Skipping the next in the box "Green Tea" we move next to "Constant Comment®" as it sounds much more interesting than plain green tea.

Water Type: Hard Tap (Lots of Minerals)
Steeping Time: 00.03.30
Steeping Heat: Reg. Boiling
Additives: 2 Teaspoons of sugar

Initial Taste = 8.5
After-Taste = 7.5
Aroma = 8.5
Originality = 9.0
Taste Throughout = 6.5

Average = 8




Initial Taste = In the "Lemon Lift®" one expects the tea to taste a certain way. With "Constant Comment®" I also expected a certain flavor, but the tea surprised me. It tasted orange, not in the "Lemon Lift®" candy sort of way, but in a spiced Christmas-y sort of way.

After-Taste = While the after taste is good it loses it's strength and adds no twist to the flavor.

Aroma = This tea has a very good aroma of orange and spice, almost exactly like a "Yankee Candle®".

Originality = This tea is very bold in what it tries to accomplish and succeeds exceedingly well. This is one of the few teas that tries to be different and new and actually pulls it off.

Taste Throughout = According to Buddha everything must be in balance; And this tea is no exception. Your mouth will get used to the orange flavor as you drink down the cup and will actually start to ignore it, like when you have had too much icecream.

While spices are supposed to support your main flavor (orange), this tea ends up with a spice flavor supported by the orange. And the result, while not bad, will get boring.

Other Notes = None to speak of.

Bottom Line = This is spoken of as an orange flavored black tea with spice, but in actuality is a spice flavored black tea with orange. It is a very good tea and even better for the holiday season, but I recommend you drink only small cups of this at a time, or very slowly; As the flavor tends to wear out its welcome.

Today I got a sampler for 6, count em, 6 different types of "Bigelow" teas. So for the next couple of weeks or so I will be reviewing these flavors: Lemon Lift®, Green Tea, Constant Comment®, Earl Grey, Plantation Mint®, and English Teatime®.

Let us start with "Lemon Lift"

Water Type: Hard Tap (Lots of Minerals)
Steeping Time: 00.02.30
Steeping Heat: Reg. Boiling
Additives: 2 Teaspoons of sugar

Initial Taste = 8.0
After-Taste = 8.5
Aroma = 8.0
Originality = 7.5
Taste Throughout = 7.5

Average = 7.9




Initial Taste: This is a very expected but interesting blend of black tea with lemon flavor. It tastes like black tea which someone dissolved a couple of those Ye Olde Fashioned hard lemon drops in. It also does not seem to include "Lemon Grass" as a flavoring as I have not yet had breathing difficulty. (I am allergic)

After-Taste = Same flavor. Was not bitter.

Aroma = It didn't smell exactly like the taste. But the funny thing is it smelled like I was sniffing one of those bags of old fashioned hard candies, which does not taste exactly like the candy, but has a bit of a powdery smell to it.

Originality = The lemon addition was a very nice touch, though not all that original. But they carried it off nicely so it gets .5 above average.

Taste Throughout = It is never bitter to the last of the cup, which earns it above average; But there is a strange texture to the tea which seems to coat your mouth with an undesirable film.

Other Notes: Could have been steeped 30 seconds to a minute longer.

Bottom Line: A good black tea with a bold, although not strong, overall flavor. Recommended in the early afternoon, and not before bed as it slightly coats your mouth. I look forward to having this again.

Tea - Tazo Black "Awake"

Since I am quite fond of teas of many different flavors and brands, I have decided to have taste testings where I take them quite seriously that you may be cautioned away from, or recommended towards different types and brands of tea.

Water Type: Hard Tap (Lots of Minerals)
Steeping Time: 00.04.00
Steeping Heat: Reg. Boiling - Scalding
Additives: 2 Teaspoons of sugar originally. Added 3rd after a couple sips.

Initial Taste = 7.5
After-Taste = 7.5
Aroma = 7.0
Originality = 7.0
Taste Throughout = 8.8

Average = 7.7

Initial Taste: Black tea. Enough said, but I will expand anyway. It was nothing past the way the average cup of black tea tastes. But it earns .5 points as it was not quite the average cup of black tea, tasting cheap and weak.

After-Taste = Again, black tea, nothing special other than the taste was more rounded and did not have that slightly sharp bitter taste that the cheapest teas get.

Aroma = Black tea,

Originality = This, along with "Aroma" will mostly be used on teas that have strange additives or extra flavors. So with regular black tea: 7.0

Taste Throughout = This was where I thought "Tazo" had outdone the average cup of black tea. Although the flavor of black tea is currently my favorite, I have always found that the last fourth of the cup of tea tends to become increasingly weak and bitter, as a timid kid reciting something he has not been well versed in. Although "Tazo"'s black, this was not the case. The taste of the tea, surprisingly, did not change through the cup in the least. It was just as strong and flavorful to the very last drop as the initial sips.

Other Notes: 4 Minutes is too long a brew for this tea, at least at the heat level I had. It was slightly bitter which is why I added the extra sugar so I could continue my taste test unhindered.

Bottom Line: As far as black tea goes this seems nothing original; But if black tea is all that you crave, this brand will not let you down.

cheep speling isnt profeshenol

Minor note here, Joel was reading his local newspaper "The Laconia Daily Sun" and discovered this headline: "Lawmaker/Chief wants law changed to make in illegal to refuse breath test"

Joel wants to get law made to make in illegal to put typos in newspapers!