Twinings Cranberry Green Tea

This is another tea that I have been meaning to review for a while and just haven't for some unknown reason. Although the package in the picture says "new," I have had this particular box of Twinings for quite some time now, and I am sure that the graphics and design have changed significantly since I bought this one. The flavor was introduced over a year ago during the surge in popularity of superfruits such as acai and cranberry, and I have been occasionally enjoying it ever since.

Although I tend to prefer green teas that are supplied more directly from Asia, Twinings will certainly do in a pinch. Now, Twinings certainly knows a thing or two about tea, and I am not trying to imply that their green tea is bad by any means, but there is just something about it that has always seemed a bit too manufactured to me. It is hard to describe, but the flavor is wrought with the qualities of mass production, and it just doesn't have the character that many other imported green teas do. That being said, I really like Twinings Cranberry Green Tea. The cranberry is light but flavorful, and the tea maintains a dry taste that is more true to the nature of the actual fruit than the sweeter and more juicy cranberry flavor that has been popularized over the past few years. 

I was fairly skeptical of the blend at first, as I wasn't sure how the aromatic flavor of green tea was going to blend with the bitterness of the cranberry, but they actually work very well together. The two distinct tastes meld into one resultant flavor that is pleasant and very easy to drink. As I said above, the tea is a bit on the dry side, so this is definitely not one to drink if you are already thirsty. But in a way, the dryness is necessary to properly represent the cranberry, and I am glad that Twinings decided not to dull the flavor by making a more "accesible" tea. Keep and eye out for this one. It is quite good.

Verdict: Recommended

Purchased: ...don't remember

Size: 20 individually sealed bags

Price: $2.99

Yamamotoyama Genmai-cha

As I sit here staring at my box of Yamamotoyama Genmai-cha tea, I find myself somewhat surprised that it has taken me as long as it has to write this review. I've had this box of tea for a fairly long time (over a year now), and for some inexplicable reason, it seems to keep ending up in the bottom of my tea box, forgotten and unloved. This is mystifying to me, however, as it is a wonderful tea, and I'm really not sure at all why I keep overlooking it. So, after making myself a cup of Yamamotoyama's Genmai-cha last night, I wanted to make a point of finally giving it the attention that it deserves.

But first, let's talk about some history. For those unfamiliar with the drink, genmaicha (or genmai-cha) is green tea combined and steeped together with grains of roasted brown rice. Years ago, genmaicha tea was created in Japan as a way for tea houses to offer a less expensive alternative to their more pure blends. Tea was a relatively expensive commodity at the time, and the rice acted as a filler to extend the shop's supply of green tea, thus reducing the price of each serving. At first, this was an effective solution for allowing the less wealthy to enjoy green tea without breaking the bank, and it was even frequently made with the lower quality and less flavorful "bancha" leaf (as opposed to the more premium "sencha" leaf) to further reduce the price. However, as time progressed, the genmaicha mixture grew more and more common, until eventually word got out about the blend's pleasant taste. Soon, tea enthusiasts began making the blend using high-quality tea leaves, and the drink became known more for its unique taste than its previously scorned social pretenses. Once the "tea for the poor" stigma that surrounded the tea began to fade, people from all wealth brackets grew to enjoy the added flavor of the roasted rice, and what had begun as a financial compromise reserved for the lower classes quickly became a widespread cultural icon. 

Yamamotoyama's Genmai-cha blend is a very good tea. The taste is very mild and soothing, and the roasted brown rice gives the tea a very earthy and robust flavor. It is difficult to describe exactly what the tea tastes like, as the flavor is very unique, but it is safe to say that the tea is very pleasant. It has a flavor so inoffensive that I doubt that anyone could actively dislike it. Trying to imagine what a rice/tea combination might taste like may be strange for some people (particularly those with more western tastes), and while I'm not really sure how to describe it in more detail, I can offer assurance in two (technically three) fairly simple words: it's good. Yamamotoyama's take on genmaicha makes it clear why the blend grew from its deeply utilitarian origins to its modern nationwide popularity, and you should definitely keep an eye out for this one.

Also, each of the bags are aluminum-sealed, which works wonders for keeping the tea fresh. Excellent work, Yamamotoyama.

Verdict: Highly recommended

Purchased: Asian Market [Columbia, SC]

Size: 16 bags per box

Price: $2.30

Punjana Irish Breakfast Tea

I am, in general, a fan of Irish Breakfast tea. So I'm sure that you can imagine that I was excited to find this large bag of the stuff at Big Lots for such an affordable price (80 bags for $4.00). Unfortunately, my excitement was rather short lived, as Punjana's Irish Breakfast tea is a good bit too bitter for my tastes. Being a black tea, Irish Breakfast tea in general usually has a bit of bitter kick to it, and I have come to expect that when trying out different varieties. But Punjana's tea is just too bitter. When I first tried the tea, I just assumed that I had let the bag steep too long, so I tried again...multiple times, each time at a different time interval. However, none of them seemed to make much difference in the bitter flavor, even after a round of steeping the tea for only one minute. Each time I was met with the same overwhelming bitterness that hid most of the actual flavor of the tea.

