity, though I couldn’t say for sure that I’m smelling pomegranate. After steeping, it smells sweet but also green and fresh. It tastes a little bitter and a little bland. It’s also kind of watery. Even with the addition of honey, it just barely tastes like flavored water. I’m really going to have to play around with this one to see if I can coax out some of its flavor.

The steeped tea leaves do still resemble tea so that is a little more encouraging. They are crushed very small but perhaps there is some flavor to be found there. So far, I’m not feeling excited about the Earth Fare teas.

This seems to have more flavor after cooling a bit. It’s much, much better. I could definitely see myself drinking this as an iced tea. I’m still not really tasting the fruit and it’s still a touch bitter though. Overall, it’s pretty good once cooled. It is astringent though. I wouldn’t recommend it hot, at least not based on today’s cup.

Backlogging.

I made this stronger than usual per not checking Steepster for my usually steeping time and apparently having forgotten it. Well, I do have too many teas to remember everything. As usual, this is my go-to tea when my tummy hurts or I’m feeling vaguely under the weather and, as usual, I felt better after drinking it. =) Possible placebo effect, but who cares so long as it works.

Backlogging.

Another tasty late night mug.

The great backlog continues…

I’m sure I’ve had this more than the three times I’ve logged it thus far. It’s quickly becoming my staple tea for a mildly upset tummy. Very soothing. I’m the kind of person to keep trying different teas and not rebuy the same ones often. But I think I will have to get more of this one when I run out.

Backlogging. Last Wednesday night.

Enjoyed a ginger-minty mug before bed!

Backlogging. Last Tuesday night before bedtime.

I think this is going to be one of those teas where when I drink it, I like it more than I remember liking it. =)

Backlogging. Saturday afternoon. (The backlogging has been held up for not wanting to go to the kitchen and fetch this tea so I could enter it.)

Earth Fare (our regional, less-pricey, and better Whole Foods-type store) carries a small section of store brand bagged teas. Something like a black tea/English breakfast, Earl Grey, green tea, mint green tea, rooibos, faux-Sleepytime blend, and a couple of herbal blends. They were having a Buy One, Get One sale around the time I was last low on bagged teas/herbals, which I like to drink right before bed, so I picked up two of their herbal blends to try. This was one of them.

I have had a bag of the Red Wellness before and I had thought I’d entered it into Steepster and tealogged it. I remember that bag as being just minty, hence not having have another bad since then. I like minty teas but they are not something I’d reach for unless specifically wanting one.

This past Saturday afternoon, my tummy was a bit unsettled and I was wishing I had a minty green tea on hand when I remember this being purely minty and decided to give it a go. The tea is prolly lucky that I didn’t tealog it last time as I had a better experience with it this time.

The teabag smelled very pepperminty and the tea smelled less so. I do not remember the color for sure, but I am thinking lighter brown. At first I thought I tasted only minty again, which would have suited my purpose fine that day. As I continued to sip, I realized that mint was more muted than I remembered and thought I could taste a slight woodiness of the rooibos muting the mint. But I do not think I’d have drank this and thought rooibos, had I not known it was in there and been looking for it. I also found that, cooled slightly, I could taste the bit of the ginger mid to end sip. I think this contributed to my memory of this tea being strongly and only peppermint. The ginger had a powdered ginger quality.

I liked this tea better than I remember and will likely reach for it again sooner. I also think plain rooibos, mint, and ginger in some form might make a nice blend for those that make their own blends out of the basics at home.

I’m rating this tea a 53 (in the middle of decent, 50-60). It was enjoyable, but I’m not sure I’d ever crave it and go specifically to it. It’s more of a see-it-in-the-cupboard-and-decide-to-drink-it tea or a I-want-something-minty tea. It’s also bagged (and bagged teas, even really good ones, tend not to go much higher than around 60 in my ratings).

Backlogging.
Cold Season Tea is one of the two Earth Fare brand herbals I brought for drinking at night. My allergies are acting up right now so I decided to try this one before bed Tuesday night. This isn’t going to be a full first-time-drinking-this tealog since it was pretty late and I was pretty tired and I may have overestimated my ability to drink a new herbal and making notes for a tealog in my head at that time. So, I remember that it was extremely tart and drying and there was fruit/berry/apple flavors. Next tealog on this one should be the first-time-drinking-this tealog.

Out picking up groceries at our small regional organic/natural grocery chain, Earth Fare, after lunch today (Indian buffet – yum!), I hadn’t had any caffeine yet and was thirst so I stopped at the chilled beverages section to pick up an “iced” tea to drink on the way home. Earth Fare brand bottled teas are often on sale for $1, as are their “vitamin waters” drinks. I had planned on getting a black tea for the caffeine content but I’d just left the aisle with sodas on it (I did not get any =) ) and was thinking about ginger ale.

This tea is sweetened lightly, not rot your teeth sweet like other canned or bottles teas, and you can taste both the green tea and the ginger. The slight taste of the citric acid, I think that’s what it is at least, is minimal. For a chilled bottled tea, this one is quite good I’d say.