Chi-Town Anglophile Send Message

A beloved niece gifted me with a beautiful large tin which looked like a large book. The Secret Garden Organic Teas, of which there were 8 different kinds of teas, 10 teabags each.
This is the second (of eight types) of green tea.
I’m not really familiar with Alai Berry as a flavor. I’d already mixed 2 bags of this with another berry tea. This time I’m using all 8 remaining bags in one 57 oz pot.
I let it steep for about 8 minutes. From the other of this set I’ve tried, I learned the bags only contain 1.5 oz of tea each, and there’s no bits of fruit in it, just natural flavor.
By having used 8 teabags in the pot of 57 oz, that comes out to a little over 7 oz per teabag, which is not too different from the “1 bag for a 6 oz cup” that Republic of Tea recommends on tins for their smaller weight teabags.
This is not a bad tea; the flavor is nice, still not too strong, but in this case, with eight bags together in a pot, the combined steerage renders a halfway decent cuppa. Still! Seems to me whoever buys this is truly buying the distinctive packaging, more than the tea experience.

I have found a new favorite! Originally I was attracted to the label’s blossoms in light pinks and green—and the fact spring is new, calling forth hope in a new season. So I ordered a tin, and was delighted with the deep cherry redolence when I opened the tin.
I usually find Republic of Tea’s teabags only fit for the tiny 6 oz cups they advise. In other words, I find such cups entirely too small, so those teabags don’t hold enough for a real cup, to me!
So I made a pot (57 oz), and used 6 bags, with a longer steep. What a treat! Spring in a teacup, truly. The cherry flavor was not as deep in the cup as it was smelling the open tin. That was fine—it was still a nice, clean cherry flavor, not at all artificial tasting. It was fresh, light, and the green tea was perfect. I’ve already enjoyed two pots’ worth. It’s the perfect tea to welcome the new season, toasting my beloved sister Kerry on this her birthday with Spring Cherry!

I must thank ashmanra’s mention of the April Sipdown Prompt – mix two of your teas together. I have never done this onsite before, so hope I am doing it properly. (If not, I’m sure I will be informed—nicely, I hope!)
At any rate, I’m tickled pink to share this blend which I love and drink often: 3 teabags EACH of Celestial Seasonings’ HONEY VANILLA CHAMOMILE and Republic of Tea’s EMPEROR’S WHITE (100% WHITE TEA). I make it in my coffeemaker’s well-cleaned carafe, which holds 57 ounces.
Unorthodox, I know, but boiling the water in my electric kettle, putting the 6 teabags in the ‘coffeepot’, then pouring in the not-quite-boiling water works for us.
Yum! This is one of our go-to blends for our evening pot of tea! The Honey Vanilla Chamomile is sweet and light and blends perfectly with the Emperor’s White. There’s not a lot of caffeine, and it’s warm, sweet, light and comforting. I’m very glad to be able to share a blend I’ve enjoyed for at least 2-3 years now. May you all like and enjoy it as well!

Boy, this was a tricky one to rate. I’d originally bought it to send to our daughter. I’d already seen a box in her tea cupboard & saw she was low. But the bag I’d bought it in got misplaced and packed away. It resurfaced recently, so I thought I would try it, rather than send an older box!
This is where I wondered what was in it. “Huh! Eleuthero—I wonder what that is. I’ve never seen that before in any of the other herbal teas I’ve had.” Quite frankly, after reading about it on WebMD (you can look it up there), I got pretty worried why there were NO NOTICES on the box that people with certain medical conditions should NOT drink it. You’ll be glad to know that " Eleuthero is likely safe when used for up to 3 months. ..There isn’t enough reliable information to know if eleuthero is safe to use for longer than 3 months." WebMD also notes “There isn’t enough reliable information to know if eleuthero is safe to use when pregnant or breast-feeding. Stay on the safe side and avoid use.” Likewise they discourage use by people with heart conditions, high blood pressure, diabetes & certain medications, like those for blood clotting!
Quite honestly, it seems to me that Celestial Seasonings—a very reliable long-standing herbal tea-blending firm—should have SOME kind of caution or warning on their label for this tea. It’s a reminder that just because something is “natural”, comes from nature—doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be careful and look twice to make sure it’s right for us or for our families.
Eluthero is the first ingredient listed, so by law that means by weight there’s more of it than any other ingredient, then the second by second-most, and on down the line. Here is the list of ingredients: ‘ELEUTHERO, PEPPERMINT, CINNAMON, GINGER, CHAMOMILE, LEMONGRASS, LICORICE, CATNIP, TILIA FLOWERS, NATURAL LEMON FLAVOR WITH OTHER NATURAL FLAVORS, HOPS, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B6) AND CYANOCO-BALAMIN (VITAMIN B12).
Even if that main ingredient has been “softened” by all the others, I wonder if someone who has low blood sugar (which eleuthero can further drop) or who takes a blood thinner (which eleuthero can also affect)—if someone with those conditions really liked this tea—could it affect them if they were to drink a lot of it, especially daily?
The "BLENDMASTER’S NOTES" say: “This soothing blend begins with eleuthero, an Asian herb popular for centuries because of the sense of calm and wellbeing it imparts. We’ve added cooling peppermint, spicy ginger and tangy lemon flavor to create an uplifting and restorative blend that can bring harmony to any moment of your day.”