Nothing that I did really seemed to help much, and although adding cream and sugar may have been a more immediate solution than repeatedly trying to fix the tea "properly," I decided just to skip the alterations and enjoy some Adagio Irish Breakfast tea, instead. I am generally of the opinion that if you have to dress a tea up to enjoy it, then it's probably safe to say that you just don't like that tea. 

So, if you like teas with very heavy tannins, then Punjana's Irish Breakfast tea may suit you just fine. But I can only handle so much bitterness in my tea, and as a result I unfortunately can not recommend this one.

Verdict: Not recommended

Purchased: Big Lots [Greenwood, SC]

Size: 80 tea bags

Price: $4.00 [discounted]

Pom Tea

Although I am only just now getting around to reviewing it, I am actually quite familiar with Pom Tea. I have been enjoying it from time to time since it was released several years ago, and we even have a few of the old Pom Tea glasses in our cabinet that are still regularly reused. Unfortunately, I have been met with some difficulty in tracking down a bottle of Pom's Blackberry Tea in local (and less than local) stores. But I have, however, been able to find the Pomegranate Lychee Green Tea and the Peach Passsion White Tea without any difficulty, which I actually find a bit odd. In any case, I will just go ahead and start with the lychee green.

Pom's Pomegranate Lychee Green Tea is very good, and is surprisingly light and smooth, despite the green tea base. I love green tea, but it is usually not exactly the first thing that pops into mind when I think of cool, refreshing beverages. The first time that I ever had this tea, I had no idea how the tart juiciness of the pomegranate and the dry, aromatic nature of the lychee were going to work together. They seemed like conflicting flavors, but Pom has shown that they can be anything but. Although the flavors don't exactly meld together, they form a very interesting combination, with the pomegranate and green tea flavors settling heavily in the middle of the mouth and the lychee spreading towards the sides of the mouth and the back of the throat. Despite the general lack of mixing among the flavors, the drink sets up an extremely interesting "flavor environment" that is very unique and definitely worth experiencing.

The Peach Passion White Tea, on the other hand, is a totally different experience. The Peach Passion is good, but it is very busy. White tea already has a pretty delicate flavor, and adding three strong, pronounced fruits (pomegranate, peach, and passionfruit) on top of it makes the subtle taste of the tea very difficult to detect. The flavors of each of the three fruits are all very strong and tend to compete for dominance, ultimately melding into one strange flavor that reminds me a lot of chilled sake. This is a strange sensation to have when drinking a fruit-infused tea, but I actually don't mind it at all. Although, I do think that the drink would benefit from Pom maybe dropping one of the flavors and simplifying the formula a bit, I still think that the flavor as it is now still works, somehow. The drink definitely tastes a bit weird, but it is a good weird; the interesting sort of weird that leaves you a bit confused after each drink, while actively encouraging you to take another and try to figure it out. And then, before you know it, you have finished the whole thing.

Although the differences between the two teas make it somewhat hard to recommend one flavor over the other, I find it very impressive that Pom has managed to maintain one common, underlying structure in these two drinks while still creating two very different and unique experiences. This is a difficult thing to do, especially once a company starts to hit mass production. This is demonstrated repeatedly by the often tiresome "sameness" that permeates the product lines of many of the older and more established beverage companies, so it is definitely nice to see a company as expansive as Pom really making an effort to keep their drinks individual and unique. Although I personally prefer the pomegranate lychee green tea variety, both of these teas are definitely worth your money.

Verdict: Recommended

Purchased: Bi-Lo [Greenwood, SC]

Size: 16 fl. oz. [473mL]

Price: $2.99

Braswell's Select Blueberry Black Tea

Although I did not review any of the others, this is not the first Braswell's tea that I have had. As is likely with most people who pick one of these up, I was originally attracted to Braswell's drink because of the unconventional packaging. Each Braswell's Tea comes packaged in a fancy, reusable glass topped with a jar-style lid, which gives the drink a very "homemade" feel. The lid is designed to be removed and thrown away, so (for those who were wondering) the glass wouldn't really function as the jam jars that it is clearly intended to emulate, but the unconventional lid does allow for a natural threadless glass design. The labels on the front and back are also made to peel straight off and don't leave any annoying adhesive mess behind, making Braswell's container perfect for reuse. 

Braswell's Blueberry Black Tea is...well, it's very fruity. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as the blueberry flavor is quite natural and refreshing, but I really couldn't taste very much of the tea in this drink. I was hoping for the flavors to be more balanced, but the taste of the blueberry completely overpowers whatever hint of tea may have once been in the beverage. Although this was a little bit disappointing, I have to say that I really did still enjoy the drink. From what I've experienced, blueberry tends to be a tricky flavor, and I have had a lot of blueberry-themed drinks that were either way too strong and sweet, or too diluted to really taste. But Braswell's has found a very happy medium, as the blueberry is prominent and sweet, but still light enough to be refreshing and very easy to drink. 

