Tazo Zen Green Tea Review
Tazo Zen Green Tea is a real treat for anyone who likes their green tea to have more flavor than the traditional pure green tea. Many newcomers to green tea are instantly put off by the fresh, grassy scent of the leaves as soon as they open the box – and many green tea brands can be a little strong in this regard. The scent that greets you upon opening a bag of Tazo Zen Green Tea, however, is a bit more spearmint than grass! No doubt this will be good news to the ears of those who have been previously disapponted with their experience with green tea. The Tazo web site describes this speciality product as "Select pan-fired green tea from Zhejiang province in China, artfully combined with lemongrass, spearmint and a hint of lemon essence.”
Green tea is a hugely popular drink throughout Japan and China, where it is enjoyed for its smooth, natural flavor as well as for its scientifically proven medicinal and health benefits. It comes from the same plant as regular tea (the Camellia Sinensis), but the leaves are processed in a different way so that the oxidization process is stopped before the enzymes containing powerful antioxidants are destroyed. Unlike black tea, green tea has a fresh, grassy aroma – it can be an aquired taste, but more and more tea-drinkers are following the example of the Asian countries and switching to it for its health benefits.
Tazo is a Starbucks-owned company, which prides itself on making an interesting variety of extremely high quality premium teas. The company has the added bonus of also being very socially responsible, which appeals to green tea lovers who like to know that their tea was produced in such a way that is not harmful to the environment, and marketed using fair trade ideals. Based in Portland, the Tazo company has as its motto: "The Reincarnation of Tea". An appropriate name, as they have reinvented a lot of classic tea recipes to enhance flavors and add variety to the selection available. Their website has a definite Zen focus, which is also heavily associated with green tea – indeed, green tea was introduced to Japan by a Zen Buddhist monk coming from China, and it plays an important role in many Zen Buddhist traditions and rituals. It claims to help clear the mind, give clarity of thought, induce calm, and improve mental focus – all definite Zen-like qualitites!
Tazo describe their Zen Green Tea as "an enlightening blend of the finest green teas and rare herbs available in this world.", and list the flavor profile of this minty tea as being "smooth, lemony, earthy, refreshing". The tea is not pure organic green tea, but instead contains a variety of natural flavors in addition to the tea, including spearmint, lemon verbena, and others. There isn't much of a lemony taste apparent, however, and this tea does a really job taste of mingling the traditional green tea flavor with the fresh zing of spearmint tea. It's great for anyone who is new to green tea and finds the strong grassy flavor a bit overpowering – the mint taste creates a lovely balance with the best elements of green tea flavors, and it has a pleasant, short-lived but distinctive aftertaste, too. You can buy it online here.
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