Zen from Tazo

[Scarlet Glow]

Let me fill you in on the preface of this story.

On my Friday night bowling league, I FINALLY bowled my first 200 (a 203 to be exact). Along with that I earned other awards for my high game, like 50 pins over my average (because my average is only 144) and also a cute little award, a banana split, for picking up two splits in one game.

My boyfriend bowls at the same house at the same time but just on a different league, so he was able to witness my milestone. He and I already had plans to see a movie that night but he promised me that the next day he would take me out to lunch to celebrate.

Now for the heart of the story.

We ended up going to Chili's for lunch the next day as promised. We were so close to the mall that we decided to do some christmas shopping, but before we headed to the mall he wanted to stop by Starbucks to get his coffee fix. While at Starbucks he insisted on buying me something. I refused, but thanks to the long line at Starbucks he had plenty of time to convince me... which he did.

Heh, I ended up getting some "hot green tea." I had never had Tazo tea before so I wasn't sure what to expect. Eventually, I was handed my tea with two little strings hanging out of the side. -le sigh- tea bags. Heh, but the good thing was I was able to note from the tags on the tea bags the exact kind of tea. The tea that I recieved was Zen.

By the time it was cool enough to drink, which seemed like forever, we had already bought a couple of items for christmas exchanges. Nonetheless, when I took a drink... I was amazed!

I had read on one of the boxes of Tazo's Zen that it was a green tea infused with lemon grass and spearmint. I could definitely taste the lemon and the spearmint left a slightly cool after taste in my mouth. I am more of a spearmint fan than a peppermint fan, so I loved it! I loved it so much that the day after that, he and I wanted to do more shopping so I, yes I, insisted we go to Starbucks so I could have some more of the tea. While there I picked up my own box of Zen (yeah, it's bagged but I can deal with it for now).

The conclusion...

Don't get me wrong, though, Adagio's loose green tea is still awesome in my book... but this Zen stuff rocks my socks!!

[Atypical]

Isn't Tazo the brand that Starbucks carries? I've never really been a fan of it plain, all though I do like it with honey and a bit of cream.

[Wesli]

Heh, sounds like a good experience Scarlet.


I'm always surprised when I ask for green tea at an establishment and they return with something thats been flavored to hell and back. But oh well, the freedom of America in exchange for a few luxuries is acceptable.

[Scarlet Glow]

That is exactly why I was skeptical about getting anything from Starbucks. I don't like coffee so I would had to get either tea or hot chocolate. Plus, I normally don't like my green and white teas flavored.

Zen is not my favorite green tea... but I guess I was just really surprised at how much I liked it. I had already prepared myself for disappointment when I received that tea for the first time.


Hey, give me a break, at least Fuka is one of the green teas on my "To Try" list.

[Wesli]

It could be the lemongrass. I know me and Tomasini are both huge fans of the stuff.

[Chip]

Lemongrass in the unadulterated grass looking stalk form found in Asain food stores would rock your socks off then.

And talk about being amazing in food, WOW. And blended with fresh ginger...

[Mary R]

Lemongrass is one of my ultimate favorite things. (Sadly, my favorite things are no where near as impressive as Oprah's.) There's a thai restaurant in Indy that makes a killer 'tea' from infused lemongrass, ginger, and more sugar than should legally be allowed in any beverage.

Awesome. Sweeter than sin, but awesome.

[Chip]

Yep, lemon grass, ginger and sugar...really amazing. Whether you are eating it or drinking it. w@@t

Tart, biting, spicy, and sweet.

[osadczuk]

Mary - Forgive the interruption, but I've yet to find great Thai, or Thai tea, in Indy. What restaurant?

[Anodyne]

Scarlet Glow--

I'm a new poster to this site--and a female, as well!--but I have to second your opinion on Tazo Zen. I started out with Celestial Seasonings (I'm from CO, after all) and Tazo teas, and have since moved past bagged teas to the loose leaf kind, but when I am pressed for time and need something easy, Tazo Zen is a great choice.

By the way, have you heard the Kokomo hum? I was wondering if there was any truth to that story...

[Mary R]

It was the Thai restaurant in Broad Ripple...the one near the organic grocery. (Funnily enough, it's in the same complex that used to house "Herb + Tea" before it moved.)

I didn't say the restaurant was "great." It's good enough for me, but it's not gourmet or anything. And that lemongrass tea is insanely sweet.

[Scarlet Glow]

Anodyne,

Yeah, there was a mysterious "Hum" in Kokomo for a while. I live on the west side and had no idea what they were talking about because the sound apparently didn't reach us.

However, I don't have the details but, from what I've heard, at night when it was quiet enough -and everyone was trying to sleep- a hum could be heard. Some people said they had to turn on their TV's or radios just to have enough noise to block out the hum.

I heard that it was coming from a factory near by and that it has been since stopped.


... and just so I'm not newbie blamed for being off topic... I am currently preparing some Zen and anxiously waiting for it to finish steeping. I love this stuff!

[go green]

Zen used to be my favorite tea. Then I bought adaio's casablanca twist. When I first got it I thought, "This is good. It tastes like Tazo Zen" and then questioned why I would spend so much more on Twist when I could just buy Zen at the store. I continued to drink my Twist sample and the other day had a zen teabag...WOW! What a difference I tasted. Now zen has little to no taste to me...doesn't even compare to Twist!

[Mary R]

Oh, the Kokomo Hum! I'd forgotten about that. I think someone did record low-level vibrations there, but goodness knows what it could be. At the time it was a fairly large news story, some highschool friends and I thought it was electrical. Kokomo has a lot of "big" powerlines, and many of my friends could hear a faint buzz by the ones running through our area when we were younger. Alas, punk rock and iPods largely solved that problem for us.

[Scarlet Glow]

tea-snob,

Shh, don't tell anyone but I am currently using the Zen in the teabags because that was all that I could find in stores. However, they do sell Zen in loose tea but I will have to order it online.

I think I will have to put a sample of this casablanca twist on my next order from Adagio. Thanks for mentioning it.

Mary,

Hmm... maybe that hum hasn't stopped then. I think that it has just stopped becoming a big issue. I say this because the building where I work is pretty much in the middle of a corn field and I know when I had to go in at 5-6am, I could hear the power lines buzzing. Interesting. I had heard it was coming from some sort of factory. Bleh, who knows.