Although I did like Braswell's Blueberry Black Tea, I would be likely to recommend some of the other flavors first (I especially like the pomegranate blackberry tea) before I got around to this one. Overall, this is a great drink, but I was somewhat disappointed that the tea was not more noticeable. However, if you like blueberries, this is definitely one to try out.

Verdict: Recommended

Purchased: Whole Foods Market [Greenville, SC]

Size: 11 fl oz [325mL]

Price: Somewhere around $2.99 [I have since lost the receipt]

What was supposed to be Touch Organic: Apricot White Tea

Well, I'm going out of town today, and I stayed up really late last night writing today's review. It was actually a really long review, too, but apparently when I tried to access the site through my iPad this morning to post the review, it just decided to wipe the draft clean, instead.

So, unfortunately, there won't be a review today. And, out of frustration, I may not be re-writing the one that was supposed to go up today any time soon. It took me two hours to write, and I don't know that I'll be able to get my thoughts about the drink down quite the same way again.

So I will see you all back here again on Friday.

Peace.

- Hayden

Argo Tea: Charitea

This is the second Argo Tea variety that I have tried in the past couple of months, and I am happy to say that I now have enough data to officially regard Argo Tea as a favorite of Drinkable Review. I really like these drinks a lot, and I am eager to continue trying some of the other flavors. 

I spent a good bit of time talking about the fantastic bottle in the last Argo Tea review, so I'll steer clear of it this time by simply stating that the bottle is, in fact, still fantastic. However, what is inside of the bottle could not be more different. Argo Tea's Charitea is comprised of a relatively straightforward combination of hibiscus tea (just hibiscus and water), cane sugar, cherry juice, and vanilla flavoring. The hibiscus, cherry, and vanilla are all immediately evident in the drink, with the hibiscus and cherry tastes being more dominant than the vanilla. This strikes an excellent balance, though, as I think that vanilla works much, much better in the background rather than acting as a primary flavor. 

My only warning about the drink would be that the hibiscus flavor may be a bit strong for those who are not incredibly keen on botanical flavorings. If you fall into this group, I would recommend trying out one of the other varieties. Otherwise, there is really a lot to like here. Everything in the Charitea tastes very natural, and the added sugar really helps to bring the three seemingly disparate flavors together into a unique and interesting beverage that is quite easy to recommend.

And, as an added bonus, Argo Tea donates a portion of the proceeds each year from seasonal sales of the Charitea to various non-profit organizations. This season, they are partnered with the Sierra Club, one of the largest environmental protection and sustainability organization in the United States. For more information on Argo Tea's charity involvement, feel free to visit the Charitea page of their website.

Verdict: Recommended

Purchased: Whole Foods Market [Greenville, SC]

Size: 13.5 fl. oz. [400mL]

Price: $2.99

Dilmah Mint Ceylon Tea

Just a few weeks ago, I reviewed Dilmah's blackcurrant Ceylon tea, and I really liked it. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I decided to go back out and pick up a box of the mint Ceylon tea, as well. And, as I expected, this one is just as good as the last.

Dilmah really has a good thing going on here. The company's Ceylon tea is delicious, and the flavorings are perfectly balanced with the natural taste of the tea, making these some of the best flavored teas that I have ever had. The mint used in Dilmah's mint Ceylon tea is very carefully tailored to the flavor of the tea so as to not overpower the Ceylon taste. I've had my fair share of mint teas in the past, and while I've enjoyed most of them, I had simply grown accustomed to the mint drowning out the tea. In fact, this happens so often with mint infused teas that I had begun to assume that mint was just too strong a flavor to work in proper unison with the more subtle attributes and complexities of tea. But Dilamh's mint tea has proven me very wrong, as neither the tea nor the mint takes a primary role in this mixture. Rather, the two flavors mix together to create a rich and aromatic "third" flavor that fills the olfactory with hints of smooth, Sri Lankan excellence.

Like the blackcurrant tea (although radically different in just about every way), this tea is just great. I have been met with difficulty in trying to find a point of comparison for the drink, as I really haven't had anything else quite like it. It's somehow just different from the competition in a way that I can't exactly put my finger on. None of the mint teas that I've had in the past come close to the quality that Dilmah provides, and I wholeheartedly recommend that mint and/or tea enthusiasts track this one down and give it a try. 

Verdict: Highly recommended

Purchased: Big Lots [Greenwood, SC]

Size: 20 bags

Price: $2.00 [Discounted]

Temple of Heaven Gunpowder Green Tea

I have actually been wanting to try this tea for a while, but I was only ever able to find it in humongous quantities in the Asian markets local to me. While the size (and price risk) was not necessarily a problem in and of itself, my tea box has been dangerously full for the past several months, and not really having a place to store yet another large container of tea persuaded me to wait until a smaller container was available. And just a few weeks ago my patience was rewarded, as I found a much smaller box of the tea at an Asian market during one of my recent visits to Spartanburg.

