Sunday, July 4, 2010

Herbal Teas That Don't Taste Like Ass

Forgive the lateness of my post. Had a crazy con weekend followed by dinner with friends.


Disclaimer: The products discussed are the sole property of the manufacturers and my opinions are in no way an official endorsement.



I read this article about diabetes and caffeine recently here: http://www.dukehealth.org/health_library/news/10226. Now I love my iced coffee and Diet Pepsi but this concerned me so I decided to look for lower caffeine alternatives like black, green, and white teas or the no caffeine route of water and herbal tea.

A good friend snorted with derisive laughter and remarked, "Why would you drink that? Herbal teas taste like ass!"

So I decided to see for myself if this were so. I went to the store and bought what I hoped was a good cross-section of herbals and tried them for myself. Just to be fair and give them all an equal chance, I didn't add any sweetener, letting them fall or stand on merit of taste alone.

All of the teas I tried were brewed with eight ounces of filtered water for four to six minutes, according to the instructions written on each box.

And the nominees are:

The Fruit Tea Sampler pack from Celestial Seasonings(tm)

The Herbal Tea Sampler pack from the same company.

Bigelow(tm) brand Assorted Herb Teas

Yogi Tea(tm) Bedtime tea

Tazo Brand(tm) Wild Sweet Orange Tea

Tazo Brand Refresh Tea(tm)

Passion(tm) also by Tazo

Twinings' Rooibos Tea(tm)

Stash Brand(tm) Mango Passionfruit

and Organic India's Tulsi Tea Sweet Rose (tm) flavored tea

And without further ado in no particular order, the teas I thought didn't taste like ass.

Wild Berry Zinger has a tart taste to it. Not overpowering or sour like some teas that try
too hard to recreate the taste of a SweeTart(tm). If you like tart teas, give it a try.

There are many lemon flavored herbal teas but Celestial Seasoning's Lemon Zinger is good
without being overpowering. Second runner up is Bigelow's I Love Lemon. It's just a
dollop of honey and a shot of Jack Daniels away from being a hot toddy.

But my hands down favorite for this variety pack is Black Cherry Berry. To me, the taste
was a near perfect match for Black Cherry Kool-Aid(tm), even without sugar.

Chamomile is another easy herbal choice but I like the Honey Vanilla Chamomile made by
Celestial Seasonings. The three flavors are in balance and taste equally on the tongue.
It's a sweet candy taste even without a drop of sweetener besides the honey. (I would so buy this if it were a candy.)

When it comes to most mint teas they're "okay" at best and "heated mouthwash" at worst.
However, the Mint Medley blend by Bigelow and Refresh by Tazo are the best I've
tasted so far.

Stash's Mango Passionfruit has a good flavor, but I can't really tell the mango from the
passionfruit. Both need to be more distinctive.

Another herbal tea so common it might as well be a cliche is some sort of good sleep blend,
the most famous being Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime. But my favorite is Yogi Brand Bedtime
Tea. It's delicious and...zzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

Anybody out there love Orange Tic Tacs? Try Tazo brand's Wild Sweet Orange,it's fantastic.
Sweet and tart in just the right amounts with a genuine orange taste. One of my favorites.

The aroma of Tulsi Tea Sweet Rose as it steams is as beautiful and fragrant as a real rose.
Yeah, other teas had stronger flavors but I just feel all dainty and feminine when I drink it.
Wish I had some Turkish Delight to eat with it. (Hey! It's my sentimental favorite tea! I'm
allowed!)

Twinnings' Rooibos Tea is...okay. Red tea on its own doesn't have a distinctive taste but
blends well with other flavors. Check out Rooibos Chai varieties or Tazo's Vanilla Rooibos tea.
Mmmmm...

Last tea is yet again a Tazo brand. Passion. It's delicious, equally good hot or cold. Tart
and sweet, it's a great alternative to the classic iced sweet tea...which I can't really have
any more...

*sips herbal tea*

And there we are. I am sure there are many more herbal teas out there worthy of mention
but these were all I could afford or were readily available. Feel free to suggest more.

Please note that none of the teas I tried in the sampler packs were in anyway "bad". They were just not as flavorful or memorable to me than some of the other flavors.


Sorry there are no pictures to accompany this post. I have no memory card for our digital camera.

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