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Another one from the box from Shae! Thanks so much!

Anyway, I just woke up. It’s 5:45 AM here and I fell asleep last night around 7 pm. I’m pretty groggy so I figured I’d have a cup of tea. I reached into the box, this is what my hand fell on. So this is what got made! (Such a scientific process lol!)

I did my best to measure out 3 grams, but I’m using 12 oz of water which is why this is likely a bit weak. I did try it before adding my usual Splenda and it’s pretty bitter without sweetener. So I’m reviewing this with these factors in mind.

This is a smooth tea. There are no harsh edges present (again, with the Splenda) and it goes down easy. The bergamot is present, but not overpowering and is well balanced with the black tea. I’m sitting here trying to pull additional flavors or notes from this and can’t. It’s just what it says on the tin. Earl Grey Cream. It’s creamy, it’s black tea, it’s bergamot. It does exactly what it says it will and nothing more nothing less.

That said, for an EGC, this is pretty good. Hella smooth and well rounded and as promised. And sometimes, that’s what you’re looking for. Not every tea session needs to be a globe-trotting adventure. Sometimes you just want to sit down with a nice, simple cuppa and not have to worry about overloading your taste buds with an entire bouquet of flavors.

This tea is for those days.
Recommended.

So steepster still isn’t working. I’m about to form a prayer circle on tumblr for our little site’s well being.)

Well, here’s another of these, and probably my last. (Unless I do the Half and Half but that stuff was so nasty the first time I may not drink the two I have left)

Anyway, this is a really juicy peach flavor. I mean it. Super juicy peach. I love the peach in this. It’s sweet and ripe and slightly musky (but not overly so) and just mm mmm mmm. However, like the others, it’s not tea. It reminds me more of the flavor of a real peach smoothie (but just plain thin liquid). This supposedly also has lemon in it, but I don’t taste it over the peach.

Overall, this is one I would buy again. Not as tea, I don’t know how many times and ways I can say this isn’t tea, but as a refreshing peach cocktail that’s just the right mix of stonefruit musk and sweet juicy and is so dang tasty.

Bergamot White Peony

I woke up this evening to a wonderful surprise – TEA MAIL!
A wonderful box of tea from the awesome Shae

This is the first one I’m trying and the liquor of this is beautiful. It’s a bright gold color, as if tinted with dandelions.

The smell is like honey with bergamot. I know there is no actual honey in this but there is bergamot, so I can’t wait to try it.

Taste is… Oh my word that is heavenly. The bergamot is just perfect in this, being neither too strong nor too weak. It’s just right. The white tea flavor is delicious in this, being rich and complementing the floral notes of the bergamot. There’s a tiny bit of astringency here, but nothing overpowering.

I must say, I am very out of practice. It’s been too long since I had quality tea, so I am having trouble picking this apart. I will say it’s got a wonderful flavor and I am glad I have a whole pouch of this thanks to Shae, and I look forward to many more sessions of this going forward.

(BTW, I’m typing this into a word doc because Steepster isn’t working. Hope this gets fixed soon!)

Another quickie review because Steepster is being stubborn

Whereas I have stated all these Steaz Iced Teas taste like fruit cocktail, this one is different… primarily because I have never even heard of Lemon Ginger cocktail! I still taste no real tea, but this is definitely lemon ginger. The lemon is refreshing but not overpowering or tart and the ginger? You don’t taste it as much as you feel it. There’s that strong ginger tingle that comes with this. You can taste it a bit, but the tingly feeling is that really gives the ginger away. The flavor isn’t too too weak, but it also isn’t lemon pledge sickening strong either. It’s just a nice mellow lemon with ginger.

As I stated (like the others), it isn’t tea. None of them are. But this one is the closest with the flavor being something that would actually be included in a tea. Out of all of them that I’ve had, this is the one I might actually re-buy. I bet it would work wonders on an upset stomach. Very refreshing and tasty.

Still not tea though.

This one’s just a quickie review.

Much like the others of these I have reviewed, there is little to no actual tea flavor present. They all seem to taste like plain fruit drinks. Well, this one doesn’t just taste like a plain fruit drink, it tastes like a watered-down plain fruit drink. I can taste the pomegranate and blueberry, but the flavor is rather weak. The best way I can describe it is if someone took a pom/blue cocktail drink, poured it over ice, and let it sit for 20 minutes before drinking. That’s exactly what it tastes like. Once more the best quality of this is that it’s cold and wet, isn’t plain water, and helps cool me down (my apartment is very hot in the summer). It’s refreshing, but then so is a glass of ice water.

Not good. Can’t recommend this one at all.

Well, I’m currently cleaning. And I’m thirsty. So I’m having another can.

This time, it’s the sugar-free Raspberry. It’s ice-cold and hopefully refreshing.

It doesn’t smell like anything really in the can so we’ll head straight to taste. Taste is… well it’s not tea. That’s not even close to tea. Isn’t this supposed to be a green tea drink? This has the approximate flavor of Raspberry Royale if you put a bunch of stevia in it and then removed any hint of actual tea. It’s just sweetened raspberry something.

I see that this technically contains 1% Juice. I didn’t even know there was a possibility to add 1% juice but there’s no juice flavor. It’s just bleh. But, in this case, it’s cold and wet and serves a purpose. The stevia is strong and the flavor very fake but it’s making me less thirsty so I suppose that’s a plus. I can’t say I recommend it though. It’s really not good.

