62 Tasting Notes

55
drank Raspberry Royale by Bigelow
62 tasting notes

I’m not normally a fan of the Bigelow brand teas but these tend to be offered for free at offices and this is how I ended up giving this flavor a try.

The tea is okay. It’s not great but it’s not horrible either. Out of the flavors I’ve tried from Bigelow I’d put this on the side of offerings of theirs that I would try again. I probably wouldn’t buy it out of choice but if it was offered to me by a friend or office, I wouldn’t turn it down.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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60

I was able to sample this tea, along with a few other Artisan Collection teas, over the last couple weeks.

While I like green tea it does tend to be too light of a tea for me to drink regularly and I find it can go from pleasant to bitter, quickly, if I don’t babysit it so I tend to reach for a green tea blend when I do reach for it. That said, I think this is a decent green tea on its own. It has enough flavor one could drink it without adding any sweetener to it, but I prefer it with a bit.

Definitely keep to the 1-2 minute steeping rule and make sure to dunk the bag a bit instead of just letting the bag hang out in the cup as it will help draw the tea’s flavor out a bit more.

I’ve been able to steep 3 cups of tea from one bag thus far without noticing a drop-off in flavor that was considerable enough to stop me from attempting a 4th cup. So, it’s a decent value given how many cups of tea I was able to get from one bag.

While this isn’t a tea I would buy for myself, it’s definitely not one I’d avoid if offered, either.

Flavors: Green, Herbaceous, Smoked

Preparation
Boiling 1 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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75
drank Mint Medley by Bigelow
62 tasting notes

Bigelow teas are a brand that I’m not a big fan of, but I was able to sample this tea from a local office during a visit. Out of the bag it smells great as it does brewing. I was excited to give this tea a try as my stomach was upset and the mint scent comes through amazingly.

Brewed for 3 1/2 minutes and this tea requires no sweetener, though I did add some as mint teas are not my favorite. This is one I’d go back to whenever I need a mint tea to ease my belly.

Flavors: Mint, Spearmint

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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80

I didn’t have much expectation regarding this tea as I bought it on impulse from Walmart. I found myself pleasantly surprised that Great Value put forth a reasonable bagged tea. It’s nothing stellar but it does hit the sweet notes I was hoping for without any sugar (substitute). Adding a bit of sugar draws out the strawberry and cherry notes even more. It doesn’t take much so go light.

I’ve only tried it as a hot brew so I can’t speak for how the flavor carries as a cold brew, but it has a nice scent followed by a flavor that carries through. For a couple dollars this is going to make my rotations of evening bagged teas I keep on hand for when I’m too lazy to break out a loose leaf option.

Flavors: Fruity, Strawberry, Sweet

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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50

This was a complimentary offering so I’m not too bummed having tried it as every now and then Celestial Seasonings will surprise me. This is not one of those times, sadly.

Green tea is always a rather bland experience for me, especially as a bagged tea with no other flavorings. I had hoped there would be a slight change in experience with the white tea addition, but it only ensured the bitter flavor that can sometimes occur even with a brief over steep did not occur. I added some sugar (substitute) and cream and still had a rather boring tea. I won’t be revisiting this one any time soon.

Flavors: Grass, Green, Herbs

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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65

I steeped this tea for 3 minutes with boiling water and the end result was a rather bland tea (as expected), but a little bit of sugar made it an acceptable tea for in the evening whenever other options are not available and you want to stick with a decaf option. Do not over steep this tea as with most green teas I’ve experienced, it tends to go from flavorless to bitter pretty fast.

I’m going to make a second cup using the same bag but at a lower temperature and see if it brings out more flavor, though I do not expect it to…

Okay, so I made a second cup of tea, this time at 185 degrees for 3 minutes. It was very weak, but given it is green tea and on the second steep I just steeped it for 30 seconds more. It was just enough and did not get bitter. A bit more sugar and it, I think, is even better than the first steep. This is definitely a tea to pay attention to the temperature suggestions and steep times.

Flavors: Flowers, Grass, Herbs, Jasmine

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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70

The Celestial Seasonings brand is one I either tend to like or hate. I rarely love any of their flavor offerings.