For those who are as unaware as I was about what "gunpowder" green tea is, it is a specific form of green tea from China's Zhejiang Province. Each leaf is rolled into a small bead before drying, which gives the tea an appearance similar to that of the black powder used in early firearms. 

Although the tea was given its English nickname purely based on the aesthetics of the rolled leaves, rolling the tea leaves actually helps to prevent damage during handling, therefore allowing the leaves to keep more of their original flavor. Feel free to visit the Wikipedia entry for more relevant information about gunpowder tea. 

As far as the flavor goes, this tea is excellent. It has a pleasant, full-bodied aroma that is very flavorful and yet somehow a bit more mild than a lot of other green teas. I like green tea a good bit, but I have had varieties in the past that have a somewhat pungent aroma that ends up being a little bit too strong for my tastes. But that is certainly not so with this one. The flavor is delicate, fresh, and subtle in ways that others often aren't, while still being a definitive example of a high quality and authentic green tea. I really like this one a lot, and I definitely suggest that tea drinkers pick up a box.

Verdict: Highly recommended

Purchased: Unkown Asian Food Store [Spartanburg, SC]

Size: 250 grams

Price: $2.99

Dilmah Blackcurrant Ceylon Tea

I have been drinking a lot of really good teas lately, and Dilmah's Blackcurrant Ceylon tea is fairly high up on that list. I've actually had a difficult time lately finding fruit-flavored teas that aren't overbearingly fruity, and Dilmah's blackcurrant offering is a very welcome breath of fresh, aromatic air.

Dilmah is a long-standing and singularly-focused family company that is passionate about and committed to tea, and it really shows. Although I have not had a chance to try Dilmah's plain Ceylon tea, it is still terribly clear that their base tea is a cut above. It tastes very fresh, despite coming in prepackaged bags, and has a robust flavor without being overwhelming. The blackcurrant is also perfectly balanced, and is very present in the drink without overpowering the taste of the tea. Unfortunately, I have never actually had a blackcurrant (currants aren't native to this part of the world), so I can't speak to the naturalness of the flavor, but it does taste consistent with many other blackcurrant-flavored drinks that I've had in the past. However, Dilmah's blackcurrant infusion is somehow not as sweet and "berryish" as others seem to be, giving the tea a more mild flavor and pleasant aftertaste, despite its very strong fragrance while steeping. 

In a lot of ways, Dilmah's Blackcurrant Ceylon tea is quite sublime. It's difficult for me to put my finger on exactly why I like it so much. It's just good, somehow. Very good. Definitely pick up a box of this if you ever happen across it.

Verdict: Highly recommended

Purchased: Big Lots [Greenwood, SC]

Size: 20 bags

Price: $2.00 [Discounted]  

Bolthouse Farms: Vanilla Chai Tea

It is not very often that I see a drink sitting on the shelf and I confidently think to myself, "Yes, I know exactly what that is going to taste like." And it is even less common that I am completely correct, so it always a fun moment when a drink exactly matches the "taste image" that I had had in my head. Although I have seen Bolthouse Farms products all over the place, I had never actually had one until I picked up the Vanilla Chai Tea a few days ago. When I was trying to decide on which flavor to try first, something about the vanilla chai tea option just jumped out at me. Almost as though my subconscious was saying, "you know exactly what that is going to taste like, and you really want that taste right now." 

And my subconscious was right. There were no surprises about the taste of this drink, but it was an intensely satisfying beverage that I have been craving for days since I had it. As one would expect, it tastes like a spiced chai tea with hints of vanilla, but it is thicker than just a regular tea, due to the inclusion of soy milk in the drink. Each vanilla chai tea also contains 17 grams of protein (from the soy), which is a fairly significant amount, especially for a 15.2 ounce serving of something that tastes as good as this does. The drink is a bit on the thick side, as soy milk is naturally thicker than regular dairy milk. However, the viscosity was only really bothersome at the very end of the drink, making the mid-range serving size a great design choice. Overall, this is a great beverage from Bolthouse Farms, and I can't wait to try some of their other flavors.

Verdict: Recommended

Purchased: Bi-Lo [Greenwood, SC] 

Size: 15.2 fl. oz. [450mL]

Price: $2.69

Typhoo

It has been a while since I've had a very strong English tea. I have mostly been drinking more eastern teas (jasmine, green, etc.) over the past several months, so this was a nice change of pace. Typhoo is an excellent tea. It has a strong and pronounced flavor, and it definitely does have that very "British" taste that is touted on the packaging. Although Typhoo is a bit stronger than most teas of this sort, I still think that this would make a great "everyday breakfast" sort of tea. I'm not entirely sure what sort of tea this is (the ingredients are listed simply as "tea"), but the taste lies somewhere between that of an English Breakfast tea and a Ceylon black tea. It's really very interesting, as the taste is mellow on the tongue, but has an intense, bitter aroma on the palette. 

