187 Tasting Notes
I steeped this for a good long while, and it came out really nice and strong. Very calming on the stomach, and a soothing herbal for the night. I happen to love the menthol feel that peppermint tea leaves in your mouth!
Preparation
It’s a really clean and refreshing taste isn’t it?
I definitely enjoy a good mint. They’re fantastic after a huge meal.
Jilian and takgoti, is loose leaf mint really worth it? Is the flavor all that different from the bagged?
Well it depends, loose-leaf may be fresher, although I’m really not sure. I grow my own mint so I KNOW it’s fresh, but I have no idea how tea companies go about it. I do know that herbs tend to retain their essential oils better if they aren’t broken up until right before they’re used.
My advice would to maybe try some of each, bagged and loose, side-by-side and see if you can taste a difference yourself.
I’ve only had bagged mint…twice? I think that’s about right. One was from Tea Forte and one was from a company I don’t remember. Both of them were a sharper kind of a mint taste. Maybe edging on artificial a little.
That being said, mint is one of those things that I don’t think makes a huge difference from one to the other. For me, it’s more about the blend, and companies that know blend flavors well will likely have better mint tea.
This is just a very long winded-way of saying that you have a lot of choices, because all teas are going to vary from company to company.
If you want to read up on what some people are saying, a few that I can recommend with some authority are:
1. Tavalon’s Serenity. No one else on here seems to have tried it, but I had a sample of it and I rather liked it. The mint was subtle and worked very nicely everything else.
2. Samovar’s Moroccan Mint. This is my favorite mint tea because it’s got a prominent, but softer mint flavor. Sometimes it feels like I’m drinking mint chocolate chip ice cream.
3. Adagio’s Foxtrot. I haven’t tried this one yet, but a few number of people on Steepster swear by it.
Hope that helps?
Definitely helps from both of you. Thanks so much, guys! I can’t help but love the flavor of peppermint tea.
Jillian, fresh mint must be awesome to have! I bet you can make killer mojitos with it.
And tak, thanks for the super list! Tavalon used to have a tea lounge here in NYC; I’m pretty mad that they closed it and haven’t reopened yet, because I’d be able to go down and try this without shipping costs! And you are definitely the Samovar advocate, missy. :P
P.S. gasp Samovar’s shipping is $8.69 to my neck of the woods. That’s pretty steep!
I’ve got a bunch of fresh herbs that I grow and it’s really nice to have fresh ingredients for seasonings and whatnot. Actually, mint if dead-easy to grow if you want to give it a shot yourself. :)
P.S. $8.69 is nothing! Samovar’s shipping fees are something like $20 bucks to ship here in Canada (and they used to be $40!).
@teaplz Hee, Samovar is definitely my tea bff, but I wouldn’t recommend anything I didn’t think was worth recommending! I’ll admit that whenever I put an order through with them I usually go over whatever their free shipping quota is. I don’t think I’ve ever paid shipping from them.
If you’re thinking seriously about ordering from them, the coupon code cozytea will get you 20% off through December 1st. And if you REALLY want, I can send you some samples of some of the tea I have if you want to get a feel for looseleaf before you take the plunge. No pressure, I just know how intimidating it can be!
@Jillian I kill plants. It’s what I do. And hey, at least $20ish is a start! I think that’s pretty standard to ship out of/into here. I blame customs.
Okay, Jillian, your shipping cost woes beat the pants off of mine. :( That stinks!
takgoti, I cannot let you send me samples of your tea, because I’d have absolutely nothing to send back to you at the moment. It’d be tea giveaway, not tea swap! :( I might have to pass on Samovar for now and focus on cheaper loose leaf.
Hee, I made the offer knowing you probably wouldn’t. It’s really not an issue for me to send you a little bit of what I got, but I don’t want to guilt you in to anything. I’ve gotten started on many things because of the generosity of others to share what they had, and I really don’t mind paying it forward. If you’re game, take a look at my cupboard and see if anything interests you. If not, no worries!
