PRODUCT REVIEW: White Tea Acai Squeeze from Argo Tea

by liberteas

AcaiSqueezeProduct Description:

Ready to Drink Tisane from Argo Tea.

Argo Tea’s White Tea Açai Squeeze® is youthful white tea from the Fujian province of China, vitamin-rich açai from Amazon rainforests of Brazil and fresh-squeezed lemonade. 

Learn more about this product here.

Taster’s Review:

This White Tea Acai Squeeze from Argo Tea is actually pretty tasty.  As some of you might be aware, I’m not always crazy about ready-to-drink teas because they usually taste more like sugar/sweetener than they do tea.  But, I can taste tea here.

Yeah, it’s still sweet, but this is actually more tart than it is sweet!  The lemonade notes are especially profound in this tea.  The white tea adds a crisp, airy sort of background note with a hint of vegetative flavor.  The acai berry is also a strong flavor, but it unites with the lemon-y notes quite nicely.

I guess if I were to offer any complaint about this, it would be that I wished there was a little less lemonade and acai berry and a little more tea, but I still found this beverage refreshing and not too sweet and it didn’t leave behind that syrupy feel on my tongue after I finished drinking it – you know, that sort of cloying, sickeningly sweet sensation that seems to coat the palate when one drinks those overly sweetened RTD beverages that they call tea?  I didn’t get that with this, and I’m glad.  This is not too sweet and I can taste the tea – these get big PLUS points from me when it comes to RTD teas.

Argo is currently promoting their Scratch and Win promotion on Facebook – you can win a free bottle of their tea from their website!  Good luck!

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Tea Products and Accessories, White Tea

PRODUCT REVIEW: Green Tea Ginger Twist from Argo Tea

by liberteas

Product Description:

Ready to Drink Tisane from Argo Tea.

Ingredients:  fresh brewed green tea (water, green tea), pure cane sugar, ginger root, lemon juice concentrate, natural vanilla flavor. 

Learn more about this product here.

Taster’s Review:

After not being completely disappointed with my sampling of Mojitea, I decided to give another Ready-to-Drink tea beverage from Argo Tea a try.  This time, though, I made sure that there was actual Camellia Sinensis in the blend!

And I have to say that I like this quite a bit better than the aforementioned Mojitea.  There is a lot of ginger in this one though, so if you’re not keen on ginger, this is not the tea for you.

I can also taste the lemon in this, it isn’t an abundant flavor, but, it adds a nice touch of acidic taste to offset the peppery taste of the ginger.  The green tea seems a little lost in the blend, but, I can taste it back there … somewhere!   It would be nice to have a little more green tea flavor, but on the plus side, I like that this isn’t overwhelmingly sweet.  In fact, I find that the sweetness is balanced nicely with the spicy note from the ginger and the bit of lemon flavor.

There is also just a hint of vanilla to this, and I notice that particularly in the aftertaste which is a little sweet and creamy tasting.

Quite nice for a RTD.  I would definitely be happy to drink this one again.

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Green Tea, Tea Products and Accessories

PRODUCT REVIEW: Mojitea from Argo Tea

by liberteas

Product Description:

Ready to Drink Tisane from Argo Tea.

Ingredients:  fresh brewed mint tea (water, peppermint), pure cane sugar, lime juice concentrate, natural mint flavor. 

Contains 7% juice.

Learn more about this product here.

Taster’s Review:

As I’ve said before, I don’t purchase many ready-to-drink teas.  In fact, according to my husband, I point my nose up at them, inferring that I’m a tea snob.  And while I accept this label, I don’t really think this particular action has earned it.  Most ready-to-drink teas are over-sugared and overly saturated with flavorings to hide the flavor of the tea.  Why would anyone do that to a tea?  It seems as though it should be a criminal act.

And while this ready-to-drink “tea” has done very little to assuage my opinion of most ready-to-drink tea products (here is an exception), the fault really isn’t with this particular product but with me, as I didn’t take the time to read the label properly.  This is actually an herbal tisane, and not a tea (as it contains no Camellia Sinensis leaves), so there is no tea to actually be tasted.

That being said, this is actually quite a tasty tisane.  I am not finding it to be overly sweet … sweet, yes, perhaps a bit sweeter than I would have liked, but, not so sweet that I’m put off by it.  And I like that what I taste is peppermint and lime over the sweetness.  I like that it is made with pure cane sugar, and not some syrup.  Yeah, yeah, I saw the commercial and I know that “sugar is sugar,” and the body doesn’t know the difference between cane sugar and corn syrup, but, I’d like to think that my palate does.

Truth be told, what lead me to this purchase was the pretty glass bottle.  Yeah, I’m a sucker for neat packaging.  But it was enjoyable enough for me to pick up another bottle of it if I happen to be out and about and in need of hydration.  Not something that I’ll keep stocked in my fridge, but I am now interested to try the other flavors that Argo Tea offers, and that fact alone makes this a better product than most of the ready-to-drink tea offerings out there.

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Fruit/Herbal Tisane, Tea Products and Accessories

Carolina Honey from Argo Tea

by liberteas

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Argo Tea

Company Description:

A black tea blend featuring honey and lemon for the perfect combination of sweet and tart.

Taster’s Review:

I couldn’t find this tea on the Argo website, thank goodness for  Steepster!  I received a sampling of this tea from one of my Steepster friends.

The aroma of this tea is quite pleasant – when I opened the package I could smell the honey fragrance with light notes of lemon.  The honey is very strong!  The scent of the brewed liquor is a bit softer than the dry leaf, but, it is still very rewarding.

The black tea base is a strong, bold tea.  I am not getting much in the way of astringency from this tea, just a very bright, crisp flavor.  It is not bitter (although, as with any tea, I wouldn’t try to over-steep it).  It holds its own among the strong honey flavor.

The honey flavor takes a few sips to really develop on the palate.  The first sip was a little bit of a disappointment because I wasn’t getting much honey flavor or lemon flavor, but as I continued to sip it, I found the honey flavor becoming more pronounced.  It is sweet and sumptuous.

The lemon notes are quite delicate, yet provide a very pleasing contrast to the sweetness of the honey.

This is a tea that would be very comforting when feeling under the weather.  I found it really enjoyable as a hot tea on this chilly autumn day, but, I think it would also make a very refreshing iced tea.

This is the first tea that I’ve tried from Argo, and based upon this really positive experience, it makes me eager to try more!  I’m off to explore the Argo Tea website!

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Black Tea