Trader Joe's

Another one from our host’s selection.
This one makes me think of a white version of Republic of Tea’s Pomegranate Green. The pomegranate has substance, but it’s not so strong that it overpowers the white tea. It’s nice and simple when I’m in the mood for fruit. It’s very good, but I think I still prefer blueberry with my white tea.

I’ve been drinking this one in the morning for the past week now. Each time I make it, it’s a little different, but it hasn’t been as good as I remember it when I drank it last. But, since I’ve also been running late as well, I haven’t really been patient with timing. It’s more like, wake up, put the water on, shower, pour tea, get dressed, remove tea bag, add milk and sugar, and then head out the door. I’m kind of curious as to what kind of time duration my getting dressed actually ends up being. It feels like 2 minutes, but I’m sure it’s more like 5. Maybe I will time myself someday…

So I tried the tea by itself today. The color is nice and promising, but the taste isn’t really there, and I only steeped it for maybe 3 or 4 minutes, but already it was more bitter than I’d have hoped.

So in go the sugar and creamer, and you’ve got a nice cup for breakfast. =]

Tried my first bag as a milk tea today. I ended up putting too much SCM in cause I was using up what I had left. I’m glad this tea is so strong cause it stood up pretty well to my overdose of sugar. I’m gonna hold off rating it until I try it by itself, but at least I know that it’ll serve well as a milk tea base.

Tastes mostly like chamomile, but there’s something else as well, cause I don’t enjoy straight chamomile that much, but this one is nice. And I actually did drink it as a “bedtime tea”. Not sure how much it gets me to relax faster, but at least it didn’t keep me up.

This is the first “plain” Irish Breakfast tea I’ve had (that I can remember) and I have say…I am not fan. It brewed up very dark and looked like coffee, which is neat. Surprisingly it wasn’t bitter at all.

But the flavor….gag me. I love English Breakfast and black teas, but this just didn’t work for me. To me, it smells and tastes like salty yams and garbage. Someone else’s tasting note said “sewage”, ha. I had tried Adagio’s Aries blend, and it had the same yucky taste, which I assumed was from the chai…nope. It must have been from the Irish Breakfast mixed in.

If this is was “malty” tastes like…well, I don’t think I like malt, then.

The only thing worse than Trader Joe’s tea is Trader Joe’s bagels. I mean really, have you tried those awful things? my friends have this story about the bagels.

So back in their old place i guess they used to have a raccoon problem. raccoons would break into the trash all the time and tear all that up. anyway one day i guess some raccoons break into the house and pretty much destroy the kitchen. they get into everything and eat everything they can get their hands on. everything EXCEPT for the Trader Joe’s bagels, which were totally out and they didn’t even touch them. those bagels aren’t even consider food for wild hungry animals!

so yeah the tea is almost as bad as those bagels.

On it’s own this tea is pretty mediocre (what trader joe’s tea isnt!!). HOWEVER, if you like iced tea, i recommend this recipe.
4 or 5 bags of plain ole Lipton tea + 1 bag of this mango black = 3 quarts of some pretty decent mango iced tea. seriously, i can drink this stuff everyday.

This is a decent green tea, can be a bit bitter. I really, really love the way it smells. Been having a difficult time finding it lately, wondering if TJ’s has discontinued it.

It’s a staple in my tea cupboard… but I can’t say that I enjoy it black. It’s bitter, tannic, and incredibly strong.
But it’s great with milk and sugar. It’s English Breakfast’s stronger, meaner brother. For when you feel like punching Lipton in the arm.

The mango is well pronounced and it is hard to over-steep black tea, so I am a fan. Also it is “effectively” priced at Trader Joe’s.

Pretty tasty I must say, one of Trader Joe’s more costly teas, but not expensive by any means. Worth a try, it has a good aroma and is tasty but still light.

This is surprisingly good for a powdered/instant mix! I am always pleasantly surprised when I have some. Too bad it’s not a little bit lower-calorie, but don’t I always say that when it comes to chai?!

My sister bought me a tin of this for xmas maybe two years ago, and I just re-discovered it, unopened, in my tea cupboard. I put off trying it because it’s pretty high-calorie for a drink and I hate wasting my daily calories that way! Anyway, I was skeptical because most powdered chai mixes are pretty lacking, especially if you just use water, but I actually liked this!

I didn’t use milk, and I didn’t feel it was missing anything. I was careful to only fill my huge mug part-way, because it said to add 6 oz. of water per scoop and I didn’t want to dilute it. It’s definitely very sweet (and the ingredients list 3 different kinds of sugar), but not grossly so. It was a nice treat for a not-so-nice day.

When looking for info. about this tea online, I read several comments that this has been discontinued, but there aren’t any Trader Joe’s in Colorado so I can’t be sure.

Agree with the other comments that this pomegranate tea hits the spot. Being a white tea, it isn’t overwhelming, but enough flavor to keep it interesting and it won’t get bitter if steeped for too long. It’s a great change up from the typical black tea!

Smells bad, tastes bad. This is my first Irish breakfast tea and I wonder if they are all like this? I love English Breakfast and don’t mind a stronger tea but the sewage aroma is difficult to stomach.

Well it’s been a while since I’ve updated my tea log. Mostly because it’s been a while since I’ve had a new tea to drink. But in the interest of keeping up a vibrant community presence…

Blech. This whole box of tea has been really distasteful. No floral, no tobacco, no nothing. Just stale, and old. It’ll have to do for now though…

Well, this is one of the last bags of tea in the box, definitely getting a thinner flavor. Having it with a drop of whole milk (all that we had at the time, and I had to cool it down and fast). Still a good groggy tea for when I have to get some in the body quickly, especially when I haven’t taken the time to clean my french press (oops!)

Okay, so sometimes you can’t take the time to brew tea. Sometimes you can’t get out to your favorite tea store of choice. It happens. Sometimes the bills come in and you can’t justify spending $15 or even $8 on your standard favorites. Sometimes you want to give tea to someone who refuses to drink loose tea.

Trader Joe’s Irish Breakfast Tea is a solid well balanced tea that is a little on the bitter side. It tolerates a wide range of brewing times (from 1 – 4 minutes or so) and tolerates very warm to boiling water.

This tea lacks the bright floral notes of, say a Lipton, but compared to other bagged teas the flavor is rich, having earthy and woody tones. Buy a box, throw it in your cupboard, and keep it around for emergencies. It also has a maltiness to it, as described by GREEN TEA TV here on Steepster.

I tend to drink this tea without adornment, but it can be enhanced with a small amount of sweetener and even a small splash of low fat milk. I don’t usually recommend low fat milk specifically, but anything more rich that 2% quickly overwhelms the tea.

Before drinking this tea, I wasn’t a tea drinker. After having one sip of this delightful brew, I was immediately hooked. It is so smooth and soothing, with a pleasant cooling sensation soon after sipping. I recommend TJ’s candy cane tea to anybody looking for a gentle, cozy hug of a tea.