@Takgoti, Yeah it IS better than fourty-friggin’ dollars but the fact is that I don’t see why they have to charge that much just to essentially go through customs. Shipping rates from other American tea companies like Harney and Sons and Adagio are quite reasonable. Not to mention that if companies in China (ie. Tea Spring) can ship their teas to ANYWHERE in the world for a flat rate of 5 or 6 bucks, then why the Hell are these few companies gouging international customers so badly?
/end rant
@Jillian I dunno, but I know that if I look up how much it would be to ship a 1 lb box from here to Canada it’s at or around $20 depending on size. I’m guessing that it all has to do with what they can work out with their shipping company/ies. I have zippy insight on the internal mechanics of how companies work that kind of stuff.
teaplz Also, I should add that my email's heather.takgotigmail.com if you want to reach me there.
Jillian, Golden Moon (http://www.goldenmoontea.com/Shipping_W304.cfm/) has shipping to Canada that’s $5 a pound. I’m getting their sampler set in the mail, and I just figured I’d tell you that that seems fairly reasonable a price.
takgoti, awesome! I’ll be e-mailing you soon, then! How much does it usually cost to package up/ship tea? I’ve been curious about this.
@Jillian herbals are always best home grown IMO as well. Definitely can’t beat the price, especially for an organic version:) While I don’t drink herbals solo, I REALLY want to get into planting herbs and edible flowers to blend w/ my store bought teas. Kind of like baking a cake yourself- you get even more satisfaction out of it when it comes time to eat (or in this case) drink it. I wish I could grow the tea myself too… :(
@teaplz I use boxes that I have lying around and other whatnot, so all I pay for is the shipping. Usually it’s somewhere around $7 domestic.
Sounds good teaplz nice review I do enjoy mint teas.
Second try with my PG Tips Pyramids. This time I only steeped in for two minutes, but the flavor was still very, very bitter when left alone. Much more tolerable than my first steep, but still with a very strong kick. The tea steeps to a very dark hue, with a surprisingly strong veggie smell. My bag smelled like stewed vegetables when I sniffed it wet. The tea does contain this aroma. It’s not a bad smell, but it’s sort of odd for me from a black tea.
This tea is definitely more complex than a lot of the other bagged varieties out there. The pyramid shape probably lets the tea grow a bit, even if the pieces are somewhat small already. I added some milk again (soymilk, around 3 tsps), and the taste infinitely improved. This tea would probably rank higher for me if I didn’t have to doctor it up with additives. I hate putting anything in my tea, but I really can’t imagine drinking this one without first smoothing it out with either milk or some lemon juice. It was designed to be drunk that way, and I’m having a difficult time accepting that. I drink Irish Breakfast without putting anything in it, so…
That being said, I think I’ll try and do a really short steep of this one and taste the results at a later date, to see if this can indeed be had neat. Someone recommended online using a large amount of water and just pouring off the excess. I might do that.
Preparation
One thing I found with this tea is that any squeezing of the teabag made it crazy bitter. I still had to doctor it even without the bitterness from squeezing but I definitely a wuss in comparison to you! :)
Auggy, this tea is driving me crazy! I hate doctoring teas. :( And this one is like a bucking bronco that refuses to be tamed unless I douse it with some sort of milky product. I didn’t squeeze my bag either, but this is seriously, seriously bitter.
And I sort of doubt that you’re a wuss in comparison to me. You’re like a tea guru on her compared to my n00b status.
Aw, thanks! But I pretty much have to doctor Indian blacks with a little sugar and milk. I’m not tough enough to drink them straight! Well, expect for Darjeelings. Those I can do straight…
But yeah, I think this one ends up being a good tea compared to other bagged breakfast teas but is definitely made to have milk added. I gave up on it a while back but would make it for DH who will pretty much drink anything. But after more and more exposure to loose tea, he even got to where he wasn’t a big fan of this one.
Hmm, I wonder if brewing at a lower temp would help with the bitterness? Aren’t fewer tannins(?) supposed to be released at lower temps?