Hmmm… You know, out of the four or five new teas I’ve tried lately, I think all but one I’ve had to add? Odd.

Anyway, so guess what. Quick story.

I’m not rich.
Spectacularly not rich.

Because of this, when I get extra money, I tend to get excited and try new things that I normally couldn’t afford. And, long story short, that’s how I ended up buying a bunch of new organic iced tea cans to try!

This is the third one I’ve had, but the first I’ve reviewed. I don’t know why but I didn’t think to review the other two. If I have duplicate cans, I’ll go back and do it, but I’m not trying to do them from memory. I do know that I liked the Gojiberry one and didn’t like the Half n Half one, but besides that, I’m not writing reviews.

So here’s this. This is the “Super Fruit” can that I got, and I’m telling you now, I didn’t realize this had sugar in it. When I grabbed these, I saw the first can said “Zero Calorie” and thought they were all sugar-free and just went wild. So hopefully this doesn’t cause issues with me!

So the smell in can is very tart. You can literally smell the tart. (This should be interesting.) It doesn’t smell bad though so we’ll try it.

Taste is… wow, not as tart as I thought. It’s actually pleasantly balanced. There’s a hint of tart, but it’s nice. The sweetness is right at the edge of too much but doesn’t cross the line. It isn’t what I’d call “Lightly Sweetened” though. The fruitiness, on the other hand, is mild but still very present. The only thing I’m sad about here is the green tea base. Maybe it’s because of how much Matcha I’ve been drinking, but the green tea in this is very subdued. There’s no grass flavor at all. I’d be interested to know what kind of green tea they used, but considering this is a mass-produced product, it’s likely not high or even mid-grade. At least it isn’t bitter, but that could be the sugar.

This is very refreshing. On a hot night like tonight, I welcome the splash of fruit in this. It’s not overpowering and it’s sweet enough for my tastes. All in all good stuff. I’m going to have to try more of these Steaz teas. I think I have at least half a dozen more cans in the fridge of differing flavors. I’ll try to remember to review them all as I go.

Till next time!

Song of the Moment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07jWJ5GFHxk

So I’ve been drinking a lot of this lately.

Turns out I love Matcha Lattes. Either that or I’ve been drinking so many that I’ve grown to love them. Either way, the single-serve packets weren’t enough anymore so I graduated to a canister.

Now, I’m going to admit, I have next to ZERO experience with Matcha. I’m very new at this stuff. So I’m going to relate how I make a Matcha Latte… and It is, in fact, all wrong.

1. Fill an empty water bottle with cold milk
2. Measure out 1 tsp of Matcha
3. Add Matcha to Bottle
4. Add 2 Splenda Packets.
5. Shake the bejeezus out of it.

It works well enough.

Anyway, with that preparation in mind, this stuff is pretty much the same as the single-serve packets. I honestly see no difference. I’ve also prepared this in water and it’s pretty strong when made in water. Huge green flavor. But without the milk to temper it, it’s pretty offputting (to me). So I almost always make it with milk.

Now, with milk. I have tried about every type of milk imaginable with this. Every time I have to almost throw my shoulder out shaking it before it dissolves. I don’t have this problem with Water (boom, instant swamp), but with milk, I swear for the first minute of shaking it looks like bubble tea the clumps of matcha are so prevalent. Taste as a latte though is really good. Great froth. Love the froth. Foamy goodness.

I haven’t tried this hot yet, so I can’t give my opinion on that yet. But I will say that between this and the matcha latte’s at Starbucks, this one is more smooth and mild.

Take it as it is. Like I said, I’m new to this realm of tea.

comes out of hiding once more

So, guess what. I just started drinking tea again. COVID has hit me hard, guys. I’m not saying I have or had it personally. I don’t know one way or another on that. I had a possible exposure this past Monday and have been self quarantining ever since, and have taken the chance to dig back into my tea stash!

Anyway, this one here I wish I could give you better info on. All I know is that my darling mother has been leaving me jugs of this at my door (which I then come down and retrieve once she leaves) that she brewed in one of those old 90’s (?) Ice Tea Maker machines. You know, the ones that brew Ice Tea sort of like Coffee? Anyway, I believe her bag allotment is 8 bags per batch, but I don’t know any measurements past that. I do know it’s technically brewed hot, but you brew it into a jug of ice which then cools it down.

Anyway, enough about the method, on to the tea!

This tea is… well it’s not the best. It’s not even what I would call good. But it is passable. Once upon a time I would have relished this tea, but my tastes have grown more complex since then. First of all, I have to add 2 splenda packets per glass to make it drinkable (for me). Once that’s accomplished, it is refreshing, but only bears a passing resemblance to tea. I can almost taste a ting bit of green there, and the lemon… well, I know the lemon is there but it’s more like an essence of lemon than any actual lemon flavor. Like there’s the tiniest bit of tart on your tongue, but it’s only a whisp, and you can’t quite pin it down as actual lemon. I personally like a bold Citrus Green, but this ain’t it.

All that said, I’ve had worse Bigelows. The Pomegranate Green that my father chugs is far worse than this, but I adore their EG. It seems that you have to judge each of these teas individually. None of them are remarkable, I’d have to say. But each has it’s merits. The Pom Green’s biggest merit is it’s liquid. This one is that it’s actually refreshing.

I’ll keep drinking it as long as I can. Someday, I’ll get the patience and resources to cold brew my own tea. But for now, this works.