Typhoo also takes very well to cream and sugar. I usually drink my tea straight, particularly when tasting one for the first time, as I think that cream and sugar often tends to muddle the natural flavor of the tea. But I decided to give it a try this time on the recommendation of an acquaintance of mine, and I was glad that I did. The cream (by which I secretly mean 2% milk) helped to reduce the bitter aroma and the sugar gave it a gentle sweetness without detracting much from the flavor. It just made the tea very pleasant, overall.

I like Typhoo a good bit. I don't know that I could drink it all the time, as it is a bit on the powerful side, but I still think that it's a tasty, unique tea that is definitely worth checking out.

Verdict: Recommended

Purchased: Big Lots [Greenwood, SC]

Size: 80 bags

Price: $4.00 [discounted]

Adagio Teas: Irish Breakfast

As soon as I saw this tea sitting on the shelf, I knew that I was going to be purchasing it. This is easily one of the most enticing tea containers that I have ever come across. The fact that I love Irish Breakfast tea certainly didn't hurt, but the swooping design of the graphic and the minimalism of the color palette was so eye-catching and different (for a tea container) that I had to pick it up. The container is made of a sturdy, matte-finished metal (feels like aluminum), and is covered by a domed, UV-blocking lid with a double-hinged clasp design that makes the container very easy to open and close while still maintaining an air-tight seal. The design of the container is absolutely superb, and the fact that such a sturdy piece of beverage engineering costs less than ten dollars makes the purchase a no-brainer.

And I haven't even mentioned the tea yet. As I said above, I love Irish Breakfast tea, and this one is an excellent example of the category. The tea is a combination of black teas from Ceylon and Assam that has a rich and full-bodied flavor with just the right amount of bite. The aftertaste does tend to linger (as with most black tea blends), but the remaining flavor is pleasantly mellow and the tea is so good in the first place that it's really just hard to mind. If you like black tea at all, or you've had bad experiences with darker teas in the past and would like to experience a proper black tea blend, this one comes with my highest recommendation.

Also, since I'm not sure when I'll be getting back to reviewing another Adagio tea, I'm going to go ahead and plug their website [http://www.adagio.com] in this review. Adagio has one of the widest selections of loose-leaf tea that I have ever seen from a single distributor, and their site definitely deserves a look. 

Verdict: Highly Recommended

Purchased: Earth Fare [Columbia, SC]

Size: 4 oz. [112g]

Price: $6.99

Argo Tea: Mojitea

Argo Tea’s Mojitea is a very interesting beverage. The ingredients list only consists of five simple and all-natural ingredients, and yet there is a lot going on here with the flavor, thus reflecting the slogan at the bottom of the bottle: "tea + ingredients with purpose." This is essentially just a simple mint tea with lime juice and cane sugar, but the resulting flavor is surprisingly complex. The mint and lime tastes are both strong and prominent, and yet neither one overpowers the other. Instead, they combine to create a new, singular flavor that has the aromatic bitterness of mint, the sourness of lime, and the mellow aftertaste of lighter teas. Overall, the flavor is a bit hard to describe on its own merit, but if you are familiar with the mint-lime combination of most mojito flavored things, you can probably imagine this one fairly well.

I also really, really like Argo Tea's container. The bottle is made of light but sturdy glass, and is tapered in the middle to feel great in the hand. The label is printed on a sheet of plastic around the bottle, allowing it to be completely ripped off, and the bottle sports an orifice wide enough for ice cubes. The lid is also made of a relatively sturdy plastic that is designed to screw on either perfectly or not at all. It's clear that Argo Tea has designed their bottle with direct consumer reuse in mind, which is something that I always respect in a company. I know I'll be using mine for homemade juices in the future. And on top of all that, the drink is still relatively inexpensive. I can't yet speak for the other flavors, but so far I can safely say that Argo Tea products are definitely recommended.

Verdict: Highly Recommended

Purchased: Whole Foods [Greenville, SC]

Size: 13.5 fl. oz. [400mL]

Price: $2.99 

Teavana Jasmine Dragon and Roobios Tropica Tea Blend

I have been sitting on this review for quite some time now. This past summer, I went on a weekend trip to Washington D.C. with some friends of mine. While we were there, we stopped by a rather large shopping mall, where I had the opportunity to visit a Teavana tea shop for the first time. My experience at Teavana was strange, to say the least. Teavana has an interesting sales hook in that the store offers about thirty different kinds of fresh, loose leaf tea in bins behind the counter, and the custom flavors and varieties that are offered by the company are achieved by simply mixing and matching the individual tea varieties. 