I didn’t find it that tasty. It’s pretty odd and medicinal-tasting: woody, kind of bitter, and very hard to describe since it’s truly out of the ordinary realm of teas. I did not taste the lemon, or cinnamon, or ginger—tho maybe that weird taste kick could have been from the ginger. I don’t know how catnip or tilia flowers taste, so it’s possible I detected them, but thought it was something else. There are two vitamins added: B6 and B12—also not usual for herb teas!—so perhaps the addition of those serve to counteract or balance?

Whatever, this is a weird tea. It’s not really unpleasant, but the overwhelmingly medicinal quality doesn’t make it something I’d want to reach for again. Plus after having spread drinking this over three months, so that I didn’t risk my blood sugar levels, I’m just glad this box is over. And I never felt more relaxed than I would over a cup of regular tea.
Have a cup of good quality decaf tea with lemon & honey instead.

A beloved niece gifted me with The Secret Garden Organic Tea Collection, which looks like a tall, thick metal book (12-1/2" tall X 7" wide X 2-1/2" deep). Though it looks like a book, it’s a large hinged tin with cardboard dividers which holds 80 teabags, 10 each of 8 different kinds of organic teas. 6 are green teas, 2 are black teas.
Having said that, I can only review one flavor at a time. So I’m starting with Organic Lemon Ginger, since that’s the only one of the eight flavors that was already here in Steepster’s system.
I have to say this tea was weaker than I thought it would be. The bag is an average size, is not flow-thru style. Looking at the back of the box, it is described simply as “ORGANIC LEMON GINGER GREEN TEA, organic green tea, natural lemon flavor, natural ginger flavor.”
In other words, it’s only green tea with flavors added, no lemon peel, no small pieces of ginger. That is why even though I used only one bag in one 10 ounce cup, had freshly boiled water, and allowed it to steep for six minutes, I could only taste the green tea, and that, just barely. I did not discern the lemon or the ginger flavors.
Now this is only the first of eight flavors for me to try. I am hoping for a better experience from any of the other types. I really hate that I didn’t like this tea better; my niece spent money to get me something special. The box IS special, and it’s got lovely packaging.
While I was disappointed drinking this tea by itself, I know I will use the remaining bags in blended pots with other ginger &/or lemon-flavored teas. Since that’s how I usually blend my different teas, this will not go to waste.

A couple nights ago I thought I’d give this one another chance, to see if I upped the amount of tea, would it taste better? So again I boiled the water, used about 9 ounces of it, and THIS time, I used two teabags in the cup, and allowed it to steep for about 5-6 minutes.
While I was waiting, I looked at the back of the big book-shaped tin, to look at the weight.
Hmm—120 grams of tea for the whole lot. Divided by 80 teabags, that means each teabag holds only 1.5 grams of tea! The average size of most American teabags is about 2.5 grams.
No wonder this tea tastes so weak—each bag is a whole gram less than a ‘normal’ teabag!

Sadly, while this second cup tasted more strongly than my first taste (which used only 1 teabag), I still barely tasted any of the lemon or ginger oils which were supposed to have been used. The tea was stronger, but still disappointing. Because someone who truly loves me gifted me this collection, with its very attractive, unusual packaging, I don’t want to ‘NOT REC’ it. But neither can I give it a formal "RECOMMEND’. Once the teas within have been consumed, it can make a great place to store tea packets that would otherwise be accumulating and cluttering a shelf or cabinet. Just be mindful of its unusual size (dimensions given above), and the fact it looks like a book. It’s quite decorative. See gmathis’ comment below!

