Green Ginger

Wake up tea at work. Not in the mood for my guayusa blend as I had it yesterday, not feeling Stormy Night (too cozy) so this one it is. This might be a sipdown? I will have to look when I get home. Blargh, bitter as usual. I imagine this one is better without boiling water, but meh. It’s a hardy tea bag. And it will wake me up. Haha see previous notes on this tea!

ETA – Not as bitter once it cools. Slowly waking up, although some matcha might be in order lol.

I am doing an internal happy dance because I’ve basically put this one to bed. I have one more cup’s worth or so left from the initial bagged tea stash. It was one of the first I drank when I started this adventure last February, and one of the first I took an active dislike to. I kept drinking it to see whether that would change. Although I got used to it, I can’t say it grew on me. Or I could, but I’d have to end the comment with “like a fungus.”

In truth there’s no ready explanation for why I should dislike this tea as much as I do. After drinking my way through more than a box of it I can say I can taste pretty much all of the ingredients, so that’s not the problem. I think the main problem is either in the ginger or in the green tea and I’m going to go with the ginger. (The pear is subtle enough that it can’t be objectionable by any standard.) The ginger doesn’t have that fresh, sharp, ginger aroma or flavor, nor does it have a particularly sweet or candy-like taste. Either would have been an improvement.

The ginger here seems to me to be tired. And stale (not literally). Like it is mustering all its strength to exert power and so doesn’t have the will left to try to taste good. It certainly is powerful. It all but pushes the green tea taste out the window.

I’m not at all sorry to see this go. Happy dance! Happy dance!

Feeling a little groggy this morning so I tried this out in hopes that it would give me a bit of a wake-up. The smell of the tea make me think of some sort of scented cleaner – something about the smell of the lemongrass and the ginger together I think.

I was bracing myself for something toxic-tasting, but thankfully this tea didn’t deliver that. The ginger is probably the most prominent taste wrapped up with a bit of indistinct lemoniness. It isn’t too overpowering although that might be because of the low steeping temp to used. The green tea is pretty well hidden although I get it at the end of each sip. Overall this tea does has a nice refreshing quality though it’s also a bit drying on the mouth. It’s a decent enough drink, though not something I’d buy a box of I don’t think.

I re-visited this one yesterday, and liked it, though I overdid the sugar/honey factor.

With about one spoonful of sugar, a drop of honey, and 2 minutes steep time, this gives a nice, gingery taste with a pear kick, mainly in the aftertaste. It’s very good, kind of light, definitely a tea best for a refresh. Milk actually goes well with it, and may help lessen the pear for those who think it is a bit too much. Just don’t over do the sugar! :-)

Egads, I am starting to think I will remain ill forever! So, here I am, prepared. Ginger snaps, tea, and Alan Moore’s Black Dossier by my side. Scoured my parents’ tea for something to drink whilst ill, and this was it. If I had more energy, maybe I’d even call this my “excited” mode.

By this point, I have probably killed the tea. I dunked two fairly large chunks of young Australian ginger into this steep, just to make it all the better for my sickness, and two large spoonfuls of honey. Needless to say, it is pretty delicious now. But when I tasted the tea beforehand, I was not so impressed, nor did I taste the pear. Considering I can barely smell at the moment, this may not be saying much. Primarily, I think of this as a green tea before all else. Perhaps it needs a shorter steep and lower temperature, but I won’t go into all that now. For now, I will soak it all up and sleep!

I received a box of this in a swap. I like a hint of ginger, but I’m not a great fan of lots of ginger…like I love a snowflake floating by the window but I don’t like getting smacked in the face with a snowball. The ginger smell hit me like a snowball. It continued while steeping, so I cut the steeping time a little short in fear that it would just be too overwhelming. Luckily I was pleasantly surprised when I tasted it. I taste the lemongrass and the ginger, kind of a peppery taste, but not the green tea so much. And the pear seems to be afraid of the ginger, it’s hiding pretty well. Maybe a little pear in the aftertaste, a faint finish.

The box is interesting reading, all about good karma. They claim this tea is yin, yang and yow – the yin being the green tea, the yang the ginger, and the yow the pear. I would call this a basically yang tea. I will drink this again, but I doubt I will get more after this is finished. I do want to try it iced, I may change the rating then.

Ginger is great to have when feeling nauseous. Tazo’s Green Ginger is especially good, with the ginger taking a nice focus.

Based on the other reviews, i’m mildly convinced my taste buds are retarded. (or maybe i haven’t tried enough tea)
Either way, i particularly enjoy this tea when i’m leaving for school in a pinch and don’t have time to steep a loose batch. I also have a longterm love affair with ginger in general, so perhaps there is the inherent issue. I drink tea straight, and this is mild and pleasant with a slow burn/heat (perfect for chilly weather)
highly recommended for mindless sipping during the morning commute (perfectly paired with an ipod and a smile)

I enjoy ginger, as long as it is not the pickled ginger you get with sushi, blegh, but fresh ginger, I enjoy very much. This smells like artificial ginger, very aromatic and sweet for no good reason. The smell is strong in the bag, for this reason I did an unreasonably fast steep (about a minute counting pouring the water into my cup). The aroma is even stronger in the brewed cup, which was what I feared. The flavor is green with a soothing burst of ginger as an aftertaste. Unfortunately, the aroma made the tea quite unenjoyable.

I got a surprise w/ LiberTEAS’ vinegar black- 2 bags of this! Now, as I said, I would normally not choose to steep this at home but after being deprived of it last time I attempted to order it and being very blessed by LiberTEAS’ generosity I decided to steep it right away. It went perfectly w/ my Tortilla Crusted Fish Lean Cuisine.

1 bag (2.25g- talk about a perfect proportion/6oz water nuked for 2 min.)

Ya know when you’re a little kid and you love a particular food… til you find out what’s in it? Well, this is one of those times. Drinking it at Starbucks never gave me the chance to look at the wrapper til now. It has lemon in it… and a hint of pear??? It’s still a very good tea w/ ginger and green tea being the strongest flavors… but now I’m tasting the lemon. :( I don’t taste the pear, but that’s fine cuz I didn’t want a pear tea… and I have no clue where the pear would come from anyway…