Cheonji Dew Tea, reviewed

It’s been too long since I reviewed a tea, but since I’ve been traveling to Seoul, South Korea this week, I’ve had a chance to try a few new ones. This one is Cheonji Dew Tea, which I bought from a shop in Insadong, although I did see it at several other stores. The name of the tea itself, according to the woman at the shop, was Iseul Cha, or Dew Green Tea. The tea is a green tea that comes from one particular mountain area. The tea doesn’t look like leaves. It actually resembles small, soft branches or sheets of bark, each piece of which can be used for several pots.

The “ah-ha!” moment here comes when you first taste the tea. It is very, very sweet – almost like someone has stirred a lot of honey into your tea without changing the consistency of it at all. And all that sweetness is completely natural! It is absolutely delicious and the tea is also caffeine free.

The woman at the shop told me that it’s very popular with children, especially children who don’t normally care much for plain tea.

Trader Joe’s Relax Organic Tea

A good cup of tea can be very soothing – but relaxing? Not for everyone. For some people, the caffeine content of their favorite tea can keep them up for hours. For others, it’s just the fact that they took a break to rest and collect their thoughts that gets the re-energized. Trader Joe’s Relax Organic Tea is a tea that is actually supposed to be relaxing. It contains no caffeine and is made with a blend of herbs designed to calm and help you to unwind. These herbs include fennel seed, licorice, rooibos, anise, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves, peppermint and strawberry leaf.

With so much stuff going on inside the triangular tea bags, I expected the flavors of the tea to be a bit overwhelming. Surprisingly, it had a nice medium body and a great, smooth flavor. Plus, it seemed to live up to the promise of its name – at least, it did for me.  The fennel, licorice and peppermint seemed to come through more than the other elements, with the fennel and licorice definitely having a soothing effect, but the mint adds a nice palate-cleansing finish that left me feeling pretty refreshed.

Republic of Tea’s Pink Lemonade Green Tea, reviewed

Republic of Tea’s Pink Lemonade Green Tea is one of the tea company’s “Sip for the Cure” teas, meaning that $1 from the sale of each tin goes to support Susan G. Komen for the Cure. I was a bit skeptical that the “pink” part of this tea was little more than the color of the packaging and a nod to the pink breast cancer awareness ribbon, so I was pleasantly surprised when I took a whiff of a freshly brewed cuppa: it smelled like tea and lemonade! The tea is very nice, with a light and refreshing overall flavor. It has a good green tea base that is just about equally matched with a lemony flavor. Notes of grapefruit (possibly the “pink”) and a little bit of grassiness round out the tea. It is especially good iced, but tastes summery even when hot. This is a great tea if you enjoy tea lemonades (a.k.a. Arnold Palmers), even if you don’t particularly care for green tea in general, since it is very close to tasting like a real tea-lemonade, as opposed to just a lemonade flavored tea.

Trader Joe’s Smooth and Mellow Blend, reviewed

When I hear a name like “smooth and mellow” my first thought is that a coffee will be boring and flat. This is largely because so many brands of caffeinated drinks – including coffee – try to make their blends sound energizing with words like “buzz,” “jump,” etc., as well as with words about the strength/darkness of the roast. Fortunately, Trader Joe’s Smooth and Mellow Blend succeeds in being a good blend of medium-roasted beans that is neither boring, nor flat. The thing that is really nice about this coffee is that it is smooth and mellow – medium to low acidity with a smooth finish. It has notes of cinnamon and (strange as it may sound) toast, as well as a mild hint at a nutty flavor. It is not the most dynamic coffee I’ve ever tasted, but it is very drinkable and is the kind of blend that pretty much everyone can enjoy.

Starbucks revamps pastry menu

You might have noticed a change in the pastry case at your local Starbucks over the past few weeks. In an effort to cut costs while increasing overall quality, Starbucks has completely changed the way that they do their pastries. Previously, Starbucks used a variety of regional bakeries to stock their stores. This meant that you could find different types of pastries in different areas, according to what was popular there, and that the ingredients that went into the items varied widely.

Starting today, Starbucks is using fewer bakeries, each of which will produce and ship more items. This consolidation also allowed Starbucks to tinker with its recipes and refocus on slightly healthier options with all natural ingredients. They cut out corn syrup from their Marshmallow Dream Bars, eliminated the artificial flavorings from berry muffins and real egg whites are making an appearance in a heart-healthy breakfast sandwich. Starbucks says that its new options have “15 percent fewer calories, 5 percent less fat and 8 percent less saturated fat” than previous items.

Time Out Chicago has done a taste test of the newest items on the menu, if you want to see how they stack up. Not all of these items may be available in your region, but some are nationwide.