Having a sip-down, trying to thin the herd of tea boxes currently overpopulating the shelves (how well we all know the experience!). KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON English Breakfast tea was a purchase made from a charming little shop called “Made in Britain”, which sadly, did not survive the pandemic. Of course it specialized in items from the UK, with plenty of Union Jack designs to tickle us Anglophiles into purchasing all manner of things.
As another reviewer has previously observed, Keep Calm And Carry On Beverage Company Ltd sells to shops just like that one. There’s no identifying WHAT kind of black tea is in these bags. It merely shows “Ingredients: Black Tea”.
Because of its solid mouth feel, I would say this tastes like Assam, perhaps with some Ceylon. I appreciate the fuller weight of the teabags: 3.125 grams each, rather than the 2.5 of many American teabags. This means that when I made a full pot, I only needed four of these teabags rather than six of the smaller size (from other brands of tea). Their cute tin contained 40 bags, with a total tea weight of 125 g/4.41 oz.
I don’t expect to buy it again—but I DO recommend it for a good, regular cuppa. Considering the package best by date here was October 2017 (a year after purchase!)—and it’s 7-1/2 years later than that, it’s proved its worthiness by still making a good strength cup of tea. I remember enjoying it better a few years back when I was actively drinking it. Any weakness here I attribute to its age on my shelf.
So if you see it in a cute British-themed shop, and like that Union Jack and the “Keep Calm & Carry On”-ness of it, I do recommend you give it a go. It’s a decent, enjoyable cup of tea, AND you can use that nice sized attractive tin to hold other teabags once you finish it!

I am taste testing this against Taylors of Harrogate Decaffeinated Breakfast Tea tonight.
I have used one teabag per 8 oz cup. Although I normally would take lemon and sugar with these, I am drinking both black to compare them fairly.
I need to drink decaf tea at night, in order not to have it disturb my sleep. For that purpose, both of these teas work. However, I find that I prefer this Ty-Phoo Decaf, since it has more flavor, no doubt due to more tea in their teabags (3.125 g v. 2.5 g). When I make a potful, I need only use four Ty-Phoo teabags as opposed to five of the Taylors.
Seriously, they’re both pretty similar, but I think the Ty-Phoo must have some Assam, and the Taylors doesn’t. There’s more depth to the Ty-Phoo.
At this time, I like the Ty-Phoo best of whatever plain black decaf teabags I’ve tried. I do recommend it. Plus being a decaf, it won’t interfere with your sleep.

Since I have problems with insomnia, yet like to drink tea of an evening, I buy decaffeinated black teas. For this taste test, I am comparing this Taylors of Harrogate Decaffeinated Breakfast Tea with Ty-Phoo Decaf Black Tea. I poured them both right after each other, one teabag per 8oz cup. I am taste testing them black and unsweetened.
This, the Taylors of Harrogate, came in a 50 gram box of 20 teabags. That means each teabag hold 2.5 grams of tea. Even though I have left the bag inside the cup, it does not taste strong or assertive to me.
The box only identifies it as “…seriously flavor-packed teas from the Rift Valley in Southwestern Kenya, then gently decaffeinate the blend using a natural process.”
It is mild as black tea goes. It tastes weaker than the Ty-Phoo Decaf.
Since neither brand really gives much in the way of origins for the teas in their respective blends, there’s not a lot to go on, flavor-wise.
This tea IS good for someone like me, who’s more interested in just having a nice, mild cuppa (or 3) of an evening, so I can enjoy it without worrying I won’t be able to sleep. It’s also good, blended with others. It is not a standout blend, but it works fine for a nightcap cup of tea.
Not too special, but it works for what it is.

This is a delightful, fruity tea. I had never had honeybush tea before, so I can’t add it as a flavor to the description. But it’s lightly sweet even when unsweetened, and while the pineapple flavor is predominant, it’s not heavy or overbearing. When first opening the packet, the aroma was sweetly pleasing, and since I love pineapple, it invited me to partake. The coconut flavor was understated, and since this was NOT “Pina Colada” tea, that made me glad. It’s tropical in feel, but not in an ordinary way. This is one which definitely belongs in the “12 Teas of Christmas” pack—I want this one again! And soon!

I confess I was disappointed by this one. I let it cool, having learned from other 52Teas’ blends that when advised to “allow to cool”, it meant more flavors would be coming out. But while more richness of lime flavor developed, alas, so did some bitterness. Perhaps if it had just been dehydrated ime zest instead of dehydrated thin lime quarter-slices, the pith of the segments wouldn’t have lent so much bitterness into the blend. I think vanilla was used to help counteract that. But instead of melding together, it seemed more an odd juxtaposition of bitterness-with-sweetness, which didn’t work for me.
I even tried chilling it, adding some sugar, but this tea just wasn’t for me. A rare ‘miss’ rather than a ‘hit’.