decaf lotus blossom green

I thought I’d written my last post on Tazo a while back, but no such luck. The dollar-sign eyed monster continues to grab market share of “people trying to cut back” on coffee.  Today I’m drinking Tazo’s Decaf Lotus Blossom Green. I have only had maybe three decaf green teas ever–the only good working method for decaffeinating Green is to use older leaves and stem rather than young leaves and buds, the latter containing more caffeine. In Green, using older leaves and stems pretty much always yields poorer tea so drinking decaf Green feels really dubious to me.

Decaf Lotus Blossom Green is brown/yellow tinted and doesn’t brew well at the regular 175-195 F. My best guess is it needs hotter and longer brewing, which is actually the exact opposite of common wisdom when brewing Green tea. Decaf Lotus Blossom Green does have a fairly interesting mallow flavor indicative of some Herbal Sencha blends. I can’t detect any unique scent or texture but as I say, it didn’t brew well. I’m not overly surprised; my expectations aren’t very high when it comes to Tazo.

On a Starbucks related note, I was “excited”? to see the long promised TeaVana teas appearing in Starbucks. Sadly, by the time I’d noticed it I’d already paid for my iced Machiato so that review will have to wait for another day.