As I found out soon after deciding to visit the crowded shop, Teavana runs a pretty aggressive sales pitch routine on their customers. The second that I stepped in the door, a sales associate was offering me samples of some of Teavana's special blends and filling me in on what custom varieties were currently on offer. After finishing the samples offered at the door, I was whisked away by another employee to sample several more teas at another station. It was here that I tried the subject of today's review, and also where I made the mistake of simply stating, "This is really good. I think that I might get some of this one." Before I really realized what was happening, I had been escorted to the register and was standing face-to-face with a cashier who had already launched into a lengthy explanation of Teavana's convoluted pricing system and was preparing to fill a container with the tea. It became fairly apparent to me at this point that Teavana's prices are specifically designed to disorient the customer. 

The prices listed on the bins of tea in the store represented the price of two ounces of that particular tea. As I'm sure that you can imagine, trying to calculate how much half a pound of an uneven mixture of two separately and unconventionally priced teas will cost while standing in front of an anxiously waiting store employee is the mathematical equivalent of Olympic level gymnastics. Even with my five years of engineering education, I was at a loss to come up with an estimate, and after several moments of hopelessly trying to figure out how much money that I was going to be spending, I simply gave up and asked for a quarter pound of the tea. The tea ended up costing me $25, and although I was left feeling a bit unsettled by the confusing prices and the out-of-control nature of my visit, I am happy to say that the tea was worth every penny.

As pictured above, the tea is a combination of jasmine buds and a rooibos blend mixed with dried strawberries and other tropical fruits. The jasmine buds have an excellent flavor, and have a strong "jasmine" taste while still remaining mellow and crisp. Although I am not typically a huge fan of rooibos tea, I found the blend included in this mix to be quite pleasant. The tropical elements mixed into the rooibos give the tea a light, fruity taste, without making the tea taste sweet. The fruity undertones of the rooibos blend also help to mellow out some of the the strong, earthy overtones of a typical red tea. This works well with the mellow taste of the jasmine, and the flavors complement each other much better than I originally expected. 

Overall, this is a wonderful tea. Although my experience in purchasing it was a bit manipulative, I have to admit that it is very difficult to complain about the end result. $25 dollars may seem like a lot for a quarter of a pound of tea, but the estimated serving size of 1/4 lb. is about 25 cups, and $1 per cup really isn't that bad, especially for a tea of this quality. If there is a Teavana near you, I recommend checking out their selection, and I definitely recommend their jasmine dragon and rooios tropica blend as a good starting point.

But a word to the wise: If a Teavana sales associate asks you if you've ever shopped there before, just do yourself a favor and say yes.

Verdict: Highly Recommended

Purchased: Teavana [Washington D.C.]

Size: 1/4 lb. [Approximately 25 cups]

Price: $25.00 [Approximation]

Ishii Japanese Green Tea IPA

I have had this beer sitting in my refrigerator for a long time (about two months now), and I am just now finally getting around to giving it a try. When I saw these sitting on the shelf at Total Wine, I ignored the high price tag and - knowing that this was one of those drinks that I just had to try, regardless of cost - quickly grabbed one off of the shelf. Given my initial excitement about the beer, I assumed that I would be drinking this one right away, but I suppose that it assumed more and more of a sort of "wait for a special occasion" status the longer that it sat in my refrigerator. However, I got tired of waiting for such a special occasion, and finally decided to just drink it last week.

The first thing that struck me as interesting about Ichii's green tea IPA was the amount of sediment that remained suspended in the glass after pouring. I have no aversion to a bit of sediment in my beer, but rarely does it remain dispersed throughout the liquid as it did in this case. The solid material did eventually settle out to the bottom of the glass, but it took quite some time to do so. This is not necessarily good or bad; I just thought that it was worth mentioning.

The taste of Ichii's green tea IPA is not unlike that of other IPAs that I have had recently. The green tea taste was certainly there, but it was fairly faint, and really didn't add a huge amount of flavor to the overall taste. It became more prominent as I drank more of the beer, as I knew what I was looking for by that point, but it was still pretty light and was largely masked by the flavors of the beer itself. Ultimately, it seems to me like what could have been a very unique and interesting flavor combination ended up being more of an underwhelming gimmick. The beer itself, though, was pretty tasty, and fell on the dry and bitter side that many IPAs usually tend towards.

Overall, I didn't think that Ichii's Japanese green tea IPA was as interesting as I had hoped that it would be. As an IPA, the beer was pretty good, although a little bit standard. However, the somewhat disappointing influence from the green tea makes me wonder if this is one to be recommended, or if it is best just to stick with other, regular IPAs that are a bit more reasonable in price.

Verdict: Worth a try


Purchased: Total Wine and More [Columbia, SC]
Size: 12 fl. oz. [355 mL]
Price: $3.99 [Per bottle]

Tradition Oolong Tea

It has been a while since I have reviewed a tea, but I find it fitting that this one is yet another product from Tradition. I have yet to have a product from the company that I have not thoroughly enjoyed, and its oolong tea is no exception. 

