Zagat ranks Starbucks as no. 1 coffee

The newest Zagat ratings are out, and Starbucks ended up with the Number 1 Best Coffee ranking in the Fast Food and Quick Refreshment category and the No. 1 Most Popular Quick Refreshment Chain overall. Its competitors included Dunkin’ Donuts, McDonald’s, Peet’s Coffee & Tea and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, just to name a few of the 28 establishments that also fill that category.

Zagat’s ratings are not done by food professionals, but are compiled from user-submitted reviews of the restaurants and eateries that they regularly (or irregularly, if they’re bad) visit. This makes the Zagat reviews significant because they offer companies some insight into how the consumers are enjoying their products.

Zhena’s Gypsy Tea PINK Acaiberry Green Tea

Zhena’s Gypsy Tea PINK Acaiberry Green Tea is part of the PINK Tea for Women’s Health line from Zhena’s Gypsy. The line includes teas made from superfruit berries, including cherries, pomegranate, cranberries and cacao berries, that are high in antioxidants and other beneficial compounds. Additionally, a portion of the proceeds from the sales of tea in this line go towards The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

The Acaiberry tea reminded me a lot of the Tazo Passion tea, except that the flavor of the green tea base actually came through the fruitiness slightly. It gave the tea a very clean, refreshing feel. Overall, the flavor was very fruity, somewhere between a strawberry, a kiwi and a grape – which boils down to it having an acai berry  flavor, which is quite hard to pin down if you’ve never had it before. A great summertime tea, this one, like the Strawberry Kiwi Tea I tried not too long ago, also makes good iced tea. Unlike the Strawberry, which was excellent plain and sweetened, I would prefer this one completely unsweeted for iced tea so that the subtle flavors of the fruit can come out.

Zhena’s Gypsy Tea Strawberry Kiwi Green Tea, reviewed

When I opened up the tin containing the tea bags, I was hit with a familiar smell. Zhena’s Gypsy Tea Strawberry Kiwi Green Tea smells a lot like strawberry Jolly Ranchers – bright and sweet with a floral, strawberry scent – and a lot like it would make a wonderful pitcher of iced tea. So, I made iced tea and it did not let me down. The tea, although it smells like Jolly Ranchers, does not taste candy-like in the least. It does keep the floral strawberry notes, but they are much mellower and more subtle in the brewed tea. The kiwi came through in a very slight tang in the finish.This tea was excellent sweetened, as both honey and sugar played up the natural sweetness of the tea’s ingredients.

It’s a green tea and, as with many green teas, I found that it lost a bit of its softer, floral flavors when it was too diluted with water/ice. So, if you plan to make iced tea with it as I did, it’s worth planning ahead to give the full-strength tea time to chill overnight before serving, so that you will get the full effect of this sweet, summery tea on a hot day.

Starbucks Brazil Ipanema Bourbon coffee, reviewed

I’ve been disappointed by a lot of the light roast coffees I’ve had in recent weeks. Many have been really lacking in the flavor department. I can safely say that Starbucks’ Brazil Ipanema Bourbon coffee was not one of these. The light roast coffee – categorized as a mild by Starbucks – is packed with different flavors. It starts off really clean, with a subtle hazelnut taste. There are also some sweet and vaguely fruity notes, and a finish that is a little bit darker, with a hint cocoa or chocolate. It is not woodsy or overly roasty (i.e. burnt) tasting at all. It’s low acidity and is smooth and easy to drink from start to finish. This is a really nice coffee overall and should be popular with all kinds of coffee drinkers.

Incidentally, the coffee is not not pronounced “BOUR-bon” like the liquor. Starbucks says, “Bourbon” (pronounced bur-BONE) refers to the specific variety of coffee plant from which these beans come. Arabica Bourbon is one of the world’s oldest and rarest species of coffee. The Bourbon tree is carefully nurtured to maturity, its prized cherries hand selected to ensure ripeness and peak flavor.

Zhena’s Gypsy Coconut Chai, reviewed

Green and white teas are often used as the base for flavored tea when a maker wants to introduce some more unusual elements into a line. This is because their flavors are mild, and the added flavors can stand out more strongly. Black tea is rich enough that it is actually a great base for flavors, provided you match them well. In this case, the combination of coconut and chai tea on a black tea background in Zhena’s Gypsy Coconut Chai is absolutely brilliant.

The organic, fair trade tea has a rich and spicy flavor to it, with notes of ginger and cardamom. The coconut flavor is subtle, but clear, and really comes through if you decide to sweeten the tea and not just drink it black. It’s a very balanced tea, with all the flavors playing together in such a way that even those who say “but I don’t like chai tea!” will happily drink a cup of this.

If you don’t see this same package in stores, don’t worry. It seems as though the company is moving towards a simpler, all-black label for this tea at the moment.