I think I’ve read something like that, somewhere… ? I might try lowering the temperature and steeping for a really short time to see if I can actually drink this straight. I doubt that’s actually going to happen! It really is a bit of a disappointment to me, actually. I like drinking tea straight because I feel like it’s not “heavy.” Milk and sugar make this a bit heavier than I like for a breakfast beverage. That’s probably why I prefer tea to coffee in the first place!
I’ll be interested to find out how that works if you give the lower temp a try.
I’ve had better luck with Chinese teas (Keemun & Yunnan in particular) being good straight and not heavy/thick feeling but still flavorful and no need for additions.
Quite right about that “veggie” smell, I realize. Good observation.
I’m not going to rate this one quite yet. I drank half a cup today, mainly because I messed up on the steeping time. The pyramid bags are quite cute! But because of their shape, they probably release a lot of juicy, tea flavor at a much faster rate. Well, I sort of wasn’t paying attention, and I let my bag drift around in the cup for a good five minutes. The resulting brew was extremely bitter! I could barely drink it.
I added a bit of milk (a teaspoon, literally), and the tiniest pinch of sugar, but it was still very, very bitter. I could taste some interesting, complex notes, but I really couldn’t get a good read on them, because the entire thing just tasted overcooked.
How long should I steep these guys? There really isn’t much information out there. I’m thinking more like 2 minutes, tops…
Preparation
Does the packaging have any recommendations? I’d start at maybe 3 minutes and see what that does, you don’t want to make the tea too weak either.
Another thing is that PG Tips is an English brand and the Brits religiously add milk to their black tea, so this one is probably meant to have it added in (and probably in larger amounts than you did).
The packaging unfortunately has no recommendations. :( I’ve read elsewhere, though that people sometimes steep this for 1-2 minutes and then add milk and sugar. I’m a fan of really strong black tea (I’ll drink Irish Breakfast and English Breakfast without putting anything in at all), and I usually drink it straight, so I’m thinking I might have oversteeped this one. :(
Mmm. After a really disappointing string of Bigelow teas that made me very, very sad, it’s nice to try something good from Twinings! This was the perfect cup to start off my morning. When I opened the little packet, the smell made me smile. It’s a really perky blend of citrus, and it smelled absolutely delicious!
The tea brews up fairly dark, and I have to say, the taste is superior to Twinings’ regular Earl Grey. It’s still got a floral edge to it, but the citrus flavors are more pronounced and a bit more complex. The combination is the perfect blend of soothing and eye-opening. It doesn’t jolt you awake; it coaxes you.
This is the last of the blends in my Twinings variety pack to taste, and I must say, I pretty much enjoyed every flavor in here. I’m looking forward to finishing up the rest of the bags. If loose leaf tea tastes a lot better than this, then I can’t wait!
Preparation
Have you decided who you’re going to order from yet? Or have you already put one through?
Regardless, I’m glad that you finally got a hold on a decent tea, bagged or not! I think a couple of people favor Lady Grey as well. And I think one of them liked this tea note. [Jillian, I’m looking at you.]
I haven’t ordered yet, but I think I’m going to put the first order in through Adagio, for a couple of reasons. I can get the IngenuiTEA, which I’ve heard from a bunch of people is a good first teapot thinger, and I have a $5 off coupon. :O
Yeah, it’s been a tea nightmare for me the last few days! Lady Grey put a smile on my face this morning. :)
I have teavana’s equivalent of the IngenuiTEA and it’s definitely a neat device to have around! Extremely handy. I had total gadget envy when a friend pulled one out before I got my own.
If you don’t have an electric kettle that does temperature control, I feel that I should put the UtiliTEA on your radar because it pretty much rocks my world. It doesn’t allow you to control it to the degree, but it’s SO much easier than trying not to forget that the water is cooling when you do it old school. And it’s super fast. The price on Adagio’s website is one of the best that I’ve seen for a temp-controlled kettle, and I think they have at least one bundle with it, too.
Just another thing with which to overwhelm you!