For this tea flavoring, I am only interested in trying it as a hot tea. I used one tea bag for approximately 8 ounces of water and allowed it to steep for about 5 minutes with boiling water.

I was pleasantly surprised by the tea bag’s aroma before steeping and that appreciation continued even once I removed the bag from the water. The aroma of the tea leaves are subtle with the typical, almost chemical, smell of honey / sweet flavoring. I’d add that I picked up on a hint of a nutty scent.

Without any cream or sugar (substitute) added this is an acceptable tasting tea. Nothing fantastic, yet, not displeasing. I like to keep a few varieties of tea bags on hand for nights where I don’t feel up to brewing a proper cup of tea. This one hits the mark and is very budget friendly.

Adding a small amount of cream seems to draw out a bit of flavor from that nutty scent I was picking up on and it is a welcomed enhancement to the tea giving it a bit more complexity, again something I find generally lacking with the Celestial Seasonings brand.

Finally, I added a bit of sugar (substitute) and for whatever reason it almost watered down the flavor. I would probably skip sugar altogether or only use a very small amount (1/4 teaspoon or less).

While I wouldn’t go out of my way to buy this flavor again as there are evening blends I prefer more, it’s not one I would avoid, either. An acceptable cup of bagged tea.

Flavors: Honey, Nutty, Sugar, Sweet

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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25
drank Lemon Meringue by Tea 72
62 tasting notes

I’ve tried several flavors from Tea 72 in the past and happened across a couple boxes I never got to. The company are (or were) supposed to create flavors that were to be ‘dessert teas’. Unfortunately, I’ve yet to find one that really tastes like a dessert and the majority are an extremely weak tea, at best. I’m a fan of green teas and their subtlety, but Tea 72 puts out a tea so subtle it’s almost non-existent.

The Lemon Meringue offering does has a nice aroma and even brewed that aroma carries, it just stops once you taste it. There is a bit of the hints of lemon and grassy flavoring I expected and when sugar (substitute) and milk are added it does draw some of these flavors out a bit more. Still, it falls flat and doesn’t live up to that dessert tea I was dreaming of.

As with other offerings from Tea 72, I needed to double up the tea (2 tea bags) per cup of water and brew it beyond the recommended time. Sadly, this is another tea in my cupboard I won’t be sorry to see go. I really wanted to like it.

Flavors: Bitter, Grass, Lemon, Lemongrass

Preparation
Boiling 6 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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15
drank Banana Rum by Tea 72
62 tasting notes

Banana rum tea sounds fantastic doesn’t it? If you buy this tea you will still be wondering just how wonderful it could taste.

I started as per the instructions and I could not detect any flavor. I added a second bag and steeped far longer than recommended. The end result was a warm, slightly bitter cup of warm water. I added a scoop of sugar (substitute) and now I have warmly sugared, still bitter water.

I cannot give any thumbs up to this tea and, if anything, would give it a slight thumbs down due to only flavor I could pull from the tea, was a bitter green tea due to over-steeping. I won’t bother to waste my time seeing if this will taste better cold as there is no flavor to begin with. If I want cold water, I’ll stick to my water cooler.

Save your money and time and avoid this one.

Flavors: Bitter

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
Kittenna

Sad. I feel like this could be quite tasty.

Tranquilitea

Kittenna, I intend to keep an eye out if another brand makes a similar offering as I agree this sounds like it could be a tasty tea.

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20

I picked a box of this tea up from Dollar Tree. Why I insist on still giving TEViVe a try, especially from Dollar Tree is beyond me, but the flavors sounded so tempting and I figured for a dollar I couldn’t go wrong. Well, I was wrong. Again.

They come in 20 packets and out of the packet the aroma is intoxicating. I was excited to give it a go. One bag gave the water a nice color but produced zero flavor, so I upped the amount. I am using an 8oz. mug so I opted to use 3 bags and even still the amount of flavor is so minuscule that I need to add two scoops of sugar (substitute) to make it drinkable.

This one isn’t horrible. It just fails to inspire even a review that would negate or favor the flavor as there is none in my opinion.

Flavors: Apple, Cranberry, Fruity

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 8 min or more 3 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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