Although oolong tea is not my favorite variety, I have always enjoyed partaking in it. I have very fond childhood memories of sharing warm pots of the stuff with my family during dinners out at some of our favorite Chinese eateries. The mildness of the flavor makes it a great tea to share with friends, as it is not likely to be offensive to anybody's taste buds. Tradition's oolong is a little bit more flavorful than other oolong teas that I have had in the past, but it still maintains the tranquil subtlety so characteristic of the tea. The flavor is very light and earthy, and the aroma does not linger long in the aftertaste, giving the tea a cleaner finish than other, similar types of tea. Unlike some of the stronger teas (i.e. black or green), oolong does not tend to dry out the mouth, making it easier to drink in larger servings.

Overall, I find that there is actually not much to say about Tradition's oolong tea. It is a pleasantly mild and benign tea that sits well on the palette and is likely to be enjoyed by most people with even a slight taste for hot tea. Although this one is somewhat unremarkable (as most milder teas often are), it is still a great example of the beverage, and is definitely worth the money. I am inclined to recommend some of Tradition's other teas over this one (such as their jasmine green or their barley tea), but if you are looking for something light and refreshing, or would just like to try something a little bit different from the usual norm, then this one is certainly worth checking out.

Verdict: Recommended

Purchased: Asian Market [Columbia, SC]

Size: 20 bags per box

Price: $3.99

Numi Organic Pu-Erh Tea

I am by no means an expert when it comes to pu-erh tea. However, the experiences that I have had with it have all been very good so far, and Numi's organic pu-erh is an excellent example. I must admit that, at first, I held on to this one for several days before actually working up the nerve to try it. The full opacity of the liquid and the thick layer of sediment at the bottom of the bottle led me to believe that this was going to be a very strong beverage.

However, Numi was not nearly as strong as I originally thought that it might be. In fact, it was very mild and tasty and surprisingly refreshing. Pu-erh tea already has a very unique, earthy flavor, and Numi's organic take on the beverage tastes even more natural. Numi's pu-erh is sweetened, but only mildly so. I am accustomed to drinking pu-erh without sugar, but the amount of sweetening was just right and was subtle enough to add to the flavor without diminishing the taste of the tea. The residue at the bottom also added to the freshness of the taste, although I did have to keep shaking the drink between returns to the bottle to keep the particles distributed.

Despite my slight hesitations about the potential strength of the beverage, I enjoyed my experience with Numi very much. It is a very easy drink to recommend, particularly to tea drinkers, and I definitely want to try some of Numi's other flavors in the future.

Verdict: Recommended

Purchased: World Market [Columbia, SC]

Size: 12 fl.oz. [355 mL]

Price: $1.99

Pure Inventions Water Enhancer

Pure Inventions, a dietary nutrition company specializing in all natural liquid supplements, recently sent me two samples of their rather unique liquid water enhancer. Pure offers a wide variety of liquid dietary supplements, including green tea, fruit, and cocoa extract mixtures, among others. I have been trying a lot of different water enhancers lately, and I could tell as soon as I took the containers out of the package that there were several distinct things that set Pure's product apart from the rest.

First and foremost, I was somewhat startled by the weight of the containers as I lifted them out of the box. The vials are made of a very thick and high quality frosted glass that feels great to the touch. The vials feel like medical-grade pharmacy bottles, and they give the impression that they are very durable and would definitely survive being carried around in a handbag or backpack. The lids also screw on very tight, and there is no indication that they would leak under regular circumstances. 

One of the more interesting things about Pure's enhancer is the fact that the bottles use a built in medical-style dropper to administer the enhancer. The dropper allows for more precise servings, and is better than the more typical eye-dropper lid type in that it allows the consumer to add the liquid either quickly or drop-by-drop, depending on the amount desired. The dropper can also be used as an impromptu stirring rod to give the water a quick swirl to help homogenize the flavor. However, the dropper does have some drawbacks. Having to physically take something in and out of the container greatly increases the chance of accidentally dripping the flavoring outside of the bottle. This is something that a little care when serving won't solve, but it does cut down on its portability a bit. However, it should be noted here that Pure does not market their product as highly portable. It is a nutritional supplement, and is constructed to present itself as one. However, in a market segment full of competitors who frequently tout the "on-the-go" nature of their water enhancers as a major selling point, some consumers may view this lack of portability as a problem. 

The only other small complaint that I had about the functionality of Pure's enhancers was the dropper bulb. The directions for the green tea supplements call for one full dropper of enhancer per 8 ounces of water, but the suction of the dropper bulb is not quite strong enough to entirely fill the dropper. This is not a huge problem, as adding two half droppers is certainly easy enough, but it does leave the actual serving size between usages a bit ambiguous.

Overall, the taste of Pure's water enhancers is great. I was sent samples of the green tea with peach and cranberry with elderberry supplements, and I like both of them a good bit, although they are quite different. The green tea with peach is fairly straightforward, although it is very good. Pure uses all natural ingredients in their enhancers, and it really shows. The green tea extract manages to avoid the "instant tea" taste that is so common amongst tea flavored water enhancers, and tastes a lot more like real tea than most of the competition. The peach flavoring is a little bit more on the standardized, "this is peach flavoring" side, but it is still good, and adds an extra element of interest to the taste. I found the green tea with peach flavor to be very good, overall.

