Decaf Lotus Blossom Green

This decaffeinated blend from Tazo is a rare example of a floral-scented green tea which sits well with me. I have serious issues with jasmine, and this tea is generously scented in a similar way—only with lotus and marigold. Somehow this works for me. The liquor is peach-orange colored, and despite being decaffeinated, these leaves can be multiply infused, yielding a beautiful peach color and a floral flavor each time!

I brewed up a pot of Decaf Lotus Blossom Green this evening because I imbibed black teas this afternoon, rather than green, and so had no spent leaves from which to prepare a post-dinner pot. This really hit the spot, as usual. I do believe that I could not drink such a markedly floral tea every day, but that’s just fine since most days I do drink a pot of caffeinated green during the afternoon, which I am then able to resteep long after the final caffeine bell for the day has rung…

I remain impressed by the Tazo offerings. I find the teas to be of high quality—relative to most other mass market varieties. I’ve been noticing that the fans of Tazo and the fans of Teavana do not seem to overlap much. The two companies seem to have very different approaches to tea and tea-like beverages. I’m a Tazo gal, myself.

Starbucks acquired both companies to cover all bases in their quest for total global beverage hegemony. I’m not complaining, mind you. They are a well-run company with high-quality offerings. Plus a most generous tea-refill policy!!!!!!

what a unique green tea….the aroma on this is so smooth & lovely! perhaps what makes it so memorable is the very ‘fruity’ floral lotus flower, because i have never smelled anything quite like it. it reminds me of the smell of açaí berry or pomegranate when added to whites or greens. my only question is: is this scented/flavored with real or artificial lotus? if it’s real, i am blown away by how fruity the flower is! and i’m a fruity floral lover when it comes to perfumes, not as much with teas, but that’s another story ;)

whatever is added to the green base is very bright smelling. perhaps not the most ‘natural’ floral smell (like say a heady rose or lavender), but a very happy and lively one. really reminds me of pomegranate! i can also almost swear there is a slight, unsweetened honey note! i picked it up in both the aroma and the flavor. it is very clean.

i get a green tea ‘mouthfeel’ on the tongue and a bit in the aftertaste, which is not at all bitter. i wonder what green tea is used here?? it is subtle though, in my opinion (not a bad thing, just an observation).

i’d definitely recommend this for those who don’t like greens or think they’re too vegetal or grassy…this one is dreamy! and again, very unique with the lotus flavoring. my favorite green from Tazo.

last but not least is the liquor: a rich, golden yellow. slightly cloudy, but beautiful. i might think this is a honey-flavored tisane, but never a green tea!

also, quite impressive for a bagged tea. this actually makes me think of the term ‘Zen’ more so than the actual Zen tea! (which has mint & lemongrass).. if i had a choice i’d rename Zen something like ‘Alert’ or ‘Focus’…seems about right!

Oh my God. I actually had to dump this mug of tea down the drain after two sips. This has never happened to me before.

I don’t know what happened! I used hot (not boiling) water and I let it steep for two minutes before I tried it. It just tasted disgusting. Bitter
and almost like garlic!

I’ve had this one before, too, and liked it. Normally it’s lightly floral and fairly smooth for a bagged commercial blend. This was a total abomination.

I made a mug of loose tea instead from another company to console myself.

Pleasantly surprised by this tea. The tea selection at the place I just went for lunch was limited to Bigelow and a few flavors of Tazo. I selected this as the least adulterated flavor of Tazo. It is very light, but turned bitter when I left the tea bag in too long (No problem! Just add more water!). A very pleasant flavor and the lotus flower wasn’t overpowering.

I wish it was caffeinated though.

Whew, today was very tiring day. I am not used to stay 8 hours on my feet, I am more of an office person. But here, nobody asks and when it doesn’t work, you have to fix it (half of the shift) and then in second half you had to catch the work that wasn’t done because the break down.

So, when returning “home”, I bought raspberry flavoured energy drink, because honestly I didn’t had a mood for tea at all. But later on, for dinner I brewed this tea, being decaf, and with prominsing flavour profile. Sadly, the kettle I have here available is not temperature setting one, but I tried my “bubbles method” (first bubbles = approx. 80°C) and it went pretty well I guess.

It was quite floral, base tea of cut grass; and maybe the pear that Kaylee notices is there somehow as well. That said, thank you Kaylee for sharing this tea with me.
Perfectly serviceable tea bag when needed something simple.

The conference had coffee and tea available a few times a day, so of course I made good use of the opportunity. Alas, despite Tazo being the only brand of tea on offer, no Glazed Lemon Loaf blend! I made do with a combination of using the hot water to make tea with bags I had brought with me and this intriguing blend. I’ve never had lotus blossom, don’t know what it tastes like, and don’t think I’ve ever knowingly had it in a tea blend. And I still haven’t, because this consists of naturally decaffeinated green tea and natural flavors! But let’s benefit-of-the-doubt this situation and assume that the natural flavors include and/or approximate the flavor of lotus blossom.

To me, this smells and tastes like pear. It’s palatable enough for a conference tea, and I enjoyed its light juiciness! I wouldn’t necessarily rush out to buy a box, but I’d drink a cuppa if it’s available.

I steeped this tea for 3 minutes with boiling water and the end result was a rather bland tea (as expected), but a little bit of sugar made it an acceptable tea for in the evening whenever other options are not available and you want to stick with a decaf option. Do not over steep this tea as with most green teas I’ve experienced, it tends to go from flavorless to bitter pretty fast.

I’m going to make a second cup using the same bag but at a lower temperature and see if it brings out more flavor, though I do not expect it to…

Okay, so I made a second cup of tea, this time at 185 degrees for 3 minutes. It was very weak, but given it is green tea and on the second steep I just steeped it for 30 seconds more. It was just enough and did not get bitter. A bit more sugar and it, I think, is even better than the first steep. This is definitely a tea to pay attention to the temperature suggestions and steep times.

A bit floral, a bit earthy, darned tasty.

I haven’t had tea all day. Been waiting for a cuppa for awhile… finally just broke down and pour cold water on this tea bag. It’s ….meh. I guess I didn’t know what to expect from lotus flavor, except maybe a floral sensation. Not getting that though. It’s like I’m drinking a tea that accidentally had some Chinese dish spilled into it.

Backlog. On this trip I discovered that I like Tazo’s herbal and green blends a lot more than their blacks. I don’t know what the deal is with their base black teas but they’re just not for me. This one was much better than I was expecting, although I was still not blown away. It’s more fruity-tasting than floral, and the green base is sort of there but mostly hidden by the flavoring. It’s better as it cools.