Another bagged tea revisit. This is one of the few, however, that I recall I never did like, even back in my bagged-tea-drinking days. I can’t recall now what it was about it, exactly, that I didn’t like, only that I used to drink a lot of the Stash Lemon Ginger, and one day at the store I accidentally got a box of the Sunny Orange Ginger instead because they looked so similar, and I figured, “Eh, no big deal, I like orange too,” and then I didn’t like it at all. It sat in my cupboard untouched for so long at some point I did a big clean-up and threw it out. I was shopping the other day and Stash teas were on sale, and I figured, “Why not?” And here we are.
I removed the tea from the teabag and steeped it in my gravity well infuser for five minutes. The aroma of the steeped tea is really unpleasant to me… and I have to wonder if that is what put me off so much to begin with. It is hard to describe what is so off-putting about it. It’s just this really artificial orangey scent, but it has this acidic or acrid quality to it. Like an orange flavoring you’d find in something really medicinal, sort of like that. And then the ginger is just staggering. Oh boy.
The flavor… Well… I’ve had worse. I mean, I can at least finish this cup. But it isn’t particularly pleasant. It doesn’t have a very strong orange flavor… or maybe it is just hard to tell, because the ginger is really strong. The ginger leaves a burning sensation right at the back of my tongue, and any time a spicy tea is so heavy on the spice it actually leaves an unpleasant heat in my mouth rather than just a nice warming sensation, then it becomes a bit of a turn-off. And from the weak orange flavor that is there, it tastes really artificial.
I wasn’t missing anything here, but my palate has changed so much over time that I don’t regret checking back in and giving it another chance.
Flavors: Artificial, Ginger, Medicinal, Orange, Spicy
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Does it smell like orange furniture polish? I need to revisit Stash’s Red Velvet tea myself. Have you tried that one? I remember it having some hibiscus in it.
The orange wasn’t really strong enough to make me think of furniture polish, but it was kinda similar to that, if a bit more subdued. The ginger drowned it out a bit but there was definitely something really off about the orange aroma.
I haven’t tried the Red Velvet, but I did see it at the store when I was there. Honestly, this tea had hibiscus in it too, but you wouldn’t even know it. There wasn’t so much as a hint of hibiscus or licorice root in the taste. Didn’t even turn the tea even somewhat red in color. I’m a bit confused what they were even doing in the blend since they added nothing. (And I would’ve welcomed a little sweetness from licorice root given how overwhelmingly spicy the ginger was in this, but it was like it really wasn’t even there).
I like licorice root but hibiscus often overpowers things for me. So I always have to see how much hibiscus is in the blend to guess if it’s going to be the main flavor. Maybe your have better lucky trying it iced.
I don’t think I’ve ever tried a Lemon Ginger (or in this case, Orange Ginger!) tea iced before. I of course make iced chai latte frequently (I have a quart chilling in the fridge right now) so I suppose it is worth a try! Once I’ve freed up some of my current mason jars of iced tea I’ll give it a go.
Does it smell like orange furniture polish? I need to revisit Stash’s Red Velvet tea myself. Have you tried that one? I remember it having some hibiscus in it.
The orange wasn’t really strong enough to make me think of furniture polish, but it was kinda similar to that, if a bit more subdued. The ginger drowned it out a bit but there was definitely something really off about the orange aroma.
I haven’t tried the Red Velvet, but I did see it at the store when I was there. Honestly, this tea had hibiscus in it too, but you wouldn’t even know it. There wasn’t so much as a hint of hibiscus or licorice root in the taste. Didn’t even turn the tea even somewhat red in color. I’m a bit confused what they were even doing in the blend since they added nothing. (And I would’ve welcomed a little sweetness from licorice root given how overwhelmingly spicy the ginger was in this, but it was like it really wasn’t even there).
I like licorice root but hibiscus often overpowers things for me. So I always have to see how much hibiscus is in the blend to guess if it’s going to be the main flavor. Maybe your have better lucky trying it iced.
I don’t think I’ve ever tried a Lemon Ginger (or in this case, Orange Ginger!) tea iced before. I of course make iced chai latte frequently (I have a quart chilling in the fridge right now) so I suppose it is worth a try! Once I’ve freed up some of my current mason jars of iced tea I’ll give it a go.