Taja Tea

Yay for grocery store impulse purchases! I was in the tea aisle, looking for holiday teas (which they didn’t have yet, grr…) and this seemed too interesting to pass up. I’m an Earl fan, and the added orange sounded lovely.

Honestly I’m not sure I could recognize the taste of saffron. I’ve had it in dishes before, but probably not in a large enough quantity where it was easily recognizable. I see descriptors like “sweet, floral, earthy” via the Interwebz so I’ll keep that in mind…

Really, this is mostly an orange black tea. The orange is bright and zesty, a bit candylike and somewhat reminds me of Tang. I don’t really taste the base tea much at all, perhaps a little bit if I really think about it. The bergamot is extremely subtle, but pokes its little head out at the end of the sip to say “hello!” Can’t comment on the saffron, as the orange is quite powerful and I’m not sure what it would taste like anyway. I do get a slight sweet earthiness that sort of reminds me of paprika in the aftertaste, so possibly that’s it? I’m wondering if the orange flavor is artificial, as I’m feeling a mild tongue-tingling sensation that is usually a sign of that.

Overall, it’s definitely drinkable, but I wouldn’t call it an Earl Grey since the orange sort of wallops the bergamot over the head here. :P

Wow…talk about a pick me up. I got it as a gift from a friend up in college, and the saffron is what I needed to get through the day and the tea kept me awake. This one is really fruity, and pretty great for a bagged tea. The green tea could either be a Sencha or a Dragonwell and could definitely be tasted. The saffron adds another warm, sweet layer with the mango bringing the green tea and this spice together. I enjoyed it with or without honey as sweetener, though I used honey more often when I drank this to treat my cold. I probably will buy it again this coming semester. Probably good for people newer to teas or intermediate to them.

I got this tea from Marshall’s when I was buying a totebag and it was a bargain. I’ve never seen this in any stores, so I don’t know where it is normally sold. It has a nice mango-y flavor with a bit of saffron. Golden yellow color. It’s not too easy to taste green tea in this blend, Not too bad for a paper teabag but I was hoping for a stronger flavor. I might try two teabags next time.

Just snagged this from a tjmaxx in flint, for 2.99. Mostly chamomile tastes, with the edge taken off. I usually find chamomile too strong/bitter to stomach, but I really like this one. I’ve gotten two cup out of the bag, and I’ll give it a try for the third. A good bedtime tea :)

I get the sense (although admittedly, my palate is fairly unrefined) that this tea does not actually contain much saffron.

I know that saffron is the most expensive spice in the world, and considering that I got this whole box of teabags for $3 at TJ Maxx, I really shouldn’t expect much.

It’s a yummy, sweet chamomile, anyway. Helps with the motor-mouth side effect of my caffeine addiction.

This is supposed to relieve anxiety and boost my mood. I hope it works. It smells sweet and chamomile-like.

I have no idea what saffron tastes like. I’m getting lots of chamomile, with something buttery in the finish. It’s a perfectly innocuous bedtime blend, at any rate.

Horrible taste – artificially sweetened with stevia, and it doesn’t even taste like berry. I threw it out!

Wow. Just..Wow. This tea (made with honey and patience) was beyond what I was expecting of it. I found it in a forgotten corner of a shelf at the back of a Ross store. It looked pitiful and unloved to I purchased it for the price of $3 (20 packets). I took this home and completely ignored the instructions (I’m glad I did) and made it the way I usually do my gunpowder green sencha, steep at 212 for 3 minutes. And wow did the flavours pop. The box said something about being good for positive moods and relaxing the mind. And boy it did just that.

While drinking this tea, I didn’t even notice myself sinking into my couch and propping my feet up and didn’t notice the fleece throw that seemed to have appeared on my body from thin air. I also didn’t notice my closed eyes and contented little smirk (my husband alerted me to it by asking what I was smiling about). I don’t remember the last time a tea has made me feel so relaxed and content. I slept 7 hours that night (which is great as a recovering insomniac).

It’s overpriced chamomile tea. The saffron doesn’t make it taste any different, and I’m pretty sure the whole thing’s just a marketing scam.

The Assam tea in this is very prominent as it is the only base of the tea. There isn’t too much to talk about this tea but it has a nice flavor either way. Very good quality tea and the saffron adds a next undertone to it all as well as the spices which are not overly noticeable but are definitely there. This tea steeped quite quickly however, so I imagine you could get a solid two or so cups out of one bag. :)

So I picked this one up at the our discount store chain in Northeast Ohio(Marc’s) for about $2.50. I’ve tried their Earl Grey infusion which isn’t bad. This one’s pretty disappointing. I would say it’s more of a muddle of flavors. The nice wine like quality of the rooibos doesn’t come through and neither does the jasmine. It’s not bad though for work in a pinch quick bagged pick me up.

This is one of the teas I’ve brought along with me to work. I like something without caffeine in the afternoon, and this has been sitting sadly on my shelf, forgotten and woe begotten for too long. Time to get it drunk!
I get the chamomile, that’s for sure, but do I get saffron? I’m not sure. I might be imagining that this is a touch more savory, but I don’t know that it isn’t just my mind playing tricks on me.
In any case it did just fine by me this afternoon.

This’ll do.

The “I am not feeling well” tea drinking continues on! And theres no use wasting something special on a case of the blahs.
Enter this tea. Its supposedly got saffron in it, but I cant say I’ve noticed. Oh well. I got it from the local discout grocery store, and so its alright. And its exactly what the doctor orderd tonight.

This is nothing special. The addition of Saffron is kinda nice, but you need to focus to actually pick it out.
However there are those nights when “nothing special” is exactly what one wants.

New-ish tea goals.
If I have a tea in my cupboard that has no notes, or I havnt tried it, what exactly is stopping me, eh? Get a move on! You own this tea, drink it!
This….. is chamomile. Its not bad, standard issue. I expected the saffron to add something more to it, but it didnt quite brew up that well. In the box it smells a bit roasty, but I’m not noticing anything special about it in the cup.
Still, I like to have a chamomile in my cupboard at all times.

magnificent blend

I love how Earl Greys are open to interpretation: this one has a bright orange flavor along with a faint base note fragrance of saffron. The black tea blend is light, blending nicely with the citrus flavors. Taja Tea is marketing this as a health promoting tea due to the saffron. Is there enough saffron in each serving to truly have a health benefit? Well, let’s just brew another cup and see!

The tea was OK, more saffron-ny than Earl Grey. Here is the part that freaks me out though: what is in it?! Is it even legal not to list the ingredients? Apparently there is saffron and bergamot (indistinguishable in the flavor). The label claims that is an “herbal infusion”, which eliminates Camelia sinensis. I drank it after drinking some strong black tea, so I could be wrong but it doesn’t seem caffeinated. How do they get away with this?