The cranberry and elderberry extract is a little bit more unconventional than the green tea extract, in that the entire cranberry is used, seeds and all. This gives the fruit extract supplements a more granular consistency, and allows for a little bit of sedimentation after mixing if the drink is allowed to sit still long enough. Using the whole berry also allows for a very accurate and natural taste, and the enhancer does taste pretty much like a mildly sweet, raw cranberry. The inclusion of the elderberry also adds an extra bit of interest to the flavoring, although my previous inexperience with elderberry makes it difficult to attest to exactly what the fruit adds to the taste. My only complaint with the cranberry extract is that it has a mildly strange aftertaste. It's not a bad aftertaste; just a bit dry and mildly bitter. It took me a few servings to warm up to the cranberry extract because of the lingering aftertaste, but after I became accustomed to it, I began to really like the flavor. 

Overall, I really like Pure Inventions' water enhancers. They are full of beneficial dietary supplements, and are very natural and straightforward, with no added sugar, preservatives, or artificial flavors. The only thing keeping me from giving Pure's supplements my full recommendation is the slight barrier of entry. The supplements are on the expensive side, with each bottle ranging between 30 to 45 dollars. In a market full of water enhancers that typically cost less than five dollars per box or bottle, it makes Pure's product a bit of a hard sell. However, it is important to keep in mind that each bottle contains approximately 60 servings, and that the price you pay for Pure's product also includes the superior quality of the container, the carefully engineered nutritional benefits of each mix of supplements, and the unmatched natural taste of the flavors. 

If you are in the market for a truly all-natural water enhancer and are willing to take the risk on the price, Pure Inventions' natural supplements are definitely worth trying out.

Verdict: Recommended

Purchased: Samples sent courtesy of Pure Inventions

Size: Varies by flavor [2 - 4 fl. oz.]

Price: Varies by flavor [$30.75 - $44.95]

Check out pure inventions at www.pureinventions.com

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V8 V-Fusion Plus Tea

Ever since I was a child, I have always hated tomato juice. I do, on occasion, drink the occasional glass of the stuff simply because I know how good it is for me, but those occasions are always exercises in my mental capacity to manage disgust. However, I am a big fan of V8's other ventures into fruit/vegetable juice fusions, and I've been enthusiastically drinking V8 Spalsh and Fusion for several years now. Diminishing returns has been setting in recently, however, until I ran across this flavor at a local Big Lots and decided to give the stuff another (hopefully rejuvinating) try.

I am sad to say that this was not the particular rejuvination that I needed. I'm not entirely sure what this country's sudden obsession with mixing things with green tea is or where it came from, but there are some things that are better off just standing on their own. Don't get me wrong, I love green tea. But I feel like green tea is the new "last flavor resort." I imagine a lot of board meetings proceeding as follows:

"Sir, we have our new flavor finished and we've sent out samples for testing."

"How are the reactions?"

"Well...so far they've been subpar. People don't seem to like it a whole lot, but we've got two weeks before the finished product ships and we can't make any significant changes to the formula."

"Hmm...well...just mix it with some green tea. It will sell like crazy."

I understand that green tea is a wonderful beverage. It is rich in antioxidants and other nutrients, but it has a very distinct flavor and really only works well with specific types of other flavors. And yet, it is everywhere, being mixed with everything. It is the new "buzzword" in the beverage industry, and I'm not entirely sure why.

Anyway, rantings aside, this blend of V-Fusion is only okay. It is certainly not undrinkable in any way; in fact, I'd prefer it to a lot of the other casual health beverage alternatives that are out there. But it's not great. The flavors amalgomate heterogeneously into a strange pile of tastes on the palatte, and it feels as though the ingredients are fighting for dominance in one's olfactory. The strange combination of tastes also tends to accentuate the sucralose. I don't mind the taste of sucralose as much as other artificial sweeteners, but I still prefer it to be a background taste that is masked by the flavor of whatever I am drinking. In my opinion, the function of sweeteners (of any sort) is to accentuate the natural taste of the beverage and add a bit of drinkability to an otherwise bitter or acidic flavor, not to be present as its own taste.

Hence my rampaging distaste of stevia extract.

But, to get back to the point, V8 V-Fusion Raspberry Green Tea is just trying to do too many things at once. Between combining fruit and vegetable juice and trying to bring the raspberry to prominence, all while featuring the green tea, the drink just collapses into a black hole of flavors in which all flavors are contained but none of them escape. It's just...odd, really, and there are definitely better versions of the stuff out there.

Verdict: Not recommended, try another flavor

Purchased: Big Lots [Greenwood, SC]
Size: 46 fl. oz. [1.36 L]
Price: $1.50 [Discounted]