(no subject)

[the_rck]

On Friday, I tried Stash's ginger peach green tea. I could definitely tell there was peach (more in the scent than in the taste). I'm not so sure about the ginger. The flavor is fairly delicate. I didn't add stevia; I think doing that would kill the tea. I rather liked this one.

On Sunday, I tried Twinings' honeybush, mandarin and orange tea. I wanted something without caffeine (I suspected that I had gotten dehydrated on Saturday, and I didn't want unnecessary caffeine). I didn't sweeten it. I could definitely taste the orange. It wasn't overwhelming, but it was there. I think I liked it.

On Monday, I tried Bigelow's pomegranate black tea. I couldn't taste anything but the bitter and (after I added it) the stevia.

On Tuesday, I tried Stash's goji berry green tea. I didn't much like it. There was a definite flavor of something that wasn't the green tea, and I didn't care for it. It wasn't awful enough to stop me from finishing the cup, but I probably should just have poured it out. Life's too short to drink things I don't enjoy.

On Wednesday, I tried a tea leftover from when Cordelia was sampling teas last year-- Tazo's passion. Cordelia disliked this; she dislikes pretty much all hibiscus teas (I can't think of a single exception). I generally like hibiscus teas, and I thought this one was okay. It has a strong flavor and doesn't need sweetening. There's an aftertaste that i'm not sure I completely like. I'm not well versed enough in herbal teas to tease out which of the herbs is responsible for the part that displeased me. The tea includes hibiscus, lemongrass, licorice root, orange peel, cinnamon, rose hips, citric acid and 'natural tropical flavors.'

On Thursday, I tried Stash's double bergamot earl grey black tea. I liked how it smelled, but I couldn't identify much in the taste but the black tea and, once I added it, the stevia. I think I have trouble distinguishing flavors with black teas. It's a pity because black tea is likely to be the best for me in terms of caffeine content.

Stevia doesn't exactly have a flavor. It sort of lingers on my tongue after I've swallowed with a weird echo of sweetness. I don't taste the sweet so much with the initial mouthful, at least when drinking teas with strong flavor; it's all aftertaste. That being so, I'm not sure why the stevia drowns out delicate flavors. I know it does, though. Maybe it's that the strongly flavored teas drown out the stevia at first so that I only get it as an echo.

Comments

[booniverse.livejournal.com]

Did I pop in a Talbot Tea Blissful Blueberry? I'm not a huge fan of the fruity (I can definitely taste the fruity) and it's a black tea. I tossed one in my bag to give to you tonight if I hadn't. If I have and you like it, you are welcome to the whole lot of them.

[the_rck]

You did not give me that one. I'd be happy to try it.

[anderyn.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I am a big fan of sugar in my tea, simply because nothing else is quite the same, and I would rather poison myself with sugar than anything else. I am very sensitive to variations in black tea flavors, so I have a feeling that my favorites would not overlap well with yours. I do like some Twinings teas, though there are a lot that aren't made anymore that I loved back when I was only knowledgeable about the kinds of teas you get in the supermarket.

[the_rck]

I'm trying to cut calories, and sweetened drinks, even fruit juice, are relatively high calorie for minimal nutritional content. That's why I'm sticking to water and stuff sweetened with stevia. I used to get my afternoon caffeine from Coca Cola, but that's not an option any longer.

I suspect that I'm going to have to explore different types of chai. I can taste the flavoring in the two kinds I've tried already, and I think they're robust enough to stand up to the stevia, and they should have enough caffeine to satisfy me when I need a pick me up.

[chorus-of-chaos.livejournal.com]

"There's an aftertaste that i'm not sure I completely like. I'm not well versed enough in herbal teas to tease out which of the herbs is responsible for the part that displeased me. The tea includes hibiscus, lemongrass, licorice root, orange peel, cinnamon, rose hips, citric acid and 'natural tropical flavors.'"

probably the licorice root would be my guess, I've tried and liked several hibiscus teas but the ones with licorice root (which can raise your blood pressure btw) were always funky.

[the_rck]

I'm not too worried about things that raise blood pressure. Mine is always borderline low/normal.

I haven't tried much with licorice root before, so it might be that. But it might also be the 'natural tropical flavors.' The front of the tea packet promises passion fruit, and I don't much like passion fruit. All the other ingredients are fairly innocuous.

[ken-3k.livejournal.com]

Sweetening: I throw in a minimal amount of honey, maybe 1/5 teaspoon or less, and then half a packet of stevia. You'd have to think about your sugar goals if you were to try a weensy bit of honey.

Hibiscus: a favorite of mine is Tazo's Scarlet Citrus Rooibos, which is a rooibos flavored with hibiscus and a few other things. I like it late in the day and towards bedtime, as it has zero caffeine, but the rooibos gives it a bit more body than many herbal teas. I could relay a few sample teabags through anderyn