I figured since the holidays were around the corner (okay, in two months time), I thought that it would be fun to try more festive sounding teas. What can I say, I like the holidays! I will be trying three green teas blends today. Let’s go!
Table of Contents
Ginger Mint
Green Potpourri
Lemon Dew
Final Thoughts
Ginger Mint
Description: “This is a tea that’s a beautiful melange of fresh, spicy, and earthy flavors.”
Review: I’ve mentioned this time and time again in my other reviews, but I love ginger! I am also a fan of lemongrass, so this blend seemed like a good combination. The dry blend had a nice ginger and lemon aroma, and as well, there was a fair amount of ginger pieces intermixed with the lemongrass in the blend.
The liquor smelled mostly of lemongrass and was a dark yellow after steeping. However, when sipping the liquor, there was a strong hit of bitterness and astringency that stuck to the mouth and made it feel dry and tingly. I wasn’t able to taste any ginger or lemongrass, and it mostly tasted floral, bitter, and detergent-like. I had very high hopes for this because it smelled good as a dry blend (1/5 rating).
- Type: Green tea
- Origin: Unknown
- Caffeine: Low
- Ingredients: Tea, dry ginger, spearmint, lemongrass
- Company: TEABOX
Green Potpourri
Description: “A blended green tea that’s as much a treat for the palate as it is for the eyes.”
Review: This blend looked very pretty with the red peppers, which made the blend very striking to see! The aroma of both the dry and wet blend was spicy and it tickled my nose a bit. I think that the ‘potpourri’ smell really came through in the liquor which reminded me exactly of a potpourri bowl.
The sensation of the liquor sticking to the mouth and making the mouth dry was present, as it was with the Ginger Mint. However, I found that while this had less astringency, it carried even more bitterness. It tasted like a floral and fragrant soap that lingered (1/5 rating).
- Type: Green tea
- Origin: Unknown
- Caffeine: Medium
- Ingredients: Tea, red pepper, cardamom, clove, dry ginger, lavender, marigold petals
- Company: TEABOX
Lemon Dew
Description: “The perfect tea to perk you up after a long day.”
Review: Lemon is one of those flavours that I also enjoy! That being said, I wasn’t able to smell much lemon from the dry blend and it reminded me a bit of mothballs. The wet blend was more earthy and the liquor was a dark yellow-orange.
Like the other teas, I was unable to taste any of the ingredients because it was clouded in bitterness. While looking at the ingredients, nothing really stuck out to me as tasting bad or strange in the blend, so I wonder if it was the tea base (1/5 rating).
- Type: Green tea
- Origin: Unknown
- Caffeine: Medium
- Ingredients: Tea, lemon peel, black peppercorns, natural lemon flavoring
- Company: TEABOX
Final Thoughts
I hesitated with posting this review because I really did not enjoy any of these teas. I’m not sure if it is my taste buds, that these teas have gone bad, or that maybe I was supposed to have added sugar or honey to these teas, but the bitterness was overpowering.
Since I already knew these were green teas, I picked the lowest steep time that was recommended, as well as the lowest amount of water and time. Keep in mind, the recommended time for these blends is 4 to 5 minutes. Each cup also needed 1.5 to 2 teaspoons of tea to 6oz of water. All of these factors are more than what I normally use for a green tea.
I know that when I tasted teas last month from the same brand, the teas also tasted bitter. Someone on Instagram mentioning that they lowered the steep time and the tea tasted good. However, that is what the company recommended.
I still have a good handful of teas from this brand but, now I am hesitating to try them. If anyone has had an experience like this with green tea, please tell me!
