37 Tasting Notes
A cheap stand-by that I’ve overlooked since I bought the massive box on the cheap at the closest Kroger’s about, say, a year ago. Cheap, frankly pretty ugly packaging – but whaddaya gonna do, when you need a hundred tea bags and you’re on a budget?
Brewed the tea, according to some new instructions I found on the internet about “proper” green tea brewing. Anything to make this review as accurate as possible.
Smells like pretty run of the mill green tea – nice and light. The color is a lovely burnt orange, as, yet again, is to be expected with any decent green tea. I do have to say that I like the nice size of the tea bag.
Drinking it cooled down, it has a pleasant taste… Eh, downright watery. At least it’s not bitter. I would recommend using these if you need to make more iced tea than you can possibly fathom. It’s pretty, um, flavorless, so don’t think that you’ll be getting much more than a really great value on some antioxidant-rich tea-flavored water.
Edit – Drank a bit more of what was left over from last night’s cup – a little less flavorless than what I thought I tasted yesterday, so maybe I was a bit harsher on it than I needed to. It’s best cold and with sugar. However, when I attempted to steep the same bag again, it definitely came out as vague green-tea flavored water. Just don’t expect a tea that’s more than an iced tea or one that you can have multiple steepings of.
Preparation
According to the Stash site, the tea is supposed to be a “pale gold”, and it looks as though the White tea is supposed to be the pilot in this tea and not the passenger. Well, I would say that it’s more of a lovely dark orange – most likely due to the large amount of green tea in this blend. Simply smelling the finished tea after I finished steeping it revealed the strong smell of green tea. I think you could have told me that there was just green tea in this and I wouldn’t be able to tell you any differently. That’s a bit of a shame, as I have more plain green tea than I can give away to friends as it is.
There is a bright side to this blend, however, in that drinking it yields a taste that is not UTTERLY green; I can really taste the white tea in the way that the taste rounds out nicely without the astringent after taste of green tea. I think the white tea in this blend is like this green tea’s Jimney Cricket; it keeps the green in line and stops it from coming on too strong.
If you want a light green tea minus the in gentle after taste, I would recommend this. You’ll be disappointed if you expect a good white tea, as it is utterly over powered by the green.
Preparation
Okay, so knowing that I SOMEHOW screwed the first cup of this tea up the first time I made it, I tried, again, and made sure to make it as carefully as I could.
This tea was included in a sampler I picked up at Sam’s Club a week or so ago. After trying The London Cuppa, I was originally in the mood to try more of the same, and so I yanked one of the bad boys from the sampler out.
Now, here’s where things screwed up, horribly. Without thinking anything of it, my ditzy self left the damn tea bag in the drink. I left the tea bag in the tea, and I somehow managed to make the most bitter, godawful tea that I have ever made. And I am sorry for the rating I made for my original tasting of this tea, which showed my own mistake in the rating itself. I know I did this, because tasting it now, I cannot taste ANY of that “bitterness” that I tasted before. So, to Bigelow Tea, I am genuinely, from the bottom of my stupid, naive heart, sorry, and I really like this tea. As in I really like it as a step up from the usual straight-up black tea that I have tasted before.
This is an incredibly strong, in my opinion, black tea that does not stand for you draining all of its flavor into a cup of hot water. Do not make the mistake I did, friends, or else this one will bite you in your mouth like the innocent fool that you are. TAKE THE BAG OUT AS SOON AS IT HITS TWO MINUTES!
This tea reminds me of happier times; of my biological father’s iced tea, which, to me, was that rare treat that rarely lived past a full day in the fridge. What I think lead to my warped previous review of this particular tea is really its strongest – sorry for the pun – point: its strength.
A really very rich black tea, this one is great hot or cold, sweetened or not. I made my close-minded fiance take a drink of this, and he said that this did, indeed, also reminded him of his childhood homemade sweet tea – sun tea.
As I said before, I do believe that my earlier, um, scathing review was due to a misunderstanding on my part. Thank you, Bigelow Tea, for apologizing for my own stupid mistake, and agreeing to let me try you guys in another tea, but it’s really not necessary – everything that I’ve tasted by you guys is delicious, and I really just appreciate the nudge you gave me to try it again – properly steeped this time around!
I think your guys’ great prices, great all around quality, and compassion regarding my own stupidity have made me a lifelong fan of your brand – I really think I’ll especially enjoy this tea, made into a really delicious iced tea that even my choosy fiance will drink.
Sorry I even had to re-write this review, but trust me, I’ll definitely be buying a few more boxes of this tea down the road.
Preparation
Kayla, so sorry to read of your unpleasant experience with our English Teatime, if ever you’d like to try a sample of one of our flavors to try, prior to purchasing of coarse, please let us know and we can send along a sample for you to try. You may call us directly at 1-888-244-3569 to request the flavor of your choice.
Thanks for you comments,
Kathy for Bigelow Tea
Believe me, I really don’t like bashing a tea, especially one that I’ve only had one brand of. Maybe Celestial Seasoning’s Chamomile is just a miss for me, but personally, I would come close to drinking stale Lipton’s that’s been unsugared and left in a fridge with its lid off than drinking this ever again. Dreadful, just dreadful. Smelled, tasted awful, made me feel queasy afterwards, Had to dump the cup of it and let roommates have at it, because I absolutely loathe it.
Pretty color, though. Dreadful smell. Gave it more points than I felt it deserved, because it may be that I simply hate chamomile.
Preparation
Bought at a T J Maxx along with my new green tea pot. Was surprised at the round little bags that held the tea – it turned out that this was a great idea; more surface area and no annoying strings or tags!
When I made it, I forgot that I had left the bag in and ended up letting it steep for over twenty minutes. Worrying about bitterness, I took a drink – and was astonished at the absolutely sumptuous taste of the tea. I felt no desire to add any sugar to it, and I sipped it all night, and when I found I had had enough left over to drink the next day, I took it out of the house, luke warm, and nursed off of it eagerly.
The flavor is rich, the smell is exquisite, and the color is absolutely dark, rich, and beautiful. If not for the fact that it’s not regularily stocked in my local grocery store, I would love to keep this always in my pantry.