@Takgoti: Guilty as charged. :P
D: Oh man! Bigelow, I do not want you in my cupboard anymore. I wanted some decaf teas. I can’t have a lot of caffeine due to my migraines and my stomach condition, so I can’t drink more than one cup of caffeinated tea a day. I bought the Bigelow variety decaf pack so I could try a bunch of stuff and have some decaf in the house. And so far nearly every flavor has been a huge disappointment.
The French Vanilla has artificial flavoring in it, and when you open the package, that fake vanilla smell comes on really, really strong. I love the taste of vanilla, but only when it’s a natural vanilla. Fake vanilla makes me feel nauseous.
The saving grace of this tea is that the taste is not overwhelmingly vanilla. In fact, it tastes like an extremely plain black tea with just the faintest wisp of a vanilla aftertaste. That aftertaste is pretty artificial, but it tastes more realistic than it smells. The smell really is so awfully overpowering, though. I love breathing in tea. This one brought no enjoyment whatsoever in that regard.
I don’t want to drink this again, but I have two more bags so we’ll see what happens.
Preparation
It’s that time of the month, and I’ve read that chamomile is fairly successful in soothing cramps. This chamomile is pretty much basic in a bag. It looks, smells, and tastes like chamomile. I can’t imagine adding any sugar to this one (it’s already ridiculously sweet out of the bag). The flavor is fairly strong, but not overwhelming. I don’t know if the chamomile really did the trick, but the hot liquid made me feel a bit better as November cools down!
Preparation
This was not a good Earl Grey. I’m starting to wonder if there is a good EG out there for me! Maybe it exists in loose leaf form, or maybe I’m just simply not the Earl Grey drinker. Bigelow’s bag is smells overwhelmingly of bergamot. Like, knock your halfway across the room. It’s a fairly pleasant scent, but I’m not gonna lie – it takes some time to get used to. It brews up fairly dark, darker than the Twinings blend I tried a few days back. And it still smells of bergamot.
This one tastes much more citrus-y than the Twinings blend. It’s not bitter, like the Tazo blend. The bergamot is pretty damn strong, with highlights of both a bracing citrus and floral notes. What I really didn’t like about this tea was its oiliness. If that’s how I can describe it. It coats your mouth, and leaves your lips feeling greasy. It’s not a very pleasant sensation at all. The black tea doesn’t taste like anything special; I think the low grade fannings are completely overwhelmed by the bergamot.
I’m not looking forward to finishing the other two bags that I have. It’s drinkable, but it’s not something that I’d anticipate a cup of on any given day.
Preparation
I’m not a big earl grey drinker, but I did try twinings’ bagged version once because I was at the grocery store and desperate for tea and it was one of the worst tea-mistakes of my life.
That does sound rather nasty. If you’d like some recommendations, Twinning’s Lady Grey is much better than their regular Earl Grey and Adagio’s Earl Grey Bravo is nice too (but very citrusy).
If you don’t mind something that isn’t a black tea, Harney & Sons’s Winter White Earl Grey (it has a white tea base) is wonderfully light and refreshing.
After two debacles so close in a row (see my comments on CS’ Gingerbread Spice and Bigelow’s Constant Comment decaf), and my patience frayed, I brewed up a cup of this for my tea of the afternoon. And you know what? It tastes normal. Average. And that’s a blessing right now. I wanted to kiss this cup for its averageness instead of its awfulness. The tea doesn’t have a particularly distinct flavor. I might steep this a bit longer next time to draw out more flavor.
This tea is like one of your acquaintances that has a generic face. That person that always gets, “Hey, do I know you from somewhere?” I don’t think I’d be able to pick this tea out from the sea of mediocre teas, but right now, that’s fine.
Hope it works and you feel better soon!
I second the ‘feel better’ wishes. Peppermint is supposed to be good for stomach troubles so try to get a few cups of it down if you can.
Camomille can also soothe sore stomachs if you have some on hand. I tend to mix them together (and sometimes I add dried gingeroot if I’m nauseous) and drink them like that.
Thanks guys for your get well wishes! Jillian, I’ll probably have a little bit of chamomile before going to bed. I’ve had a headache all day too. :(