Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Learn more about Tea of Life and Amazon Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
There are times when I want something a little lighter and without caffeine. Those are the times that I turn to tisanes. Tisanes like this Passion Fruit Mango Rooibos Blend from Tea of Life that are naturally caffeine free and have a lighter body, something I can sip and enjoy without worrying whether it will keep me up all night.
And this has a really pleasing flavor. The passion fruit and mango flavors are vibrant. The flavor of the rooibos is subdued, but I do taste notes of the nutty flavor and the sweetness – but without that whacked weird flavor that I sometimes get from rooibos.
You know, that weird, off sort of flavor that kind of tastes like wood that’s been soaked in sour vinegar or something? Yeah … that flavor. I’m not getting that strange flavor with this tisane.
Instead, I get a pleasant, tropical fruit flavor with hints of a nutty sweetness in the background. It’s a sweet way to wind down after a long day.
I enjoyed this hot, but, I found myself distracted and left my teacup to cool, and when I returned to it, the tisane had gone cold. No worries! This tastes great cold too!
Pina Colada Flavored Iced Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Learn more about Southern Boy Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
After my last iced tea review (not from Southern Boy Teas), I was really looking forward to getting back to some GOOD iced tea blends from Southern Boy Teas! This Pina Colada Flavored Iced Tea has been calling out to me for a while, so I finally decided to give in to the calls and give it a try. Mmm!
This is pretty tasty. The pineapple and coconut notes are pretty evenly matched here. I taste a good amount of both pineapple and coconut, with maybe just a wee bit more pineapple than coconut. I especially enjoy that juicy, sweet-tangy note of pineapple that comes in at the aftertaste.
I also taste notes of rum in this, but the rum is a little more subdued than the fruit notes. It doesn’t have a really strong alcohol taste, but I can taste the subtle presence of rum.
And I can taste the black tea. I find myself really appreciating the FLAVOR of the black tea today. The black tea blend that 52Teas aka Southern Boy Teas uses for their iced tea is of good quality. It tastes good. It has a smooth yet brisk flavor. It’s very refreshing and quenches the thirst.
I’m very happy with this Pina Colada iced tea. It’s not my favorite of the SBT collection, but, it’s tasty and one I wouldn’t mind drinking again!
Iced Black Tea from Tazo
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Learn more about Tazo on their website.
Tea Description:
Certain feats, like executing a reverse swan dive into a shimmering pool while wearing a pair of Euro-cut trunks and a captain’s hat, out only be attempted by a select few. This blend of black teas has the kind of cool, smooth sophistication to pull off a move like that, should it choose to do so.
Taster’s Review:
I received a box of this Iced Black Tea from Tazo from a friend, and while I certainly appreciated her generosity and thoughtfulness, I also appreciated that I didn’t actually buy this tea myself. I would have been sorely disappointed had I done so.
That’s because this is one of the most mediocre teas I’ve tasted in a long time. The thing that I appreciated most about this tea is that it helped me realize just how good the other iced teas that I’ve been drinking lately really are.
I tried brewing this many different ways. I first tried cold brewing the tea, and this produced a rather flat and boring tasting tea. Then I tried resteeping those tea bags – hot brewing the tea this time – and the results were much the same: boring tea. Not much flavor to them at all. And I wasn’t even looking for “flavoring” type of flavor, I was just looking for a good, brisk, refreshing black tea flavor. But I didn’t get that.
Then I tried hot brewing new (previously unsteeped) teabags. Again … just sort of lackluster. This is the kind of flavor I’d expect from the tea in the yellow, white and red box, but not from a tea that is supposed to be at least one notch above that brand. But after trying to brew this tea several different ways, there was nothing I could do to make this tea taste good. The problem wasn’t with the brewing method, but the tea itself.
A really sad tea. It’s tea like this that leaves a bad taste in the mouths of those that claim not to like tea. I wouldn’t like tea either if this is all that I had to drink.
Decaffeinated Green Tea from Sarabeth’s
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Sarabeth’s
Tea Description:
Green Tea is one of the most natural of all teas and contains many of the natural compounds which make teas a healthy drink. The preference to green teas lies in their light, delicate and refreshing taste. It is meant to be consumed without milk or sugar and is a pleasant accompaniment to a meal thanks to its digestive properties.
Learn more about Sarabeth’s teas here.
Taster’s Review:
I was a little hesitant to try this one. I admit it. I’ve had a few bad experiences with decaffeinated tea (long ago) and those experiences have stuck with me, and when I see “Decaffeinated” on a tea, the memories of those bad experiences come flooding back.
Since then, most of the decaffeinated teas that I’ve tried have been pretty good. I’ve even had a few that I might not have known that it was decaffeinated had I not brewed the tea myself and read the packaging. And that’s exactly what I’m trying to determine with this Decaffeinated Green Tea from Sarabeth’s: does it taste decaffeinated?
The answer to that question would depend on what you meant by “decaffeinated taste.” Does this taste chemical-y or just … weird or off? No, it doesn’t. It tastes like a light, refreshing green tea. But it does have a slightly thinner taste than a caffeinated green tea might. In that way, it does have a slight decaffeinated taste. But it isn’t an unpleasant or off-putting taste – not at all! It just tastes and feels a wee bit thinner than a green tea from Sri Lanka would otherwise taste.
The flavor is lightly buttery, sweet, and slightly vegetative, reminiscent of lightly buttered lima beans. It doesn’t have a chemical taste (or aftertaste). It’s a pleasant green tea, and the fact that it is decaffeinated makes it quite alright to drink any time of the day and not worry about whether or not the caffeine will keep you awake past bedtime.
I would definitely recommend this to someone who either can’t have caffeine or is looking to limit their caffeine intake, but still wants to enjoy a tasty green tea.
Lavender Green Tea from Tradition
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: This tea is available on Amazon
Tea Description:
Tradition Lavender Green Tea is made from select natural lavender flowers, combined green tea leaves.
Taster’s Review:
I thought long and hard on whether or not I was actually going to post my review of this Lavender Green Tea from Tradition. I wasn’t sure if I could conjure up enough words to describe this tea given the fact that I really wasn’t all that happy with the tea.
But here goes . . .
The fragrance of the tea – both in its dry and brewed form – is very light. I found this somewhat surprising and a little disconcerting given the fact that this is supposed to be a lavender scented tea. I wanted to smell the lavender, but I really didn’t smell much lavender at all.
The tea brews up very light in color … and very light in flavor too. The barely there aroma of the lavender translates into the brewed tea – that is to say that it’s barely there.
I don’t taste much from the green tea either, to be quite honest. On the good side, this isn’t a bitter, grassy green tea which can sometimes be the case of a bagged green tea. Then again, there is so little “green tea” taste here that it makes me question whether or not there’s any green tea in it at all. I don’t taste grassy. I don’t taste vegetative. I do taste a hint of buttery taste that I do sometimes taste in green teas. And I do like that light, little bit of butter taste to this.
But, I taste next to no lavender. On the plus side, at least the lavender isn’t overdone. It doesn’t taste soapy, perfume-ish or chemical-y. There is a very, very delicate whisper of lavender, and I notice that only if I’m really focused on the sip.
Overall, this is just … boring. A very boring and lackluster tea. Not something I’d recommend to anyone. I wouldn’t even recommend to use it as potpourri because the aroma is too slight to enjoy.
Hey … on the plus side … I guess I was able to come up with enough words for a review!